The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1907-06-11
HAYS WRONG IDEA
sTATEsMAN ERRED IN SETTING
LIMIT OF USEFULNESS.
According 10 His Theory Man Had
Succeeded or Failed at the Age
OF 40 hut Time Proved
Its Falsity.

A quarter Of a century ago l was
visiting John Hay at Whitelaw Reids
house in New York, which Hay was
occupying for few months while
Reid was absent on a holiday in Eu-
rope, says Mark Twain In his auto
biography In the North American Re
view. Temporarily also, Hay was edit
Ing Reids paper, the Now York Trib-
une. l remember two incidents Of
that Sunday visit particularly we'll.
In trading remarks concerning QUO
ages confessed to ~ and Hay to ~.
Then he asked If l had begun to write
my autobiography and / said I hadn't
lie said that l ought to begin at once
and that l had already lost two years
Then he said in substance this:
cat 40 man reaches the top of the
sunset side. The ordinary man, the
average man, not to particularize too
closely and say the commonplace man,
has at that age succeeded or failed;
In either case he has lived all his life
that Is likely to be worth recording;
also In either case the life lived Is
worth setting down, and cannot fail
to be interesting II he comes as near
to telling the truth about himself as.
he can. And he VIII tell the truth in
spite of himself for his facts and his
iictions will work Loyalty together for
the protection of the reader; each fact.
and each fiction will be a dab OF paint.
each will fall in its right place. and
together they will paint his portrait;
n3t the ports he thinks they are
painting. but his real portrait, the in
side of him, the soul Of him. his char
acter. Without intending to lie he
viii lie all the time: not bluntly, con
sciously, not duly unconscionsly. but
kalf-consciously ~ consciousness In
twilight; n soft and gentle and merci-
full twilight which makes his general
form camely, with his vlrtuous promi-
nenoes and projections discernible
and his mgracious ones in shadow
His truthA will be recognized as
truths. his notifications of facts
which would tell against him will go
for nothing, the reader win see the
fact through the film and know his
man.
There Is a subtle. devillsh some.
thing or other about photographer
composition that defeats all the writ
er's attempts to paint his portrait his
way"
Hay meant that he and ! were ordi
nary average commonplace people,
I r,rf Ha - =.
verdict, but I nursed my wound in
silence. His idea that We had finished
our work in life. passed the summit
and were westward bound downhill.
with me two years ahead of him and
neither of us with anything further
TO do as benefactors to mankind, was
all mistake. | had written four
books then, possibly Ave. | have been
drowning the world IN literary wis.
dom ever since. volume after volume
since that days sun went down he
has been ambassador. brilliant orator.
competent and admirable secretary OF
state. ..,
Fled from Gas.
Il had a friend" said the bearded
nan, who got ont OF paying a bill he
owed in an original way. When the
collector arrived he sent word TO him
that he would see him in a few min
utes. Then he went into the parlor,
shut the doors carefully, turned on
every blessed burner in the chande
lier, came quickly out. and had his
man show the bill collector in the par
lor while he hurried upstairs. Do you
think that collector waited few min
utes for him TO come down? Not on
your photograph. He fed from that
gas filled room In about two seconds
by the clock, II he had stayed three