The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1883-12-20
A Labyrinth Of DelusiOn.

Tntersecting one of the nice parallelo-
grams that make up the programme of
Philadelphia s streets there is a narrow
alley. 1t is tagged with stone and
bounded on the right hand by high
fence, and on the left by brick wall,
which forms the side of a low, square
building story and half in height.
You 90 up to the narrow alley and find
that it is blind. But there is an outlet
"a small door, which is behind you
when you face the barricadeJ 1t opens
inward to a room whichis not unlike q
machinist's workshop, That is Mr..
Kelly standing there with the long bow
and drawing it over the vibrating steel
points on the generator. i
Take a good look at him before he
disappears into his laboratory. He
does not draw the long bow before the
profane, vulgar. The ''god of the
machine" seldom appears in front of
the footlights. When he was called be-
fore a Judge recently and asked to
name day on which his motor would
move he said: ''Who knows? Patience,
and shuttle the cards. 1t will move,
but it will not be hurried" and so the
stockholders, knowing that their only
hopeof benefting by the invention was
anchored in Keely, the inventor, let
him go back to his entertainments, and
even put more money in his purse.
He is a living embodiment of an old
adage, reversed to read: Nothing
succeeds like failure He is tall, mas
sive and plethoric, especially in the
cheeks and nose, where the passing
regiments of good dinners that he has
eaten at the expense of others have left
their fires burning, or, perchance, only
stray stand of colors. }
His features are coarse, yet full of q
kind of canine sagacity and tenacity--
the wit to grab and the grit to hold on.
His inflated shirt front discovers flash
ing diamond as big as the head of a
screw. He has a comfortable house,
| and is fond of fast horses.
I asked him many Direct questions,
but he is master hand at evasion.
when? Well, the generator is all
finished, so is the engine. A few more
preliminary tests. 1t is a matter OF
weeks now. This year? Beyond a
doubt. All that remains is to generate
the power, apply it to the cylinder, and
there you are, 1000 revolutions to the
minute, if necessary
This patter, or something to the same
| effect, he repeated mechanically, let
ting his nervous, restless eyes rove
around the dimly lighted shop, where
his foreman and an assistant were busy
ing themselves in making the disorder
more marked and appealing among the
mute and rusty tools. His manner and
attitude impressed me as that of a man
who, when ignorant of the action OF
natural forces, stumbled across what tc
him was novel effect of, let us say,
gases in combination. Following up
| his experiments he first succeeded in
convincing himself that he had evolved
new force and got the money to de.
velop it. That was nearly ten years
ago. After repeated failure he long
since ceased to be deceived himself, but
having found the task of deceiving
others so easy as well as profitable, he
kept up the fiction of new discovery
and has now involved himself in 9
labyrinth of delusion any mystery.
The secret of his success in replen.
ishing his Golfers from time to time, the
power of levying taxes upon human
credulity amounting in the aggregate
to hundreds of thousands of dollars,
has been the lavishness and prodigali
ty of his promises. In this he has
shown constructive imagination moro
powerful than the greatest romaneers.
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