The Portland daily press., 1895-11-09

A-.@x1
part Of his work, but taking especial ~
BILE to teach him chemistry ne "ou.d
scold as he lectured, but fancy no an
his pupil understood and liked each ouhoi
all the better for that. ,..+oa
Boylike, the assistant was deAsnpess
with the experiments which were paru ~, ~
his education and pursued them WILL W, W.
vigor of a Dalton or Cavendlsn; ~
confirming himself to the TEXTBOOKS, ~
roamed freely into field OF Original ~
search which led to many nolsome ooois
and some small explosions. HIS inasoeI
lectured him and ordered him to nnger ~
the beaten paths, but he commanoeu -
vain. One day, in passing through Aono
laboratory, I heard Smitt dilatlng IN az
admonitory way upon tin of cyanlue VI
potassium.
See you my dunder headed FRIEND, 10
said, II show you this that you shall know
what it is better to avoid. In this TIL lleo
the essence of the most deadly poison
known to man. In your way you may
discover something worse. 1t is probapie,
If you insist upon running wild. but !
warn you Of this If you take piece OF
this white chemical and pour over 1t some
diluted sulphuric acid--a thing which you
may do some time-you will learn some
thing. 1t will be that which no distin-
guished chemist on earth knows-the mys-
terry of the hereafter. You will generate
hydrooyanic acid, and, my idiotic young
friend, you will be dead. You will proba.
bly, notice a delightful aromatic odor, as OF
peach blossoms, but, believe me, you VIII
not live to enjoy it. So look you, my fool
boy, and leave this tin alone"
/ smiled at the old mans caution ana
realized the wisdom of it, for the chemlcai
he referred to was in constant use In botn
the assay office and the mill and just such
a thing as would necessarily fall handlly
in the way of the boys methodless expert
ments
Time passed, and the pupil assistant ut
ted himself into useful place. Smltt
kept on in the even tenor of his way.
Many monthly checks had been sent to MS
wife and several to the insurance COM
panies. The life in the little camp was 60
ing on about as usual, although l was
hard pressed with work, planning I'M
provements and changes as the increasing
depth of the mine required, making up re-
ports and statements and working out
notes.
One day while thus busily engaged
messenger from the telegraph office came
in with dispatch. Hastily receipting for
it, tore off the cover and read:
Send money Immediately Creditors threat
en-. Cannot exist upon your paltry allow
ances. LURLINE.
sWhat the deuce is this!" exclaimed,
then looking at the address saw that it
was directed to Herman Smitt." With
apologies for the mistake had made in
opening it, handed the message over to
the assayer.
I was very much embarrassed at my
blunder and for awhile did not think of
the contents of tho dispatch. Then it came
to me- "LurlineI' That was the name of
my pretty grass widow. "Smitt, too,
was the surname, now that I reflected.
Was it possible that my brilliant hostess,
my luxurious entertainer, my sentimental
friend, was the spouse of the niggardly old
fellow whose misery habits were despised
by every one?
And-I saw it all in flash-the poor
old man was shaving that she might spend.
Looking back, the recollection was not
pleasant. 1t seemed, now, that there had
been a bitter flavor in those elegant re-
pasts, the wine was corked-aye, there were
even false notes in the sweet German songs.
"Poor old fool,'' said to myself. want
ed to shake him by the hand and tell him
that 1 was sorry for him. In fact, ii
seemed as if there were thousand things
ought to say to him. And yet, what was
there to say? Nothing. So was silent.
The following morning, when went to
the office at the usual hour, the metallur
gist was in a fine state of fidgets and pro-
family. Smitt had not turned out yet, and
he was waiting for a lot of important as
says he had sent in the night before The
boy had tried the doors leading into the
assay office-they were locked; knocks
had not been responded to. The metallur-
gist was angry, but somehow my anxiety
was ait once aroused.
rushed to one Of the doors Of the labo-
ratory and gave it hearty kick, which
broke the lock and threw topen. A pun
gent aroma assaulted my nostrils.
Back for your iyes!'' cried to those
who were standing behind me, and hasten
ing around to another door, communicate
ing with the open air from the same apart
ment, kicked that open also, After wait
ing few moments to allow the air to cir
culate, covered my nose and mouth with
a wet sponge and entered the apartment.
Then, as I feared, found Smitt lying
upon his back-dead. He was dressed in
his usual working clothes His daily prep
arations had all been made. The assays
had been fluxed and we're in their crucibles
ready for the fires to fuse them. The lab
oratory table carried its usual display Of
beakers, wash bottles, TASKS and eyaporat-
ing dishes A tin of cyanide of potassium
also lay there upon it's side, as if it had
been carelessly upset. and a quantity Of
pieces of the salt lay scattered upon the
floor. Smiths hand clutohed a portion of
a broken bottle, which had evidently con-
tanned sulphuric acid. 1t looked as if this
bottle had been accidentally broken and
it's contents spilled upon the deadly re-
agent. But I could conceive no determine
ton in the needs of our works calling for
the presence of the acid and the salt at the
same time.
l explained to the coroner's jury that |
afternoon the effect Of hydrocyanic acid,
and also that distinguished chemists had
before this been known to die by accident
ally inhaling this poisonous gas. The cor
oner examined the old man s effects, which |
were few and of no value. With commend
able delicacy package of letters signed
n tnOothQr with |