The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-02-05
MARK TWAIN" IN ITALY
he WILL NOT RETURN TO HIS
COUNTRY FOR TWO YEARS.

comDllshed Daughters and His Italian
Homs-Msrk is Growing O,d.
tConyrtgatA
NEW YORK, Feb. 4-From abroad there
come from time to time interesting tales Of
the literary and other doings Of il illustris-
simo Sig. Clemmenza, whom a generation
of laughter-loving Americans have known
as Mark Twain.
Mr.. Clemens does not 60 TO Europe as
an innocent abroad" this time. A good
many years have passed. since that famous
trip was taken.
Ia that southwestern suburb Of Florence,
! called the Settignavo, which is largely
residential-the Brooklyn of the bigger
/ Florence north Of the Arno-are
numberless quiet streets lined
with villas Many Of them are OF recent
date, built since the days when Florence
was made the temporary capital Of the
| Italian kingdom, and in the flush of the
| triumph of victory the descendants Of
the Caesars took t. terry building. Walk
/ ing through the streets, or dawdliug along
the shop fronts Of the POnte Vecchio, a
man OF medium hight whose slender build
! gives him the appearance OF greater stature
is often seen. Usually he is accompanied
| by a girl, sometimes by two, sometimes
three. All the beggars, who are partlcu-
| larly numerous in Florence because OF the
winter colony of Europeans and Americans
| know the grizzled man and his pretty
| daughters, and afford him grim amusement
/ sometimes by scrambling and Citing for
yankee ceutessinl
It is in this quarter Of the city that the
! Clemens family have taken up their home
| for the winter in the Villa Viviani one of
those tiat-roofed affairs Of impressive size as
to their parlors and incredible inconvenience
/ as to the kitchens and domestic offices
which are found in every Italian suburb
| The situation is superb. Just at this point
| the Arno turns almost northward In its
westward flow TO the sea, and from 100
vantage points on the hither bank one can
| look across the river with it's busting
| bridges and over the ducal palace and cathe-
drel ito the foothills Of the Apennlnes and
sometimes to their snowy summits That's
as near as Mark Twain cares to have the
| snow. AS for Florence itself, il climate is
rendered mild by the protecting mountains.
| Milan, north of the chain, is much less
agreeable For other attractions the villa
has the Pitt palace near at hand, across the
| old Roman road, and the fields and vine
yards beyond the walls The Boboli gar
dens nestle under the frowning walls Of the
| San Giorgio fort, and the fine Trinity bridge
| leads by a short cut TO the Duomo and the
| crooked streets and barrow closes OF the
city. No wonder the entire Arno valley is
| fruotified by the money Of health pilgrims
and art students
The Clemenses belong In both cstegories.
Mark Twain himself fed from the states
| because Of rheumatism in his right, and
writing shoulder. He tried the waters Of
| Baden in the summer, and wrote some
Whimsical letters from there, but be turned
| up at Florence for permanent home. He
will visit Bayreuth for the WRguerian
| RI ~
closely to home and bis work.
This work Is for the present housed in
sunny room Of the Villa Viviani, where
Mr.. Clemens is preparing some matter for
| future issues of the Century, whose readers
are now laughing over the adventures Of the
man with the 100000 banknoUe, de-
| scribed In the January number. Mr.. Glenn
| ems manner of work Is characteristic. His
| manuscripts are always ION time.n He
| mover has 60 be importuned for copy as
| Beecher was. He puts of his work as long
| as he can, ripening It in his mind. Then
when he must, he goes at ii in savage earnest,
coat Off pipe in mouth, driving away until
the task is finished. Then, during the rest
ing spell which follows, his appearance and
| habits change utterly. It is during these
| intervals that he seems like the LATEST Of
men, dawdling about with apparent aim
lessness and playing with his children.
| Mark Twain's handwriting shows that in
/
beautifully distinct.
| Mr.. Clemens, as he sits in his library.
! presents unique figure which would at
| tract attention anywhere. He is not tall
man, though upon the platform he looks So
He grows leaner as he grows older, and
! aging ne undeniably is with his tossing
name Of iron gray hair, his gray mustache
vergiDg upon white, his scanned cheeks and
| heavy gray eyebrows curling upward at
! hp nd tigr fo Dhah H,,o
to early hardships and exposures. Certainly
| it IS a serious matter with him now, and for
! two years-so it is planned-his winter home
| in Hartford and his summer home
in Elmira, and the cottage at
! Onteora, where he lived last surn-
mer IN inspiring propinQuity to John Bur
| roughs, will know him 10 more.
the mental habits of the man are a per-
| petual surprise 10 one who has only thought
| of him as the prince of humorists. In con,
veTsation he is direct, forclble. emphatic
! The cJnvulsing draWl with which he tells a
funny story on the platform or in an after
dinner speech, vanlsbes entirely in the
energetic Talk Of the man Of busine q
when he Is in earnest. That he is
n good man of business his ample
fortune proves. He has made 1t fairly by
the earnings or bis books and increased lC
by publishing taon and Others. IL Is. 81
/ course. known tha5 Mr.. Clemens IL tina
. y.
Webster 6 Co. As n ter Of fact there
is no Webster at ell. The managing par
uer is named Hale, and these TWO cofnpri So
the firm. The firm has male a succsssi0 Il
of hits with Gen. Grants book, the SGed-
man Hutchinson work on American
literature, Mr.. Clemens Dan ols, and
others, sho wing preference for big under
takJugs involving q heavy outlay.
intellectually, MIR. Clemens leans 80 any,
thing rather than the study of humor. He
is al accomplished Shakespeareau scholar.
was the leading spirit of the Browning
students at OnteOre. can read Dante in the
| original, and Thinks as | do, that Emerson
is the greatest of American poets The
historical Knowlege, literary skill and
earnest purpose shown in his recent work
prove him much more than a mere funny
man. He has ripened into a wholesome
sauirist.
When Mr.. Clemens married a girl who
had comfortable fortune of her own,
some possibly envious fellow humorist said
that Mark had probably been attracted as
much by her figure" as by her face, and
this is said TO be the only joke which
ever stirred Mr.. Clemens wrath. Mrs.
Clemens was a resident of Elmira, where
now stands the summer home of the family,
with the famous writing room away
from the house, huilt in exact
imitation Of the wheel house of q
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