The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1880-11-17
GEN. JOHN SUFFER-.
A short Au,obioerapI,y OF the Man VINO
RfnnnHered cold I'm CmIfEOrm1a.

tersely told his lie story 70 his eAVel talIleAs
thus:
I was born in Switzerland in the year
1902; attended the military school at
Tbun: I was q classmate of Louis Ma
poleon. afterward Emperor of France; 1
emigrated to the United States in the
wear 1884, and proceeded to Missouri,
where [ engaged in farming. Ny spirit
of adventure led me to make expeditions
to New Mexico and in 1S4S, in company
with six trusty companions, / crossed
the plains and mountains % the Pacific
Ocean. In one sense am its pathfinder.
I then sailed for the Sandwich Islands,
and there purchased vessel, on which
put a valuable cargo for Sitlla, where the
| Russian authorities received me In great
style, and the Princess Menschilkotf,
| wife Of the Governor, did me especial
honor. Thence I proceeded to San
Francisco, where I arrived with my
| vessel almost wreck After proceeding
| to Monterey, ] soon returned, and pur-
| chasing some small craft l assembled the
| Sacramento River on an exploring eK-
| petition, 7 soon selected the site at the
| junction of the American and Sacramento
| Rivers as a suitable place to locate, 1t
was here I constructed what was known
| as Suffers fort, at a place called New
! HeIyetia, " [ soon accumulated large
| supplies and came to own immense
| herds of cattle and sheep. When qUes-
ton arose as to the British OF American
| forces taking possession Of the territory
of California promptly pulled down the
! Mexican standard, and hosting the stars
and stripes defed the British Gen. Sey-
mour to dispute the right OF my claiming
the territory on behalf of the United
States. At Colona, forty miles from my
! fort and farm, I constructed my saw
mill. When the emigrants commenced
| flocking in from across the plains, half
! famished and worn out from fatigue, /
was the means of sending organized re-
| lief parties, animals, and provisions to
| relieve them. When Marshall discovered
the gold, cautioned my hands at the
mill to keep the discovery secret for
while, and they did for few days. But
! I had a man and his family hired there.
| He worked at the mill and the women
did cooking. soQn after it was known
that there was gold there, and, in fact,
all the hands had some, one OF my white
teamsters came up with load OF pro
visions. The women told him there was
gold there, and he didn't believe 1t, but
thew cave him some. Well, q man
|
prophet. kept a store in one Of my out
| houses at the farm, so when this teamster
got back he went to Smith and bought
! bottle of brandy, and offered him pay in
| gold he had got at the mill. Smith came
| to me and asked if it were gold, and [
| had to tell him, and whew! the news
spread all oyer the country. People
| poured in from everywhere. All my
! hands left me. [ couldn't hire anybody,
| no matter what [ offered, to save my
crop. Emigrants came along and turned
| their stock on my wheat and it was all
destroyed. The people were Wild. They
didn't think wheat or anything else was
worth having bat gold. [ made my
Sandwich Islanders go to work, but they
spent all the gold they got at the whisky
shops that followed the diggers every
where. IF that gold discovery had just
come a few years later I'd have been a
millionaire But it broke me up for /
finally lost my Immigrant, and the
Supreme Court decided that the grant
wasn't good because it was not signed at
the Mexican capital 1t was a mere
technicality, but [ lost it. The govern
ment got 81 25 an acre for it, and that's
what I'm asking for now. When the
war took place out there [ gave up my
fort and all my arms to the government,
and it is nothing but fair that the govern
ment should give me the money my land
brought.
Some Curious Figures in Book Making.
From an interview with Mr.. William
H. Appleton, of the firm of d. Appleton
& Co., printed in the New York Herald,
we extract the following;
%
manuscript"
"Mr. Bryant did all his laboring over
the first draft of his poems, and the
manuscript as we received it was like
cOpper-plate.
How did his works sell?"
4hey have sold better since his
death than before, for some reason or
other"
"What is the best-selling book you
publish, if not too impertinent a ques-
zion ?"
''The best-selIing book we publish is
'Webster's Speller, and it has the larg-
est sale of any book in the world, ex-
cept the Bible. we sell 100000 copies
year"
GA million copies a year p'
eyes, and have for forty years, MAX
ing 10000, 900 of 'Webster's Spoilers
that have issued from our presses. The
year following the emancipation of the
slaves we sold ], 800, 900, because every
negro in the South thought it only nee
essary to have a 'Webster's Speller to
read. After that year it fell back to the
original million, and has never varied.
We sell them IN cases of seventy-two
dozen, and they are bought by all the
large dry-goods houses and supply
stores, and furnished by them to every
crossroads store in the country"
Can you always tell whether book |
will be successful3f
ono more than a manager can pre- |
dict the success of a play. For example, |
mined to publish it. The firm held a |
consultation, and some of the members
were for printing an edition of 1000, |
while others thought that was too many,
and doubted whether l 900 would sell. |
Finally we agreed to venture with 9, 900.
You may imagine our surprise when
tell you that we sold so, 900 copies Of
that novel"
Another successful novel was Miss
Muhlbach's 'Joseph II. and His Court.
Mr.. w. w. Appleton, while travelling
down South, came across copy of this
book printed at Atlanta Ca, during the
war. He bought it as curiosity, for it
was wretchedly printed on wrapping
paper. Having an idle hour or so one
day, he read the work and was at once
struck by the elements of popularity in
it, and it was published by the firm.
Every one will remember the success Of
this story, and how it was followed by
long series by the same author. Before
the accident that led to the publication
of "Joseph II" Muhlbach's novels had
been offered to nearly every publisher IL
New York, tAe Appletons among the
and refused. ]
Two very successful American books !
are Stewards Travels Around the
World, and "Gen. Sherman's Memoirs.
2. 49,. A. -