Show casesThe New York Herald has started a subscription for the benefit of 31 Twain and has generously headed it with 1000 Twain himself appreciates I the kindness of it all and also the possibility of humor there is in it He tells a story which may be taken as an apology for the appeals for contributions contri-butions and a hint not to make the appeals too long or too distressing This is the story A missionary once visited visit-ed Hartford and made a long and pathetic pa-thetic appeal for funds wherewith to relieve misery and distress in the slums where he was working After listening to the agonizing story of suffering I fering Mark Twain said to himself For Gods sake send that plate round so that I can pour my sympathy into I it Ill give these four 100 bills and if I can get a piece of paper Ill write I a check for something more I can very well spare a little money for = cause like that But the lecturer went on talking and as he talked Twains enthusiasm calmed and the red flush of his sympathy became paler And when the missionary had been talking about half an hour I had I saved one of those bills and when he I had talked five minutes more two of I those bills were mine again and when he had talked an hour I had won al I four back and by gosh when he finally fin-ally did send that plate round I borrowed bor-rowed 10 cents out of It to pay my carfare car-fare home The story is well worth the contribution contri-bution anyone may make |