MARK TWAIN HAS GRIEVANCE
The Writer Makes Complaint at City Hall Against Cab Driver.
Mark Twain went to me City Hall yesterday and told a story similar to some tales in his "Innocents Abroad." Mr. Clemens could see no joke in a New York cab driver overcharging a passenger and then becoming insolent.
"I am a patient and long-suffering citizen," said the humorist.
Secretary Downes was a first tempted to regard the matter as a Twain joke. Mr. Clemens told in all seriousness how he took a cab after a dinner at the Nineteenth Century Club to drive to his home in West Tenth Street. When the cab stopped, Mr. Clemens claimed that the cabman wanted an exorbitant fee. Payment was made under protest after Mr. Clemens demanded the number of the cab. As the nighthawk rounded into Fifth Avenue, Mr. Clemens claims the man hurled abuse at him from his high perch. It was also found that the cabman had given the wrong number of his license. His right number, it appears, is 191. Mr. Clemens did not see Mayor Van Wyck. He stated his complain to Mayor's Marshall David Roche. An officer was sent out to find the offending nighthawk and a hearing will be held on the matter this morning.
A TIMES reporter called at Mr. Clemens's residence, 14 West Tenth Street, and was informed that Mr. Clemens would see no newspaper men and would make no statement about the incident.
Mr. Clemens's stories of his adventures with hackmen abroad occupy many pages of his works.
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