The Minneapolis journal., 1905-11-28

Washington, Nov. 2S.-Mark Twain
took luncheon with the president yes
terday. Later in the afternoon he
gave The Journal the following
Thanksgiving sentiment:
BY Mark Twain.
: A few days ago, one of the inter-
viewers offered to let me do Thanks
giving sentiment / was not able to
take advantage of the opportunity, for
I had already. declined two chances,
and it would not be fair to be inconsist-
ent and unreliable. unless L could do
good by it or there.was graft in it some-
where for the family.
Besides, there is another aspect to
this matter Every year every person
IN America concentrates all his thought
upon one thing, the lcatalOging OF his
reasons for being thankful to the Deity
for the blessings conferred upon him
and upon the human race during the
expiring twelve months
Too One Sided.
This is well. and as it should be; but
it is too one-sided. No one ever seems
parently no one concerns himself to in
quire how much or how little he has
had to be thankful for during the
same period; apparently no one has had
good feeling enough to wish he might
have a thanksgiving day, too. There
is nothing right about this.
to his satisfaction during the year; do
you believe he is sWeepingly thankful
as our nation is going to be, as indi-
Gated by the enthusiasm which will ap-
pear in the papers on the 30th of this
month from the pens of the distin-
guished persons appointed to phrase it's
| thankfulness on that dayY
In Russia, for Instance.
We may be unstintedly thankful, but
can that be really the case with hima
If he had voice how would he regard
the years results in Russia9 What
would he be thankful for there? The
| servants of that government in pa
triotic obedience to its commands, have
lately killed and wounded $4,000 Jews
by unusual and unpleasant methods;
butchering the men and women with
knife and bayonet; fiinging them out Of
windows; saturating them with kero<
sene and setting fire to them; shutting
them up in cellars and smothering them
with smoke; drenching children with
boiling water; tearing other children
asunder by the methods Of the middla
ages. Doubtless the most that he can
be thankful for is that the carnage
and the suffering are not as bad as they
might have been.
And Life Insurance.
| He will have noticed that life insur.
ance in New York has gone tolerably
rotten and the widows and orphans
have had a sorrowful time of it at the
hands of their chosen protectors. Doubt
less. the most that he is thankful for
is that the rottenness and the robberies
have not been absolutely complete. He
has noticed that the political smell
phia and sixty or seventy other muni-
| cipalities had modified a 1ittle-tern-
porarily-and is doubtless thankful for
that transient reprieve. -
The Congo Murders. -
! He has observed that King Leopold's
destruction of innocent life in the Con-
go is not as great this year as it was
last by as much as hundred thousand
victims. because of diminishing mate-
rial; he has also noticed that America
and other great powers be-
fore the fact and responsible for these
murders-especially America-are prop
erly thankful on our Thanksgiving day
and for nineteen previous Thanhsgiv-
ings days; and without doubt he is him.
self thankful that matters in the Congo
are not as ElrTeCr1eVaDly DaO as theV
might be, and that some Of the natives
| are still left alive.
One is justified in fearing that the
Deity's Thanksgiving day is not as rosy
as. ours will appear when Thanksgiving
sentiments blossom out in our Journals,
and that If he. now voiceless, should
utter a sentiment. it would be tinged
with apathetic regret.
. Made Difference.
Robbie IS father had a man drop in to
see him. After they had chatted few
minutes, the guest was offered the only
cigar on the table, so Robbie was sent
upstairs for fresh box. AS the boy
reached the top stair his father was
startled to hear: (Which kind, papa 2
Do you want those you smoke yourself,
or the kind you give away9' Well,
maybe the kind he smoked himself were
about as good as those he gave away.
At any rate, a duty you owe yourself
and family is to serve golden grain belt
beer regularly at home. Serve it with
meals. It will promote good health and
happiness.
Throu oh S1eerinp Car Service tn Mar.