Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1871-07-06
THE MAN WITH A SECRET.
A wonderful story If aot Sensational

! A Wonderful story If Sot SENSATIONAL.
\ most remarkable story comes to us
/ through the Sacramento Union, which
/ il not designed to be sensational, makes
/ the most wonderful disclosure of the
age, and suggests inquiries that will In
terest chemists as well as the world at
large. The story is told in four-col-
umn article, from which the following
synopsis contains the most salient
points:
/ Some time ago, "a man named Greg
! ory Summerfeld was murdered by be-
| ing pushed from platform of a car on
the Union Pacific Railroad at Cape
Horn, and falling down athousand feet
on the rocks below Summertield was a
a man of extraordinary literary and scien-
/ titic attachments, and was always known
1 before his death as 1.-The man with the
secret The only person on the plat
form with him when he was thrust
down the precipice was Leonidas Par
ker, Sacramento lawyer of talent and
an excellent reputation. He was twice
tried for murder, and each time myster-
riously acquitted. Recently he died
buL lttt DGHllltl hiAl spLl ca pAtth'AtApAi Va
of the whole transaction. A short time
before Summerfield's death he came
into Parker's office. that being his
first appearance in Sacramento for n
number of years, and told him that he
, fathomed the mighty secret of making
water burn by means ola preparation Of
potassium, which would separate the
particles and ignite the liberated oxy-
gen, thus creating and recreating its
own force, and proceeding until all the
particles were destroyed. Possessed of
this terrible power, he demanded
81 200, 900, TO be raised IN San Francis
| co, or he would set the Pacific Ocean
on fire and let the world take the CON
sequence. Parker thought himself
dealing with lunatic, and treated the
matter disdainfully, but offered to try
one of his potassium pills IN wash
bowl of water, which skipped and hiss
ed around as it always does, and SEEM
ed about to expire, when sharp eX-
pIosion took place, and to his surprise :,
the liquid blazed in lurid flames to the
ceiling until every drop was consumed.
Deeming this worth considering, he
i'm parted the discovery, with summer
fields condition, to a leading banker,
bishop, chemist, two State univer-
sity professors, a physician, aludge and
two Protestant dlvines, who, with him
self witnessed the experiment on a
grand scale in mountain lake ten
miles from San Francisco. In fifteen
minutes every drop of water in the pool
was consumed, and the committee be-
came alarmed, while Summertield be-
came importunate. Only half million
could be raised at San Francisco, and
something must be done or the Pacific
/ Ocean would roll pillows Of fame in
/ stead OF water. It was propose to at
| tempt subscriptions in New York, when
+ the bishop rose and said that all that was
/ child's play; that nothing would salts
| fv the wretch, determination was, I'M
/ der the circumstances, justitiable. AL
conceded. and Parker, who dew the
I gorge5 and widings Of the Pacific road,
was chosen as humanitys ayenglng an
! gel II the conclusion OF his docu-
ment, he says: II selected Cape Horn
as the best adapted to the purpose, and
( 4 she public knows the rest. Hav-
/ ing Deen ruby cQltteu ny tNO VIlou-
nails of the law, I make this final appeal
to ny fellow-men througout the State,
and ask them confidently not to reverse
the judgement already pronounced.
/ The truthfulness OF this revelation
having been questioned, the party with
whom the statement of Parker was left,
and who furnished it for publication,
published a card giving the names OF
the parties who witnessed the expert
ment of the burning lake who are
among the well known citizens OF San
Francisco, and offers to furnish further
proof if necessary. The story has the
/ smack OF sensation about it, neverthe-
less, and we shall await some statement
from these prominent San Franciscans
/ before we give it entire credence.