The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-03-15
Mark Twain's Eerly Days In Nevada

Reno, New. March 12.-Sam Davis is
active in his crusade against the gam
bling places of this town.
Il have always been a religious per-
son." he said. but owing to several
facts the world has shown reluctance
in accepting me as truly strenuous
gospeller In the first place, l am the
son of a minister, and a cynical gener-
alton has come to accept that as a
reason why | should not be ZealOusly
religious. In the next place / am con-
stantly referred to as a humorist.
Now, az matter of fact. / am as
serious minded an editor as ever cursed
the paper trust and as cody, and even
if were a humorist, is that a reason
should be considered ungodly?
There is one reason, l admit which
justifies people in supposing that | am
not a strictly moral person-my broth
er, Bob, is a magazine editor in New
York. But l always opposed Bob's go
ing east. 1 warned him nothing good
could come of it. and l have taught my
children to pray that their Uncle Bob
should be shown the error of his way,
turn from the paths of magazine editor
ship and seek some reputable means of
earning his daily bread.
L went to Virginia City" said Mr..
Davis, "as the new reporter there
when the Comstock bonanza was just
opening up. One of my felloW-repOTt-
ers was Arthur MeEwen; my editor was
Denis Mccarthy. and on the staff of our
hated rival, the Enterprise, were Dan
de guile, ROllin NJ. Daggett and Char
ley Goodwin.
Every person | have named after
ward became famous-at least pretty
well known throughout the country, as
did another member of that gang who
left just before 1 went theTe-Samuel
Clemens.
"WeH. sir. they were all a brainy,
husky lot. and every one of them could
write a bit. 1 tell you. Sam Clemens
tried hard to get any or all of them TO
follow him east, but they loved the
Comstock. Clemens did publish a book
of Dan de DULLES. but their work be-
longed to those bleak hills, just as they
did
a German came out there and start
ed little brewery on the eastern fringe
of the town, a place called SiX-Mile
Canyon. He found that if he put wa
ter on that sage brush land it would
grow anything, and he did grow a lot
of vegetables.
'One Sunday Clemens, De guile,
Goodwin. Daggett and Mccarthy set
off to take d long walk and came on
the little brewery and the garden
Seated in the shade of the ice house
they tried the beer and found it good.
Then Clemens discovered the onions
and climbed over the fence to get
some.
Il read about Mark Twain attending
Sl00 plate dinners in New York these
days, but from what his companions
have told me of the rhapsodies he ut
fac taI
better to him than any of the Million
aire club feeds he takes these days.
We'll, Dan de guile was told off to
Jolly the brewer so that he would
not mark down too many rounds of
beer; Daggett, who could offhand talk
better poetry than most poets write
these days, was told off to jolly bread
and butter from the brewers wife
Clemens swiped onions, and the party
sat there all day.
After that. on hot summer nights.
they made it habit TO go to the brew
cry for supper returning to town later,
as Clemens said, to call on our fash
ionable friends with the breaths of buzz
yards and otherwise refreshed and up
lifted
You will understand that in those
days Sam Clemens did anything on the
paper he was told to. Il is a settled
routine in mining camp journalism to
give free yrite-up to any new enter
prise When Ormsdorff and MCGEE
opened their new place, which became
the most famous saloon and gambling
house on the coast, Mccarthy told
Clemens TO give the new. concern a
good write-up. The firm, also follow
ing the mining camp custom, had sent
to each editorial room a case of as
sorted liquors. Clemens stood all the
bottles in a row and began studying the