The Coolidge examiner., 1935-02-22

~
touched a golden key In Washing
ton and out IN the Middle West.
\ from a high blun overlooking the
- Mississippi river. white shaft %
f@UH0l light pierced the darkness For q
In NshlD II | moment II streamed across the
Is1Fl black waters of "Old Man River
III $TT0 then IL swung arouEd and flooded
tO-z0s1=Jl the statue 81 two boys, then
passed on 10 illuminate an old two
story frame house and q board fence nesr by
perhaps the most famous board fence In the
World
Thus was inanEurated the beacon service Of
a memorial lighthouse which wiu henceforth
shed It's RAYS across the Father Of Waters ey
cry night 70 guide rivsrmen along lts winding
trescherous current past Hannibal Mo And thus
began a years celebration Of the one hundredih
anniversary % the birth Of Samuel Tanghorne
Clemens. known 20 the world Marx Twain
For the blun on which the memorial lighthouse
stands Is Cardiff Hil the scene OF many n he
escapades of Tom Sawyer and ~Huckleberry
Finn" and the statue which Il first Illuminated
was the statue of those two immortal characters
which he created The little house on which lts
beams ne1t played was his boyhood home and
the fence was Aunt Polly's- board fence the
Shltewashlng og which was such an lnestlmahle
privilege that TON sawyers- friends were
willing give up such youthful treasures As
broken knives, apple cores and dead rats for that
hlgh honor.
Gathered 10 Hannibal for this celebration were
many notables and others besides President
Roosevelt participated In II from a distance
Prom Detroit came the voice Of Clara Clemens
GHbrllowitsch. daughter % the Missouri writer
and wife of famous vlolinlst Gov. Guy II.
Park of Missouri tried MS hand at whitewashing
that famous fence. while several hundred school
children looked on. and speakers at the cere
monies dedicaiinE the memorial lighthouse ex-
toiied the man whose beams OF humor have
lighiened the burdens Of people all over the world
even as the beams from the beacon on Cardiff
Hln viii tighten the way for boatmen on the
Mississippi
At various times during the year there viii
be ether celebrations 10 Hannibal and at other
plnces connected with the career of Mark Twain
e. honor the cenieHaia of his birth They viii
come 10 a climax on November % his birthday
al which time. on a site yet TO be chosen. win
be unveiled the Mark Twain memorial. designed
by Walter Russell. the sculptor Ia part Of which
is shown aboyel. This memorial. perhaps the
greatest ever erected 10 an American author. Is
20 consist Of seven groups OF u bas-reliefs ex.
tending around circle zoo feet In diameter.
Seated In the center Of It Is the figure Of Mark
Twain surrounded by his brain chiidren'-~Tom
sawyer" ~Huckieberry Finn" Becky Thatcher
Aunt Polly" The Prince and the Pauper." The
Connecticut Yankee" Joan of Arc and many
others.
In Hannibal they are collecting Mark Twain
relies for their museum In the house In which he
grew up and they have placed bronze tablets on
other places connected with his life there. AZ
the foot OF Cardiff nm stands the statue Of
TON" and ~Huck" and on the highest point In
their Rlyeryiew park stands a statue Of Mark
Twain himself erected by the state Of Missouri
In 1913
But the citizens Of Hannibal who built the
new lighthouse as guide 10 river traffic feel
that ~ all their memorials to him IL IS perhaps
the most appropriate For Clemens once q
pilot on the river (hls life on the Mississippi"
is essentially an autobiography OF this part OF
ms career) snd frequently he heard the leads.
man calling out the depth Of the water with the
cryptic cry OF Mark. twalni". meaning two faith
oms, or II feet From that cry came the pen
name which made sam Clemens famous all over
the world-Mark Twain
Pilots of today, seeing the flashing OF the new
beacon On Cardiff Hin. will recall perhaps the
statement OF Mark Twain that in his day there
was neither hight nor buoy 10 be found any
where In all this 1900 or 1900 miles OF vlllain0us
river" But that changed not long after
Clemens retired from the river. He tells oi
returning 70 the river after 81 years 10 find that
the glamorous days when the river was busting
with activity. were gone. In a whole day only
"A single steamer passed by and "the spygass
revealed the fact that she named for me-
perhaps the first memorial 10 the Hannibal boy
who had gone out into the world to become
famous.
In contrast to conditions on the river as he
knew them. be tells how "the government has
turned the Mississippi into a sort OF 2O00-mile
tcrchlight procession there is always a bea
con In sight. either behind you or before you
or abreast =. this thing has knocked the TO
nance out OF plotting. to a large extent But
even though another beacon has been added tC
the long chain OF them. no doubt Mark Twain
II he could know, would be pleased that the
latest memorial to him should be such an emf
nently practical and useful one this lighthouse
at Hannibal Is