According to Twain's Autobiography (cited in the manual
of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing!), Twain became intrigued by a
typewriting demonstration in a Boston department store when he
was impressed with the typist's speed.  To his chagrin, he realized
later that the speed had been a gimmick:
        We got our our little slips [of typewritten words] and were
a little disappointed to find that they all contained the same words.
the girl had economized time and labor by memorizing a formula she
knew by heart.

        At home I played with the toy, repeating and repeating "the
The boy stood on the burning deck" until I could turn out that boy's
adventure at the rate of twelve words a minute: then I resumed the
]pen for business, and only worked the machine to astonish inquisitive
visitors.  They carried off reams of the boy and his burning deck.

        The manual comments that Twain wrote the ms. for _Tom Sawyer_
on the machine and credits him with inventing the double-spaced,
one-side-of-the-page ms. format we currently use.  Upon being
asked by the Remington Company for a testimonial, he wrote the
following:
        Gentlemen: Please do not use my name in any way.  Please do
not even divulge the fact that I own a machine.  I have entirely
stopped using the Type-Writer, for the reason that I never could
write a letter with it to anybody without receiving a request
in return that I would not only describe the machine but state
what progress I had made in the use of it, etc., etc.  I don't
like ot write letters, and so I don't want people to know that I own
this curiosity breeding little joker.  Yours truly, Saml. L. Clemens

        I'm changing offices and can't locate my copy of the Autobiography,
but maybe this will help.

Donna Campbell
SUNY College at Buffalo