The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1893-02-24
LUCKY PHOTOGRAPH.

n the marvellous appliances OF SCIENCE,
James B~eaufranc, a great. brown, boy
ish fellow. with a merrier countenance
than is generally considered to be be-
coming to a professor of mathematics.
was asked to tell in his turn what he
thought was the most useful discovery
Of the human mind.
"What! You dare to pretend that the
greatest wonders of modern times are
steam, explosives, electricity, and I know
not what! AS if it were a pleasure to
travel 50 fast that you cannot enjoy the
scenery on either hand; to speak through
the telephone to a person whose face you
cannot see, or to have your tooth pulled
out, even without pain, by a wad of
some mysterious chemical, come from
God knows were! In truth, you gentle
men, though you are reputed to be very
wise, appear to me to be very foolish"
The paradoxes of the young professor
caused a general smile, but James Beau
franc continued imperturbably:
my own idea is that inventions are
valuable only in direct ratio to the hap
piness which they procure. That is why
I find your railroads odious, your cannon
monstrous. your dynamite absurd. And
for other reasons I find but one laudable
modern discovery-one which is univer-
sally beneficial-a science which is also
an art"
"And what is it?'
photography"
There was a great shout of laughter.
Decidedly Beaufranc had not his equal
for pleasantly.
However, with astonishing GOODNESS
the young professor continued:
Eyes, photography, which does no
harm to any one, but, on the contrary.
much good; which makes to live again
at our ireside, immortal as their mem
DRY, the cherished features of relatives
long departed; which consoles in the alb
sence of the dearly beloved, and to which,
besides, l W my marriage"
There was a great silence at this point,
and intense curiosity was depicted upon
the countenances of Beaufranc's hearers.
81 bought" he continued, "as o as
they appeared. one of those instantaneous
cameras. It is no larger than an alarm
clock and perfectly light and portable.
You a hide it under your overcoat,
under your arm, within your waistcoat
almost anywhere. When you wish,
you touch a button, and, presto! every
thing before you is found imprinted upon
the film for all eternity.
"How many times have l opposed to
the denial Of scholars, complaining of
the injustice of punishment, a photo
graph taken at the moment their arms
were raised to hurl at my head the paper
missile! But I must come to the story
Of my marriage.
81 was a professor at Amberville col
lege, and lived in a little apartment on
the ground floor. Opposite my house
was the large, ornamented sign Of Mr.
Pradoux, the notary. today my father
in-law. Close beside his desk the win
dow of his library opened opposite mine,
and across the very narrow street l
could see as well as in my own room
all that passed in the house of my
neighbor. Indeed from the first day ]
could see but one thing-his daughter
Valentine. She came and went all day
long, for she attended to the housekeep-
ing, Mr.. Pradoux being a widower. She
animated with her CHEEKY smile and her
fresh gayety that paper strewn interior
in a way that was truly adorable.
"Pardon this panegyric upon my wife,
but she was then in the marvellous
brilliancy CT 10 years. Her first appear
ance was to me a blow from which my
heart never recovered-a blow that only
those psychologists deny who have never
experienced it.
"Alas! from the first day this insur-
mountable love seemed to me what it
must have seemed to any reasonable
being-foolish, senseless. useless and
doomed to perpetual disappointment.
"Mr. Pradoux was rich, very rich, and
I had, to offset his money bags, only thin
diplomas and appointments yet thinner.
There I was, shut up alone with my love,
silent as in a sanctuary, satisfied only to
look with innocent and distant alteration
upon the beautiful Miss Valentine.
"One day the audacious idea came to
of instantaneously photographing her,
and at least preserving her image. |
carried my little machine to the window
sill and carelessly, in the most casual
manner, | photographed my pretty
neighbor at the precise moment when
she was embracing her father. At an
other time l caught her while she watered
her flowers at the window.
"In short, within a month I possessed
an original gallery. a true museum of
my dearly beloved. With her were pic
lures of a great many people who had
spoken with her in her fathers library
at the moment of my operation, and
very often I turned over my precious
collection, happy to possess it, but filed
at the same time with a terrible sadness.
"One day I did not see Miss Valentine.
I learned that she was i'll. In the week
which followed another p~ortentous
rumor reached me. Mr.. Pradoux was,
or was going to be, ruined by a banker
of doubtful reputation. who had risked
and lost a fortune in a bad speculation.
It was even said that criminal proceed
ings were about to be instituted against
Mr.. Pradoux. The trial would take
place at the civil tribunal. I fastened
to be of the audience. Mr.. Pradoux ap-