The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-06-16
AN INVENTORS IDEA,
Proposing to Label TombstOnes In Order
to Interest Sightseers.

Proposing to Label Tombstones In Order
to Interest Sightseers.
ID this great city there are many Pc
culiar kinds of business and many
strange ways of making money, but
there are few more novel than that
adopted by Frederick Kuhn. an old
German, who lives in East Fifteenth
street. He recently advertised for cap
ital TO start a new business, which he
said would be the introduction of an
invention that would revolutionize So
ciety. A reporter found him in his
little shop in rear building on the
first floor. Every thing about the
room appeared to be musty and tired;
two old chairs that stood in the middle
of the floor appealed to the reporter to
stand up and let them fall down. There
was strange chill in the air. A few
old iron and wooden molds were scat
tered around the floor and were of ex-
ceedingly old designs. A stuffed crow
oocON III OiiC SOlHCl Ou q pCICu, WlUu
about half its feathers fallen out. In
the general appearance of desolation
and decay the old man seemed to fit
in perfectly. He was small, with big
head and solemn face. partially COW
cred by tangled beard. In his hand
was hammer with which he made
gestures as if to drive his ideas into the
brain of his visitor. Between the puffs
of overpowering smoke which came in
a jerky way from pipe with a stem
an inch long tucked away in the far
corner of his mouth, he said:
well, as long as you have got the
money to put up I'm willing to take
you into this business. But l don't
want any fooling. I've had enough of
that Lots of people have been here
who are always coming around the
next day. I'm waiting for them yet.
These people all promise largely but
never come to time. But as you look
sort OF honest, come along"
The old man opened door leading
to a dark room. went in and after the
reporter had got inside closed the door.
Not ray of light entered the room.
The old man stumbled and fumbled in
a far corner, knocked down several OBJ
jects, and finally struck match and
lighted small piece of candle which
stuck about an inch out of the end of a
bottle. The Pickering light revealed
sight that was not encouraging to
nervous man. Standing with one end
upon the floor and the other against
the wall were a number of coffins,
'mediun-sized, and all ranged in row.
The old man held the candle aloft' and
viewed the lugubrious scene with ap-
parent delight. His companion did
not share his pleasure. There was
suggestive, pungent odor around that
gave rise to the idea that the collins
were inhabited.
"This, said Mr.. Kuhn, "is a tomb,
and these" with q proud wave Of his
hand, "are supposed to be the people
who dwell in it. But what can you tell
about them from those characterless
collins They indicate nothing. There
is just where my invention comes in.
l will make them tell the story of their
lives in few moments"
Going to closet he took out num-
Der Of 0dd-looking models, and when
he had got an armful he walked
around from coffin to. coffin and
snapped them fast on the top side with
a metallic click. When he had gone
the round of the collins he turned sud-
denly and exclaimed:
Nov you have it. Before, nothing
but coffin, now what do you see?
Here upon this first box is loaf of
bread, pretzel and q pie; this indi-
Gates that the man within was baker,
and the story Of his life is told at a
glance. Upon this next box is knife.
q piece of beef and . cleaver. You can
guess who is inside. Here is q tailor
with pair of scissors, a coat and a
goose. There are q wig and razor
for barber. q Bible and hymn book
for preacher, skull and cross-bones
for doctor and copy of Blackstone
for lawyer. A dove indicates q wo-
man and bunch of roses whether she
was married and the number of her
children. So on would 60 through
every trade and profession, and have q
suitable coffin for each. Iwould carry
the same thing into monuments and
make every one tell the history of the
dead by artistically wrought figures,
which could be read at glance. What
q pleasure it would be to go through
cemetery then and you would not have
to wonder any longer who the dead
person was and what he had been do
ing in life. His monument would tell
something and would mean something
more than sign of grief. My idea
could also be extended in several other
directions. l have patented the pro-
cess of making these designs out of
paper. They are indestructible and
grow harder and tougher with age and
exposure, and meet q long-felt want in
the community. Now what do you
think of itp"
"Good-day," said the reporter.
'Call again." said the inventor. -
N. Y Tribune.