The Daily state register. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1870-1872, 1871-05-16
A MASTERPIECE OF FICTION.

NaSN
entitled 1.-THE Case of Summerfield,"
which for plausibility, and every other
ability except General De, eclipses the
world renowned Moon Hoax, and rem
ders Mark Twain'S murder of the
Hopkins family at Dutch Nick's insig-
nificant. The document purport> to
be a manuscript left by and "a few
hours previous to the death of that
distinguished lawyer, Leonidas Par
ker." of San Francisco. The manu-
script was left, for publication, lin a
journal of the widest circulation to
the care of wv. H. R." which initials,
filled out, could he made to read Will
liam Henry RhodeS-otherwise CaN-
ton. The story opens with a long
quotation from the (mythical) Auburn
Messenger, of November l, 1870, Civ
ing particular fits to a (~mythical JUS
tice of the Peace of Placer county,
California, named James q. Wilkins,
for myseriously dismissing the myth
icaI) distinguished lawyer, Leonidas
Parker who was charged with the
(mythical) murder of the tmythicaD
~Summerfield by showing him off the
cars at Cape Horn, on the Central Pa
citic Railroad, ETC., etc. The distin-
guished lawyer then goes on to say
that he had known deceased in Texas:
that he was a man of rare attainments
master of astronomy, chemistry,
etc., and a philosopher OF the first
water. The man Summertield last
year made his appearance in San Fran
cisco and stated that in experimenting
he had not only discovered the art of
decompoSing water SO as to fit it for
use as a fuel for ordinary purposes,
but that he could make water burn
itself up-that he could envelope the
world in flames by igniting the ocean
with a globule of potassium within
which was a pill prepared by himself,
and which, once liberated in water,
would continue its work of decomposi-
ton until all the liberated oxygen of
that fluid had been consumed by the
fire originated by the potassium-the
substances discovered being r%ecreative
and self-generating, like flames in
prairie grass. He demanded one mil
lion dollars i'll coin as blackmail. I'M
| ,yar , Il raat of SattID,r fro IN tho plritIa
and, to convince THAT distinguished
lawyer, Leonidas Parker" that he
could do what he threatened, he
burned a basin full of Spring Valley
water. Parker, TO raise the money
and save the world, called in "a lead
ing banker (Ral>ton, perhaps, a Bish-
op (Alemanyor Kipp?, a chemist. two
State University Professors, a physi-
clan. a Judge and two Protestant di-
vines to witness the destructiveness
of Summerfield's pill IN a large scale.
"A small sandhill lake. near the sea
shore, but separated from it by a ridge
of lofty mountains, distant not more
IMAM ttH IilIt> HUN san TIdlicI>cp,
was burned in a iitiy-not a drop of
water being left. Then 1.-The principal
men of San Francisco" got awtully
scared and raised $780, 600, but the
other half million couldn't be raised
to save us, and old Summertield was
memorable. That distinguished law
Yer, Leonidas Parker" was appointed
a committee of one to accompany
Symmetrical 10 New York and raise
the other N-hundred thousand-the
pill-man being persuaded into the de-
lay after much difficulty. But the
bishop sensible old cussg concluded
the world wasn't safe while a man
possessing such a secret lived, and
that distinguished lawyer, Leonidas
Parker" was unanimously instructed
the road. After a long and painful
struggle. that tender-hearted but dis
tinguished lawyer succeeded in
working himself up into the position
of an honorable murderer, such as
Sheriffs, soldiers, Ponlpey extermi-
mating the pirates of the Adriatic,
Charlotte Corday stabbing Marat in
his bath tub, Lincoln, Thomas, Sheri-
dan, Grant ad id, and started. At Cape
Horn, in Placer county, he h'isted old
Summerfield overheard, and that ter
rible old pill brought up at the bottom
of a precipice 1000 feet below.
That is about the substance of the
ten and plausible. But we doubt the
propriety of such sensational yarns.
This one will doubtless create a de-
mand for the Democratic Review of