Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1910-04-30
MARK TWAlN's OBITUARY..
BY Roberbus Love.


Mafk IVAN IS uedu!
The king is dead-iong live the
king! But there is no heir, either APP
parent or presumptive. The throne
of humor, whose kingdom was the
world, is empty. The scepter that
swayed the universal heart-the pen
lies idle at last. The empire of
laughter and also of tears which this
king Of the writing craft founded and
! which he fostered for nearly fifty
years is become a whirling dust in the
abyss Of the things that We're. Only
there remains the heritage of the
dead rulers kindly philosophy, his
droll fun, his quips and jestings and
his pathos.
Mark Twain became before he died
the most famous man ON earth. He
was not merely a man; he was an in
stitution. He was a sort of nelghbor-
hood settlement OF good cheer. with
many branches located in the GASES as
in the waste places, where admission
and refreshment were free to all. Mil
lions-how many millions is beyond
tSll iIldlihS-C anu pdiDoOh Vi MS
wine of optimism and stayed for sup
per. His fame was and is universal.
Though an American born, a native
of Missouri, ne belonged to all lands.
He had travelled in all lands and lived
in most of them. He had more near-
other man of his day. Nearly always
he was a wanderer, sometimes from
necessity. more frequently from
choice. The world was his plaything
and he was not content without re-
mapping for himself the entire sur
face of the big ball.
Of Most Striking Appearance.
He was a man of most striking ap-
pearance-the kind that attracts atten
ton anywhere in a crowd and causes
others to take a second look. In his
later years his shock-no, his crown
of hair. perfectly white and glossy
like fine spun silk, became his trade
mark of recognition by strangers
wherever he went. I have seen a wom-
an who never before saw Mark Twain
PICK him out without opera glasses.
though she sat in the top gallery of
Carnegi hall and he occupied a lower
box near the stage, and the great
house was crowded. He had no doub-
les as to personal appeararrce-there
was only one Of him.
And there was only one of Mark
Twain as a literary syndicate. 1t has
become the fashion to describe him as
the great American humorist. This
undoubtedly he was, but he was more.
His appreciation of loan of Arc, first
published anonymously is accepted by
critics of acumen as one of the most
refined works in the serious literature
of the nineteenth century. The book
won its way before Mark Twain ad-
mitted its paternity. While he was
writing the Joan classic he worked,
time and time about. on that amazing
funny masterpiece, "Pudd'nhead Will
SON He simply couldn't be serious
altogether for a stated period.
Never Altogether Funny.
NOT u We lake IL TOT SIdntSu
that Mark Twain, summing UP ais
career as a writer, ever was alto
gether funny. He ever was. He was
one OF the closest observers of hum
an nature and institutions. places and
things. that ever lived. Even in his
most humorous books we find that he
has made accurate transcripts of the
things which impressed him.
But Mark Twain often wrote books
Just because he had the story to tell.
The tale of tom Sawyer is one of
these, and the "Huckleberry Finn
book is another. Each of these is
true to life-to boy life. Rudyard
Kipling is said to have remarked
that he would rather be the author of
Tom Sawyer than all of his own
works.
1.-THE Innocents Abroad" of course.
always will be associated with Mark
Twain's name as one of his most
characteristic books, but that may be
because il was his first big work and