The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1895-01-09
EFFECTIVE ALARMS.
THE RETIRED BURGLAR TELLS OF
AN ANNOYING EXPERIENCE.

| Unlocked DOors-BeI1s, Tin Pans and a
Baseball Bat-The Explanation.
lone night late" said the retired
| burglar, 81 went into house in a vii
lage in western Connecticut entering
by cellar window, as | usually did
when [ was late. so as not to disturb
the folks. looked around the cellar
and located the stairs and started up.
About three-quarters Of the way up a
rope that was stretched across caught
me under the chin and toppled me over
down stairs. There was only the stone
wall of the cellar Oh one side and no
rail Oh the other, so there was nothing
to grab to, and just tumbled down.
AS l bumped along something scattered
along down with me, Whang- banging
down the steps over me and under me
and around me, chasing me all the way
down, and when finally got to the eel
lar bottom that thing was lying across
my chest. 1t was the coal shovel, which
had evidently been stood up against the
rope and which had Jared loose.
But the worst thing of all was that
my lamp was broke. | lost my jimmy
on the way down, but hung on to my
lamp, but now the light was out and
the glass was broke and the slide was
jammed around in front, and l could
not turn it. I felt around till found
my jimmy, and then waited to see if
I'd woke anybody up. | didn't hear
anybody, and so I started again, and
this time l felt my way up the stairs
carefully to the door. found it unlock
ed, and l had got it open about an inch,
I should think, when heard little bit
of a scraping on the other side, and the
next instant the dreadfulest racket that
anybody ever heard the falling Of a
dishpan that must have been hanging
on the other side on the doorknob or
the key, and at the same time what l
imagine must have been the potato
masher-I don't know, because I didn't
look for it-dropped from the top of the
door upon my head.
This door to the cellar opened from
little square hall or entry way that
had, as / learned by feeling door to
the left, to the kitchen, suppose, and
one to the right, | guessed, into the
front hall. WAITED again, but no sound
from up stairs, so turned to the right
and opened that door and stumbled the
first thing over a chair close by i'll the
hall and almost broke my shins. felt
along and found row Of chairs stand
ing close together from that door clean
to the front door. | sat down in one of
them and nursed my shin and waited.
Still no sound, and [ tried again. and
got along all right this time and turned
OFF to the left and into the parlor and
back from that into the dining room,
for a wonder without falling over any
thing, and I began to feel encouraged.
But in the dining room there was moth
ing but plated spoons and forks, which
of course l could tell by the touch just
as well as though I'd had an electric
light If they had any silver, they had
carried it up stairs, as some people do
at night.
~ turned back into the hall and
CROPPED my way through that row of
chairs to thefoot Of the stairs TO make
sure of the first step in the dark l step
ped high and stepped into q pan OF wa
ter OF the bottom step. That made NE
mad, but I didn't make any noise, and
| stepped out Of it and started on up
AT about the third step my leg struck a
string that was strung across these stairs
and set a bell a-ringing tkat was hang
ing Oh it, and kicking that string start
ed down on me from above a shower of
pie plates, and presently | fell over a
wash boiler that had been set on the
stairs step or two up and brought that
down OH me-
CAS- I was laundering around in this
tinware and string and bells and things
I heard children's voices up stairs, and
O minute later I heard steps in the hall
above, and I could see in the blackness
up there the white of nightgown at
the head of the stairs. Then something
came slamming against the banlsters,
hitting me as it ratified down and final
~ landing with great bang on the
floor among the chairs in the hall. The
minute he threw it, whoever he was
he ran, and I began to think it was
about time for me to go too. had freed
myself from the bellcord by this time,
and | got down the stairs and into the
hall again, and there this time | step,
ped on a baseball bat-that was what
had come banging down at me from
above-that rolled ont from under me
and upset me once more among-those
chairs.
II got up and opened the front door
= 49,, = 1rn1-nl mud cnt ont ON the