Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1892-08-18
THE BURSTING OF A SAND BOX.


Danger LEvked In an Innocent Pod which
Wrought Much Damage.
Bolten had spent the winter wandering
among the West India islands, and when
he got back lad n medley Of curiosities
which he had picked up in his travels.
Among them wers all sorts OF beans and
pods of tropical trees, and Of the former
were John CsOw beans, the WARY, the
horse eye, JoSs tears and many others
There were the Long scabbapllike pods OF
sheeTimson howered acassia: cocoa pods,
which ratified with the dried chocolate
seeds inside theos, and he also had two
po'Ss OF the sand soN tree, curious circular
storehouses for bhs seeds, deeply ribbed,
each,pib running bonl top 10 bottom Of the
pod. These two olGtter received places of
honoTIn lacquer trays the smAllr beans
fhdinG. room arousb them. Bolten Is a
natty man, and on.Tb- mantelsbsf in his
bedroom were arranged these treasures.
presided over by four statuettes Of nude
goddessea.-
The vegetable ornaments of tse. shelf
were the most innocant LOOKING; thinp,
imaginabDe, and he never dreamed for \
moment that nature WAS still busy bring
ing to perfection those sand boxes. He had
gone to bed after hard days work and
was sleeping the sleep Of The just when he
was awakened by what ha thought was a
pistol shot in his room. At the sams time
missiles were flying all around. As he
jumped out Of, bed to, sht the gas there
was second explosion, and this time he
was peppered with all sorss-of missiles,
The carpet was strewai with objects
which were not pleasant 20 o.tread on, and
in 10 ~ -tatr IL.
the jet e,nearly broke the small toe of his
right foot by jamming it against chair
leg. lie nursed it affectionately, but sadly,
for some time, swearing In! undcrtonss,
but afraid to give: loud expression to. his
pent up feelings lest there might be an
other fusillade.
At last, like D. cat walking over hot
bricks, he reached the jet and lighted the
gas. The treasures of the mantelpieee
were scattered about the ROOM The god-
desses had been hurled from their high
places and looked. like Roman. remains.
headless and armlssss The lacquer trays
were in small pieces, while the pods and
beans were scattered all. over the room.
The goblet had even been broken, and the
water was standing in ipuddles about the
carpet. The sand boxes hadvanished. He
searched around carefully. There was no
trace, so far rs he could see, of the cause
of the explosions. He gathered up his
broken and scattered treasures. finding
among them segments of the sand boxes,
and then, leaving the gas alight, tried to
sleep. OF the strange occurrences he said
not word to his friends.
The other day friend was in bis rooms.
and looking over the collected remnants
remarked "Hellob: here are pieces of a
sand boX.n
"What is thatS"
swell, it's the frritof a. tree that grows
in the West Indies, and got it's name ow.
ing to the planters using it in the days
before blotting paper was, i1Kented for
sand boxes. The seedswere cut out of the
center and the pod was then filled with
sand. 1t was rathex an unsatisfactory
box, however, as it often exploded"
"Explodedl What do, you mean2"
"This is the fruit Of Hura erepitans, q
large tree something like the tulip tree of
this country. AS soon as the seed is ripe it
explodes with a report like gun, the
seeds and shell Of. tina pod being scat
tered in all directions. So great is the
force OF the explosion, that the broken
pieces are thrown forty and fifty feet.
Fowls, as soon as they hear an explosion.
run toward the, tree and are soon busy
looking for the seeds, which they greedily
swallow"
"That explains it," said the other, and
he then told the story of his shattered
works of art.-New. York Tribune.