Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-09-01
MULHATTAN.
From the Louisville Courier Journal.

From the Louisville Courier Journal.
Mr. Joseph Mulhattan is in town. and a Courier
Journal reporter who talked with 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 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
very tidy appearance.
Eyes. sir. / have started new branch In
journalistic something that is an innovation and
success. / call it nOvelstic journalism.
Dickens and Thackeray wrote a novel in vol
une and considered themselves fortunate when
100 600 people read it in five years. | write a
novel of q thousand words that is read by more
than 600 600 people ten hours after it has left
my hand Why. what could be more attractive
to literary man! Nobody is hurt by my little
novels; nobOdys moral are corrupted, and all
are entertained and sometimes instructed.
have selected all sorts of subjects tor 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. There is not man in this country who
can read and write and who has read the news
papers 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 menda-
city!' interrupted the reporter.
Il have been writing my novels for ten years
now. started on the Pittsburg Leader, and
fooled them for three or four years. l wrote
stories of marvellous oil wells. OF romantic high
way 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 several places. and wrote so
circumstantially that many believed it. 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 a 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 wrestied with two highwaymen
on bridge and finally threw them over.
My cave story at Glasgow Junction went all over
the world you doubtless remember that
found cave there larger than Mammoth cave
with navigable rivers. mummes Z, 600 years ola,
and hundred other marvellous things. The
Leitchield story about the finding of Masonic
embems that had been buried for thousands Of
years. showing prehistoric race of Masons
caused great excitement. l am prOuder of my
Glasgow cave story than any of the others. 1t
showed more invention and more Imagination"
what was the basis Of such marvellous
lie?"
You mean such a well-imagined novel," in
terrupted Mr.. Mulhattan with smile. "Why,
there is never any foundation to my stories
Therein lies my power. Almost anybody could
write story with the foundation to build on; it
requires genius to construct a novel without
any foundation in fact whatever, to evolve it all
out of your own mind as q spider draws the
web from its own body. 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 jaier and said: I'll bet that story was writ
ten by Joe Mulhattan."
what has been your successin TeXas?"
every fine. 1 suppose you read my meteor
story. The Fort Worth Gazette received the day
| after it was published ia kilograms from all
parts Of the world; some were from st. Peters
| burg; some from London; some from Edin-
bureh. When visited Fort Worth afterward
they gave me fine banquet. The Texans en-
jOyed my novels immensely. Some of my stories
have never been cOntradicted, especially that
one about the finding of five skeletons under
tree where the people had all been killed by
lightning. They are talking of running me for
Congress down there. Tom OchiItree, 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 anything again
as liar"
THAT last balloon story which is going the
rounds. of man hanging by two fingers while
he was dragged four miles, reads like you
wrote it,"
mo" replied the Jules Verne of American
newspapers, with sigh of regret at such q
good lie having escaped him, 81 didn't write it.
but whoever did was good one. l couldn't
have done the work better myself"