Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-08-30
JOE. MULHATTAN.
The Legitimate Successor of Ananias
Returns to His First Love from a Trip
to Texas-SOme of His Latest 'sNoveIs."
Louisville cOurieT-JOurnal.


Louisville c0urier-.Journal.
Mr.. Joseph Mulhattan is in town. and a
COuTier-,JOurRGl reporter who talked to
him last night found him as gOOd-natured
as ever. The famous prevaricator is
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 find in a
| days walk. The words seem to be gurg-
ling in his throat and chasing each other
| out, hot-foot. He dresses very we'll. and
altogether presents a very tidy appear
ance.
Eyes, sir, have started a new branch
in journalism; something that is an inno-
walton and q success. / call it noyeIistic
journalism. Dickens and Thackeray
wrote novel in a volume, and considered
themselves fortunate when 100000 people
read it in five years. / write a novel of
| 1000 words that is read by more than
| 100000 people in ten hours after il has
left my hand. Why, what could be more
| attractive to literary man? Nobody is
hurt by my little novels; nObOdy's morals
are corrupted, and all are entertained and
! sometimes Instructed. Ihave selected all
sorts of subjects for these stories: many
OF them have travelled over the world and
have been wondered at in twenty nations,
l am Just thirty years old and am famous.
AhCiC 10 hot q man III IulS country VINO
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 stories have been
discussed by the learned societies of
Europe"
"When did you begin your career of
mendacityy" interrupted the reporter.
have been writing my novels for ten
wears now Cfarfad on 4ko
Leader, and fooled them for three or four
years. wrote stories of marvellous
wells, of romantic highway robberies and
things of that kind. / then got to send
ing my novels to other prominent Jour-
nails. l started the story of John Wilkes
Booth being seen in several places, and
wrote so circumstantially that MANY be-
lieVed 1t. l started, as joke, the report
that President Lincoln's bones would be
exhibited at the Centennial. The press of
the country took it up, and for weeks it
was national question. don't know how
many of these stories l wrote in the East.
The biggest thing wrote in this part of the
country was the Big Clifty fight, where a
drummer wrestled with two highway
men on bridge and finally threw them
over. MY cave story at Glasgow junction
went all over the world; you doubtless re-
member that. j found cave there larger
than Mammoth Cave, with navigable
rivers, mummies 1000 years old, and
hundred other marvellous things. The
Leltchheld story about the finding of Ma
sonic emblems that had been buried for
thousands OF years, showing prehistoric
race Of MaSOns, caused great excitement.
| am prOuder of my Glasgow cave story
than any of the others. 1t showed more
invention and more Imagination
Nv hat was the basis of such a marvel
Gus lie?"
"4Ou mean such wel-imagined novel;"
interrupted Mr.. Mulhattan. with smile
why, there is never any foundation to
my stories. Therein lies my power. AL
most anybody could write a story with
the foundation to build on: it requires
genius to construct a novel without any
foundation on fact whatever, to evolve it
all out OF your own mind as the spider
draws the web from its own body. l
wrote that. thing about the finding of a
cave at Gallatin, where the Jewels and
gold of the James brothers were found.
When Frank James read it he turned to a
lailer and said: Pm bet that story was
written by Joe Mulhattan.'"
''What has been your success in TeXasyv
VERY fine. / suppose you read my
meteor story. The Fort Worth Gazette
received the day after ii was published ia
kilograms from all parts of the world.
Some were from st. Petersburg: some
lIOu LONDON; some nom Edinburgh.
When l visited Fort Worth afterward
they gave me fine banquet. The Texans
enjoyed my novels immensely. Some Of
my stories have never been contradicted,
especially that one about the finding of
five skeletons under tree where the peO-
pie had all been killed by lightning. They
are talking of running me for Congress
down there. Tom Ochiltree, who used to
be friendly with me before, hardly speaks
to me now. He says the meteor story laid
him cold. He will never amount to any,
thing again asa LIAR
THAT last balloon story which is going
the rounds, of man hanging by two fin
gers while he was dragged four miles.
reads like you wrote it,
NO" replied the Jules Verne of Ameri-
can newspapers, with sigh of regret at
such good lie having escaped him, 81
dIdn't write 1t, but whoever did was
good ono. l couldn't have done the work
better myself"