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Butch Furse
Mark Twain has always been a favorite of mine. Maybe it was because I lived as a “river rat youth” in the Eastern Nebraska town of Plattsmouth that was located along the Missouri River and liked author Twain’s Tom Sawyer -- Huck Finn books depicting their activities along the Mississippi River.
A Mark Twain short one-page story tucked in away in my old desk drawer caught my attention and drew a smile. We all can need a few smiles now days, so I hope you find this interesting, so here goes:
Mark Twain once asked a neighbor if he might read a set of his books. The neighbor relied ungraciously that he was welcome to read them in his library, but he had a rule to never let a book leave his house. Some weeks later the same neighbor came over to Twain’s house to ask for the loan of his lawnmower.
“I shall be very glad to lend you my lawnmower,” said Mark Twain., “but since I made it a rule never to let it leave my lawn, you will be obligated to use it here.”
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Mark Twain once told a story of his early lecturing days. Arriving in a town that afternoon where he was to speak that evening and seeing that his lecture was poorly billed, he stopped in the general store and addressing the proprietor said:
“Good afternoon friend, any entertainment here tonight to help a stranger while away his evening?” The storekeeper straightened up, wiped his hands on his apron and said: “I expect there is going to be a lecture – I have been selling eggs all day.”
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In another drawer in the desk, I found this news clipping:
“A Nevada fugitive wanted on fraud charges was arrested when he applied to become a police officer in a Connecticut town. He had passed both the written and agility tests to become a police officer before he was caught on a routine background check which turned up his fugitive warrant.
Police quickly called him in to get his fingerprints, saying it was part of the job application. When he showed up, they pulled out the warrant and arrested him.”
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If you ever expect to have any pull, you have to push for it!
RL Furse is publisher emeritus of the News-Register
