The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-03-08

great door new open n the palace guard
led in a man quite up to the feet Of the
king. The terrified appearance Of the
prisoner. his coarse coat. the brown waist
coat and pantaloons, the broad, clumsy
shoes with leaden buckles, contrasted
strangely with the gay silken attire, the
gilded h~angings, the laces and diamonds
of the surroundings.
'Vhat does this mean% asked the king,
astonished.
Permit me, your majesty, to bring this
man before you who understands how to
make sugar out of vegetables. Dumonet
is trying to ruin our colonies and make
them useless to us. This is the ~discoverer
of beet sugar
"Discoverer? No. that honor does not
belong 10 me" exclaimed the Chemist
Dumonet. ut was a learned major. Serre,
who, during the regency, deceived by the
beautiful red color the beet gives out in
cooking, fancied he could make red wine
out of it. Instead of the desired wine he
found the bottom OF his retort covered
with fine sugar. At that time France
was rich in colonies on the Mississippi,
therefore no one paid any heed to the dis
covery. Nor was it fully developed. I
learned abroad. in Prussia, new improve
ments, expended my small possessions t
test it, and | hope have succeeded"
SIT is not a poison, thcn?' cried Marie
Antoinette, meaningly. The king for the
first time understood what had preceded,
and discovered also that the chemist was
bound. At a sign the bond was cut and the
guard left the room without Dumonet.
Meanwhile the queen bravely took a
piece Of sugar in her lovely mouth. That
was the signal for the young courtiers to
rush upon the before distrusted sugar,
vying with each other to exhibit their
courage, their devotion, through this
harmless poison.
Gently, my ladies. my lordsl" cried
Maurepas; every little piece of that
sugar cost a golden louis"
''But the sugar is not one bit better
than u ordinary sugar. demonstrated
the queen, 'sand it is only a curiosity
leading to ruin"
Dumonet dropped on one knee. "Your
majesty is in a measure correct. Ex-
p~erimenting in a small way, at the same
Expense as a great trade, naturally makes
this sample excessively dear; but if your
majesty will advance me two millions
for the development OF larger facilities
for the manufacture, I shall be able to
furnish a pound of sugar for ten sous in
stead of four francs"
The king recoiled involuntarily, and
Marie Antoinette grasped her famous
necklace, which had cost two millions, as
if the plain man before her had been a
robber. Her disappearing glance gave
direction to the kings nswer
"Dr. Dumonet, I honor enterprise: ac-
cept this snuff box as a recognition of it.
But two millions the state cannot posi-
bly, lend you. That is too much money
for the exhausted exchequer."
Dumonet received the gift respectful
ly. ssSire, sooner or later my enterprise
will find the money"
The whole, shallow, subservient
swarms of courtierlings cried out an ex-
cited echo to the royal words:
1.-TWO millions for sugar! Two mill
ionsl The man should be in a mad
house! How can any one be SO shame
less? Just as if it were not all the same
whether one pays ten SOUS or four francs
for a pound of sugar. And if any can't
pay it let him take his food unsweet-
ened. What has the government to do
with that?"
And so Dumonet was dismissed. lie
had only needed a million; the second
was the price demanded by the minist ter
for the introduction. This evening Maui