The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1903-12-30
w. Lacy, the British humor-

heHry w. Lacy, the British humOf-
list. better known as Toby, NJ P, ar
rived in the United States the other
morning at New York for five weeks
visit. Shortly after he arrived Mark
Twain, with his family, sailed for
Italy, says the New York Times. The
chief motive for the trip was the UP
gent need OF an ocean voyage for Mrs.
Clemens, who is an invalid. Mr.. Lucy
as he came off tho steamship had a
note in his hand which, he said, was
from Mark Twain. 1t read. you ar
rive this morning. and sail this aft
ernoon in order to avoid YOU"
In explaining the note he said:
''Some time ago Mark Twain and /
were at surprise dinner to E. A. Alb
hey, the artist. when he proposed to
me that we start paper called the
Obituary. We were to print the life
Of every living man of prominence,
send him the proof and ask himS for
$3.50 for suppressing the story. l con-
sidered the matter and wrote to Twain
that it was agreeable to me- Since
then he has made every effort and
successfully, to keep out Of my way"
Before Mark Twain sailed he was
told what Lucy had said, and he re-
piled:
That's true; we did talk it over, and
think there never was better paying
institution that could be devised. You
see, the idea was to write the most
scandalous things about man while
he was alive and tell him it would be
published at the time of his death I'M
/ less he paid to have it kept out Of the
papers. If the man paid handsomely
we would allow him to alter the proof
and cover up the spots on his career.
There are very few men who have not
some spots that can be artistically COW
cred. He could cut the proof, add to it
OF polish it as much as he wished, but
he had to pay for that. He could have
as many of the copies of the paper in
which the article was printed as he
wished, and In the end he could by
paying enough money get as good a
reputation as he wanted and one Of
which his family could be proud.
1--WE had no circulation to our paper,
for, you see, the circulation end is the
losing end. When l got home found l
could make more money by Twain than
by two, so gently but firmly had to
eliminate Lucy from the money propo-
sition l calculated that he would not
land until tomorrow or else | should
not have sent the note until today
But he is a good fellow, and 1 hope he
will do we'll However, his situation
reminds me of what St. Clair Nickel
way said to me when he learned that
the Harpers had promised me pen
sion for life in consideration Of work
had promised to do for them. Colonel
Harvey Is living on hope he said,
while you are living on a certainty"
At the pier Mark Twain was occupied
in getting eighteen pieces Of baggage
and his wife, two daughters and an
other lady who. like Mrs. Clemens, is
an invalid on board the ship. Some one
suggested that NTr. Clemens was hav-
ing a great deal Of trouble.
WELL" he replied. 81 always was
sorry for Father Noah, he had so much
trouble getting all Of his animals
aboard the ark. But, you see, I'm pee
wish today. l have absorbed all of my
vifc's pugnacity and all Of my daugh-
ters' audacity."
At the pier q tax assessor from Tar
rytown was waiting for the humorist.
When Mr. Clemens appeared the as
SCISSOR stepped up to him and said, an
anxious look In his eyes, when are
YOU coming backY Mr.. Twain did not
answer, but, turning to the reporters,
said:
81 don't own the Casey house at Tar
rvtown. l have only rented it for
wear AS matter of fact l am tired OF
renting four houses and being able to
occupy but one. l don't see that it mat
ters to that fellow at what time am
going to return"
IT was remarked that mention had
been made of the fact that Mr.. Glenn
ems had been compared with Radicals
and Aristophanes.
"Rabelais, yes" he commented; "Aris-
tophanes. no. l never knew Aristoph-
anes personally. All Of what knew or
him was told me by William Dean
Howells. l get quite a confused idea
of what he was like. Sometimes l
think of him sailing up the English
channel with Sir John Hawkins; again
7 think of Aristophanes as the Greek
musician and again as an Italian viz
tuoso. II had lived in the fifteenth
century should have been RaDelals.
know him from top to bottom"
In IofN