, 1923-02-15
Renaissance of Adam and
Eve

It's a long time since Adam and
Eve have been given such striking
publicity as has Just been bestowed
upon them by a Massachusetts clergy
man.. who says he doesn't believe they
eve existed. The last previous bout
of free advertising enjoyed by our
First Parents occurred when Mark
Twain published what he said was
Ewes diary, also extracts from that
OF Adam.
Perhaps the best press agent they
eve had was Charles Darwin, who
made everybody talk. about them by
the simple process OF emitting them
entirely from his comprehensive opus.
The Descent of Man."
There were monkeys galore in that
exciting tale. but 10 Adam and no
Eve, and their absence made much
more OF . stir than, for instance,
Ewes losing her diamonds, or Adams
being invited to rake an address from
somebody's pulpit. oil any other pub.
lic!ty stunt you can imagine. And
the more the Darwinians searched for
the Missing Link the more our
First Parents loomed up in the public
y e
Ono Of the ~curiostties Of literature
relating to that period of storm and
stress is an account by Mark Twain
himself of the most persistent
press agents III First Parents ever
had-ot a movement that he origi.
mated toward the erection Of a monu-
ment to Adam
Mark Twain greatness as n prac-
teal joker might even have over
Swallowed his subsequent literary
reputation IN the minds of many peo-
pie II he had only succeeded in pull
ing OF that stunt. And the thing
went pretty far. for $35. 900 was con.
tributed toward It, and the claim Of
Adam to a monument in America
came within an ace OF being brought
up in Congress.
Mark Twain FIRST preached the idea
to the Rev. Thomas K. Beecher of
Eimira and some OF his friends. all of
whom were agitated over the impiety
of Darwin's omission of Adam from
the human family tree.
Then the unexpected happened"
no wrote in after years. Two bank
ers cae forward and took hold Of the
matter, not for fun. not for senti.
ment, but because they saw in the
monument certain commercial advan.
taEes for the town.
THE insane oddly Of a monument
set up in a village to preserve a name
that would outlast h hills and rocks
would advertise ElmirR to the ends of
the earth-and draw custom. II
would be the only monument on the
planet to Adam. and in the matter OF
interest and impYessiveness could
never have a rival until somebody
should set up a monument to the
Milky Way"
The unterrihed humorist went on
to relate that plans were submitted,
some Of them from Paris. Early in
the game. when It was only a joke in
Marks mind. he had penned n fam
buoyant petition to Congress begEinG
the Government to erect a monument
to Adam "as q testimony OF the graft,
tude OF the great republic to the
father of the human ace and as O
token of her loyalty to him in this
lark hour of his humiliation"
This address he forwarded to O
congressman, Gen. Joseph r. Hawley,
who said he would present it to Con
gress. But he never did and the origi
nator of the joke concluded that the
General, on reading the document
more carefully. feared that it's face
tious character might be detected.
It wal many years afterward hat
Mark Twain showed his intuitivc
grasp OF Garden of Eden problems by
writing the extracts from Adam'a
diary. beginning. .
"Monday-This new creature with
the long hair is a good deal in the
way. It Is always hanging around
and following me about. I dom like
this. 1 am not used to company.
wish II would stay with the other
animals. Cloudy today, wind In
the east; think we shall ave rain,
.. We? Where did get that wordl
Il remember now-the new creature
uses t."