The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-06-17
AMERICAS FUNNY NAN.
An Attempt at an Interview With
haTk Twain.

Truth is the Most Amusing Thing
You Can Tell-"Tom Sawyer" in
Real Life-He is Still Living and
Gives His Views of the Nan Who
Made Him Famous-Twain's We'd
ding Journey-There Was a Joke at
the End of It That Was Really Worth
While.
New York, June l6-"Nothing dis
courages a man like being hanged, - wrote
Mark Twain. He had doubtless never
attempted to find and interview the
greatest living American humorist. I
have I found him-once. When next 1
tried he had fed to Europe. It may have
been because he knew I was coming the
second time. Who knOws} Mr.. Clemens
is singularly modest and retiring.
But despite this lie luck I have bravely
written about him. A part Of the ma
terial which I have used is from himself;
but it is a small part. A part is from his
friends, part is borrowed from other
writers who have been more fortunate
The most interesting question that
could be asked of him for this series is, at
least, answered by himself.
THE future of American humor," he
said, lis interesting. but problematical.
There are only thirty-five Jokes. You
may set that down as a first principle.
AL other are variations. Only thirty
five Jokes exist Perhaps some American
will discover the thirty-sixth. That
would be worth living for.
"But there are more than thirty-five
ways of being funny" he continued.
HThese nav be divided into two great
hofrer int Sor,a 11Fr nd no
ing funny unconsciously. There are more
men who do the latter than there are who
do the former suppose it is to the first
you refer mainly. ! can give professional
funny men one piece of advice, and at the
same time reveal TO YOU a trick of the
trade. The funniest thing in the world
is the truth. Tell the plain truth and
people will always laugh at it; takeit as
q joke. If get up at dinner and refer
TO a man as an insincere galOOt-I mean a
man who is present at the dinner-he, as
well as everybody else, will laugh.
Everybody at the table knows that he's
fraud, and always has been a fraud,
and always will be a fraud. But when |
tell them Of it they smoker and laugh and
think Pm Just the funniest man alive.
81 got man once-a most serious
minded man of Almost serious line of en-
ployment-to write his autobiography.
He was a painfully truthful mamie
just couldn't lie Such men don't turn
mp often, but every once In a while you
find one who is absolutely deficient in
ability TO lie. Well, he wrote it. and it
was the funniest thing l ever read.
have never run across better Joke than
that autobiography.
Now, my mathematics do not go be-
yond twelve times twelve, but dom t you
suppose / would enjoy an encyclopedia
article on mathematical / read one the
other day, and was greatly entertained,
although l didn't understand a word of
1t. 1t was facts. Facts are so anus
ing.
''Get your facts first" he said loudly,
"and then" here his voice died away to
an almost inaudible drawl, you can dis
tort them as much as you please"
Mark Twain is thoroughly good fell
low. His friends love him-no other
word than "love'' will describe the place
he has in their affections. But people
who know him less are likely to look upon
him as eccentric He is entirely sincere,
yet he has pronounced peculiarities. 1t
is said that he likes TO drive around Hart
lord This country home) in an open carri-
age during rain storms, and at the Play
ers' Club, in New York, he sometimes
spends an entire evening without speak
ing to a person, although there may be a
dozen men in the room who are more or
less MS intimate friends.
he is nothing if not patriotic. He was
one OF the hardest of fighters for the In
tefnatlonai Copyright law, although he
had not been sufferer from the loose
ness OF the old statute. At that time he
delivered himself something like this to
an English correspondent and. as he re-
marked afterward, got himself disliked
by it."
'tThe protection Of American authors is
not the main thing. The great
question is the preservation
erature, the spread of national thought.
national sentiment, national morals.
What becomes of the few chuckle headed
authors (who can 90 and saw wood if they
can't make living out of their books is
small matter compared with the great
national question involved that IS
whether our people are going to continue
TO intibe foreign ideas and to take their
opinions OF American institutions from
foreign writers. If | should 20 to Eng
land and deliver myself of my real opin-
IONS on your royalties out my con-
tempt Tor your pitiful lords and dukes
no one would publish my book But an
Englishman comes around here in Amer
lea, and after looking around for a few min
utes, goes home and writes book in
which he abuses our President, jeers and
rldicules our institutions, and that book
Is scattered through the country, after
having been gobOled up by our publishers,
at 20 cents copy. After that you tell US
that we Americans are thin-skinned, that
our newspapers are coarse, thin-skinned
and vulgar and ribald. / hope that this
1rreverence will last forever that we
shall always show irreverence for royal
ties and Titled creatures born into priv
lfege and all that class which take their
tltles from anything but merit.
Merit alone should give man title TO
eminence. | am sorry that some of our
newspapers are losing their irreverence
l wish TO see it preserved. They talk too
much about that miserable puppet. the
German emperor, and other foreigners
whose only claim to distinction is that
they are their fathers sons and the
fathers are not always such as a good
American would be proud Of and the
spread of foreign ideas is having its effect
on the people. There are American
women, well brought up and respectable,
who are ready to sell themselves to any
thing with the name of a duke attached.
There is one railroad thief whom | could
name who married his daughter TO some
decayed prince; but you can't expect
much from railroad robber, anyway.
Your publishers and your newspapers are
towards. In my book, "a Yankee at the
Court of King Arthur" make a playful
reference to the divine right of kings, but
that must come out of the English edi-
ton. | have cuJ nv hook and Ont INV