Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1871-06-30

A KENlAReKA ABLE STORY.


truo account Of his connection with the mur-
der of Gregory Summer6eld. The latter in.
dividual had been known for many years as
'.The Man with Secret" and he met with
a horrible death at the ago of seventy years,
by being pushed from the platform of train
upon the Union Pacific railroad, near the
Dorth fork of the American river at Ii place
called Cape Horn. The unfortunate wretch
was hurled down distance of over one thou.
sand feet upon the bristlipg rocks at the foot
Of the dcolivity. Parker, who was upon the
platform with Summcrfied at the time of tho
catastrophe, was twice arrested and tried for
eallegcd murder, but was on each occasion
mystcriously acquitted, once by justice aud
the second time by grand jury.
Parker was himself distinguished lawyer
of Sacramento, and was widely respected.
he always remained silent concerning the
circumstances Of tho imputed crime, but
shortly before his death he placed in the
hands of friend document, the gist of
which we give below, the entire story taking
up nearly page of the Union.
Referring to Gregory Summerticd, the
murdered man, Mr.. Parker speaks of him as
having been one of tho deepest chemical stu.
dents of the age, natural mathematician, a
profound astronomer, and man of excellent
general literary attainmcnts. Parker had
known Summcrfcld for over twenty years.
their acquaintance having been formed in
Texas during the days of the Republic Con-
tinuing his account, Parker says
"Ono day towards the close Of last Sep
tembcr an old man raped at my Office door;
and on invitation camc in, and advancing
called me by namo. Pcrcciving that [ did
not at first recognize him lie introduced him
self MS Gregory SummerGcld After invit.
ing him to seat scrutinizcd his features
and quickly identified him as the same person
whom [ had met twenty-five years before -
He was greatly altered in appearance, but
there was the old charm Of Intellectual su.
pcriority in his conversation, and 1 wolcom.
cd him to California as an important addition
to her mental wealth.
"It was not many minutes before he re.
qncsted private interview. lie followed me
into my back Office, carefully closed the door
after him and locked it. We had scarcely
seated ourselves before he inquired of me if
L had noticed any recent articles ia the news
papers respecting the discovery of the art of
decomposing water so as to fit it for uso as a
fucl for ordinary purposes p
~ replied that [ had observed nothing new
upou the subject since the experiment of Ag.
assz and Prof Henry, and added that, in
my opinion, the expensive mode Of reduction
would always prevent its use.
SIN few words he then informed me that
he had made the discovery that the art was
extremely simple, and the expense attending
the decomposition so slight as to be nsgnili.
oanb
"Presuming that the object of his visit to
me was to procure the necessary forms to get
out patent for the right, congratulated him
upon his good fortune, and was about to
branch forth with a description Of some Of
tho great benefits that must cnsue to the com.
munity, when he suddenly aud somewhat un.
civilly requested me to 'bo SILENT and listen
to what he had to say.
clio began with some general remarks
about the inequality of fortune .amongst
mankind, and instancod himself as striking
example of the fate Of those men who accord.
ing toal tho rules of right ought to be near
the top, instead Of the foot of the ladddcr of
fortune But said ho, spriuging to his
feet with impulsiye energy, Il have now the
means at my command of rising superior to
fute, or Of inhicting incalculablo ills upon the
whole human race
"Looking at him moro closely, I thought
I could detect in his eye tho glcm of mad
ness but remained silent and awaited fur.
ther developments. But my scrutiny stolen
as it was, had been detected, and he replied
: at once to the expression Of my face: mo,
[ am neither drunk nor q maniac a.n in
deep, earnesti in all that I So; ; and 1 am full.
ly prepared by actual experiment, to demon.
strato beyond all doubt tho truth of all
claim.
"l'or tho first timo noticed that ho carri.
ed small portmantcau in his hand this he
placed upon tho table, unlocked it, and took
out,two or three small volumes, pamphlet
or two, a,small, square, wido mouthcd phial,
Theoretically sealed.
81 watchsd him with profound curiosity
and'took note Of his slightest movements
Hhvihg arranged his books to suit him, and
placed tho phial in. a conspicuous position, ho
drcw up his chair closely to my own, and, ut
tered, in, n half Kissing tone:
II demand Que million dollars for the con.
toats'of that bottle; and you must raise it
for me in tho city Of San francisco within
one month, or scenes too terrible even for the
imagination TO conceive, will surely bo wit.
messed by every living human being .on tho
face Of the globe.'
"rhe tone, the manner, and tho absurd ex-
travagance of tho demand, excited n faint
smilo upon my lips, which ho observed, but
disdainedto notice.
"My mind was fully made up that J. had a
maniac to deal with, and prepared to act
accordingly. But / asoertained ab once that
nv innost Thoughts were read by the rcmar.