The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-12-29

Abroad were first given to us. On De
cember 9th he was the guest of honor
at a dinner In New York, to celebrate
his SEVENTEEN birthday. The guests
were confined closely to writers
of imaginative literature, and about
ITO authors were present, nearly half
of them women. Every guest received
as souvenir bust of Mark Twain,
half-llfe size. Naturally Mr.. Clemens
was the principal speaker; he took as
his text, How to get to be seventy
and not mind it." He said
"The seventeen birthday 1t is the
time of life when you arrive at a new
and awful dignity; when you may
throw aside the decent reserves which
have oppressed you for a generation,
and stand unafraid and unabashed
upon your seven-terraced summit and
look down and teach-unrebuked You
can tell the world how you got there.
1t is what they all do. You shall never
get tired of telling by what delicate
arts and deep moralities you climbed
up to that great place. You will ex-
plain the process and dwell on the par
ticulars with senile rapture. l nave
been anxious to explain my own sys-
TEN for long time, and now at last
l have the right.
Regularly Irregular
II have achieved my seventy years
in the usual way-by sticking strictly
to a scheme of my life which would
kill anybody else. 1t sounds like an ex.
aggeration, but that is really the com
mon rule for attaining to old age.
We have no permanent habits until
we are forty. Then they begin to har,
den, presently they petrify, then bust
ness begins. Since forty ! have been
regular about going to bed and getting
up, and that is one Of the main things.
/ have made 1t rule to go to bed
when there wasn't anybody left to sit
up with, and l have made it q rule to
get up when | had to. This has result
ed in an answering regularity Of IT.
regularity.
I'm the matter of diet-which is
another main thing--I have been per-
sistently strict In sticking to the things
which didn't agree with me until one
or the other of us got the best of 1t.
Until lately / got the best of it myself,
But last spring | stopped frolicking
with mince pie after midnight; up to
then / had always believed it wasn't
loaded. For thirty years have taken
coffee and bread at 8 in the morning
and no bite nor sup until 7.30 in the
evening.
II have made 1t rule never to
smoke more than one cigar at time. |
have no other restriction as regards
/ do nos know just when
began to smoke; only know that II |
was In my fathers lifetime, and that |
/ was indlscreet. He passed from this |
life early In 1S47, when was shade
past eleven: ever since then have /
smoked publicly. As an example to
others. and not that care for moder-
ltlon myself, it has always been my |
rule never to smoke when asleep, and
never to refrain when awake.
"As for drinking, | have no rule
bout that. When the others drin9
Ike to help; otherwise remain dry,
oy habit and preference. This dry
ness does not hurt me. but 1t could
easily hurt You, because you are
lifferent- You lot II alone,
First Standard Oil Trust.
esince / was seven years old have
seldom taken a dose Of medicine and
ave stlH more seldom needed one
But up To seven lived exclusively on
lllopathic medicines. Not that'I need
ID them, for don't think did; but it
vas for economy. Ny father took q
lrug store for a debt, and It made cod |
iver oil cheaper than the other break
ast foods. was the. first Standard |
Oil Trust / had It 81 ~ the time
ne drug store was exhausted my
,ealth was established. ana there has
lever been muck the matter with ne
Iince.
II have never taken any exercise. OK +
Iepf sleeping and resting. and never