The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-06-11
AN INDIAN DEVICE.


How the Runners of Mexico Awaken
Themselves.
~ don't know what I'd do without
my alarm-clocll," yawned Simpkins at
the boardinp-house brcallfast-table.
Its hard to get any fun ont of your
evenings unless vou stay upuntn nearly
midnight, and that means one o'clock
before you really get to sleep. As my
employer insists on my being behind
the counter by eight n. m, that means
waking up at six. You can't get the
chumbcrmaid to wake you every morn
ing without considerable outlay of
tips, and it would take pretty muscular
girl, anyway. TO pound on my door hard
enough and long enough to wake me
eifectually. Now, my alarm-clocli
makes IL simply impossible for me to
sleep, for it kicks up such an awful row
that have 10 jump out of bed and stop
it i'm sclf-defcnse before it gets half
through the performance, and Simp-
liins smiled the fatuous smile of the
man who never discovers that he is u
nuisance.
"Ics, we've all noticed that, said
stout commercial traveller, who, when
he was at home at all. did not get up
generally for full an hour after Simpllins
did ~ could recommend TO you an
| alarm-clocli which would arouse you
| just as ctfcctually as the one you have
now, and yet would not wake up every
body else within quarter of II mile OF
| you. The last time was down in Mex
leo left the lines of railroad and push
| ,,l int hn ill pYtg # ht
country. in the interests of my firm.
There | met for the first time some Of
those famous coul.iers, Indians, who
carry messages for hundreds of miles
with much greater cclerity than horses
can do in that mountainous country.
These wiry and hardy fellows will
run all day without tiring apparently,
but even then they could not outrun Il
horse on Il decent road. The way they
get ahead of n mounted courier is
by cutting off the corners. Most of the
roads there lead uphill or down, and
the hills are so steep that the trail zig
zag back and forth across the
face of the mountains, in success
sion of terraces. A horse must follow
the path, u foot-runner saves many a
mile by scrambling from one terrace to
the other, aiding himself by trees, roots
or stones if he is ascending, and just let
ting himself slide if he is coming down.
But started to tell you about the
never failing alarm clocks which they
carry with them on long journeys.
When the couricr's trip extends over
three or four days, as it frequently
does, he allows himself two hours
sleep out of every twenty-four, and as
he makes his bed on the ground, just
wherever he happens to stop, there is nc
chambermaid or anybody else to rouse
him from the heavy stupor which natur
ally ovcrconcs a perfectly healthy mar
who has been running steadily for about
twenty-five hours, eating occasionally
while he runs.
"Having selected his bed, he takes
some thick cord from his pouch, cuts of
piece of it, of length which expert
cnce has taught him to be about right
ties one end of the cord, which is com
posed of carefully selected materia
prepared in particular way, to his toe
, sets fire to the other end, and falls asleeI
, so quickly that you would think he wa
, constructed like one of those mechanica
! dolls which close their eyes as soon a
I they are laid down. He feels perfect,
confident that the cord or fuse will burr
slowly but surely up to his toe in twt
hours or thcreabouts, and he has NJ
: doubt that when the twist of it whicl
he put around the toe is on fire it will
5 wake him cffcctually.-N. y. Tribune