The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-12-07
Birthday Dinner y y
- for Mark Tquat1.

week In New York, made this boast:
There are hfty-four men here. OF them, thir-
ty-nine are my dear personal friends. They
know me and | know them, OF the remaining
fifteen, confident that / can borrow
money"
Then he became reminiscent and charged the
following indsereton on Former Speaker
Thomas r, Reed
He said that Reed had declared that while
we could not all be optimists, we all could duly
improving our opportunities, become bigamists."
And this much fore-shortened, is what he said
about John Hay:
More than fifty years ago both of us were
haretooted boys, getting stonebruises, and not
breaking the Sabbath, more than once week out
West And now look at us. He has been poet
author soldier, diplomat, orator historian, and
is now secretary OF state And IL am gen
teman. 1t is given to every American 10 become
what he is fit for"
| The foregoing found In a sparkling report
| OF the Mark Twain birthday dinner from the pen
! Of Editor St. Clair McKelwsy, printed in the
! Brooklyn Eagle The editor-ieporters story Of
| the dinner follows:
! Samuel F. Clemens ("Mark Twaiu") will be
! 81 years old tomorrow Sunday. An occasion in
celebration Of that event, little anticipated it on
| Friday night. In the Metropolitan club, on the
| invitation Of George Harvey the executive head
Of the Harper firm, with all its publications, and
! Of the North American Review fifty three other
] friends OF Mark Twain gathered around one of
the great oval tsbIcs ia ono az bn 1sro,s, d;,,,cr
rooms.
| The gathering was remarkable in several in
stances for the representative character Of the
men Tobn Hav WiI;ar Dear Uonetls IJ.n-,,
! II. Rorers Toseob II T,v;tcbell Wsynn Ma,
Veapb and Thomas r. Reed ,yerc rerb,,s tho
most Intimate friende of Nil, r,y,i,, ~ H.. oh
| served and thew we're eil tbcre
Among his associates IN literary relations with
the Harpers were also to be seen Robert w,
! ChamoeIs' John hendrek Bangs George w. Ca
eIe, Richard lie Gaihenne, Ihomas a. Janvier,
! NlH Carieton' r. /. Leigh frederick A. Dun
eka Booth arlington Henry NJ Alden and Z.
Thompson Seton
lhere were also present among editors, Samuel
| boWIcs, Horace mte Adolph ). Oehs, Ham
uton w. Mable William L. Laitan. Henry l..
Stoddard and St. Clair Mckelway
Among the hnanciers beside Henry H. Rogers
were Thomas +. Ryan, Daniel O'Day William
b, Leeds and August Belmont
Cthefs whose presence graced the occasion
and whose positions in the realms OF higher work
IN the world are sei-dchrcd, were Charles Froh-
man Brander Matthews Henry Van ndyke How
ard Pyle James Lane Allen, Hamblcu Sears,
| Hamlin Garland, r. Hopknsou Smith, David a.
Munro bumont clarke Henry ). Harper, Van
| asset Sutphen and lhaunccy NJ, pepcw
1t was explicitly announced that there would
be no speeches. Therefore q number made
George Harvey presided and did SO with I'M
common and effective cooluess- chat is to say,
while the GOODNESS was common 10 him il was so
much greater than the GOODNESS OF other men that
It was uncommon to them.
He made each man upon whom he called in
turn propose the health OF Mark Twain and every
time Mark Twain arose 90 respond he made Mark
| Twain sit down