A LETTER FROM MARK TWAIN.

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 8687, 23 May 1889, Page 7

A LETTER FROM MARK TWAIN.

The following letter, addressed by the American humourist to the Pall Mall Gazette, refers to an article which was printed in that journal under the heading ‘.Mark Twain as an Inventor ': —‘ But you do me quite too much honour ! I did not invent that typesetting machine. In my letter to my English friend I did speak of it as •* my ’ machine, and of course that is what misled him, Wheu I own part of a piece of property I always speak of it as “ mine.” This is merely for grandeur. I ignore the other proprietors. On the same principle I always speak of America as my country. It is a misleading expression. Some think I own it all, others think I invented it. These are err rs, but they do no particular harm, and I allow them to pass. But in the case of this machine it doesn’t seem quite fair to let it pass. Mr J. W. Paige invented it, and has spent eighteen toilsome years upon it. It was promising to place him at the head of the world’s procession of inventors, when all of a sudden I seem to step in and claim bis miracle as my performance! Indeed, you would not like that yourself; nobody would. No, no, I must beg you to take back that great compliment which you have paid me; it is not deserved. I have built this machine at my private expense, and have been three formidable years at it. Ido claim a good deal of credit for that—l don’t know any particular reason why, yet I do—but I stop there.’