MARK TWAIN IN THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC CHRONICLE
1866
[EDITOR'S NOTE: The author of this item is unknown.]
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"MARK TWAIN"
A Washoe genius yesterday explained to us the origin of the nom de plume "Mark Twain." "Wall now, d'ye see," said our informant, "'Mark' -- that is Sam, d'ye see -- used to take his regular drinks at Johnny Doyle's. Well, 'Mark,' that is Sam, d'ye see, used to run his face, bein' often short of legal tenders. Well, 'Mark,' that is Sam, d'ye understand, always used to take two horns consecutive, one right after the other, and when he come in there and took 'em on tick, Johnny used to sing out to his barkeep, who carried a lump of chalk in his weskit pocket and kept the score, 'mark twain,' whereupon the barkeep would score two drinks to Sam's account -- and so it was, d'ye see, that he come to be called 'Mark Twain.'"
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[transcribed from microfilm]
