The Paducah evening sun., 1910-04-22

"Stormheld." Redding, Conn. Her
last act had been the preparation OF
mammoth Christmas tree.
The shock which transformed the
Christmas symbols into a bier-the
shrines of his last earthly idol-al-
most completed the wreck made pos
sible by the ravages of time.
Recalling the statement of the pre-
vious evening which mocked the ru-
mors of his death, the author ven-
tured, pitifully, that "the punish
ment is more than the act merited. /"
and settled back into a silent, stole
conflict with his latest grief That
his health declined gradually from
this cause no one doubts, and Mark
Twain himself did not deny Il.
In 1885 while there were less than
a million white inhabitants in the
great empire west of the Mississippi
Samuel Langhorne Clemens was
born. II was Nov. so, and the scene
of his nativity was a humble cabin
at Florida, Mo-, which az that time
marked the extreme fringe OF from
tier settlement. His parents were
John Marshall Clemens of Virginia
and his good wife. who was Jane
Lambton of Kentucky.
The father was a lineal descendant
of Gregory Clement. one Of the three
judges who condemned TO death
C,l,o-io- CIoo,r-,t ovooOtod frov,
the general amnesty following the
restoration, lost his head In conse-
quence.
Jane Iambton's forbears strove
with Daniel Boone Oh the dark and
bloody ground''-the scene of her
birth % years after the building OF
the first log cabin within the present
confines of that commonwealth. Even
in the state famous as a hothouse OF
feminine beauty of Jane Lambton be-
came known as one of the most beau
tiful and brilliant bellies of her time
In the Bluegrass state.
His Birth.
Clements parents, victims of the
left their small proper
ty in Lexington for a new home at
Jamestown on the Cumberland river
N Tennessee. Next they Travelled to
Missouri, passing st. Louis. then a
,ity OF 10. 900 souls. for what SEEM
ID to them a land of brighter prom
Sc. They settled at Florida. a ham
let, described by the author in later
years as "the settlement that just
divides the desert from the sown."
1t was there that the future Mark
Twain. was born, and here II was also
that he first encountered that caprici-
Dus Fate, which at the age of three
years foretold the anomalies Of his
career.
His father, an absent-mlnded soul
Of the scant opportunities af-
forded by his surromdings-mig
ed from Florida without thought of
the human baggage who laughed and
cooed in the delightful occupation
Of mud-pie baking in the sun-bathed
garden, oblivious to the disappear
ance of the household cavalcade
across the sky line. Two or three
hours later a relative found the COM
placeut youngster, overlook the pa
rents on the wagon road TO Hanni-
bal, and reminded them in no uncer-
tain terms of the consequences OF
such carelessness. Who knows but
this incident wa the turning point in
little Samuel life-the influence that
set in motion that remorseless- -pendu
lum of Fate?
The father served for some years
as magistrate in Hannibal, was
elected county judge. but died in
1S47 without assuming office. His
death marked the end of the youth s
systematic education which had
previously been indifferent owing
to his uncertain health.
A brothers print shop became his
high school. At intervals, shortly
after he was 12 years old, he edited
the little newspaper to the amaze
ment of the subscribers and the
of the elder brother
whose responsibility as publisher
bore the brunt of hostile complaints
against the ''personel journalism" OF
the Juvenile.
Time and again in leisure hours
the boy was fished out of the river
almost drowned. but the fond moth
er. out OF her utter confidence in
his future. would remark each time,
l. a..