The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-11-23
WHO MAKE US laugh III
Bill Nye, Mark Twain and Eugene
Field Have Made the
World rlerry.
Genius That Was Never Under
stood By the Fathers Of
the Boys.
Quaint and Pathetic stories Told
of These Remarkable &
Fun Makers.
Eugene Field dead!
Mark Twain ruined!
Bill .Nye o:VerWorked

; Mark Twain ruined!
Bill Nye overWorked. s-
These are recent items of news about
men whose wit and pathos have made the
world laugh and cry during the last de-
cade, writes Frank G.. Carpenter in the
Chicago Times-EIerald. The story Of the
lives OF funny men is often full of sad
ness. 1t requires hard knocks to devei-
the poetry and huznor may be found the
trouble and the heart-breaking which
had enabled them to know the human
heart, ana by their pens to play the sad
dest and 1nerriest of strains upon strings.
How few geniuses are appreciated when
they are young! EugeEe Fields father
WAS a celebrated lawyer, btttasEaa1 aa1e q ieentfy
had not idea OF the literary ability ofshiss
SON. The boy, almost spoiled by the for
tune left him, .drifted into newspaper
work, and thence, step by step, climbed
into the literary niche which he will now
hold in American history. Mark Twain s
father and himself, according 10 his own
SldCSli1GIltS, were always OlI l1iS 1uOoI ALo~
tant terms when Mark was a boy, and he
says that a sort of armed neutrality ex-
listed between them. His father had no
appreciation of his humorous antics and
the stories which are related of Tom Saw
yer were largely based upon incidents of
Mark Twain's early life, which had 10
charm for his father. The old man could
not see the humor of jumping off two
CT cfaI IplA and yyharo MaTlr al.
gave the elephant plug of tobacco the
hubbub which followed was by no means
with the approval Of the old man, who
had gone along to take care of the boy
and look at the animals. At another
time Mark pretended to be talking in his
sleep, and got off portion OF a very Or
iginal conrmdrum in the hearing Of his
father The elder Clemens reproved him
in a way which he does not like TO re-
member to this day. In speaking OF it
Marx. asks his friends not to pry- in to- ti1s;
results Of the experiment, usually con-
Guiding with the sorroWful remark: 1T
was Of no consequence to anyone but me,
It was the same with James Whitcomb
Riley. His father never appreciated him
and doubt whether he ever realized the
real greatness of Riley's genius. A short
time ago Riley and one of his newspaper
friends were talking about the days Of
their boyhood, when Riley said:
''They never thought I'd amount to
much at home. My father was country
lawyer. a1ll> he believed LIN. facts. Facts
We're all he. cared for, and he thought that
the boy who couldn't learn arithmetic
wouldn't amount to anything. My
brothers were good deal like him. They
had an aptitude for mathematics and
they stood well in their classes at school.
As for me- I#couldn' learn arithmetic. I
never liked Che blanked crooked things
called figures, and I couldn't see the sense
of working away at them. AS for read
ing, got along with it very we'll. | us
1aally read the books through for the sto-
ries. before the class. had mastered one
third Of them. But I couldn't make it in
arithmetic. The result was that the
whole family pitied me. | was told again
and again that I. would probably. haze to
be supported by the rest, and N;liens isrlr ar r
of and went away with a circus one. aass
to stand at the door and extol the VIRTUES
OF the side shows it did not make a sen
sation. My mother perhaps wiped her
eyes and thought that might come back
some DAY, some way: but to 'tne rest |
was settled with the phrase, I told You
So I don't think my father ever under
stood me- shall never forget one thing
which estranged me from him.
ssIt was when I was quite a little fellow.
We were just commencing a new reader,
and as usual had finished it before the
class had read ten lessons. There We're
several pieces of poetry in the book, and
one of these read over and over again.
1t was very pathetic, and always had
to cry when / read it. At last the class
came to it. The day we were to read 1t
sat in my seat and figured out just what
vel ses would have to read. | knew
where I stood in the class. you know.
Well. l saw that would have to read
these verses where i always cried.
knew j couldn't read them before the
class without crying, and i wasn't going
to baWl in public. There was only one
way out Of it, and that was to run away
Just before the class was caIleasands while
the teachers back was turned Z slipped
out I had hardly left the schoolhouse
before / met my father. He asked rae
what / was doing away from school !
had just been reading the life Of George
Washington, and l concluded that /
would try the cherry tree act with him.
I told him the truth. saying: Father. !
Q4litG Wttllt luC DtSss Wy idltsoll Tt liz 1tisl
j knew it would make me cry
sfaes ,''.:N Well. I'll see Il cant make you
cry said the old gentleman, and he pick
ed mp a switch and gave me one OF tias
best whippings / ever had. I don't
blame him now. His nature was such
that he. could not appreciate the .siE,sa-
tion. He probably thought my answer
was merely an excise to get out OF school,
hut tie injustice Of, it was such that it.
was "a long time before felt close to my
father again. After going away from
school q tlrifted about here and there, and
finally turned up in Indianapolis the
Journal office I began to write poetry,
and in time became rather notorious FOR
f11as. The people of India apolis made a a
good deal OF me, q nd now and then i't,--l Y
mers Of my reput attiol reached q the title
town where my father was Twin issss IfsS
eeuIdnt t see what. the peUple those
things Of mine 10 be worth 50 much mon
81 and he finally gave III, Ing TO under De 4
standsit &
81 down see him ffraq11eatl3ssss,,1 J,
and one day perstiad him to come lip3
WITH me to Ind iana11o When We sssaT-.
f,es In NJ 40scUnes