Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-05-11

L hN AAISt uNtrIlhn &HuItn Oh
Annapolis is about six hundred dol
lars richer today than it was yester-
| day, and all on account of Mark
Twain. The church owes its sudden
| ana unexpected increase of treasury
funds 80 Mrs. Warfield, the good and
generous wife of the Governor of
| Maryland, who enlisted the interest of
| AIr. Clemens to come to Annapolis
| and to aid her church here. This Mr..
| Clemens, better known as Mark
Twain, did last night. when he gave a
delightful evenings entertainment in
| the House of Delegates. 1t will prob
ably be Mr.. Clemens last public enter
tainment. He said he had not been
on the platform for eleven years, and
did not expect to appear again after
last night.
The House of Delegates was crowded.
The desks had been removed and adj
ditional chairs placed in the hail.
Every one of these was occupied and
the gallery facing the Speakers desk
where Mr.. Clemens stood was filled
with auditors. To say the crowd
was pleased would be putting it mild
ly. The majority of people enjoyed
the evening thoroughly. OF course
never pleased at anything; they will
find fault with heaven if they ever
get there. The golden streets of the
celestial city will be too slippery or
their wings won't be ON straight, or
the peatly gates Will swing toe far
out or In, or mayhap the everlasting
sunshine will hurt their eyes any
rate there are some people who will
find fault with heaven and st. Peter,
and just that class found fault with
Mark Twain, but happily they are
in the minority and belong to the
proyincials who think provincially,
talk provincially, act provincially
and who would rather see great
bumps of tree roots on the streets of
Annapolis and stumble over them,
than have the high-grade improved
streds.
Itvas delightful evening and the
huu3rist made the large audience
laua until the tears ran down some
cheds. There is no humor like
Mari Twain's. 1t is distinctly his
owr and bears the Twain siamp
i thrfgh and through. 1t is tho mt.
| he Ills a story quite as much as the
stok Itself. He is a unique charac-
teri Attired.in his white dress suit of
| brddcloth with silk Innings, he was
mdt picturesque. White is becoming
| to lin and he knows it. He says it
mixes him look younger, and ii does.
| III white, luXuriant growth of hair
| isl possession he is proud of. Last
II fht before the party at the Executive
| AEnsion went over to the State House,
| sone remark was made about Mark
/ Ikain's white hair. Mr.. Clemens said
| 1.-THE Governor, whose hair is quite
| dwhite as the humorists, but not so
| 4aggy: Governor, white hair is in
| icative of moral purity One of
| te handsome ladies in the party, to
those young face white hair is ex-
lfemely becoming, remarked she was
Iiever before glad that she was gray.
There was some little delay in be-
Ginning the good program that Mrs.
Narfield had arranged, and which
WAS scheduled for s o'clock. 1t was
B.20 when the party headed by the
I'star performer as he called him
self, wended their way to the House
of Delegates. At first it was intend
ed to have Marks talk delivered in
the drawing room of the Government
House. But as all Annapolis and a
good part of Baltimore wanted to hear
him, it was finally decided TO have
him speak in the State House. Bef ore
the white dress suit, with the man
inside of it, appeared, n string or
chestra, directed by Prof. Charles A.
Zimmerman, leader of the Naval
Academy band, gave concert. DR..
B. Merrill Hopkinson, of Baltimore,
sang, his selections being Crest Me
Only With Thine Eyes, and Fuzzy
Wuzzy."
AS with stately treal and beaming
smile, Mark Twain appeared and
mounted the rostrum m of the Speaker.
there was hush all over the house.
Then Annapolis conservatism was
flung TO the four winds and there was
an outbreak of applause that made the
star of the evening smile and bow
in extreme pride and satisfaction.
WHAT MARK TWAIN SAID.
In commencing his remarks, Mark
Twain said that he had too good a
knowledge of the proprieties to dis
pute the words of Governor Warfield.
Il believe that he is right, he added.
The speaker then laid several volumes
on the roster, announcing that he
would read TO the audience from his
own works, but would first read
something in the nature of a sermon,
an extract from the work of another
which had impressed him deeply
1T is matter for the profoundest
and the most gloomy
forebodilgs, he read. ito contem-
plate the contrast between private
American morals and public American
morals. He continued TO read that
private morals of Americans were
generally above reproach and this SEN
timent suggested his first ramification
from his subject. lie said that private
were not always beyond ex-
ception and that be had known sew
eral persons whose private morals
might be the subject of criticism to
some extent. Every now and
then, he said,'' come across a per-
son whose character is not perfect.
l know several such persons. l am
not perfect.
This opened the way for the FIRST
story and great moral principle
which it illustrated. Mark Twain
told how he had once stolen water
melon, but withdrew the verb as too
harsh. Withdrew. > retired, > Eek
tracted, he suggested as more appro-
pirate, the last mentioned word being
the one selected as exactly fitting the