MARK TWAIN AT HOME.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1257, 25 October 1884, Page 3

MARK TWAIN AT HOME.

Mark Twain when at home lives in the suburb of Hartford, Connecticut. His house is built of brick, and is said to be as funny as its owner, rambling in three directions at once, and bristling with peaks and chimney-pots. It has been said to be in stylo a crystallised expression of an encounter between Mark Twain and Queen Anne, with the humorist in good feather and the monarch singing-small. The drawing-room is a dream of pale blue satin, stained glass, carved furniture, rich curtains, and articles de luxe. A buck negro answers the door, and shows the guest into this room, which is Mrs Clemens’s hobby. Mark himself is rarely seen here, as he spends most of hia time in his den on the top floor, a cosy sanctum of literature and litter, dedicated to pipes, billiards, rocking-chairs, and native humor. The author of “The Jumping Frog” is an exceptionally good billiard player, and he has during the past year gone in for lawn tennis to an astonishing extent. He has one very quaint rule. He makes it a point, when he is at home, of seeing everyone who calls either begging or seeking to sell something. The buck negro has imperative orders to send no book pedlar or lightning rod dealer, or tramp, or map agent away. Mark insists on seeing them all. It seems good “ copy” he says and probably ho is right.