The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-12-09
MuIhattan, Liar. Is insane.


is harmless now, but Tor years he was
the terror and the bane Of manag. ng
and news editors. who dreaded being
sold with fake news.
Yet" said aIulhattan once "if they
/ only chose 10 see IL thai way, am tha T
friend. I always give them something
+ better than any news they ever publish
\ ed. and, If Investigated, am sure more
/ reliable than much Of What they print
Be this as it may, Mr. Mulhattan was
a hoaxer" Of gigantic proportions. He
was member Of 2 Presbyterian church
+ at Louisville. but this proved no bar ta
MS propensity u "seu" the country. Re
was a good travelling man, but h did
/ love a romance.
There was a man by the name Of
/ John Smith, OF Lyndon Kansas" said
Mr.. Mulhattan once upon time, ''wh1
+ became acquainted with q little girl II
/ the seaside She was nice girl and
I her name was Lulu Avery. from Albany
+ y. 7 He bought the little girl a bunch
I Of toy balloons. She wrapped the string
I holding them around her waist. and
/ when strong gust Of wind came the
/ balloons sailed away and carried her
/ with them, 20 the horror of her new
/ friend. An old hunter out in the fields
+ saw the predicament Of the little girl
/ and fred so that ne exploded two of
/ the balloons The others acted as a
parachute, and the little girl safely de-
seconded 10 the ground and thanked her
/ rescuer." The story went the rounds or
( the newspapers before it was discovered
/ to be q 'Mulhattanism The fame Of
its author then rivaled that OF Nun
chausen, the liar of olden days
At the time when the country was
agog over the doings OF the James and
Younger brothers the newspapers were
suddenly startled by the discovery of a
cave in which immense wealth can
tured by them was hidden. The charac-
ter OF the cave. its locaton. the nature
Of the wealth found. were all accurately
described. Names. dates and places were
given. for the Muhsttan story was al
ways refreshingly careful as 20 these.
The story was printed and believed for
many a day After a time II was dis
covered that Joe" 1Iuihattan had
created if out Of his fertile mind There
was never such q cave or such a dis
covery. but many people undoubtedly he
heve to the contrary. owing 20 the IN
genuity Of Mr. Mulhattan's invention
The story Of his unearthing n man
moth cave I'm Kentucky is yet fresh in
the minds Of the public and those of
scientists who sped across oceans and
continents to revel in che new wonder
Some Of his less important stories were
almost as interesting as that Of the
cave. In 1888 telegraph editors in al
the important cities Of the country re-
ceived a telegram in the course OF the
news service which read.
McCook, Neb.. June IA slight earth
quake shock was felt tn this vicinit- at
o'clock this evening. Houses shook.
dishes in cupboards were ratified and
several persons in the streets at the
time were thrown down. IT is reported
that fifty miles north Of here a great
f1ssure has opened in the ground and
that water is gushing from It, Investi-
eating parties VIII start out tomorrow
That was a harmless sduib which
everybody accepted without Just detect
ing its earmarks. week later a num-
Der Of Southern papers Of reputation
received q typewriter account Of the
flowing and spouting well" Of McCook
Neb, which an earthquake had created.
The story was circumspect. Tt de-
scribed the earthquake. the opening Of
assure in the plain land q hundred feet
wide and of bottomless depth This fs-
sure was located in the arid waste of
the state where water was most needed.
and where for the lack Of it settlement
was next to impossible. After st had
opened a stream pushed forth which rose
fifty feet above the surface Of the earth
It overlooked the land. created small
streams, was confined TO courses by the
delighted r7nchmen. and people some
distance away came with barrels 10 cart
the water TO their barren farm patches
The article went on to say that owing to
the kind action OF nature the problem
Of irrigation in western Nebraska had
been solved that water for millions Of
acres was now at hand and that settlers
were pouring In by every train There
was not a side or phase of the story
that was not carefully covered. Need
less to say that the newspapers printed
#; that II was re-cOpied in northern
Papers, and that hna1iy e reached the
eyes of the astounded citizens Of Nc
Cook. who had enjoyed no earthquake.
no earth assure. and were as much with
out irrigation water as they ever were
The story WIS only a "Mulhattan."
Mulhattan was not vicious IN his stor-
les While come If his tales dragged
special correspondents all over the cour-
try and put the newspapers TO expense.
vet thev all lacked q ma icious purpose
He DETAINED no one, injured no one but
himself AS to this last he apparently
did not care. His sensations Travelled
the world over and he laughed and went
about his business WHY he never
periences and put them into q book ar
did Munchausen IS not known. Some az
the matter would have read exceedingly
well For instance. while he was trav-
cling IN View Mexico an5 Arizona be ne
vented q story Of The hidden city ~ he
Puehlos. the city Of wealth which Cor
ouado sought and failed 20 find This
did not take well with eastern parer7 .
but some Of the western papers printed
a.
a boBt its discovery bv an American .
trauDer. who was none other than Nr
Afuihsttan Probably there are En9l sh- /
meH living who came to this country .
20 examine the riins ar Nu haitian de- /
scribed so brilliantly. Mulnatfan never /
made any money 0ut ~ his tales He
cid rot aim to make him=ef a CORES F
pendent At times be wrote his stories .
himself and forwarded them 20 enc +
newspapers. often he corhaed 10 some
gtileless reporter and let him ST them
ahoat At other times he told them to
people who be was certain would con-
vey them to reporters ard editors isis
hold upon fame rests IN his giving -
the English tongue the new wor5 Mol
haranlsr1-" u means anything but the
truth.
II was not 60 long ago that ayr Mul-
haitian published ais confessions IN
these he said.
Z cannot remember che first DE svsr
told Since the recent injury 20 ny head
BIZ falling from a street car iu EeT
Orleans. my menary has been sari51-lr
affected Although ms lfs has been ~
least ss merry ht ~ the average
- ny profession. 81 aas b
- no means 1n easy one. Care ans
rezrs have ieft their marks an3 fssf
fzt flr me fe ~ ara almost ~u