Litchfield enquirer., 1873-03-13

most ludicrous and mortifying scenes. Theexplosion or collapse of patent min ister in the middle of his sermon, for in stance, though not so terrible as the sud den deaths which have sometimes so hap pened would be only less undesirable and
 lamentable than such an interruption.
 The machine shop, as already deserib. ed, was much like any other machine-shop. In the second, or body-shop, there was, however, more that was peculiar and amusing l inspected with great interest long row of gutta-perch heads on shelves, some bald; some adorned with elegant heads of hair in various states o1 curl;some old, and some young; some
 with board and mustache, others shaved
 clean. A messenger came just as we were
 looking at these, to call Budlong to the
 office to deal with some important custo.
 mer. went on inspecting the rows ol
 heads. until had examined them all; and
 then. looking aimlessly about, as one does
 who's at loss for occupation, saw 6
 door having the misterious legend, s'Pos-
 ltively No Admission for any Purpose
 Whatever. Now, nsed not explain to
 the Yankee mind, that this legend always
 signifies, 'sHere is just the most interest
 ing thing of all !" I tried the door al once. Why should not ? for Budlong
 had snid was to" see every part of the
 factory. Still it is possible, observe. ] say possible, e,-that, if my mind had in the
 least misgiven me, I should not have
 opened the door. And, moreover, what
 business had they to leave it unlocked il
 1t was so very sacred and secret ? And
 how do l know now, but that the inscrip-
 ton had been put there by previous occu-
 pants? Nor, lastly, am I at all certain
 that 1t was my duty to inform the public
 of what l discovered in consequence.
 Hlght or wrong, however,-and had in- fimteiy more justification for entering
 than had the wife of the late MT. Blue
 beard into the historic closet, right or wrong. ln went; and was, fancy, quite as much astounded by what saw as was that amlable young woman. The first thought that flashed across my mind, as
 I glanced upon this additional row oi heads, was indeed horr1d: sHave murder CTS enticed all the great public speakers of the day into this bloody den, and de capitated them,-the Rev. Dr.--, the Rev. MT. -, the Hon. Mr. ?" Face Napoleon or of Gen Washington, l saw
 
 painful spasm of indistinct but intense apprehension for moment made my very h cart stand still. So powerful was the i'm pression, moreover, that I could not esc ape entirely from it; and, after hastily veri fying.my observations, I gladly re- Ire at ed out of the uncanny place, and, shutting the door, returned to the con ;eml lation of the insignificant, general zed types of humanity outside; though I ,ould mt help pondering upon what night be tGe possible significance of that $ museum so choicely hidden away there. However. my guide very 'oon came ba. X; and, as I turned round 1pon his openi ug the door, thought he glanced with s!lr uneasy air towards the ,losetof horrcIs;and I therefore gave up, Dy one of those intuiHve apprelrensions of he disagreeabls which sometimes flash lcrosa us, mi previous purpose of asking what 1t mea mt. A vulgar person, now, would have been only the more resolute 10 inquire VI. hat 2 fine thing it is to be 
 MT. Budlong be, gan at once-I fancieG with something of forced volubility and interest, as of one ho would fain direct wholly the course of talk-to discuss the leads before us. He took down one of hem, and holding it i'll both hands, with he face towards me, caul 'ed the dead wis lge to writhe and gibber il1 so fearful a manner, that started as if |, corpse were 'finnlng and winking at me- "You see, ald no, sthat we are enabled t,' furnish & arge range of expressions. And he queezed the face again, and produced lalf a dozen exceedingly nauseous sim 'ers and smiles. Then he laid the thing 'n the table, and inflicted ferocious blow !pon its nose; insomnch that his hand rove Tn the face completely. "But," "aside from the danger of nJurlng the article, is their no risk of in uring the moral sense of your operatives y allowing them to witness such treat aent of clergyman
 "Oh, no ]" replied he. ''The material Tlil take no injury, even from much se- erer blows than that; and people that 1ake wooden images are not, in this ountry, likely to have much respect for hem, at any rate. Our workmen are well sed to their trade: they think neither the etter nor the worse of minister because hey have played football with his head. nd manufactured his bowels and his rains for him. It's all matter of busi- ess with them"
 A naked minister, near several others. | tood ready for transfer to the tailors's hop. The head and hands were finished nd colored skilfully, like nature, and uggested the ghastly idea that they had cen cut off from live man, or a dead ne, and stuck up there for models. The est of tho creature was a mass of machin- ", bearing enough ghresemblance to the hu- nan figure to admit of being draped into sufficient resemblance to it.
 "John said my fried to a workman who 'as passing through the room at the loment, s'is that improved double action minister wound upp'
 ''Yes, sir, replied the man: s'but he ,nt oiled; and the pow hasn't been reg lated"
 s'Never miud, answered Budlong, turn ng to me: ''he'n click and rattle, and rin and squirm little; but you can get n idea of the operation of the works" o saying, he threw the machinery into ear with key.
 With suddenness that caused me to bring backwards, and thereby to occa- ion very unnecessarily hearty chuckle Il the part of MT. Budlong and of the who had stopped to see, the 4dCuIA0 ttlI0W OObu AtS uaHUS tO AIAA o- sngth before it, as if to catch me, and eld them stifiy out; raised its eyebrows; tared hideously with it's eyes; opened it's 1outh long and wide, grinning, and show ng two white rows of teeth, like vicious orse; and shouted out in a high, harsh, inging tone, steady and sustained owel sound of fssA-a-a-a-a-ah!
 This vocable it pronounced as in the "Ah!' A bellows in the ab- ! omen of the creature Wheezed and blew usily. All his senseless entrails sprang nto miscellaneous activity; and with much attling, squeaking, and whizzing, and an ccasionai gesture and grimace, the sub- tantial portion of the ministerial func- ions was directly under my notice, in ae- ual operation. Having waited few moments, my guide urned off the wind; and the shriek of the pectre cased. He still. however, held ut his hands, gibbered, stared and grin ed, occasionally rose as if on tiptoe, and anne down on his heels with a hard jerk, hook his head violently, or seemed to