The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1873-01-23

! IlllP lOr Tile gem L lluu ever seen.
Then told her all about it. from be-
ginning to end.
" shall examine closely, vigorously
into the whole matter. Won Trap wants
me on the Board of Direction, and an
occupation is so very desirable. If it is
all right / might venture q small sum-"
and then / talked Of Ceyloh, sponges,
coral, stlnken treasure, not as well as
did Won Trap, but with certain effect.
Whether all the stock was taken or
not, I suppose L shall never he able to
discover What is certain was that there
were some good names standing for
shares. p. p. G. stock, though not on
the regular list, was bought and sold by
brokers', and was, for time, quite
fancy stock. Some people took shares
in it, the dividends to be paid in pearls,
placing the shares in their wives or
daughters names, and in many draw
ing room, pretty women would talk of
their prospective pearl parures, and
wonder how many pearls it would take
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, all of pearl. were eagerly sought
after.
The first difficulty was about the
patent. No sooner was the p. 2. G.
the purchaser than injunctions, from
America and Europe, and even Asia
and Africa, believe were showered on
us. The whole world clamored infringe
ments, Some We had to buy off, while
others we had to fight in Court Then
came delay on delay as to the building
q L. T
and weeks in travelling between the
Office and the machine-shop, and quite
ruined my self in buying new clothes,
those l wore being soiled by the rust
and oil i'll the dingy shop where it was
annoyances. There was no doubt about
our being able to make air, and of the
finest, purest, and most exhilerating
prepare it by the ten cubic feet, In
nicely y-lacquered gasometer, and breathe
it too, and enjoy the experiment very
in try it, and all the visitors declared it
to be the freshest and incest air they
had ever used, and some people of
philanthropic turn of mind were san
guine " that if " as they said, "we could
into Baxter-street, or into tenement
houses, in the Summer, we would save
the city from all sickness, besides ameli-
Grating the condition of the poor" But
there was hitch somewhere, suspected
by me alone. Sometimes now that I go
over the whole matter, am inclined to
think that the German chemist was
Mephistephiles, disguised as an alchem-
ist One day he would burst into the
office, drag me into the private room,
fall on my neck, aud with tears in his
eyes-wanting to kiss me---would de-
clare, "That all was Desser as goot: that
he his wife and his children had been
living, for the last ten hours in an at
mosphere of his own preparation, that
they We're doing well, and that the last
obstacle in the manufacture had been
removed" but adding "that he must
have 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, from
there having been an overdose of nitro
gen i'll his mixture.
Very soon my thousand dollars went,
, and with it some Of the stockholders,
who preferred having their stock forfeit
ed to paying further assessments.
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 at nominal
prices, which We're on exhibition in the
office.
Little by little nay ten thousand dollar
interest became fifty thousand, and
shortly / became the largest share
holder, Won Trap complimented me
on my pluck, and offered Inc the Pres
idency, which | declined. l still had
unlimited faith in the p. p. c., so much
so as to write brilliant prospectus,
which / had neatly printed on tinted
paper, with red line round the edges,
which was distributed by the thousands.
We advertised, it, too-The Peregrina
Pearl Company-in all the leading pa
pers, and the reader may have seen
notices of it. Here commenced my
first GOODNESS 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 incessant.
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 bolt unless so many thousand
dollars were paid. We had made so
many alterations and improvements, u
he said "t that it would cost twice as
much as the original drawings and
specifications called for"
Later noticed that my friend Won
: Trap had not been in the Office for ten
days. Presently, i'll the streets, I heard
his name used in connection with that
OF a novel process for facilitating City
, transit. Ii was described as something
, marvelous-an electro-m motor, by means
of which passengers could be conveyed
from the Battery to Spyten Duyvel in
! three minutes, and at a cost not exceed
, ing seven-eights OF cent per head
, Still labored on, was President, Secre
tsry, Consulting Engineer, correspond
ent, clerk and errand boy: did every
thing but sweep out the p. P, @. offices
The chemist now almost drove me mad
2 He became Unsuitable in, his demands
t and seemed to hold me personally re
! sponsible for the whole company. /
he was not the evil one, at least he wai
! the personifcation of greed and avarice
! Where the thousands of dollars he hat
. received went to was a mystery, as HI
was always squalid, wretched and dirt,
to degree. Now he lured me on witt
his secret, which he assured me wal
r. within grasp, and wrung from ma N,