The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1910-04-26

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could CRAFTY a boyish ambition to be-
come cub to a Mississippi river pilot.
Both these happenings reacted pro-
foundly on his later life.
How Pseudonym Was Acquired.
His knowledge Of river life, ac~
quired when he was pilot, took form
in "Tom Sawyeer,' Huckleberry
Finn" and Life on the Mississippi" :"
regarded abroad as his surest title to
fame. It even suggested his pseu-
donym, for 'FMark Twain" is a
linesman's cry to the pilot when the
boat sets into shallow water. And
his famiiariy with printing took him
naturally first into newspaper work,
then into creative writing and finally
into the publishing business, wherein,
like Sir Walter Scott, he suffered a
bankruptcy disastrous to everything
but his honor, and like Sir Walter
again. paid off his pen debts, not OF
his own making.
Rise to Fame.
With Mark Twain's lecture trip
around the world began his interna-
tional celebrity and his gradual rise
into figure, taken in some sense to
typify the American spirit. From hu-
morist he became the kindly but
mocking moralist and philosopher OF
ary output became more occasional,
and though written with more fnesse,
more critical and less creative. His
public appearances grew more fire.
quent, his whimsical utttetrances gain
ed greater currency and a whole lit
erature Of anecdotes about him grew
up.
Yale gave him the degree Of M. A.,
and later. Of LII. D., in 1901; the
University Of Missouri, his native
State, followed with LII. D. in 1902,
and in 1907 the University Of Oxford,
with great ceremony, made him Lit
D. 1.; <StiaA "a A
AS Told by Himself.
In due time Mark Twain became g
full fedged pilot. He tells the rest
himself in a chapter Of life on the
Mississippi.
"By and by the war came CON-
merce was suspended, my occupation
was gone. I had to seek another
livelihood. So I became a silver min
er in Nevada; next gold miner in
California; next a reporter in San
Francisco; next. a special correspond
ent in the Sandwich Islands; neext q
rowing correspondent in Europe and
the East; next an instruetional torch
bearer on the lecture platform, and,
finally, I became a scribler Of books,
and an immovable fxure among the
other rocks Of New England. -
Suffered Financial Reyerses.
This was in 1872, two years after
he had married Miss Olivia L. Lang
don, Of Elnira, N. Y, who brought
him an independent fortune.
At that time his writings were in
growing demand he had an assured
income, owned his home and seemed
indeed a fixture. But in 1885 his
popularity as an author and his ae-
quaintance with the mechanics Of the
publishing trade-besides being a
practical printer, he had ben part
owner Of the Buffalo Express before
his marriage-drew him int othe firm
of C. L. Webster & Co., publisheds.
The firm brought out the memoirs Of
Gen. Grant and paid his widow $780,
900, but its prosperity was short
lived, and it failed with liabilities of
$4,000. The failure had already
sucked in $65,OOO Of Mark Twain's
cash, but he determined also to
shoulder the debts, and to pay them
off he undertook, in 1895-96, a lee
ture trip around the world.
Mark Twain was an investerate
smoker, and one eof the most leis-
urely men, in the world.
Discharged All Obligations.
Yet this easy going dawdler ac-
quilted himself of a prodigious deal
Of work in his life, and bound him
self voluntarily to pay of debts thai
be could have disehargede ewithout
hurt to his good name by passing
through bankruptcy. He did not
practice as he preached.
Four children were born to Marx
Twain, Of whom two, a son and a
daughter, died early.
One daughter, Jeean, who had
lhoan an invalid fo,. 1ifa 7cac found