Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1883-02-07
once more, and had the third story
attached to the alarm, for three hum
dred dollars.

grown to formidable dimensions.
1t had forty-seven tags on ii, mark
with the names of the various rooms
and chimneys, and it occupied the
space of an ordinary wardrobe.
| The gong WIS the size of Il wash
i bowl. and was placed above the
head of our bed. There was wire
/ from the house to the coachman's
| quarters in the stable, and noble
gong alongside his pillow.
4 would have been comfortable
now but for one defect. Every
morning at five the cook opened the
door, in the way of business, and
rip went that gong! The first time
this happened thought the last
| day had come sure. / didn't think
it in bed-no, but out Of it--for the
/ first effect of that frightful gong is
to hurl you across the house, and
slam you against the wall, and thel.
curl you up, and squirm you like a
spider on stovelid, till somebody
shuts that kitchen door. In solid
fact, there is no clamor that is even
comparable to the dire clamor which
that gong makes. Well, this catas-
trophe happened every rorning reg
ularly at FIVE o'clock, and lost us
thsee hours sleep; for, mind you,
when that thing wakes you, it
doesn't merely wake you in spots;
it wakes you al, over, conscience and
all, and you ere good for eighteen
hours of lWide-awakedness subse-
quently---5ighteen hours of the very
most inconceivable wide-awakedness
that you ever experienced in your
life. A stranger died on our hands
one time, and we vacated and left
him our room over night. Did that
stranger wait for the general judg.
ment? No sir; he got up at five
the next morning in the most
prompt and transformations way. /
! knew he would, knew il mighty
we'll. He collected his life-insur-
ance, and lived happy ever after. for
there was plenty of proof as to the
perfect squareness Of his death.
sNell, we were gradually fading
away toward a better land, on ac-
count OF our daily loss of sleep; so
we finally had the expert up again
and he run a wire to the outside of
our door, and placed switch there,
whereby Thomas the butler, could
take off and put OH the alarm; but
! Thomas always made one little mis-
take he switched the alarm off at
night when he went to he'd, and
switched it on again at daybrea in
in the morning, just in time for the
| cook to open the kitchen door, and
enable that gong to slam us across
| the house, sometimes breaking a
window with one or the other Of us.
At the end of week we recognized
that this switch business was de-
fusion and snare. We also dis
covered that band Of burglars had
been lodging in the house the whole
time not exactly to steal, for there
wasn't much lett now, but to hide
from the police; for they were hot
pressed, and they shrewdly judged
that the detectives would never think
of a tribe burglars taking sanctuary
in house VIGOROUSLY protected by
the most imposing and elaborate
| burglar alarm in America.
Sent down for the expert again,
and this time he struck a most daz-
zling idea he fixed the thing so that
opening the kitchen door would
take off the alarm. 1t was A.
noble idea, and he charged accord
ingly. But you already see theresult.
| switched on the alarm every night
at bed time, no longer trusting to
Thomas frail memory; and as soon
as the lights were out, the burglars
walked in at the kitchen door, thus
taking the alarm Off without waiting
for the cook to do it in tie morning.
You see how aggravatingly we were
situated. For months we couldn't
have any company. Not spare
bed in the house; all occupied by
burglars.
Finally, got up cure Of my
own. The expert answered the call
and ran another under ground wire
to the stable, and established
switch there, So that the coachman
could put on and take off the alarm.
That worked first-rate and season Of
peace ensucd, during which we got
to inviting company once more and
enjoying life.
aBut by and BY tho irrepressible
alarm invented y new kink. One
Winters night we were flung out Of
bed by the sudden music of that
awful gong. and when we hobblcd
10 the annunciator, turned up the