McCook weekly tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 188?-1886, 1883-09-13
The Legitimate Successor of
Ananias.
Louisville Courier-Journal.

W "i,n iaSt; night Iouni MIN as good ma
tured as ever. The famous prevarica-
torti a rather small man, good looking,
with beard and moustache, dancing
blue eyes, quick, cat-like motions, and
one OF the most rapid takers one could
ind in days walk. The words seem
to be gurgling in his throat and chasing
each other out hot foot. He dresses
very. well, and altogether presents a
very tidy appearance.
| Yes, sir, have started new branch
IN journalism; something that is an in
noVatlon and success. / call it novel
istic Journalism. Dickens and Thack-
cry wrote novel in volume, and con-
sldered themselves fortunate when lOO.-
900 people read it in five years. write
n novel of 1000 words that is read by
more than 100000 people ten hours
after it has left my hand. Why, what
could be more attractive to literary
MANI Nobody is hurt by my little nov
els; nobody's morals are corrupted, land
all are entertained and sometimes in
structed. l have selected all sorts of
subjects for these stories many of them
have travelled over the world and have
been wondered at in twenty nations. /
am just thirty years old and am famous.
There Is not man in this country who
can read and write, and who has read
the newspapers that doesn't know of
Joe Mulhattan ! have fooled every
paper of prominence in the United
States, and some of my scientific sto-
ries have been discussed by the learned
societies of Europe
GStVhon did x1o,, boob, ,,o,..
mendacity?" interrupted the reporter.
81 have been writing my novels for
ten years now. started on the Pitts
burg Leader, and fooled them for three
or four years. wrote stories of mar
velous oil wells, of romantic highway
robberies, and things of that kind. /
then got to sending my novels to other
prominent journals. | started the story
OF John Wilkes Booth being seen in sew
eral places, and wrote SO circumstan-
tally that many believed it. | started,
as joke, the report that President Lin
coins bones would be exhibited at the
Centennial. The press of the country
took it up, and for weeks it was ma
tional question. l don't know how
many of these stories / wrote IN the
east. The biggest thing l wrote in this
part of the country was the Big City
tight, where q drummer wrestled with
two highwaymen on a bridge and final
~ threw them over. My cave story at
Glasgow Junction went all over the
world; you doubtless remember that.
found cave there larger than Mann
moth cave, with navigable rivers, num-
mics 1000 years old, and hundred
other marvellous things. The Leitch-
field story, about the finding of Masonic
emblems that had been buried for
thousands of years, showing a prehis-
tOric race of Masons, caused great ex-
element. l am prouder of my Glas-
Cow cave story than that any of the
others. 1t showed more invention and
more imagination"
"What was the basis of such Il mar
velous lie?'
"You mean such we'll imagined
novel. interrupted MIR. Mulhattan with
\ smile. why, there is never any
foundation TO my stories. Therein lies
my power. Almost anybody could
write 4 story with the foundation to
build OF it requires genius {" con-
'truct novel without any foundation
IN fact whatever, Ia evolve it all out of
your own mind as the spider draws the
web from its own body. / wrote that
hing about the finding of cave at
iallatin, where the jewels and the gold
1f the James brothers were found.
When Frank James read it, he turned
o I; jailOr and said: ON bet that story
vas written by Joe Mulhattan.
''What has been your success in
fexas?'
every fine. Isuppose you read my
meteor story. The Fort Worth Gazette
eceived the day after it was published
Il kilograms from all parts OF the
world; some were from ST. Petersburg,
ONE from London, from Edinburgh.
When [ visited Fort Worth afterward
hey gave me a fine banquet. The
texans enjoyed my novels immensely.
'ome of my stories have never been
ontradicted, especially that one about
he finding of five skeletons under
rec where the people had all been
lied by lightning. They are talking
+ running me for congress down there.
ON Ochiltree, who used to be
riendly with me before, hardly speaks
D me now. He says the meteor story
aid him cold. He will never amount
D anything again as liar
"Ihat last balloon story which is 60
ng the rounds, of man hanging by
NO fingers while he was dragged four
lilies, reads like you wrote it,
"No," replied the Jules Verne of
.merican newspapers, with a sigh of
egret at such good lie having escaped
i'm. 81 didn't write it, but whoever
id it was good one. | couldn't have