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Show FIRST LITERARY WORK IN KEOKUK, IOWA ST. JOSEPH. Mo.. April 22. George Roes of St. Joseph was the Ilrst person to give Samuel L. Clemens literary employment. em-ployment. Clemens was a typesetter In the office of the Keokuk (Iowa) Daily Post when, one day, Rcos. who was publisher pub-lisher of the paper, told him he thought he could make more money writing. "Mark Twain was always a lazy fellow fel-low and was not fast onough to set type," snld Mr. Rocs today, "so I suggested sug-gested ho travel In the country around ICcokuk and write letters for the paper. He wrote as a sample of his work, 'My First Visit to a Theater.' It was a humorous description of tho play. 'Julius Caesar.' "Wq sent Twain, out. Ho nsked ?S for 'his first letter, which wo paid. For his second he wanted $10. Wo paid that. Ho asked J15 for the third letter. We flatly refused to pay. Ho. soon left us nnd wont" on the river. He signed Iho name of Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass to the letters ho wrote for us." |