The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1897-02-06
ACCOUNT OF A HOAX.
STORY OF THE MOHICAN'S LOSS IN
THE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN,.

How Lying Tom Jarrett" Came to Toll
the Yarn-A Rivalry Had Grown Up
Among the Munchausens, but the Mo
hican Lie Was n Little Too Much.
Very many persons may remember
tn story that was telegraphcd and ca
bled all over the world in the summer
Of 1895 Of the sinking of the United
States revenue cutter Mohican by the
British seal pirate Belle of the Pacific
somewhere in that indefinite part of the
north Pacific ocean known to all A las
kans as 1.-THE westward" Not SO many
probably will remember that the story
was fake, because it is the lamentable
history of such things that the truth
never completely overtakes the lie. 1t
was lie out of whole cloth, as was
demonstrated when the Mohcan turned
up all right that fall at the end of the
patrol season, but the manner of its pub
LEGATION has not been told.
This lie began to have its being years
ago when the steamers first began to
take tourists from down below" as
Alaskans call the States, up through the
gorgeous scenery of the north Pacific
coast line for a peep at the northern ter
ritory. As usual thing the tourists
spend eight or ten hours ashore at Ju-
neau and as much more in Sitka Some
times they make dash up to Muir gla,
cler. Altogether they see Il lot of the
country in a panoramic sort of way, and
they hear a great deal more about it. 1t
is one Of the lands where the blindest
bluffs hold good and the widest tales
are true. So when they get back to the
States again, the tourists begin to un-
fold to their friends and their friends
friends and to their acquaintance and
to anybody who will listen, particularly
to overcredulous newspaper men, the
widest tales that human ingenuity can
devise.
For long time the Alasltans did
their best to chase down these lies. but
they failed The liar had all the advan-
tages of telegraphs and daily mails aud
the widespread publicity given by the
too credulous newspaper men. Then the
Alaskans gave up the direct attack and
took up the gentle art of lying them
selves. They had SO much time to nrac-
tlce when there was nothing else to in
terfcre that every two weeks, when the
mailboat came in, fine new crop of
marvellous stories had been carefully
harvested for dissemination in the
States The steamship men were always
the medium through which these stories
We're communicated to the credulous
public Of Oregon, Washington and Cali
fornia, These steamship men rapidly
acquired a large reputation with the
readers of thrilling newspaper accounts
of bravo newspaper deeds. The people
on the Pacific coast seem to be singular
ly open minded and receptive. But even
they caught on after awhile to the fact
that the Alaskans were jollying them.
Then resentment took the natura! form,
and you couldn't find Il Pacific coast
man with I0.'r rake who would be-
lievc an Alas~.. ..seamship man s. story
il the narrator was literally incased in
Bibles.
1t developed through the somewhat
general competition that as "a compound
or of able tales Tom Barrett WAS easily
at the head. He won his distinction and
his title at the same time springing
from comparative obscurity III the ranks
of liars by one successful coup. Barrett
was in the employ of trading company
at the westward. He rolled into Sitka
one day with the most astonishing sto-
ries of the auriferous riches of Middle
ton island, a little chunk of rock and
sand that had been heaved up above the
water by some submarine volcanic erup-
ton far out in the middle Of the north
Pacific ocean. All Alaska that could go
started for Middleton island on the
strength of Barrett's yarns, and all
Alaska that couldn't go grub staked
somebody who could When the excite
ment was over and those who went to
Middleton island had got back and those
who didn't go were out their grub
stakes, the man who had started the
rush spontaneously became known to all
Alaska as Lying Tom Barrett. -
Lying Tom Barrett" told the yarn
about the Mohican to the newspaper man
in Port Townshend, who telegraphed
u column of it to his paper in Seattle
and started it around the world. Bar
rett was coming down from Alaska ard
on tho way put up the job with the
steamship mon to spring n yarn that
should make IL sensation i'll the States.
The stcam:hip men knew they couldn't
make it go themselves, but they agreed
to back Barrett up in whatever he said