Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-04-27
COL. SELLERS.
The Man from Whom Marx Twain Drew this
Famou. Character
oPEEAIIo>, OF OLD ELL VII /.
DEOW II THE WILLIS aOF
NI~,OI III.

HtN1p
! The writer has seen several sketches
purpurtlng 10 he Of the original Col
Sellers. Having been reared near
the birthplace Of Mark Twain and
! the HON" uf the celebrated Col Mul
berry. he takes the liberty of saying
that. although some of the PECULIAR
ties G9cribrd T. that individual may
have been obtained from the afore
said originals. yet the original Col.
Sellers has neTer bccn written up.
He was William Muldrow, commonly
known a= Bill Muldrow. He was a
farmer and speculator near Philadel
phia. Mo. Philadelphia was then a
village Of few inhabitants and Is still
a mere Postoifice.
Bill Muldrrw was the first man who
conceived the idea of a railroad con
Meeting the valley ot the Mississippi
with the Pacific slope. By some
course of reasoning known only to
himself, he reached the conclusion
that Philadelphia could De made the
future great city of the West. if not
of the world. and with this end in
view he perfected his plans for the
building If a railway that was to
have San Francisco for its western
terminus. and for its eastern terminus
Marion City. Il boat landing on the
Mississippi about fifteen miles east
of Philadelphia. Fully persuaded
that there were millions in it." he
went East and coniiled to a few cap
itali-ts his plans for buying up cor
ner lots by the acre and selling at
$1,000 per front foot in connection
with this railroad scheme.
What sort of a :alker he was. and
how we'll he succeeded i'll imbuing
these capitalists with his own on
thusiasm, may he imagined when we
state that the sound of the hammer
and SAW. and the steady tramp of the
hod carrier i'll tie lanes OF Philadel
phia soon succeeded the musical
tinkle Of the sheep bell. 4 fine
brick hotel climbed story by story to-
ward the clouds. Blocks of build
ings rose faster than men could OF
would flock to occupy them. \
wharf was erected at Marion City,
and the embankment that was To-
reach from the Mississippi west to the
great city of Philadelphia, and still
west to the golden gate of the Pacific.
was began. Things We're booming,
but it was surface boom. Deeper
down there was a heavy mndertow.
Large sums of money were re-
quired. Mulberry's hackers, begin
ming to mistrust the financial success
of the scheme, became more nigSard
yin their advances. As the expenses
became heavier, the money with
which to meet them grew less, and as
little by little, they fell behind. the
army of bricklayers, the horde of
laborers on the embankmnnt. and the
pile drivers and bridge builders of
Marion City, for like Venice it was
on the water, became more clamorous
for their pay.
| tlt SId1il az III SltNIl NOSt0 II
inevitably must come Bill Muldrow
was ruined financially. but as he soon
had occasion to demonstrate. not i'll
tellectually. The Sheriff, preparatory
to making levy, called on him for an
inventory of his real estate Bill was
equal to the occasion. He gave in
not only his own land, but inter
spersed between tracts much that was
not his own. Now. Muldrow. like
many other unfortunate men. was
blessed with sonsin law. and to these
he coniided his scheme and asked
their assistance, He described his
own land infinitely and instructed
them when to bid.
The sale came off. The first tract
offered did not belong to Bill. and
this soon became whispered around.
The result was that the bidding was
very slow, and the sale was about
paralyZed. The sons in law scooped
in the bona tide tract for a paltry
sum.
| Having saved his farm, Bill went to
California, where he enga ged i'll
some kind of land speculation. and
where his fondness for lawsuits be
came proverbial. 4 ten minutes
conversation with him invariably re-
suited i'll a suit at law Failing To-
retrieve his fortunes in the West, he
returned III his old age to the scene
| of his former triumph. and his ashes
now rest in the country churchyar,l
near his old home
| Philadelphia still stands. a relic,
not of what was. but of what might
have been. The hotel looms up, gray
and grand i'll its utter desolation.
| The window glass, is broken, the
walls are cracked. the ceilings are
mildewcl. and the very bricks seem
crumbling back to the dust from
whence they came
Marion City found Il grave mid
the swirlinS waters of the Mississippi
III the great flood of 81, but the en-
bankment and the old rock bridge
still fight their share of the battle
that always ends in oblivion.
THE REVOLT OF MISSOURI coNvIcrs.
Gov. Crittcnden ought now to par
don Safe Blower Johnson. the con
wet who led revolt III the Missouri
penitcntiary and endcavorrd to cut
the throat of a prisoner who refused
To join i'll the mutiny. The Governor
announced his desire. some months
ago, to make "a noble citizen" of
Frank james. and a. Convict johnson
has displayed a Willingness to com
nit as horrible crimes IA those of the
notorious outlaw. hc ought to receive
the Governors favorable attention as
on" To- h" pardoned in order that he
may become good. The desperate
ATTEMPT H. burn the Missouri penitrn
tlary and set tn" whole multltudr Of
convirts frc" Is To bo attributed in
part to tn" laxnrss Of discipline which
ha, been encouraged 10y Gov. Crittcn
,lcn's acts. We're not Miesourians
adopts in the use of firearms the re-