New-York tribune., 1901-01-13
WESTERN WRITER OF FAKES
JOSEPH MULHATTON. WELL KNOWN FOR
HIS TALL NEWSPAPER STORIES.
IS INSANE.
From The Chicago Times-Herald.

IS INSANE.
From The Chicago Tfmes-Herald.
Phoenix, Ariz. Nov. 25-"Joe" Mulhatton, per-
haps the most noted writer Of newspaper fakes sin IN
point. hopeless maniac: He believes he has killed
a man and that a horde of avengers are on his
ing from him and has to have constant attention.
where Tes b bse INIT f6 Te a 1e H
strumen&ai ala Lately in selling yaIuaoe mine io IN
sand dollars as an advance payment on his share share
of the proceeds. He spent several hundred dollars
menta e is sat- attrbued tee o' to the eRcemeht Of the
eomehns to- o wf in6ugn fbe may
MuIhatfon has been in Arizona about six years
established a mining exchange at Florence and has
done little newspaper work - ..u.,,. ,.,o,,,,a
tion played its usual trick and the plots Of some
of his most notable inventions have been laid in the
A PRODUCT OF PENNSYLVANIA
Joseph Mulhatton was born in Allegheny, Penn.
hftytwo years ago At least, that is what he says;
but, considering his reputation as gorgeous and
ornamental prevaricator even this statement must
be taken with m esucn @ As unique ornate rom ama
Maine 10 Texas, and even extending across acre le the
papers Of those countries have been sadly taken In
by the Mulhatton stories -,
tude in the line Of picturesque preyaricauop: ne e
evolved from his fertile imagination number OF
thrilling stories that found their way INTO the
Pittsburg papers and were widely copied. AS ne ne
branched out along more pretentious lines, and
framed up an assortment of glitterng newspaper
entists scurrying across the ocean to investigate
alleged marvellous phenomena which Mulnatt1,i ma 1
country but which he really discovered during his
idle moments in son e hotel corridor
ONCE WAS a TRAVELLING SALESMAN.
Nominally he was a travelling man. but lying
on a tremcndous scale was his Specially. Perhaps
his notable work was the story of the meteor
lima gination and facile pen this meteor landed in
Brown County covered an acre OF ground, de-
of the sulphurous fumes it gave of. and was still
sizzling its way into the earth when he gave the
a trainload of newspaper reporters and sci
never located the meteor. but the railroads and
boarding houses and ranchers with horses and
EgdSs EeeEs 10 'e' ou 'n'''"S business 'o' sever d
His story of a wonderful cave in Pike County.
Kentucky, was also highly decorated work of art.
1t appeared in Louisville paper, and set people on
ncenf jewels of long halls lined with great blocks
OF yTgn p gSq go an6 81 Pen IVeGs %
by the hundred. and town lots sold for 500 fast
Barnum, the willy Old Snowman, caught in the
trap, and FASTENED to Pike County to see If he
strange cave dwellers that the excited discoverer
matte mat snS Pondroue euf E oss IN
Pikeville and helped to swell the receipts of the
z @ svng few me t 6sf t. S MS
of Washington and Lincoln would be taken to the
Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and put on
completing the washington Monument on a grand
scale. Before the fake was exploded a number
of sedate editors were clawing at each other over
Mr.. Mulhatton considers that his early efforts In
Pennsylvania were crude. He says that It was not
until he had entered the State of Kentucky and i'm
bibed some of its celebrated air and no less
nowned chief liquid product that he felt competent
to enter upon career of ornamental and scientific
preVarication.
sUNsPOT AND SNAKE STORIES.
His story of the discovery Of detached spots
brought orders from Paris and London to send
crack reporters to the scene once and spare
expense in securing complete details
His tale of the man who was able TO generate
electricity in his body and make himself imper-
vious TO the poison of the deadliest snakes had
quite a vogue the made a sworn statement
to the effect that in one season alone he had killed
Mulhatton, encouraged by his Kentucky cave
caves. He took jaunt into Mexico where the
simple, guI,ible natives gave him a magnificent
field for his peculiar talents He also succeeded in
filling the negroes Of the South with terror by some
OF his marvellous yarns.
In personal appearance Mulhatton is a slight.
modestly dressed man, with keen eye and quick
movement. He would never be selected as the man
who has upset more newspaper Offices and sent
reporters long and fruitless chases than
Of recent years he has been out of the public
mind. A fall from streetcar in New-Orleans
left blood clot on his brain and untitled him for
any great efforts in his particular line. 1891 he
picked up in the street in Chicago suffering
from the effects of his injury IN New-Orleans
After treatment in hospital. he resumed his
work a travelling man. and finally drifted down
TO Arizona. In the height of his glory a
umental liar he was the candidate OF the National
Drummers party, running In opposition to Belva
Lockwood. In politics he is a Democrat. He
fused all offers Of marriage, and says he never
made any.