Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1890-12-24
ONE OF THE SEVEN.
"A Sleeper Who Had Learned the Bushes
ON the Police Force.

ON the Police Force.
HALF dozen young reporters hap.
pened to meet at the police station at
II p. m. It was dull evening. Moth
ing was going on. They hadn't a line
OF police news in their notebooks. The
desk-sergeant sat in his chair, which
was tilted back against the wall. He
was fast asleep, and little scheme for
fun suggested itself to those young men.
They proceeded to carry it into execu-
ton.
Removing their shoes in order that
they might not wake the sleeper while
they were walking about, they first
brought in ten-foot section of iron
grating from lumber room adjoining,
and stood it up near their unconscious
victim.
An old tin-pan, found in the same
place, was suspended from gas-fixture
by means of a string and made to hang
just above his head.
Alarge three-cornered section of plate
glass, covered with dust, was dragged
out from its hiding-place under a pile of
old lumber and placed against the wall.
The chairs in the room were piled on
the table, one on top of another, until
they reached almost to the ceiling, an
old door was thrust between two of the
uprights in the railing that fenced off
the corner OF the room as Oh inner Of
dce. and a rough board about ten feet
long laid across the upper edge in read
mess to be manipulated at the proper
time.
A paper sack was found lying on the
desk. 1t had contained the sergeant's
lunch. 1t was utilized by initiating it
with air and tying a string tightly about
the top. An old newspaper was crumpled
up. placed beneath the chair of the
sleeper, and all was in readiness.
The conspirators, who had been all this
time nearly convulsed with suppressed
laughter, put on their shoes, each one
went on tip-toe to his appointed place,
and the fun began.
The newspaper under the unfortunate
sergeant's chair was set on fire. the pa
per sack was brought down on the desk
with great force and exploded with
terrific bang, the big piece of plate
glass was broken into thousand pieces
by one blow Of a heavy iron poker, the
fre-shovel was rasped back and forth
across the ten-foot section of iron graf
ing with din that would have made an
Egyptian mummy turn pale, the tin-pan
over the victims head was hammered
Justify with a club, the chairs were
pushed off the table and fell to the floor
with an awful crash, while high above
the din rose the unearthly screech made
by saving the board across the edge of
the door, this improvised horse-fiddle
drowning even the wild yells and war
whoops Of the six brass-lunged report
ers.
The paper under the desk-sergeant's
chair famed up, burnt fercely short
time and went out, the noise continued
a few moments and then stopped with
suddenness that was more alarming
than the noise.
The sleeping sergeant had not moved
a muscle. A terrible fear that the sud-
denness Of the shock had killed him
blanched the cheeks of these young
men, and they stood wild-eyed and mo.
tionless, listening to the beating of their
own hearts, while the hair rose gradu.
ally on end on each of the six heads.
Then a soft snore from the peacefully.
slumbering official whose sweet dreams
they had not disturbed in the slightest
degree reached their ears, and six young
men quietly removed all the evidences
of the struggle, sneaked out of the of,
flee, and skunk back to their respective
newspaper offices, the worst crest-faller
purveyors of news that ever worked
hard for scoop and got left.-Chicagc
Tribune.