The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1888-07-18


From the very outset the man in black
gave perfect satisfaction, but he made no
friends. The men called him ''Mr. Mid
night, " and the officers quietly agreed
among themselves that he was a mystery,
very useful, no doubt, but disagreeable
companion.
1t did not take long to make the dis
covery that the Italians bombs and tor.
pedocs were the best that had ever been
made.
One night Pellico paid another visit to
the Office of MAJOR Dalton.
'Malor, " said he, after some talk about
powder, gun cotton, Greek fire and other
matters, "the main object of our ex-
plosives is to destroy the enemy I"
'Um, well, yes, to certain extent"
replied the gallant Confederate.
"What do you think, then, of bomb
that is capable of dsing hundredfold
more damage than any now in usel"
1T would be big thing
"Well," continued Pellico, 81 have
invented it. l have n chemical COM
pound that can be projected into the
enemy's lines through the medium of
shell, and when the shell bursts deadly
vapor spreads over an area of 100 yards,
killing every living thing. One shell is
capable of killing an entire regiment"
'Man alive" exclaimed the Major,
''that would be murder!"
"hnd what is war;" asked Pellico in
his low, soft voice.
The subject did not drop there. The
man in black had so much to say about
his invention that the Major found him
self deeply interested.
"This little thing" said Pcllico, cx-
hibiting something that looked like pill
covered with tin foil, would kill house
full of people"
ut is hard to believe"
'Let me convince you," urged the
chemist. 'If you will walk square
with me | will show you something"
! The Ma, or oh ected, but the Italian
assured him that his intended victims
were several hogs in the rear of the edi-
fee.
When they reached the place they
found the hogs quietly snooling in a
! fence corner.
Then they retired fifty yards or so,
and Pelico blew his little pill through a
hollow cane.
"Wait three minutes he said.
At the expiration of that time the two
approached the fence corner.
-four large hogs lay stretched out on
the ground. 1t required only glance
to see that they were al dead.
"Now," said the chemist, as they
walked away, "this experiment is on a
very small scale. but you can form an
idea from what you have seen.
at is astonishing commented the
Major.
"Nothing to what have done" said
the man in black. 'In Cuba | took a
sling and threw ball of that stuff as big
as my fist into village. The next
morning it was found that all the in
! habitants, some 300 cr 400, were dead.
/ People outside supposed it was some
mysterious epidemic, but it was not"
Major Dalton drew himself aloof from
his companion.
"Anl you killed those innocent
people for nothing" he asked indig-
nantly.
'In the interests of science, my dear
Major. Besides they were native Cubans.
| would not have treated genuine Span
iards that way"
The Major pulled his moustache and
walked on in silence for few minutes.
"What do you propose" he asked,
after some reflection.
MY scheme is big one," replied Pei
lico. "a few little pellets thrown into
Libby, Salisbury and Andersonville will
rid us of all the Yankee prisoners and
save our Government no end of expense.
Then they must use my invention in the
! fed. The armies of Sherman and Grant
will melt away before it, and few hun
ded projectiles fired from long range
guns into New York will turn that me-
tropolis into a city of the dead. What
do you sayl"
"Hallo, Corporal, come here!" yelled
the Ma or.
Several soldiers ran to the spot in a
hurry.
"Seize himl" shouted the officer, " and
take him to the guard house He is an
enemy, a murderer Satan himself, l be-
lieve. But, hold on-search him."
'Only some papers and these pills."
said the CORPORAL
''I'll take them, " said the Major. "Now
hustle him OIL to the guard house."
The Majo walked with rapid strides
to the office of the commander of the
post. The provost marshal was sum
moned as party to the conference, and
other officers were also called in.
The council lasted until a very late
hour Never in their whole military ex-
perience had the officers been confronted
with so serious a problem.
When they dispersed the sentinel out
side heard one OF them say:
Ale is a monster, an enemy to the
whole human race. We cannot accept
his aid, and if we let him go, he may at
any time turn against us and against our
people"
"There is but one thing to do" said
the Major.
The next day the man in black was
found dead in the guard house. BY his
side lay a shred of tin foil
81 searched him." said the Corporal,
'and took all those shiny pills away
from him. How did that get there l
wonder, and what in the mischief is it
anyhow"
The commander of the post, the Pro-
vOst- Marshal and Ma or Dalton showed
little surprise when they heard of Peli-
cos death. The Corporal, however,
heard the Provost Marshal speaking in
an undertone to the Major.
"What did you do with the other
pelletsl" he said.
81 rode out to the river and thew them
in, answered the Major
"All right responded the marshal.