The Press., 1883-12-06
fLouisvilie Courier-Journal.l THE KENTUCKY MUNCHAUSEN.

s 2 4 <: Mir. Joseph Mulhattan is in town, and A Courier-Journal reporter who talked to him last night fund him as good-natured as ever. The famous prevaricator IS 8 1 rather small man, good looking, with beard and nous ache, dancing blue eyes, quick, c t-like motions, and one of the most rapid takers one could find in days walk. The words seem to be gurgling in his throat and chasing each other out, hot foot. He dresses very well, and, altogeth CT, presents very tidy appearance.
 "Yes, sir, I have started a new branch in journalism something that is al inno- vation and success. l call 1t novel1stlc journalism. Dickens and Thackeray wrote a novel in volume, and considered them selves fortunate when 100, ,00O people read it in five years. write novel of thou sand words that is read by more thaa LOGO, ,OOO people ten hours after 1t has left my hand Why, what could be more at tractive to a literary man? Nobody IS hurt by my little novels ; nobodys morals are corrupted and all are entertained and sometimes instructed. l have selected al sorts of subjects for these stnries many of them have travelled over the world and have been wondered at in twenty nations. I am just thirty years old and am famous. There is not a man In this country who can read and write and who has read the newspapers that doesn't know of Joe Mul- haitian. have fooled every paper of prom thence in the United States, and some of my scientific stories have been discussed py the learued societies of Europe"
 "When did you begin your career of mendacity ?" interrupted the reporter.
 'sI have been writing novels for ten years now. I start+ d on the Pittsburg Leader, and fooled them for three or four years. I wrote stories of marvellous oil wells, of romantic highway robberies, and things of that kind. I then got 10 sending my nov els to other prominent journals. started the story of John Wilkes Booth being seen in several plac IS, and wrote so circumstan- tially that many believed 1t. startt d, as joke the report that President Llncoln's bones would be exhibited at the centennl- al. The press of the country took 1t up, and for weeks it was national question. I 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 Clifty fight, where drummer wrestled with two highwayman on bridge and f. nally threw them over. My cave story at Glasgow junction went all over the world :; you doubtless remember that l found a cave there larger than Mammoth cave, with navigable rivers, ,mummies 2,OOO years old and hundred other marvellous things. The Leitchfield story about the finding of Masonic emblens that had been buried for thousands of years, showing prehis- toric race of Masons caused great excite ment. I am prouder of my Glasgow cave story than any of the others. It showed more invention and more imagination.
 'sWhat was basis of such marvellous he2~ interrupted MT. Mulhattan, with a smile. "Why, there is never any foundation to my stories. Therein lies my power. AL most anybody conld write story with the foundation to build on it requires genius to construct novel without any founda- tion in fact whatever, to evolve it all out out of your own mind as the spider draws the web from it's own body. I wrote that thing abomt the finding of cave at Galla- tin, where the jewels and gold of the James brothers were found When Frank James read it, he turned to jailer and said I'll bet that story was written by Joe Mul. hattan.'"
 "What has been your success in Texas ?'
 'Very fine. l suppose you read my me. teor story. The Fort Worth Gazette re ceived, the day after it was published, 114 telegrams from all parts of the world SO1uo were 1FO1n OG. lTeI0rSDurg some from London some from Edinburg When visited Fort Worth afterward they gave me fine banquet. The Texans enjoyed my novels immensely. Some of my sto- ries have never been contradicted, espec- tally that one about the finding of five skeletons under tree where the people had ull 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 as iar."
 tThat 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 Amer ic,n newspapers, with sight of regret at such good lie having escaped him, "I didn't write it, but whoever did was a good one. couldn't have done the work bet ter myself" ...-.