The Original Col. Sellers

The writer has socn several sketches purporting to bc of the original Col. Sellcrs. Having been reared ncar the bivthplace of Mark Twain and the home of tho celebrated Col. Mulbevry, hc takes the liberty of saying that, althougli Bomo of the pecuüaritics ascribod to that individual may havo beonobtnincd from tho aforesaid origináis, yet the original Col. Sellors has never been writtenup. lic was William Muldrow, commonly known as Bill Muldrow. He was a farmer and speeulator near Philartnlnlii'i wn tlmn n. villiio-fi of tants, :ind is still a mere postolfice. Bill Muldrow was the flrst mpwho eoneeived thc idea of a railroad conuecting the valley of thc Mississippi with the Pacilic slopc. Bv somc course of reasófiing known only to liimsclf he reacheft the conclusión that Philadelphia could be made the future great city of the West, if not of thc World, and with this end in view hc porfoctcd his plans for the building of a railway that was to have San Francisco for its western terminus, and for its oastern terminus Marión City, a boat landing on the Mississippi, about lifteen miles cast of Philadelphia. Fully suadocl that tlierc wcre "milhons mil, ho went east and contidod to a few capitaliits Iris plans for buying up corner lots by tho acre, and selling at 82,000 por front foot in connoction with his railroad soheme. What sort of a talker lic was, andhow vell he sücceedeÖ in imbuingthosc capïtaiista w!th liis own enthusiasm, raay bc iinagined yxen wc state that the sound of the nammer and saw, and the steady tramp of the bod. carrier in the Linos of I'hiladelühia soon succecded tho musical tiukle of the sheep bell. A line brick hotel climbed story by story toward the clouds. Blocks of buildings rose faster than man could or would Hoek to occupy them. A wharf was erectcd at Marión City, aud the embankment that was to reacli from the Mississippi west to the great city of Plnladelphia, and still west to the golden gate cif tho Pacific, was begun. Things were booming, bat it was a surface boom. Deeper down there was a heavy undertow. Large stiins Of money were required. Muldrow's backers, beginning to mistrust tho iinaneial success of the scheme, becamo more niggardly in their advances. As the expenses became heavier, tlie money with which to meet them grew less, and as little by little they feil behiud, the army of bricklayers, the horde of laborera on the embankment, and the pile-drivers and bridge bnilders oí Manon City, lor UKe v emce ít was on the water, bècame more olamorous for their pay. The crash canie, as in siich cases it nevilably must' come. Bill Muldrow was ruined flnancially, but, as he soon had occasion 1o demónstrate, notintelleotually. The sheriff, preparatorj to making a evy, oalled on liiin fpr a inventory of his real estáte. Bill was equal to the occasion. Ho gayo in not only his own land, but yjterapersed between traets mucli that was not his own. Now, Muldrow, like many other unfortunate men, was blessed witli sois-inlaw, and to tliese he conlided liisscheme and asked their assistanec. lío described his owü land minutoly and inslructcd them wlien to bid. The sale carne olí'. The lirst tract oftered (lid not belong to Bill, and this soon became whispered around. The result was that the bidding was very slow, and the sale was about paralyzed. The sons-in-law scooped in the bona Haviag saved his farm, Bill went to California, wnere he cngaged in somc' kind of a land specnlation, and riere liis fondness for lawsuits Ijecame proverbial. A 10-minutes' conversation with Iiim invariably resulted in a suit of law. to retrieve bis fortune in the West he returned in his oíd age to the scène of his former triumph, and his ashes now rest in the country chnrehyard near hls old home. Philadelphir. still stands, a relie noit of what was, but of what nxight have been. The hotel looms up, gray and grand in its utter desolation. ïhe window glass is broken, tifo walls are cracked, thc ceilings are niildevved. and thc veiy bricks seem to be crumbling back to the dust from whenee they enmc. Marión City found a grave niid thi; avvirliog waters of the Mississippi in thc groat ílood of 1881, but thc embankment and tiie oíd rock bridge still íight tlieir sliaro of Üie battle (hal aJways ends in oblivion.