The morning call., 1892-07-14
MEMBNTOO OF GREAT MEN
j. FOwler'S Valuable Collection
of HOnOred Names.
How He Operated Under Different Aliases to
Secure the Autographs Of Presi-
dents and Poets.

In the open front Of dingy little tobacco
shop on Second street hangs a large frame
containing few samples OF what Jefferson
Fowler has done in the autOgraph-huntin ting
business. The collection is not large. but it
Is very choice and valuable from an auto
graph hunters point OF view, running mostly
to Presidents of the dim past with here and
there a poet and the signatures of other dis
tinguished citizens.
The collection, which Is protected by a
glass cover, is al all times open to inspec-
ton. Any one is at liberty to view the auto
graphs in a reveIential or retrospective
mood, and also to question Mr.. Fowler in
regard to his treasures.
Jefferson Fowler is an aged man, tall and
thin and sharp of eve, who has camped on
the trail of the elusive autograph from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. Sometimes he met
with cold rebuffS, but persisted until he Sc
cured enough to appease his appetite for au-
t0STaphS. They are all in the frame together
with printed business card tackled up in
the middle, which announces that at sOm6
remote period j. Fowler WAS engaged in the
Whale-oil line in this city.
J. Fowler landed in San Francisco in
1913, and as proof Of his presence here a t
that time produced a small, time-woTn note
book, In which Is recorded the astounding
pork with whiskers on it. There are also
h9ures to show that the hillside shylOcks
charged an equally exorbitant price for
other luXuries, but this has nothing to do
with the autographs.
PRICES JOTTED DOWN.
The prices were iOtted down for future
reference during a lull in the autograph
trade, which was tOlerabIy slack on the
coast at that time Mr.. Fowler gathered
most OF his gems on the other side of the
continent by appealing to the great men
under an assumed name.
One Of the finest in the frame is au aut0-
graph letter from Ii. Clay, dated August,
1S4s, and addressed to Miss Helen L. Pratt.
Helen is no other than jefferson Fowler,
who resorted TO this subteTfuge to work
upon the feelings of II. Clay for auto
graphic purposes only. Judging from II.
Clay'S reply Helen must have written a
very kittenish yet withal modest and LADY
like letter, in " hich she informed the great
man that she was totally unaccustomed to
writing 10 gentlemen whom she did not
know herself
Ii. Clay gailantly replied that he fiattered
himself that he did not stand altogether in
that relation to Helen, and ii grieved him
greatly 10 think that he could not transmit
something more worthy of her acceptance,
TO all OF which he signed his name. By per-
sonatlng mythical Miss Moilie +. Gardner
IN neat feminine hand and the choicest of
language, Jefferson Fowler also worked }.
d. Webster was also induced TO contribute
by the earnest appeal of Arthur 4. Pratt,
alias Jefferson Fowler
But the most interesting feature of the
collection Is. business letter from III.
Greeley to J. Fowler. 1t was written in the
office of the New York Tribune May To-
1872, and although in fine state OF pIeser-
walton. the date line is all that can be de-
cipheTed IN the course of an afternoon.
MARKED PRIVATE"
At the top the letter is marked private"
which caution was entirely superiluOus on
the part of II. Greeley. No one will ever
know the nature OF that secret business
transaction between Ii. Greeley and j.
Fowler Even the latteT's notions regard
ing II are Of the most hazy description, as
he gave up trying to read the letter 20 years
ago.
For about two years after il came duly to
hand J. Fowler pOndered long and deeply
over this bit OF correspondence. lie sat III
nights and wTestled with it. but all to 30
purpose. lie said lie might as well have
tried TO translate a case of delirium tremens.
a. last he sent the letter to his son, who is
an aStute attorney at Washington, ID. c.
hut after few weeks the lawyer returned
the document with the statement that it
made his head ache every time no looked at
1t. Sill the failure 10 acquire the contents
does not detract from the value of the letter
as an autograph.
In response 10 demand made upon him,
TO comply with so modest a request, and by
a singular coincidence Mr. Van Buren was OF
the same mind and almost the same words.
\. i. Willis sent printed autograph
letter as large and voluminOus as a new
boom advertisement with his signature at
the bottom. and Ii. W. Longfellow gladly
forwarded the first verse of Excelsior"
written IN his best hand This concludes
the collection with the exception of a sum-
mons for somebody to come into court away
back In the early sos"
1t has been q long time now since Mr..
Fowler secured an autograph worth pre-
serving, and he has about given up the pur-
suit. Times are hard aud the returns do
not warrant the outlay of postage required
to carry on the business. There is one more
autograph he would like to secure and that
Is the signature Of the genuine Jack the
Ripper If he is ever caught. Mr. Fowler is
living IN hopes that this illustriOus person
will be run to earth in time for hin to secure
an autograph written in Jacks welI-6nown
hOmicidal hand.