From contemporary comments by those who heard him, I think the slowness of his speech was what set it apart from others with a southern or Missouri accent. This month's Harper's (September) has some excerpts (p. 16) from the forthcoming book on MT's Interviews (U-Alabama Press), gathered under the heading "Mark's Twang" and the slowness is the feature that dominates there as well. No insult intended, but I've met some southerners (I am one) and some Missourians who spoke so slowly I wanted to push a button in between their words, to start them up again. I have met some Texans who spoke so fast that I likewise wanted to push a button to make them stop. The thing I find most striking is that those who describe his speech in private conversation give very similar accounts to those who heard it on the lecture platform. Perhaps the dramatic pauses were longer on the platform (and maybe not), but from what I've read, I gather that Twain sounded pretty much the same in private and in public. One hint to the pace of his speech might be found in his personal copy of SKETCHES (1875) that he marked for public readings. He heavily edited the piece "How I Edited an Agricultural Paper" adding about as much as he deleted (generally increasing the name-calling and exaggerating the exaggerations even further) and then marked the delivery time at the top of the first page-- "20 mins." So, fellow Twainians, you can all stand in front of mirrors with stop-watches and read that piece aloud until you get it to exactly 20 minutes and you'll have an idea of just how slow (or fast) he spoke. For the twang and the rest of it you're on your own. Kevin Mac Donnell Austin TX