MARK TWAIN DEAD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 371, 23 April 1910, Page 5

MARK TWAIN DEAD.

AX EVENTFUL CAREER. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Received April 22, 5 p.m. New York, April 22. Mark Twain died at Redding at 6.30 last evening.

Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) was a worui inlluence, because his incomparai;.e humor was seriously meant. He was of what the world calls '•humble origin," but his native intellect won through every obstacle. He was born at Florida, Missouri, on 30th November, 1835, the son- of struggling parents, and at the age of twelve years .became a. "printer's devil." His affection for the newspaper life never died, although when strong enough to push a tiller lie became a- Mississippi pilot. He demonstrated with great force the fact that the man who writes must know his subject by actual .physical contact, and so the delightful sketches he gives of life on the great river are pre-emi-nent, because they are the first-hand impressions of a man capable of assimilating them and using them to the great delight of the whole reading world. He ■became a reporter of a newspaper, and afterwards the editor of inconsiderable papers. It is told of him that wnen editing an unsuccessful paper at Buffalo, he was leaning disconsolately against a window gazing into the one street. A man was passing en route to the railway station. Turning to his factotum (the only other member of the staff), he remarked: "Say, Jack, I wonder if that's our subscriber?" It was when Mark Twain began to write books that his incomparable humor broke forth and that he took the public to his heart. His extraordinary capacity for infusing into commonplaces tile unstudied art of the humorist is nowhere shown to greater advantage than in ''The Jumping Frog" or "Punch, Brothers, Punch." His sayings belong to the English-speak-ing world, and his jokes are so commonly bandied that the source is sometimes forgotten. Seriousness was the dominant factor of his humor. J lurk Twain rarely became humorous without emphasising a serious point. This will stand as an example of pointed humor for all time: "The English are mentioned in the Bible —"for the meek shall inherit the earth.'" Everybody knows '•Tom Sawyer" and "lluck Finn" as personal acquaintances, and no one "has ever let so much real light into casual travel as Mark Twain. Ever and anon in all his great works Mark Twain entirely discards his racinoss and is a sober, deadly earnest fighter for the right. Financial troubles harassed him much, and under the direst stress, in order to pay other folks' debts, lie started with the pen—'and under such pressure there came much of his most •brilliant work. At heart always a newspaper man, he recognised the value of advertising. He became a world humorist, and he acted the part. His magnificent crop of white hair was a necessity. He wore white evening clothes, and recognised that playing up to the public's idea of a great humorist was his business. He smoked cigars in bed when reviewers were around, but he would much rather have been left alone. The •world is lonelier without Mark Twain, but his books are here. Nations have honored him and million-- have laughed with him. Above every consideration to Mark Twain was the one that he should play the man and pay twenty shillings in ■ the pound (or one hundred cents to the dollar).