The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-12-22
TwAINs FIRST LECTURE.
The Great Humoriut's Subject EVaa
''The Sandwich ISLANDS or
Anything Elae.n

Anything Elae.p
On TUESDAY evening. September 20.
1866, Samuel Langhorne Clemens made
his first appearance in public at the
Academy Of Music in Pine street San
Francisco. He had just returned from
the Sand Yicl islands. from wher be-
had been writing letters on the islands
and the islanders Is tie sacramento
Union The appearance of Artemus
Ward some nonths previous 81 SAN
Francisco Had aroused an ambition
in Mark Twain to go and do like
wise, not for the fame that might
come to him, not from the money to
be earned, but from spirit Of pure
misehievousness says VIII M. Glenn
Aens in Aihslees Twain was one of a
eoterie Of bohemians which included
Bret Harte, Prentice Gulford and
Charles WarreA Stoddard, and can
imagine how he chucl1led to himself
when he concluded to s'learn a new
trick and surprise the boys" He Sc
cured a hall and published sort Of
Artemus Ward announcement that he
would deliver a lecture about his trip
to the Sandwich islands.
Commenting upon the announce
ment, the San Francisco correspond
ent Of q neighboring papeR wrote:
1--WE may expect either gay or grave
remarks, for, by recently published
letters, he very fully exhibited the
resources of the islands to the great
satisfaction OF our business commune
ty. His lecture at this time will have
a peculiar interest, independents of his
own rapidly-augmenting popularity,
from the fact that the queen (Emma)
of said country is now in our midst.
Everybody is going, and consequently
crowded audience will greet the
maiden-I believe-lecture of the sage
brusher. He is not at all an eloquent
orator, and I fear, as he himself an-
nounces it, Doors open at seven, the
trouble will commence at eight
o'clock"
''The trouble is over" wrote this
same correspondent, under date of
October 9, 1866; ''the inimitable Mark
Twain delivered himself last night Of
his first lecture on the Sandwich is
lands or anything else. Some time be-
fore the hour appointed to open his
head the Academy Of Music (on Pine
street) was deH oWdod with ono
of the most fashionable audiences FL
was ever my privilege to witness dur
ing my long residence in this city.
The elite of the town We're there, and
so was the governor of the state-oc-
cupying one of the boxes whose
round face was suffused with a halo
of mirth during the whole entertain
ment. The audience promptly notified
Mark by the usual sign-stamping
that the auspicious hour had arrived,
and presently the lecturer came
siding and swinging out from the left
of the stage. His very manner pro-
duced a generally vociferous laugh
from the assemblage. He opened with
an apology, by saying that he had
partly succeeded in obtaining band,
but at the last moment the party en-
gagged backed out. He explained that
he had hired man to play the from
bone, but he, on learning that he was
the only person engaged, came at the
last moment and informed him that
he could not play. This placed Mark
in bad predicament, and, wishing to
know his reasons for deserting him at
that critical moment, he replied that
he wasn't going to make fool of
himself by sitting up there on the
stage and blowing his horn all by HIM
self After the applause subsidized he
assumed very grave countenance and
commenced his remarks proper with
the following well-known sentence:
When, in the course of human
events, etc. He lectured fully an hour
and a quarter, and his humorous say
ings were interspersed with geo
graphical agricultural and statistical
remarks, sometimes branching off and
reaching beyond--soaring, in the very
choicest of language, up to the very
pinnacle of descriptive power"