Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-01-07
WALpURGrsxAoH r oUrDoNB.1
A Memorable New Kear's-Eve az
Hammer,s HgoOse.

WALPURGIsNzoH r 0UTDoNE.
A honorable Nesv-xear's-Eve az
lHamner,s Honie.
Mr.. William Hammer gave IN electric
supper to few old classmates on New
Year's-eve, says the New York World. 1t
was like an evening IN sheol. Mr. Hammer
has been associated with Edison tho
great electrioian, for long time, and has
become 30 stepped in electricity that il
fairly oozes out at his finger tips. He
carries lighting abont in his pockets as
carelessly as boy would carry toad.
His pretty little home at No. l23 Rowland
street is built upon Leyden jars and bat
tories and queer electrical inventions.
You can't walk across the threshold with
out ringing bells or sounding burglar
alnms, or lighting the gus, or doing some
odd thing you never dreamed of doing.
On Thursday evening MIR. Hammer had
all the hidden wires about the house con-
nected SO as to give his 20 guests a lively
time. As far as outward appearance went
| eparlorsand dining-roo looked likeany
other well furnished apartments. But hid.
| den beneath the carpets and in the walls
end ceilings Were strange systems OF
| wires and buttons. You enter the gate
and the house appears dark, but as your
foot touches the lower stoop three electric
| lights blaze out and the number of the
house appears in bright relief. The next
step sets bell to jingling, and the third
throws open the door and lights the gas
in the hall by electricity, transmitted by
the pressure of the foot. Inside the hall
there is an odd-looking foot-rest attached
to the hat rack, and by pressing button
| n pair of brushes come out and shine
your shoes. Up stairs, where You remove
your wraps, there is n bedroom that
would be worth fortune to lazy man.
BY touching your head to the pillow the
| gas 10 feet away, is extinguished, and by
| pressing knob ut the toUt of the bed il
| is lit again. Outside the door clock work
attachment sounds drum ut the proper
waking time, and, if the occupant does
not got up after 10 minutes grace, the bed
rises on its hind legs and dumps the
sleeper out OH the floor.
Iii the parlors the guests who had come
early stood about in little groups. No
body sat down, although ottomans and
sofas and chairs were scattered through
the rooms. Every new conner was cordi-
ally greeted and II chair pushed toward
him. Ii he sat down-as he usually did
the chair either doubled up OH him or
started for the door with him, or disap-
penred or completely exploded. If he sat
on n sofa he set II banjo TO playing on the
opposite wall, and n drum to beating; OF
| ii he took another seat the movement put
ont the lights and introduced queer phos.
phorescent figures. No man knew when
NJ was safe, although there were u few
apparently safe seats. In one of these
tiumorist Brown was telling very funny
story. He had left electricity far behind
and just rs he reached the climax pretty
funnel shaped Japanese affair, like big
Ounce cap, that ornamented the ceiling
overhead, dropped quietly down and
covered him up, silently extinguishing the
story and the story-teller.
Somebody proposed music, and half of {
selection went very nicely on the piano
But just as every one became interested
something seemed to give way, and in
stead of strings the keys beat upon
horrible jangle of gongs and drums ant
bells and every kind of producing
implement. But the worst come in TIL
dining-room. About IL o'clock the q
guests sat down to table loaded with til
,; usual delicacies. At the head a figure o
Jupiter presided. At signal the grea
god began to talk phonographically), an,
made welcome address. lie wore cleo
trio lights for shirt studs, bibulous re,
light for nose, and his green eyes In,
b the snap of lightning in them, while blu
bolts blazed from his pocket.
The table seemed bewitched. Touch
knife or fork and il put out the light
| aud introInnaI ,,nanr aialtu D,,4 Wv,
spoon into dish of cream and it flare
:, up in great columns of green or re
!, flames many feet high, like fountain c
lire. Reach for an innocent-loolin
! sandwich and it rang bell inside, whel
II the meat ought to be. Try to pick up a
orange and drum beat inside. Hell
. yourself to pudding, and the dish and a
/. slid silently iuto the great unknown. As
"a for Malaga grapes and iiud that nm ele
/. trio light flashed from each one us VIC
:, pulled the stem. Pour glass of lemol
- ade and it was incandescent and full
: fire as it touched your lips. And y
ID everything was good to eat, and the coif
u was cooked by electricity.
r. And when Che little clock tinlSled O
m IL, ushering i'll the new year, and Il
r., chimes from the distant churches car
softly into the room, pandemoniu
" seemed to have changed places with Il
- modest dining-room. Two big cannt
unexpectedly went OFF with n suddenne
VI that rolled every man back from d
Of table. the lights disappeared, gongs und
10 each chair beat tattoo and two brio
dropped off the chimney. For ft
m minutes every malignant noise ever
,a vented was piled on top of one anothe
'' and then silence and the lights cur
'e back, aud supper WAS resumed us calm
be MS if such IL thing us scare had new
he been known. .-.
is After supper electric fire works nj
re phOnograph experiments and lumino
mr. chamber of horrors sent the guests hol
with bewildered feeling that someht
they had been living half century abe
~ of the new year.