The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-08-01

81 " AAAAA JOu al GdoC y
need"
bowed, and attributed his visit t
q feeling of curiosity. He sat on th
sink, one rubbered foot thrown owe
the other, and wiped lis nose with
dirty handkerchief several times
while his eyes wandered about Iik
Christopher Columbus after discover
les. Finally, he spoke like one who fel
called upon to say something.
"Perfesser, there has been an acci
dent this afternoon; terrible too"
"Ah," saidI /.
"Awfulr' he replied.
"What was it?'j
''Nitro-glycerine explosion up i'm In
iron mills-a hundred fellow mortal
i bustedp p'
"Sad !"
Affecting, very"
Here he rubbed his mouth with Che
back of his hand.
''Perfesser, what is that nitrO-gIy
cerine?n
''It is very dangerous, /" 1 answered
happy to display my knowledge. 81
has nearly twice the destructivenes.
of gun-pOwder, but, unlike it, doe:
not explode on the application of heat
A red-hOt coal dropped into it will moi
explode it. 1t will freeze. 1t is vel.
low and greasy. Its symbols in Oul
nomenclature are C8.115 No. 3
3, o."
"YOu don't mean to say so?D said
the officer, interrupting me, in disa-
greeable tones in the very middle of q
choice extract from one of my lee.
lures. "Why, but you haven't told
me how it does go OFF. If fire won't
burst it, what-(hem)-will?
I told him if it were pressed or any,
thing fell on it it would explode.
. s"Place it under the crusher of a ci.
der mill, strike it with hammer, let
q weight fall on it from a height"
"Yes," said my man, "and that
rouses its volcaner, does it? How does
it come Perfesser?"
'In little cans-why, like these ~
said /, discovering that there was a
little can of it on the marble sink,
7Vhieh- I had carelessly neglected to
replace in the cellar. 7 then tsSN 4
little OF the glycerlne, spread it on an
anvil, and struck it with hammer.
A slight explosion and flame burst
| from the paper. a ..r
L. W. 4GAAAA CeAAAA NlC
starting back. a. 81 suppose, Perfesser.
that ere can would make a mighty
big noise if allowed to explode in here
all at once?"
''It would blow the entire building
to atOms," said I, resuming the anal
/ ysis of Mrs. JohnsOn's stomach.
'NO" 1 heard the policeman re-
mark, in deliberate Yankee tones;
''you don't say sOw
The next moment I lay on my back,
a gag in my mouth, terribly frighten-
ed and sick at heart.
Over me stood the policeman, and
the first thing that finctiOnary did
was-lOOking me straight in the face
to take off his nose. He then rid
himself of his eyebrows, hair and cap,
and became a determined looking fell
low with the eyes of "A fiend and the
nose of a Roman.
$50 you think" said the metamor-
phOsed, in the tones of a gentleman,
'that nothing can save Joe johnson
from the rope? Poor fellow! it does
look like it. But my dear Professor,
Joe Johnson is fortunate enough TO
have in me devoted friend, as well
as brother. 1 have undertaken to
save him, and he shall be saved. In
order to accomplish this end it will be
necessary to remove from the face of
the earth not only the stomach of his
miserable wife yOnder, but also, my
dear ProfessOr-Pm sorry to be OBJ
liged to say it, for 1 believe you were
my brothers teacher and friend
yourself as WELL" | saw that he was
| in deadly earnest.
"YOur death must apparently re-
suit from accidental least, so it
must seem to the authorities. My
brother is in Jail, and they. will not
suspect him, and they certainly will
not suspect me-"
What terrible deed was in his brain
Matching? Was he going to murder
me? The hard-earned knowledge of
a score of years I would have given
for power to utter one single cry. He
took me in his arms and placed me
in o chair, and bound me TO it, and
then from side-pocket he produced
another rope.
Was it myself who was to hang in
stead of Johnson?
No; yes. He Placed the line pull
| ley-like over an arm of a hanging
SAAeNAAAGA4Elu MS " d tANOECLuCE LOO
slight a support even for one of my
slender frame. 1t was not to be hang
| ing, then. To one end Of the rope he
attached a weight, and raised it, by
pulling the other, six or eight feet
from the floor. The loose end he Sc
cured to the sink. Was he mad? Did
he mean to draw me under this
weight and send me out of the world
in novel way by letting it fall and
dash my brains out? To the sink end
he attached a long, yellow string.
Under the weight, on the floor, he
placed the can of nitro-glycerine 1
recognized the yellow string; it was
fuse, and it would burn IN sixty
minutes. It would run across the
marble slab-there was no hope of
\ igniting any substance that would
warn my friends. ..-Ir a4.
do you begin to See through it?''
asked Joe JOhnson's brother.
believe I cursed him with my
| eyes. I could only breath through
my nostrils, and great veins were
swelling and growing not in my fore
head. -si-s -.l.- 5-s- -sr-l.
Drawing q match from his pocket
he lighted and applied il to the fuse !;
that little tyrant that gave man an
hour to live, and killed him at the
end of it-that little irresponsible ter
rOr that, less merciful than PrOvi-
/ dence, told the man the second he
was to die, if fright and horror spared
it to himself Slowly the flames crept,
snake like, around the twine.
La one hour" said the prisoners
I brother, HyOu will be in heaven or
hell. viii watch with you for half
an hour, and the other half you win
lspend alone"
| He sat down some minutes in a
chair, watching the flame. Then he
arose and took a piece OF porcelain,
with the murderer's name thereon,
from the table and shook his head
| glOomily.
81 am chemist enough to know il
is arsenic" he said. "Yes, those
bright metallic eyes, betrayal Of the
guilty Science, thou WOuldst kill
my brother-thOu shalt save him.
Let Us see in whose hand thou art
most powerful. Here is a man who,
by thy aid, bids the prison sprite up
rise and write in BRILLIANT characters
a foul confession on this piece of por-
celain. But behold, o sciencel it is
no sooner written than by the word
/ the whole confession and thy chosen
servant are annihilated. Let the good
professor use his chemicals; the bad
brother only asks little can of nitro
glyeerine."
I heardi his speech indeed; but,