The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-10-29

scold rs ho lccturcd, hut l fancy ho and
his pupil understood and liked each other
all the better for that
Boylikc, tho assistant was delighted
with tho experiments which were a part of
his education and pursued them with tho
vigor of II Dalton or u Cavcndish. Not
combining himself tn the textbooks, ho
roainrd freely into u fold of original re-
search which led To many noisome odors
and some small explosions. His master
lccturcd him and ordered him to lingcr in
the beaten paths, but he commanded in
vain. one day, i'll passing through tho
laboratory l heard Smitt dilating in an
ndmonitory way upon IL tin of cyanide Of
potassium.
''Scc you, my dundcr headed friend, - no
said, 81 show you this that you shall know
what it is better to avoid. In this tin lies
tho essence of the most deadly poison
known to man. In your way you may
discover something worse. 1t is probable,
if you insist upon running wild. But 1
warn you of this. If you take picco of
this white chemical and pour over it some
diluted sulphuric acid-a thing which you
may do SCmc timc-you will learn some
thing. 1t will be that which no distin-
gushcd chemist on earth knows-tho mys-
tory of the hereafter. You will generate
hydrocyanic acid, and, my diutic young
friend, you will he dead You will proba-
bly, notice Il delightful aromatic odor, rs of
peach blossoms, but, believe me- you will
not live to enjoy it, So look you, my fool
boy, and leave this tin alonc'
l smiled at tho old mans caution and
realized the wisdom of it, for the chemical
he referred 10 WAS in constant use in both
the assay Office and the mill and just such
il thing as would necessarily fall handily
i'll tho way OF the boys mot hodcss cxperi-
mcnts
Time passed, and the pupil assistant fit
ted himself into n useful place Smitt
Kept on Ill the even tenor Of his way
Many monthly checks had been sent 10 his
wife and several To the Insurance com
panics. Tho life in the little camp was go
ing on about rs usual, although 1 was
hard pressed with work. planning i'm
provcncnts and changes rs the increasing
depth OF the mine required, making up re-
ports and statements and working out
notes.
One day while thus busily engaged, "a
messenger from the telegraph Office came
in with dispatch. Hastily rcccipting for
it, L tore off the cover and read
Send money immediately. Creditors threat
en-. Cannot exist upon your paltry allow
anccs II-,I1Sr
''What the deuce is this!' I exclaimed.
then looking mt the address saw that it
WAS directed to norman Smitt" With
apologies for the mistake l had made in
opening it, I handed tho message over to
the aSsayCr.
l was Very much embarrassed mt nv
blundcr and for awhile did not think OF
the contents of the dispatch. Then it came
to me. "Lurlinc! That was the namc of
my pretty grass widow. "Smtt," too,
was the surname, now that 1 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 tlespised
By every one:
And-I saw it all in nash-the poor
old man WAS shaving that she might spend
Looking back, the recollection was not
pleasant. 1t seemed, now, that there had
been bitter flavor in those elegant re-
pasts, the wine was corkcd-ayc, there were
even false notes i'll the sweet German songs
Poor old fool, l said to myself. 1 want
cd to Shake him 10y the hand and tell him
that l was sorry for him. In fact, it
seemed rs if there We're II thousand thingsI
ought To say To him. And yet, what was
there to say: Nothing. So was silent
The following morning, when / went 10
the Office ut the usual hour the metallur-
sist WAS in u fine state of fidgcts and pro-
family. Smitt had not turned out vet, and
he WAS waiting for Il lot of important as
says he had sent in the night before. The
boy had tried the doors leading into the
assay oflicc-thcy were locked; knocks
had not been responded to. The mctallur-
giSt WAS angry, but somehow my anxiety
WAS AT once aroused.
/ rushed to one of the doors of tho labO-
ratory and gave il u hearty kick, which
broke the lock ana threw it open. y pun
gent aroma aSsailcd my nostrils.
u Back for yom livcs,' | 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
mcnt. l kicked that open also. After wait
ing u few moments to allow the air to cir
c,tlaic, l covered my nose and mouth with
wet sponge and entered the apartment.
Then, rs ! feared, l found Smitt living
upon his bacE-dcad. He was dressed in
his usual working clothes. His daily prep
ar;.;ions had all been made. Tho assays
had been faxed and were in their crucihlcs
ready for the fires to fuse them Tho lab
oratory table carried its usual display of
bcakcrS, wash bottles, TASKS and cvaporat-
ing dishes. y tin of cyanide of potassium
also lay there upon its side, rs if it had
been carc!cssly upset, and u quantity of
pieces of the salt lay scattered upon the
floor smiths hand clutchcd Il portion of
Is broken bottle. which had evidently CON
tanned Sulphuric acid. 1t looked us if this
bottle had hccn accidentally broken and
its contents spilled upon tho deadly re-
agent But could conceive no dctcrmina-
tion in the needs of our works calling for
the presence of tho acid ana tho salt at the
Same time.
l explained to the coroncr's jury that
afternoon the effect of hydrocyanc acid,
and also that distinguished chemists had
before this been known to- die by accident