Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-11-30

A TALE OE' IHE IEIEUhAfH.
It was lovely day in May; the sun
was shining brightly, and the air was
'aden with that bolmy fragrance that
lends the special charm to spring days.
was standing upon the roof Of one OF
The leading hotels in the city.
l had been examining tho telephone
wires on the roof, on which We lad lately
placed a new patent arrangement FOL
che purpose of oretr.n.ae induci1ob
from the neighbor:nG telegraph wires.
| stood liLltling III. viii one hat to
standard Tor Telephone Mlee for several
minutes lost in Thought.
| had stood THIS to-: Perhaps five min
utes when l wa; bclus,ht back to the
realization of my senses by Il sound
which. coming upon me SO suddenly,
seemed to freeze the blood i'll my veins.
send IL chill do W. ms back, ant ncr-
Hous tft'inof ii,fplsn my entlie system;
IL wits the uilnista iistblt cry ii i maniac
Tuning quickly towards the direc-
Hon from which tiic sound caiae, saw
The author Ui t with his head Just above
he opening for the trap-door, through
which / had .,lined access to the roof
ard The door oil which 1 had left swung
back upon It's hinges.
l recognized ~ once that the man was
mad. Ills wild expression showed it
quite plainly.
For an instant 1 stood motionlcss. moi
knowing what to do, when again that
laugh rang out upon the air, and l no.
need that lie WIS ascending to the roof
quick rs tightening my mind took III
he situation, and l rushed desperately
towards the man intending TO strike
lin with all my furce, and knock him
backward down tho fight Of stairs to
the uoor below. lie saw my intention
and tried to gain the loof before / could
ZACH him; but The DISTANCE between us
ras ollly few feet and he had not
~.scn above the roof higher than his
v,aiat when 1 forced him back.
l stood upon the door Il short time.
Expecting every moment that he would
rtntw the ATTACK, when suddenly
aeard the report of a pistol from be
CIV, and was conscious of O Whlzzlng
Disc in the air.
Looking down, I noticed small hole
Ill the trap-door, and that the bullet
n its upward fight.
l did not relish the idea of being
shot at in this manner and stepped I'M
medately eff the door.
| had scarcely done so when there was
another report, and another hole in the
door, directly upon the spot where had
been standing.
What was to be done?
All at once l noticed that the ends
of the staple used for fastening the door
N the inside projected through the
thin boards for some distance.
Quickly passing a rope l had around
The knob and under the sharp ends OF
the staple, took two turns round them,
.-hich was all there was room for, and
drawing the rope tightly, fastened the
nds as securely as possible.
This whole performance lasted but
few seconds, but the pistol shots con-
'inued in rapid succession, and judged
that by this time he had emptied the
even chambers of his revolver.
The firing had ceased, and | noticed the
door moving slightly, as though force
~as being brought to bear upon 1t from
below
1 took hold of the door with my hands,
and held it down as hard as l could. The
ma, man Sc, med to be pushing against 1T
with a tremendous force. What was to
be done?
The rope was weak thing at the
pest, and [ felt that it could not long
hold out against the efforts of a strong
alan.
All at once the thought of calling help
by telegraph came into my mind.
had heard of cases of kilograms being
sent without instI uments from the scene
of railway accidents and l determined
to try for myself il the mailman could
only be kept within bonds long enough
to allow me the opportunity.
l was an expert tele9raphlst, having
spent number of years in that business
before entering the telephone field. Al
though [ was an old telegraphist, l had
never attempted the feat of telegraphlng
without an instrument
But the situation called for deS-
perate act and after looking at thu
fastenings on the door to see that they
were secure as possible, [ went quickly
to the edge of the building, where num-
Der of wires were strung on brackets.
These wires l knew to lead to the -
Postoffice.
l had small pair of pliers in my
pocket. and selling a wire l cut into
it with the pliers, and then bent the
wire in order to break it. The pliers
were small, and it required strong eff
fort to slap the wire, but l accom-
plished the feat in a few seconds. Nov
came the difficult part I was tremb-
ling with merry Gus excitement. Putting
the ends to my tongue, l felt the cir
cult close through it and all WAS still.
No one was using the wire.
l now took the wires in each hand,
and, as well as the wires would allow,
l called B several times. his was done
by holding the ends of the wire together
to form the dash, then separating them
and striking quickly three times to
form the Morse letter B. Placing the
ends to NV tCroue the circuit closed