IIOFICKFII,
HOUSE WHERE MARK TWAIN'S
HERO LIVtD TORN DOWN.
Hannibal, Mo., Where Place Stood,
Unconscious of Its Greatness —
Anecdote of House and of
the Two Mark Twains.
Hannibal, Mn. —Huckleberry Finn's j
ancient, habitation in North Hannibal,
near the river front, has passed from
the earth. Since Hannibal has admit
ted that Mark Twain was really a
great man it has taken particular
pride in the "hoary-headed" domicile
and the revenue derived from post
cards showing the structure would
have built a much better house. R.
H. Coons, the owner of the property,
recently had the "Huck" Finn home
torn down to erect a row of modern
flats, which will have, it is hoped, a
livening effect on the somewhat I
dreamy district of North Hannibal.
A characteristic story is told in con
nection with the house. One summer
day a gentleman from the east came
to Hannibal to secure data for a
Mark Twain story. He could And Hol
liday hill easily enough without a
guide, because it towered tip to the
sky on the north end. and prevented
the town's further extension unless
the ;.',o'.ul citizens take a i. iti'jn to tun
nel.
A.i lea man was asked for the direc
tion to Huck Finn's cottage.
"Never heard of him," said the na
tive. "Ho sure don't live in these
parts."
The stranger went west a block and
accosted a boy with a fishing rod on
his shoulder.
"He don't run with our crowd," he
said. "Maybe he lives down by the
bridge."
"I'm not looking for Huck Finn him
self," said the visitor. "He's dead, but
"Then you might try the grave
yard," replied the boy. "It's up yon
der —the stones is marked, I reckon."
Presently a citizen came along who
could furnish the information. Muck's
home was only two blocks from where
the ice man said "he didn't live in
those parts." In the basement door
stood a black "aunty," with her hands
resting on her hips. She wore a tri
colored handkerchief on her head.
"1 knows." she said; "you's one o'
dem relickv hunters."
"I'm engaged in gathering some ma
terial in reference to Mark Twain,"
House Where Huckleberry Finn Once
Lived.
said the easterner, pleasantly, "and as
this is—"
"Well, you' needn't go no furder,"
said the big aunty hospitably. "He's
right heah."
"Who's here?"
"Mark Twain."
"In this house?"
"To be she!."
"What's he doing here?" asked the
surprised visitor.
"Ah doan' know, but yo' kin cum in
an' see."
She led the way to another under
ground apartment, and. with pride,
pointed to something on a pallet. The
stranger's eyes, gradually becoming
accustomed to the semi-light, distin
guished an infant pickanniny busily
endeavoring to swallow its glossy arm.
As the two came and stood by the bed
it suspended operations and thought
fully regarded thein out of two big
white eyes.
"Quite a baby," said the guest.
"How'd you come to call it Mark
Twain?"
"Da tole me if Ah did that. Mistali
Bam Clemens, wot' used to lib heah,
would sen' 'im suinthin' nice."
"Did he?"
"Ah reckon Mistah Clemens thot hit
was nice," she said, doubtfully; 'he
sent 'im a raazer an' a lookin' glass."
"Mr. Clemens was grateful?"
"Mebbe so. And he writted to my
ole man sayin' if the raazer did what
he expected he'd be pleased to sen' a
tombstone fer th' baby."
"Mason and Dixon's Line."
"Mason and Dixon's line" is a refer
ence to a boundary which was estab
lished in the years intervening from
1763 to 1767, between the colonies of
Maryland and Virginia on the one
side, and that of Pennsylvania on the
other side, by Charles Mason and
Jeremiah Dixon, who were two Eng
lish civil engineers. So thoroughly
was the allotted task performed by
these young Englishmen that an 184S
revision of the survey failed to detect
the slightest error. The United
States government also, as recently as
1901, has caused the Maryland por
tion of the noted boundary line to be
again revised.
True American Spirit.
Within two years since the great
earthquake which undid San Fran
cisco, that heroic city has put $ 100,-
000,000 into building operations, of
which, according to trustworthy state
ments, all but $-1,000,000 came from
local sources.
Public Debt Has No Terrors.
The municipality of Vienna has a
public debt of exceptional magni'uii*
which it now proposes to increase by
4L* pun-bat** of co«i in i Let, in Moravia. I
N
RAILROAD TO FORT CHURCHILL.
Locomotive Whistle Will End Romanes
of Canadian North.
Ottawa, Ont. —Civilization will apaln
reach out a long steel arm of railway
to snatch from the Indian and trapper
a huge chunk of the wilderness.
The dominion house of commons
has voted approval to a project to
build a line to Fort Churchill on the
westward of the Hudson bay. This
marks the beginning of the end of the
Hudson Hay Company's rule of the
northwest territories, a monopoly
which 4 tlie fur traders have held since
1656.
Sufficient funds for the project will
at once be appropriated, in spite of
the opposition of the Hudson Bay
Company. Its completion means
speedy access to ail to the furred rich
es of the frozen north and a new out-
I L^ V hujdsohSi
avl)
Terminus of Projected Railroad.
let for (he hardy wheat of the Cana
dian plains.
Fort Churchill is one of (he few trad
ing posts still maintained and gov
erned by the fur monopoly. It is sit
uated at the mouth of the Churchill
river, where the ranoes of the trappers
from the inland lakes slip silently
down each spring to exchange their
cargoes of pelts for the coin and rum
of his majesty's servants. It is 900
miles north of Duluth and 400 miles
from the nearest railroad station.
| Water connections by means of the
| river and a score of inland lakes make
| ihe fort the key to the commerce of
! the provinces of Kunwatin. Saskatchc
| wan, Athabasca and Northwest Alber
ia. From Fort Churchill large canoes
J and small steamers can go 800 miles
l into the interior. The country is the
I home of the musk ox, the polar bear,
I the walrus, the brown bear, the cari
; bou and moose. It is one of the richest
i game countries in the world.
TO REPORT ON ALASKAN COAL.
Wallace Atwood, Going to Territory
for Government.
Washington.—Wallace W. Atwood,
who has been appointed to estimate
the value of coal in Alaska and report
on the best site lor a coaling station
UW /
-JiTkZOQD
in the territory, for the United States
geological survey, is an instructor in
geology and physiography in the Uni
versity of Chicago) He spent two
years investigating the mineral depos
its and mines of Alaska. Mr. Atwood
was graduated from the University of
Chicago in 1807 and lias held positions
in the United States geological sur
vey and the state geological surveys
of New Jersey, Wisconsin and Illi
nois.
West Has Not Had Due Share.
Since the United States government
began to patronize expositions, down
to the Jamestown fair, congress has
appropriated a total of $28,7fi2,2. r il for
world's fairs, of which only $485,000
has been spent west of the Rocky
mountains, at the Lewis a.jj Clark ex
position.
Cuban Sugar Production Short.
As a result of a drought It is now
generally acknowledged in sugar cir
cles that the Cuban suffar production
r this season wtlr not exceed POO.OOC
112 tons, a deficit of about LOO,OOO ton-
I from t be previous orop. - i
STOESSELIN PRISOB
DEFENDER OF PORT ARTHUR
NOW A BROKEN MAN.
Loss of Uniform His Greatest Humill
ation Watches from Window
Winter Palace Where He Once
Was an Honored Guest.
St. Petersburg.—An American news
paper correspondent recently was per
mitted to interview Gen. Stoessel, ihc
defender of Port Arthur, in prison
Here is what be writes:
Two cold blue eyes examined me
through a tiny wicket in the door, and
a rough voice said:
"What do you want ?"
"i wish to see Gen. Stoessel," I an
swered.
"Have you permission?" said the
voice.
"Here is my ticket." I said, pro
ducing a card on which it was stated
that the commander of the fortress oi
St. Peter and St. Paul bad the honor
to accord me leave to sea the "noble
man Stoeswel."
The gate in the high stone wall was
opened and a soldier appeared, lit
then showed the way to the reception
room in one of the buildings in the
court beyond.
We had not long to wait for Stoers
sol. Punctually "t ouo o'clock h?
came i'tto the room. He v•> f'rer
In a black frock coat, bis voice w as
weak tmrt lie looked old ,md more
wrinkled than when he was 011 tria.
a few months ago. He in now a brok
en man who realizes tVnt h ; hun lc .1
in the game of life.
'Ob. yes. one can live here, and in
sufficient comfort," he replied to our
inquiries about his life, "but it is a
vegetable existence. More than any
thing I feel tiie loss of my uniform.
J I
MADAME.-JTOEJJEL H
For 40 years I have worn the dress
of an officer and now I am not allowed
to put on the coat, of a common sol
dier or to use a military cap."
"How does your excellence spend
the day?" I asked.
"It begins very early for St. Peters
burg,' lie replied, "at nine o'clock they
bring the samovar and I take tea.
The authorities do not provide broad
and we have to provide that for our
selves. Alter a light, breakfast I dress
and go out for a walk in the little gar
den. At one o'clock I and the other
officers imprisoned in the fortress dint
together and after the meal i alway:.
find my wife waiting to see me. W<
have a right to receive friends on 1 %
once a week, but the czar has ac
corded me the special privilege to see
my dear wife every day. She re
mains until three o'clock and is not
permitted to stay longer. When she
is gone I stroll in the garden for u lit
tle and then I settle down to work.
1 am writing my memoirs."
"Perhaps you will allow me to see
your room," I said. "1 have special
permission from the governor to do
so."
"Certainly," replied Stoessel, "but 1
warn you it is not very imposing."
We crossed the courtyard together,
entered another building and were
soon in a vaulted apartment, furnished
with great simplicity. There was a
little bed", a square table, a cupboard
and, behind a screen, a wash-stand
and two comfortable armchairs. The
lapping of the waters of the Neva
could be heard on the stone walls, a
monotonous, plaintive sound, half sad
and half soothing. Through the barred
windows a glorious view could be seen
Far across the broad expanse of the
river stood out in the bright sunshine
the winter palace.
"I have often been there to see the
emperor; I have dined there and
years ago danced at th< court balls.
I never expected to see it.day by day
from a prison window."
Stoessel sighed as he looked sadly
towards the palace and then, turning
to me, said: "There is only one beau
tiful thing here, the church. 1 lov.} to
go there and stand near the tombs ol
'.he czars while the choir is singing
the praises of the Lord a:;d of'the Vir
gin. That rests and comforts me. In
my heart I know that I did what 1
rensidered best for my country, but a
scapegoat had to be found lor the
sins of the army during the war and
I suffer for many."
The heavy door was suddenly
thrown open and a harsh voice said:
"Your guest must go."
"Come and see me again,' said m>
unhappy hoe', and 1 left him still pa*
ing at the paiace across the Neva.
-fra- I- -*V- >,V; jr-.C'
If |- "'J •- i_
< pY= j= p=s > / ' Loomis
I r | | / / 4 —-j^W-
HS. WORTHING,
Mrs. Gregory
Worthing, said to
me the other day:
"I cannot un
derstand why it is
that so many
mothers think
their ducks ars
swans. Now,
there's Mrs.
Brown, always
boasting about
the rapid progress
that her Dorothy
has made in
music, and my
Ethel, who did
not begin until a
term later, plays
a great deal bet
ter.
"Different moth-
Jit
crs boast of different things," she went
on. "but alm-st all ov.t i lyelf toast,
about r.omething in tneir « hildr< n, ;n 1
i'or my part 1 think ihe chi!.!:«-n in
this place aro very ordimry. Greg
ory cariles hima* II vary much better
than most children, because I insist
ed upon his going into New York to
take dancing lessons when he was not
eight, but the average boy of to-day
is awfully slouchy. And yet I heard
Mrs. Harrison talking about ht-r son
Arthur being as straight as an In
dian, and that he got it from his fa
ther. Fancy, that undpr-sized little
John Harrison!
"And Mrs. Winslow says that Bar
bara sews remarkably well for a
girl of ten, and she is always showing
me the last thing she has done. Why,
Ethel sewed well naturally. 1 never
taught her a stitch, but she does all
my towel hemming now. But I never
would think of boasting of it.
"And the other day 1 happened to
say that Gregory has quite a correct
ear, and that now that his voice has
changed he sang better than any of
The neighborhood sale, held at an
old homestead, brings out. the impor
tance and the force of the man who
has be"n thrifty and who has ready
money at command. It is a sad pic
ture —the passing of the farm, the dis
integration of a family, the blighting
of a thousand memories that cluster
about a hearthstone. At such a time
the squeaky voice of ready money be
comes thunderous in tone, awing the
modest aspiration of a neighbor who
looks toward the purchase of a yoke
of cattle, a wagon, a colt; and when
ready money seems determined the
promissory notes of the modest fall
back into tameness and silence. But
ready money does not care to acquire
everything at a neighborhood sale.
Being material it looks to material
things, and its estimate of the spir
itual is but. shallow, so, when at the
Groggin sale Lim Jucklin outbid
Stoveall, and become possessed of a
pile of old books heaped on 'lie floor,
some of his friends marv«ied that he
should have run the risK nf exciting
the opposition of the wealthiest man
in the community.
"Oh, I knew that he didn't want
'em," said Lim as he climbed to a seat
upon the rail fence, a low but esti
mative throne of observation. "In his
house they would be just so much
rubbish. They don't talk to him. and
when a book don't speak to a man it
Is the dumbest thing in the world. It
can't make as much noise as a pig,
for a pig squeals; quieter than a duck,
for a duck quacks—it simply takes its
place along with the brickbat or the
old shoesole that curls up in the sun.
But when a book even whispers to a
man it tells him the . sweetest of se
crets. It tells him that he ain't a
blamed fool, and this is a mighty im
portant piece of news. Whenever I see
an old book 1 think of Abe Lincoln.
He gathered corn for two days, keep
in' up the down row, for a life of
Washington, and you men that have
humped yourselves all day behind a
wagon know what that means. He
was lendin' his body to the work of
openin' up his soul. It came hard,
that book did; it meant backache, for
it took Lincoln a long time to reach
down to the ground, but it meant
more than if he had been worltin' for
a hundred dollars a day. Don't under
stand me to say that every man that
thinks so much of a book will be
great; he may never be able togo to
a sale such as this and buy a yoke of
steers, but in the long run it will be
worth more to him than all the steers
that Old Elisha was a plowin' when
the call came for hlrri togo up."
"Rut the prophet was a bandlin' of
»teers instead of books." remarked
stoveall, who had come walking sic w
-I,v to Join Lim's audience.
"Yes. that'* a fact," Lim replied.
the boys in the choir, and that was
enough for Mrs. Demock. She began,
and she talked and talked about the
beauty of Clement's voice, and said
that he took after her. Absolute con
ceit, and yet she never imagined for
a moment that 1 noticed it. Now, with
Gregory, his singing comes perfectly
natural, because I have always sung,
and in fact when I was a girl I use J
to be always asked to sing in com
pany, hut when I married I gave
it up."
When 1 remembered that to my un
prejudiced eyes Gregory was a good
natured hobbledehoy and Ethel a kind
hearted hut hopelessly commonplace
child, I couldn't help wondering with
Mrs. Worthing why it is that so many
mothers think their ducks are swans,
(j)— & —<•)
F THERE is a boy
that I admire in
the suburb in
■wli!ch I live,
which 3uburb i'l
in Connecticut, by
the May, it is
Tom Bingham. He
iu tail an<J sturdy
and good tem
pered and a favor
ite with boys and
girls; he has a
well developed
sense of humor,
and I never meet
him but I find that
we two have a
good deal in com
mon in spite of
our GO years' dis
parity.
The other even-
Hj
ing I went into town in the same car
with his mother and father, and I had
rjuite a chat with Mrs. Bingham, who
is very different from Mrs. Worthing.
Our subject was children, and 1 con
fessed to her that I was clean dis
couraged about my boy Harry; that
"He was a plowin' ten or fifteen yoke
of cattle if I recollect right, but he
didn't go to Heaven till he took his
mind off the cattle. Didn't take none
of his oxen with him, but he took wis
dom with him, and a gocd book is the
mouthpiece of wisdom. How old are
you, Brother Stoveall?"
"I'm eighty odd."
"Gettin' along putty well. And now,
lookin' back over your life, what have
you enjoyed the most?"
"Well, it don't seem to me now that
I've ever enjoyed anything since I was
a boy. It has been a scuffle for me to
live and to take care of what little I
had raked together. I have had to
watch man all the time to keep him
from robbin' me."
"But he could only rob you of mate
rial things. If you'd been wiser you
would have laid up somethin' he
couldn't rob you of, and you could
have set down by your fire at night
and dreamed over it without any fear.
You have known all along that they
were goin' to blow the horn for you
some day. It has always been cer
tain tiiat you had togo, and then who
is j*o:n' to take care of the things you
have raked together? Come to think
about it,l don't believe I ever heard
you laugh right good."
"I haven't had anything to laugh
about." the old man replied.
"And nobody else that was always
afraid that he might be robbed while
he laughed. But you have been
robbed out of a mighty few pennies;
ever since I can remember you have
been able togo to a sale and buy what
you wanted, and yet of all the men I
know, Stoveall, your life has been the
biggest failure."
"Jucklin, I could buy and sell you
three times in a day, with the price
doubled every time 1 bought you
back."
"Oh, you mean my land and my
house. Yes, I reckon you could, but
you never saw money enough to buy
me. In lookia' through advertisements
for bargains did you ever find happi
ness for sale? No sir, for there ain't
no bankrupt stocks of happiness. Oh.
I used to think along your line. I
didn't think that I'd eve* be happy till
I owned all the land adioiuin' my
farm, and I was miserable because I
saw no chance of gettin' it. Every day
or so I'd see a hearse goin' down the
road, haulin' some old fellow to the
graveyard, and one day it came on
me all of a sudden that I had togo
along there, too. Then I 'lowed that I
ought to get as much happiness out
of the world as possible, and I was
thinkin' abcut it one day while I was
in town, and 1 says to the county
.iedge, says I. 'Jedge, is there any way
for a man turned forty-five to be hap
py?' lie asked me if I could read, and
I told him I could make out my aarne
it did seem as if all my talking and
advice and splendid example since he
was born had been thrown away on
him, and that he seemed more thought
less and hopeless every day.
"Why, I'm perfectly astonished tc
hear you say so," she said. "I was
telling Mr. Bingham only last night
that if there was a manly, well
brought-up boy in the place it was
your Ilarry, and he agreed with me.
Dear me! if you had such a chap as
Torn to bring up you might well
despair. I sometimes wonder wheth
er we'll ever get any credit for hav
ing tried to bring him up in the way
he should go."
"Why, Mrs. Bingham, surely you are
Joking," said I. "You son Tom is the
one boy in town that I think is a
credit to bis parents. He always lifts
his cap when he meets me; the other
day I saw him helping the washerwom
an over a bad place on the icy pave
n <Mit, :iii I I kno.v that he 13 a great f.v
■vorite with Iho other boys—and girls,
tco. 1 don't belicvj you your
boy Tom tt all."
And then it came over mo lllie t
thunder clap: "Do 1 know my boy
Harry? Does ho show off hu best
points at home?"
And it struck me that perhaps Mrs..
Bingham and I were better off in our
sons than either of us imagined.
(Copyright, by James Pott & Co.)
On Terra Firma.
"What does become of all the pins?"
cried Mrs. X, as she vainly sought for
one on her dressing table.
"I know, mamma," cried her little
son, who had just begun to study
Latin, "They fall to the earth and be
come terrapins."—Harper's Weekly.
At the Intelligence Office.
Manager—Do you wish a plain cook,
madam?
Mrs. Honeymoon—Yes, please; just
as plain as possible.—Judge.
if It was printed in a sheriff's sale
Then he said: 'Well, read good books
and think about 'em. Don't read the
things that will stimulate you to ar
gufy, hut the things that will feed
your mind without raisin' its bristles.
Some books are full of the sweet un
selfishness of the human heart. Read
them. Some make the fancy play like
you have seen the lightnin' of an
everiin' on a low-hangin' cloud far over
in the west. Read them. Don't read
the vicious ones any more than you'd
keep rlose company with a vicious
man. Do this and you'll find the world
openin' up toward the past and a
brightenin' toward the future. One
man is really stronger than another
for what he knows and not for what
he's got. We know he can't take his
material things with him, but no man
knows that he can't take the spir
itual things. Solomon was the wisest
man, It is said, but I believe he would
have been a little wiser if he hadn't
been quite so rich. He wouldn't have
been mixed up with so many women,
and right there is where he proved he
wan't any wiser than some of the rest
of us.
"Well, I thought over what the coun
ty jedge* said, and I began to read,
slow at first, for I hadn't been well
schooled, and the more I read the
bigger my farm seemed to grow, and
now I've got more than ten million
acres under cultivation. Laws a
massy, what a chance you youngsters
have. Instead of bein' happy only in
the latter end of your life you can be
gin now. I don't mean that you should
neglect any work that you may have
to do, or that you shouldn't want to
make money, but I do mean that you
ought to lay up an estate that can't
become bankrupt. I am a givin' you
old talk, it is true, but it is the old
principles that touch man the most,
for they have always had a bearin' on
his life. Don't understand me to
mean, boys, that you should become
bookish, but jest to mix your readin'
in along with your life. It will keej>
you from breakin' yourself down try
in' to keep up with some man that can
make money easier than vor can, and
he will always be there, jest a little
in front of you. Love your feller-man,
for lie's all right in the long run. He's
got more sympathy than hate. Some
body may tell you that human nature
is all selfish, but don't you believe it.
Well." he added, getting down off the
fence. "I must box up my gold now
and cart it home. Coin' my way.
Brother Stoveall?"
"Yes, Jucklin, but you are no com
pany for me."
"I reckon that's right," Limuel re
plied. "I know it must be right, fo*
1 haven't got anything you want."
(Copyright. by Opte Hea.l|