Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1892-07-15
AN INDIAN DEVICE.
How the Runners of Mexico Awaken
Themselves,


81 don't know what I'd do without
my alarm-cloclt," yawned Simpkins at
the clearinghouse breakfast-table.
Its hard to get any fun,out of your
evenings unless You stay up until 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 a. m, that means
waking up at six. You can't get the
! chambermaid 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
effectually. Now, my alarm-clock
makes it simply impossible for me to
sleep, for it kicks up such an awful row
that have to jump out of bed and stop
it in sclf-defcnse before it gets half
through the performance" and Simp-
l1ins smiled the fatuous smile of the
man who never discovers that he is a
nuisance.
Yes, we've all noticed that" said a
stout commercial traveller, who, when
he was at home Mt all, did not get up
generally for full an hour after Simpllins
did II could recommend to you an
alarm-clock which would arouse you
just as cffcctually as the one you have
now, and yet would not wake up every
body else within quarter of a mile of
you. The last time was down in Mex
| inx I LOT hr ,>f I'd h
ed out into the wilder parts of the
country, in the interests of my firm.
There met for the first time some of
those famous couriers, Indians, who
carry messages for hundreds of miles
with much greater celebrity than horses
can do, in that mountainous country.
''These wiry and hardy fellows will
run all day without firing apparently,
but even then they could not outrun a
horse on decent road. The way they
get ahead of q 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
gag back and forth across the
face of the mountains, in success
/ sion of terraces. A horse must follow
the path, foot-runner saves many a
| mile by scrambling from one terrace tC
the other, aiding himself by trees, roots
or stones if he is ascending, and just let
l ting himself slide if he is coming down
but started to tell you about the
never-failng alarm clocks which they
carry with them on long journeys
= When the cOuricr's trip extends over
three or four days, as it frequently
l does, he allows himself two hours
S sleep out of every twenty-four, and al
Y he makes his bed on the ground, JUS
t wherever he happens to stop, there is nj
1 chambermaid or anybody else to rous'
Y him from the heavy stupor which natur
), ally overcomcs perfectly healthy MAJ
k who has been running steadily for abou
4 twenty-five hours, eating OCCASIONAL,
!, while he runs.
\ Having selected his bed, he take
c some thick cord from his pouch, cuts of
t piece of it, of length which expert
ence has taught him to be about right
G ties one end of the cord which is com
c posed of carefully selected materia
n prepared in particular way, to his toe
t sets fire to the other end, and falls aslee
!. so quickly that you would think he wa
Il constructed like one of those mechanical
e dolls which close their eyes as soon a
O they are laid down. He feels perfect
is confident that the cord or fuse will bur
II slowly but surely up to his toe in tw
c hours or Whereabouts, and he has n
G doubt that when the twist of it whic
G he put around the toe is on fire it wi
@ wake him effectually.-N. Y. Tribune