The sun., 1904-11-20
PRIZE ROMANCER NOW IN JAIL
JOE MULHATTAN STOLE A COAT
TO GET FOOl.
Once Wrote Clever News Fakes That We're
Published All. Over the C0untry-His
Imagination Was wonderful and the
News Editors Finally Found Him on.

Imagination Was wonderful and the
News Editors Finally Found Him on.
Charged with grand larceny, Joe hul-
haitian, King Of Romancers,' well known
in Denver, and notorious throughout the
United States as the prince Of Liars.
occupies a cell in the county jail at Ban
Francisco, says the Denver Republican.
Penniless and broken in health from
protracted dissipation, Mulhattan walked
into one OF the leading hotels Of the Coast
city and purloined the overcoat OF guest.
The theft was discovered. His arrest
followed and he is being held for hearing.
-The Prince OF Fakers," as Mulhattan
was known, was but one sobriquet OF a
score Of others earned by the man who
startled the country with some Of the most
remarkable and extraordinary stories that
ever appeared in print. Gifted with as keen
and subtle an imagination as was ever
possessed by man, Mulhattan invented
stories that were almost inconceivable
to the human mind. Wild and weird tales
Of the forests and thrilling adventures
through the mountains, discoveries Of
mines containing fabulous riches and
hundreds OF other ingenious fakes were
the products OF Mulhattans imagination.
These stirring tales he depicted with
all the art OF master novelist and sent
them forth to Eastern editors, who, un-
familiar with the wild and woolly" West,
innocently accepted them for the truth.
The public devoured them eagerly and
marveled over such strange happenings,
while Mulhattan, in the seclusion OF his
own den, read his fabrications portrayed
in print, laughed heartily and treated
the whole affair as a joke. These improb-
able stories netted Mulhattan thousands
of dollars annually.
The scene Of Mulhattan's hair raising
and blood curdling yarns were in the
vicinity OF Arizona and New Mexico. In
his imagination he pictured dark cav
erns and haunted caves where he had
death struggle with some hideous antedi-
| luvian monster, which, in q manner that
Mulhattan would explain, had existed
there for hundreds OF years
On some occasions Mulhattan would
mentally take a trip down into an un-
settled portion Of old Mexico and discover
a gold mine abandoned by the SPaniards
before the conquest OF Mexico. The finding
| Of skeletons OF mammoths and other e1-
tinct animals was Muihattans specially.
! He could give vivid description OF every
bone in the body OF these ancient monsters:
tell the date Of birth and the manner Of
death.
Usually the bones Of few hundred
human beings were scattered about the
! animals skeleton as mute evidence OF q
battle to the death. Mulhattan's weekly
prediction Of the worlds ending furnished
Sunday story, with illustrations, for
! many papers. -.
Never did Eastern editors discredit
Mulhattans tales. He was looked upon
as daring explorer and gifted writer.
His writings told Of incidents in every part
of Arizona and New Mexico. He was
believed to be making many adventurous
trips in search Of material. All the time.
however Mulhattan remained in the quiet
seclusion OF his home at Phoenix wandering
in realms Of Imagination and enjoying
to the utmost his skill in the art OF decep-
| ton.
The stories were his own ideas. They
were original. Fiction, Of course but
how did the public know? Editors never
questioned the veracty OF Mulhattan' g
tales They were good reading matter
and, OF course must be truthful Stores
OF a similar nature had never appeared.
Muhbattan, on the lookout for new ma
terial had gone down to this remote part
Of the country. The idea OF travelling
through the desolate land In search OF
color had never occurred to ocher news
paper writer's.
The incidents upon which Mulhattan
founded his stories certainly were probable.
Therefore Mulhattan must be telling the
truth So it was that Mulhattan. with
cunning deceit deuged Eastern editors
with queries concerning stories. All OF
them were accepted and Mulhattan reaped
a rich harvest. -,
For years Mulhattan thrived in this
manner He wrote about everything from
a polar bear which had been caught wan
dering on the desert Of Arizona to the find
ing OF medallion worn by Christopher
| Columbus when he discovered America
Mulhattan's stock Of fakes finally became
| exhausted. He therefore shifted the scene
Of his artful vocation, going to Kansas
This injudicious move resulted in an e1-
posA Of Mulhattan's fake stories.
True, there are many strange people IN
Kansas. and remarkable things had hap
hened there, but the State was not pro-
ductive Of such unusual things as the in,
ventive Mulhattan described. Kansas had
been too well advertised. Editors had
heard OF odd and singular events that had
taken place in Kansas. and these had
now become commonplace. Mu!hattan re-
became known by his numerous queries
directed to the East offering his stories,
Then he began to write. He forwarded his
stories to the same people who on former
occasions had 40 eagerly sought them,
But after few had appeared in type the
so far West and many of the people who
read them were surrounded by. the atmos-
phere into which Mulhattan's imagination
had drifted.
The tales were branded as fakes Null
haitian was branded as a faker. His repu-
tation went the rounds In the East. The
market which had previously proved 50
lucrative to Mulhattan vanished. Null
haitian was flooded with letters from the
editors whom he had deceived. He was
denounced by the press all over the United
Statee. The prince OF Liars then met
his downfall
Mulhattan began to flourish about twelve
wears ago. From that time on until the
expose In Kansas the country was flooded
with stories from his imaginative mind,
The clever yarns faxed by Mulhattan were
the beginning Of untruthful tales that
have appeared at various times In the dif-
ferent newspapers OF the United States,
The practice OF taking, however. has be-
come a thing Of the past. On newspapers
Of to-day editors refuse to retain In their
employ a reporter who has been found
guilty OF taking Once discovered he is
discharged, and II he persists In narTating
tales unsupported by fact he encounters
great dificulty in securing employment
Then finally he finds himself drifting over
the same road followed by. Mullhattan
pennileee and without friends.
Mulhattan, 'the only and original, is
less than IS years OF age. Practically In
the prime OF life, with scholarly attain