The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1873-01-20

to the lustrous pearl, made the best set
ting for the gem had ever seen.
Then ! told her all about it, from be-
| ginning 10 end.
II shall examine Clossly, vigorously
into the Shgle tiiattet,. Won trap wants
iiid oil the Board OF Direction, and an
occupation is SO very desirable. II tits
all right might venture small sum. ;"
and then / talked Of Ceylon, sponges,
coral, sunken treasure, not as we'll as
did Won Trap, but with certain effect.
Whether all the stock was taken or
not, suppose shall never be able to
discover. What is certain was that there
were eoipp good tidtneA staildihg for
shares. 4. p. d. stock, though not on
the regular list, was bought and sold by
brokers, and was, for time, quite a
fancy stock. Some people took shares
in Il, the dividends to be paid in pearls,
placing the shares in their wives or
daughters names, aud in many draw
ing room, pretty women would talk OF
their prospective pearl pail,res, and
| MOuhtf lluW nlullD ptthtlb ~ NOlhu tuhu
to span their graceful necks. As | had
some taste in designing, my tracing Of
ornaments OF decorative nature, suit
able for earrings, pendants, and brace
lets, oil Of pearl, were eagerly sought
after. H'
The first difficulty was about the
patent. No sooner was tho P. P, @.
the purchaser than injunctions, from
America unl Eutopn, and even Asia
aud Africa, l believe were showered on
us. Tho whole world clamored infringe
ments. Some We had TO buy of, while
others wo had to fight in Court. Then
came delay on delay as to the building
OF the submarine boat. / spent days
and weeks in travelling butweun the
office and the machine-sliop, and quite
ruined my self in buying new clothes,
those wore being soilcd by the rust
and oil in the dingy shop where 1t was
building. After that came the chemical
annoyances. There was no doubt about
our ballg able to make air, and Of the
finest, purest, and most oxhilerating
character, in the Office. We used to
prepare 1t by tie ten cubic feet, in q
nicely-lacquered gasometer, and breathe
II too, and enjoy the experiment very
much, md We nlndc every ono who Game
in try it, and all tho visitors declared it
to be tho freshest and incest air they
had ever used, and some people Of a
philantliropic turn oftnind were san.
gttine that II " ~ they said, owe could
only turn stream Of our prepared air
into Baxter.street, or into tenement
houses, in tile Summer, we would save
the city from all sickness, besides ameli-
Grating tho condition Of the poor" But
there was hitch somewhere, suspected
by me alone, Sometimes now that go
over tho whole matter, am inclined to
think that the German chemist was
Sfepliistophiles, disguised MS an alchem-
ist. One day lie wonld burst into the
Office, drag me into the private room,
fall on my neck, and with tears in his
eyes.wailting 10 kiss ine-woull de-
clare, "Ghat all was besser as goot; that
he, his wife and his children had been
living, for the last ten hours, in m ut
mosphere OF his own preparation, that
they were doing well, and that the last
obstacle in the manufacture had been
removed" but adding "tfat he must
have a thousand dollars more before he
could go on" That very night he would
wake me and the neighbors up by howl
ing my name at the door, and shouting
that his child was ill-dying, frsm
there having been an overdose OF nitro
gen in his mixture.
Very soon my thousand dollars went,
aud with 1t some Of the stockholders,
who preferred having their stock forfeit.
ed to paying further assessments. I
must confess that, so far, Won Trap
had stood manfully by us. He had
bought an immense stock OF pick-axes,
oyster-rakes, crow-bars ut nominal
prices, which were on exhibition in the
office.
Little by little my ten thousand dollar
interest became fifty thousand, and
shortly 1 became the largest share
holder, Won Trap complimented me
on my pluck, and offered me the Pres.
idency, which I declined. I still had
unlimited faith in the P. p. c., 80 much
SO as to write brilliant prospectus,
which I had neatly printed on tinted
paper, with red line round the edges,
which vast distributed by the thousands.
We advertised, It, too-The Peregrina
Pearl Company-in all the leading pa
pcrs, and the reader may have seen
notices OF 1t. Here commenced my
first Coolness with Won Trap. He would
write the advertisements himself, In the
regular patent medicine, lottery scheme
style, which was against my judgment.
Calls for money became now incsssant.
The contractor who was building the
submarine boat was always calling for
advances, threatened "to leave right of
then, and not drive in another rivet or
turn q bolt unless 80 many thousand
dollars were paid. We had made so
many alterations and improvements" "
lie said "tlat 1t would cost twice as
much as the original drawings and
specifications called for"
Later l noticed that my friend Won
Trap had not been in the Office for ten
days. Presently, in thestreets, I heard
his name used IN connection with that
Of novel process for facilitating City
transit. II was described as something
maryelOus-an electro.motor, by means
Of which passengers could be conveyed
from the Battery to Spyten Duyyel in
three minutes, and at q cost not exceed.
ing seyen.eights Of cent per head.
Still I labored on, was President, Secre-
tary, Consulting Engineer, correspond
ent, clerk and errand boy did every
thing but sweep out the 7. P, O. Offices.