Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1871-07-12

bustion.
Not a drop Of water remained in th,
vessel Astonished beyond measure al
what 1 bad witnessed, and terrified al
most to verge Of insanity, appr Oach &c
Summerfield and tremblingly inquired
TO whom, sir, is this tremendous Sc
cret known?
TO myself alone he responded; 'ant
now answer me a question: is it wOrtl
the money!
1t is entirely unnecessary to relate in
detail the subsequent events connected
with the transaction. I will only add 3
general statement, showing the result.
of my negotiation. Having fully salts
fled myself that Summerfield actually
held in his hands the fate Of the whole
world, with its millions of human be.
iDgs, and by experiment having tested
the combustion of sea water, with equal
facility as fresh, / next deemed it my
duty to call the attention Ofa few of the
principal men in San Francisco to the
extreme importance. of Summerfield's
discovery.
a leading banker, a bishop, a chem
ist, two State university professors, a
physician, ajudge, and two Protestant
divines were selected by me to witness
the experiment on large scale. This
was done at a small sandhill lake, near
the seashOre, but separated from it by a
ridge of lofty mountains, distant not
more than ten miles from San Francis
co. Every single drop of water in the
pool was burnt up in less than fifteen
minutes. We next did all we could to
pacify Summerield, and endeavored to
induce him to lower his price and bring
| it within the bounds of a reasonable
possibility. But without avail. He be-
gan to grow urgent in his demands.
The subcommittee soon commenced
work with the wealthiest citizene Of San
Francisco, and by appealing to the ter
rors OF a few and the sympathies of all,
succeeded in raising one-haIf the amount
within the prescribed period.
shall never forget the wOe-begOne
faces of California Street during the
month of October. The outside world
and the newspapers spoke most learned
ly of a money panic-a pressure i'll bus
iness, and the disturbances, in the New
York gOld-rOOm. But to the initiated
there was an easier solution of the enig-
ma. The pale specter of death looked
down upon them all, and pointed with
his bOny figure to the fiery tomb of the
whole race, already looming up in the
distance before them. Day after day I
could see the dreadful ravages of this
secret horror -dOubly terrible since they
dared not divulge it. Still, do all that
we could, the money could not be OBJ
tanned.
The day preceding the last one Civ
en-, Summerfleld was summoned before
the committee, and full informant ton
given him of the state of affairs. Obdu-
rate, hard, and cruel, he still continued.
Finally, a proposition was started that
an attempt should be made to raise the
other half of the money in the city of
New York. To this proposition Sum-
merfield ultimately yielded, but with
extreme reluctance. It was agreed in
committee that I should accompany
him thither, and take with me, in my
own possession, evidences Of the sums
subscribed here; that a proper appeal
should be made to the leading capital
lists, scholars, and elergymen of that me-
tropolis, and that, when the whole
amount was raised, it should be paid
over to Summerfield, and a bond taken
from him never to divuIge his awful Sc
cret TO any human being.
With this he seemed to be satisfied.
and left us to prepare for his going the
next morning.
AS soon as he left the apartment, the
bishop arose, and deprecated the ac-
tiOn that had been taken, and charac-
terized il as childish and absurd, Hell
declared that no man was safe one mo-
ment while that diabolical wretch
still lived; that the only security for US
all was in his immediate extirpatiOn
from the face of the earth, and that no
amount of money could seal his lips or
close his hands, 1t would be no crime. |
he said, to deprive him of the means of
the whole human family,
and that as for himself he was for DOOM
ing him TO immediate death.
With unanimity that was extraor-
dinary, the entire committee cOincided.
A great many plans were proposed,
and rejected, having in view
the determination of Summerfield. In
them all there was the want of that
proper caution which would IuiI the ap-
prehension of an enemy; for should he
for an instant suspect treachery, we
knew his nature so well as to be satisfi.
ed that he would waive all ceremonies,
and carry his threats into immediate
execution.
1t was finally resolved that the trip to
New York should not be abandoned.
apparently. But we were to start out
IN accordance with the original pro-
yramme; that, during the journey, some
proper means should be resOrted to by
me to carry out the final intentions of
,he committee, and that whatever 1 did
would be sanctioned by them all, and
'ull protection, both in law and con-
science, afforded me in any stage of thei
Nothing was wanting but my own
I asked the privilege of med
tatiOn for one hour, at the hands of the
before L would render de-
,isiOn either way. During that recess
,he above augmentation occupied my {