The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-08-15

p1iSODS rendered
found for incurable diseases. the whole condi.
tons of life changed, and /, your thick-headed
old Wilcox, will be hailed as the greatest bene
factor of mankind
was literally struck dumb with amazement.
The vast, magnificent prospect this discovery
opened paralyzed my imagination. Like one In
a trance or dream, l grasped desperately for
some tangible object, and muttered indistlnctiy,
Can you show me something OF all thisF
"Oh, yes I've kept to my first love, though
that is now one of the least of my results Still.
/ owe all TO IT, and through it l will make my
discovery first known. just taste this" and he
handed me small bottle containing focculent
white powder ..Sulphate of uuinine and as
fine as ever saw" s"Yes. / need not ask you
to analyze it. You can trust me when ] say it
answers perfectly every test of the natural ar
ticle, chemically pure And the cost of it won't
exceed cent an ounce to the manufacturer
What steps are you taking TO publish ita"
questioned. II shall first simply announce the
quinine discovery IN the papers. In few weeks
the Bancrofts will issue the prospectus of a new
work on organic chemistry which i have just
finished, and as they have engaged to keep the
subject matter close secret, nothing of my
methods will be known to the world at large
until publication
''This will mean a terrible smash in the drug
business" yes but it is unavoidable How
ever. the time lapsing from the first news of my
discovery to its full publication, and the manu-
facture OF necessary apparatus will enable deal
to dispose of their stocks at equitable prices.
If they are so inclined. Bancrofts prospectus,
a copy OF which will be sent to every druggist in
the land, will contain a full list of drugs ex-
pect to cheaper, so that any great loss will be
their own fault. At any rate their interests
must yield to those of the whole world"
There was another long pause, during which
Wilcox smoked furiously, while, growing ac-
customed to the situation. sipped meditative
toddy. Then asked: What does Price think
of this, or doesn't he know it2"
Wilcox broke into q CHEEKY laugh. "Why.
Haight, OLD man, that is the funniest part of the
whole thing. Price does not know anything of
settled finally with them this afternoon and was
unwilling to mention it before. In fact, he
knows nothing of my book or my definite plans,
and believe I'll not let him know until 1t is an
nounced in the Chronicle
Then what the deuce does Price know of itq'
I asked.
THAT is the queer fact. About month ago
| noticed from Prices private experiments that
he too was on the track of quinine, and soon af
ter, that he had found the result we began work
ing for at the same time. Not in the way did,
though. He simply stumbled on it, and hadn'.
SO far any of the deductions have made. Not
making any such experiments as mine, he has
no data sufficient to lead him to the analysis or
synthesis of organic matter. He can make sui
phate of quinine, but not one of the thousand
other substances to which my discovery leads
When, however, he found himself anticipated.
and l gave him pretty much the same general
like trump.
II know you never liked Price but he is a fine
fellow. even if he was too quiet at college to go
much with our set. In the old chemistry / am
going to supplant he is far my superior. and he is
well up in physics, too, especially in electricity.
If you will keep his secret too will tell you one
of his discoveries. Before long he will be at the
roots of electricity, as / am at those of my
science. He has invented process now by
which storage cell is made to transmit the
fluid either In current by single shock, or in
a series. at the will of the operator. He charges
his cells. too. from a dynamo. though I'm not
sure whether that is a new idea or not. with
power hundreds of times greater than any other
known means will give. little cell, no bigger
than thimble and -
Yes. yes" broke in impatiently. "But
what about Price9"
''Oh. yes Twas wandering sadly. Naturally
he admitted my right to do as ] pleased with n
discovery prior to and more complete than his
own; and after my reminding him that our first
knowledge would give US vast advantage over
other manufactures and that he would be GER
tain to reap large profits from his intended tlec
trical patents, he gave up all his rights to me,
and I'm going to surprise him by publishing it as
joint discovery.
But now really must CO. old man, for it is
almost z Come round to the lab if you can to-
morrow. and we'll go over all of my results to-
gether, and then take the prospectus, on which
should like your opinion. to Bancroft's."
readily promised, and in few minutes had
i
mood for Sleep so, lighting fresh pipe, / sat
| down to muse over our conversation.
Such wild, improbable theory, the man must
be mad. had noticed his restless excitement
and the feverish eagerness with which he talked
| of his hobby. Now, that this impression struck
me so forcibly, | recalled numerous small symp-
toms that would have led me to that irresistible
conviction in the case of patient. Wilcox was
! sane as l on ordinary subjects but in brood
ing over his wild fancies he had come to believe
in hair a 0f hall vino n
monomaniac.
Ny course was soon decided on / would keep
my engagements~with him, watch him closely.
and finding, as expected, no proofs of his fan
! cied discovery, could easily contrive some means
| for accomplishing his cure. But to disclose a
| word of my suspicious would blight his pros
| poets forever. That he was fully able to attend
| to his regular affairs. l could have no doubt,
still knew that the slightest hint of insanity or
monomonia would create such public distrust
| of his manufactures to destroy his business
entirely. For his own sake l must keep my
4 suspicious resolutely to myself and as soon as
sure of them, must attend to the cure as Sc
| cretly possible. So went to bed determined
| to lose no time in performing my duties of saving
! the mind and reputation of my poor friend
| Having no hope of an immediate practice nv
| time was all my own. Accordingly. about 8,
| Tuesday morning, after an hour at nv down
| phoned to the laboratory, asking if Wilcox was
| there and could see DIR. HaiCht. The answer
came wildly: rs that you. DIR. Haicht9 Oh,
for Gods sake. come quickly. Mr.. Wilcox has
just fallen dead"
gave a great sob, for I loved him dearly.
Then fast as l could run. jostling the stream of
men on their way to Office, dashed down Cal
ifornia street to the laboratory.
Upon my arrival. found crowd gathered in
and about the laboratory, the center of attrac-
tioE being the body of my friend. Medical as.
sistance had already been summoned, but it was
too late. He was dead. The cause of his death
no one could conjecture I made iu-
quirv of Price, who seemed partic-
ularly shocked, but he could offer
no explanation He had he said, been
talking with Wilcox about some trifiing matter,
when suddenly the latter reeled, and, without
a word, fell to the floor He tried to raise him
but found him seemingly dead. and upon that he
had sent for doctor; and it was shortly after
the latter's arrival that they had received my
telephone message. Upon entering / heard