The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-04-22
GRIEF ON ALL SIDES.
Mark Twain's Ncighbors Held Him in
High Esteem.

on ali sides. for Mark Twain was no
| only personally dear to his Close
| friends but he was generous to hi
large acquaintance, shared the beau
| ties of his handsome new home witt
| the neighbors and took a lively inter.
est in the affairs of the town. Sew
eral of his neighbors who stood very
close to him in life were permitted te
view the body. Mr.. Clemens did much
| of his work in bed and in death he
/ still seemed a part of the surround
| ings of his active life. Ranged about
| him were his books. Beside him was
his tabouret set with a tobacco jar, g
collection of pipes, stand of cigars
] and matches in abundance. Above his
| head was reading lamp
In old days one of his worries had
been the cham bermaids.
''They always put the pillow on the
opposite end of the bed from the gas
burner" he wrote $50 that while you
read and smoked before sleeping, as
is the ancient and honorable custom
of bachelors, you have to hold your
book aloft in an uncomfortable posi-
ton to keep the light from dazzling
your eyes
''They always put your books into
inaccessible places. They always put
They hunt up a new place for it every
day and put bottle or other perish
able glass things where the box stood
before. This is to cause you to break
that glass thing. They always save up
all the old scraps of printed rubbish
you have thrown on the floor and
stand them carefully on the table and
start the fire with your valuable manu-
scripts"
In later years, when successive sor-
rows descended heavily upon him,
Mark Twain had been spared all such
small discomforts. He lay today
among all the 1uxuries of disorder that
he loved. Death. that stamps some
but nobility on his There were no
lines of pain, no hint of sadness-noth-
ing but a large and serene benignity.
Free Library His Monument.
Redding, Conn.,, April 22.-The free
public library which the literary col
onv here is building, will stand as a
permanent monument of the towns
most distinguished citizen. The build
ing is to be known as 1.-The Mark
Twain Memorial Library
One of Mr.. Clemens last acts was
to draw a check for 5000 as his con-
tribution towards the building fund.
Dan Beard. Ida Tarbell, Jeanette Gil
der and DR.. w. c. Deming, whose wife
is great granddaughter of Nathaniel
Hawthorne, have raised $1,000 more and
the work of erecting a building is to
begin at once. Besides his financial as
sistance, Mr.. Clemens gave great part
of his private library to the institution
Mark Twain died in the room in
which he had done most of his writing
during the last three years. Here,
propped up in his bed, with volumes
of smoke issuing from his cigar or pipe,
he scrubbed or dictated his autobiog-
raphy and other works.
A few hours before his death, ne
conversed at some length with his lit
erary executor, A Bigelow Paine, re-
garding his manuscripts. There is a
large amount Of unpublished work, be-
sides his autobiography, which is a
<1ef raa 70 eI,r e&<
of Is life. According to Mr.. Paine,
there are many short stories, several
longer works, and all the odds and
ends of lifetime of literary activity
There are stories which Mark Twain
began and cut short either from IA
tigue, or lack of interest Then there
are others which he finished, but dis
carded because he thought them unfit.
Mrs. Ossip Gabrilow itsch, Mark
Twain's daughter, will retain Storm
field as a home and will live here at
least during the summer months.
Great Public Memorial Service
New York, April 22.-Friends of Mark
Twain anEounced today that arrange
nIents are being made for a great pub
lie memorial service here, at which it
will be possible for the thousands who
knew and loved him, to be present.
Tributes to his life and character will
be paid by a number of men prominent
in public life and in the world of let
tiers. The details have not yet been
perfected, but the service will be held
in one of the large halls of the city
and probably Will take place within
ten days.
Several New York pastors announced
this morning that a part of their Sun
day services would be devoted to eulogy
of the humorist.
Expressions Of regret from men of
letters, statesmen. lawyers, clergymen,
scholars and business men of promin
IL,
are published here today The tributes
are more numerous and varied than
have been offered upon the death of any
other man of prominence in years.
In foreign countries. too, they feel
a deep sense OF loss in the death of
Americas greatest man of letters"
said the Rev. DR.. Charles F. Aked. the
Baptist church. THE whole world
kr.tw him and loved him. He looked
straight into the hearts of things. He
was much more than a mere man of
letters; he was a great humanist. He
was more than that: He was a great
prophet. Few men of clearer sight have
ever looked upon life
President woodrow Wilson, of Prince
ton, voiced a similar sentiment-that
the death of Mark Twain was more
than a national loss 'All the world
knew him. He spoke the spirit of
America. He interpreted human life
with a flavor all his own
F. Hopkinson Smith spoke for a CO.
terie of the humorist's New York
friends Those who knew him init
mately feel to the full" he said, 1.-The
loss of man of high and lovely char
sster, a friend quick to excite and give
affection-a big hearted human man."
Tributes From Foreign Press
London, April 22.-''The American
Chaucer' is the Evening Standards
estimate of Mark Twain's position in
literature. Today the paper says:
Like Chaucer. he kept a hospitable
heart for what was good and healthy.
Since the death of Charles Dickens no
writer of English has been so univer-
sally read and at the moment of his