The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1880-02-13
EMPEROR NORTON 1.
The San Francisco Count Joan,ses ApIa
His Queer DeinRss

His Queer 1einRss
There died recently In San Francisco
q curious character who in some re-
spects resemhled the late Count Joannes.
81 New York. His name was Joshua
a. Norton, and he was known AS En-.
peror Norton l., ruler of California and
mexico. A San Francisco correspond
ent OF the Chicago Tribune thus DIES.
crlbes some of his peculiarittes. "He
was In the habit of issuing proclama-
lions on all sorts Of subjects. signing
them Norton l., and procuring their
puDJlcatlon IN some paper, The hoys
at the telegraph Office in this city were
apparently instructed TO humor the
emperor; for, whenever he handed in
dispatch for transmission the ans wer
would come in about ten mlAptss,
IN his pocket at the time Of his death
was one telegram purporting to come
from Governor Perkins, inviting him
to the inauguration at Sacramento in
terms hardly eonsonent with guberna-
Sorlai dignity; and another from the
Hon. Y. 5. Parnell, New York, cuuched
as follows: Accept my thanks for
your interest on behalf of my distressed
eountrymen. The land question will
be avoided, but grant me your authority
20 call on the American people to re-
ueve lreland's wants. You can call for
subscriptions on the generous public
OF your coast, and remit to me at your
convenience
He would call on downtown mer-
chants from three to FIVE times a
year, and would receive from each the
sum OF four bits, in exchange for which
he thanded over the following bond |;
sIhe Imperial government of Norton
4, promises to pay to the holder hereof
the sum of fifty cents In the year 1890.
with interest at four per centum per
annum from Gate; principal and inter
est to De convertible, at holders option
at maturity, into twenty-year four per
centum bonds, or payable In gold coin.
Given under our Imperial hand and seal.
N0rton l., emperor. These bonds, like
all the poor fellows manuscripts, were
written IN an excellent hand, and were
iauttiess IN regard both to punctuation
and photography. It was rare indeed
that he called on any business man who
didnot honor this periodical assessment:
but when a refusal did come, the en-
peror turned with as polite a bow and
cordial a Success to YOU as though
he had received the money. His renT,-
tation for honesty was such that ner-
chants never scrupled to hand him a
$50 gold piece, which he would 60 and
get changed outside, and religiously re-
turn the $40 80 with his imperial
bond, which he considered a permit to
trade within the limits of his realm. In
TINS way Norton made more than
enough to defray bis slender expenses.
He had occupied for the past seventeen
years the same room in a lodging house,
and had paid his room rent, fifty cents q
day, regularly every evening. The walls
OF the room were adorned with nor
traits of Queen Victoria, the Empress
Eugene, and Others of the crowned
heads of Europe. He believed himself
their equal.
His death has revived the old story
that he was natural son of King VIII
liam Nv. Certain it is that, born in
London In 1917, he early left home for
the Cape of Good Hope. From there
he emigrated to Valparaiso, REMAINING
there till the gold fever of 184S attracted
thousands to California. Almost i'm
medately after his arrival there he
seems to have been recognized as n
shreWd, honest, enterprising business
man, and to have been entrusted with
Important purchasing commissions on
behalf of several firms already estab-
hshed in Frisco. His gains, which
were considerable, he invested in real
estate; and in time Joshua A. Morton
became quite a noted land speculator.
one OF the large buildings owned bv him
being in what up to few years ago was
IN the very center of the business DOR
ton of the city. Unfortunately for Nor
toRs he became impressed with the
then prevail ing mania for getting up a
corner in some article Of daily con-
sumption, and in 1852 he bought up all
the rice warehoused in the CITY, beside
all the floating cargoes of that staple.
Expecting as he did to obtain control
of the market, he did not hesitate to
satisfy the holders demands, and one
firm received from Norton the round
price OF fifteen cents a pound for cargo
to arrive. As frequently happens in
such cases, after Norton had spent the
whole of his ready cash in buying all
the cargoes expected, large cargo
reached San Francisco from an un-
looked for source. The Spectator, who
had calculated on coming out of the op-
Grafton a millionaire, was unable to
take it up, and, as a natural conse-
quence, the price OF rice took terrible
tumble. NortOn's losses were such that
he was forced to sell a considerable
portion of his real estate, and he be-
came involved in long and weary liti-
cation. After time the strain upon his
mental faculties proved too great. His
mind became unbalanced, and, having
been prospective ruler of the rice mar
ket, his hallucination assumed tie
shape of an imperial sway over Cali
fornia and Mexico"