The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-12
LITTLE TOWN WHERE HUMOR|ST WAS BORN Mark Twain First Saw Light at
 Florida, Mo. HOUSE IS DEMOLISHED Home in Hannibal Still Stands, How ever, and Part of Huckleberry Finns House-Peope Don't
 Admire Clemens.
Dispatch to the New York Herald.

Dispatch to the New York Herald
 Hannibal Mo-In the course of extended travels Mark Twain has brought to the attention of the world many places of far less natural beauty and interest than at- tach to Florida in the eastern part of Monroe county, where the humorist trst blinked his eyes to the sunlight.
 The excitement over the discovery of valuable ore about Virginia City was nc greater than the feverish spirit that dom- mated the pioneers who settled at Florida as the headquarters of navigation" and worked day and night to build a city
 The location illustrates the curious no- tions of the path blazers as to an ideal town site. The village Is on the crest of a hill, almost big enough to be called a mountain. It is equdistant from the north and south fork of Salt river. Daily packets up these streams from St. Louis were the dream of the pioneers. The near est landing on either fork would have been half a mile from town on level and the average visitor would add another half mile up toward the sky. Eight miles is the nearest any railroad comes to the place.
 The approach from the east is pictur' esque. Near long bridge spanning the river are the storm battered remains oi an old watermll, the last of five thai were operated at Florida in it's boom day The structure, four stories high, with : sheet iron roof, looks as if it had beer subjected to u broadside from battery The stone foundations are intact bu the upper part seems to beg for blankets and winter wraps
 short stretch of bottom land, level a. floor, brings the roadway to the foot O. the mountain. The ascent is made on ' road cut in the rock, just wide enough foi one vehicle. Near thet op the road curves and there Is no way for driver at thu foot to tell whether the coast is clear eX cept by shouting a warning. If his lung' are not good he shuts his eyes and trust, in Providence On the pinnacle Is Florida in elevated solitude.
 House Unpretentious.
 Mark Twain's" birthplace was an ur pretentious two room dwelling in thu north end of the town. It has been GU up for firewood and pretty cottage erected on the site.
 The town consists of three or four ordi nary country stores, with high platforms in front for women to dismount iron their horses. There Is a small building or one corner, built of stone, This is thu bank, and what there is of it looks mod ern enough
 The old citizens would rather talk abou Florida in its happy days than abou Mark Twain" They only remember hin as boy with nothing about him to hin at genius
 My father was one of the promoter of this town" said R. C. Pollard. "an, for twenty years was justice of the peace I i.x, h, t.l1 tl,n,r going to clean out the river so the steam boats could come up; that every time ther was high water we would go down {, the landing to see the boats come in. l was big disappointment when they di, not show up and we would think mayb they had lost their way.
 ''In the thirties Florida reached the ze nth of her importance. The five water mills did grinding for a country fifty {, seventy-fve miles in extent. For years tn, Hickman flour made at two mills, wa the most noted brand the westerl market and had large sale in St. Louis Sometimes there would be twenty or thir ty wagons waiting turns at a mill an' several customers who had come or horseback. Of course some had to wal several days before their turn came, an, this made business good at the hotels.
 Town lots sold brisluy at $500 to s6OC and even more. Everybody believed tn rivers would be fixed so that steamboat could ascend, and that meant easy acces to the city markets. This was in the mind of the men who established the town, an, the people clung tenaciously to the ide for years. During all that time buildin, was pushed, lots were sold and the mer chants did an enormous business.
 'The Clemens family came here at abou the height of the boom and lived here te or twelve years. They attracted no par ticular attention, and cannot recall any thing of interest about them.
 The truth is that even now the peopl of Florida take little interest in thei former citizen. One old gentleman re marked:
 He's left us. and whats the use O making q Grand Duke out of him? If h thinks more of them people down eas than his old friends in these parts. le them put on the taffy."
 When Mark Twain was at Hannibal few years ago, it is said that not citi zen went to see him, but when he passe, through Stoutsville, the nearest railroa, town, several persons appeared at tn station and cheered him.
 Only Surviving Landmarks.
 The family residence on Hill street here and a portion of Huckleberry Fnn's resi dence are the only surviving landmark of the humorist's life in this state Huck