davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04

scatter the tcen11ng geIatine on the
, sidewalk OF the most crowded street OF
your London. It will dry quickly, and
uuder the trampling Of hundreds Of
feet it will become pulverized and the
particles will float in the air. That
very day the physicians will find them
selves in the presence of a disease
wholly unknown to them, and against
which medical science can achieve
nothing. In few days London will be
silent. The working classes and the
poor will be dead, and everyone who
can possibly fly from the stricken town
will have fed. When the pestilence
has spent its force we shall hear no
more of the unemployed workmen in
London There will be more work than
workmen can be found to 60, and the
very street sweepers will receive wages
that will permit them to live almost in
luxury.
''Or say that I wanted to decrease
the population Of Berlin, simply place
some of that Eelatine in an envelope
and send it through the post to the
head workman in some factory. he
opens 1t, and the purple death breaks
out among the workmen. Nothing can
stop it until it has run its course. OF
course a percentage of capitalists and
employers Of labor will fall victims to
the disease, but its ravages will be
chiefly confined TO those who have not
the means to escape from the city. Did
] not tell you that the anarchists Sc
lect the wrong victims, and that their
favorite dynamite is absurdly in
effective in comparison with the
weapons that Lean use? Now you see
that told the truth. Man the lives
Of half EUROPE are in my hands"
made no reply. The vastness Of the
mans horrible scheme stunned me.
had not the slightest doubt that be
spoke the truth. and had promised to
remain silent while his devilish project
was carried out
Presently be resumed:
II do not wan. nv weapons to fall
into hands that would use them ignor
antly. That is why I have asked you
to destroy everyone OF those deadly
tubes in case should die without ha~
ing been able TO do Ii myself. / made
the discovery yesterday that may die
at any minute, and / am physician
enough to be sure Of what / say. II
should find myself dying, and should
have the time and strength to act,
should set this house on fire, and blow
out my own brains. So If you should
happen to find my house burning. Jon
will take no measure to check the
flames. But fear that shall not have
the time TO co this myself, and, so,
rely on your help
How long since you invented the
purple DEATH i asked
A troubled look passed over
Schwartz's face. Nearly two years
ago" he replied
Why have you delayed TO use it,
asked. sudden hope that the man was
not quite so mad as he seemed 70 be
springing up Within me
As yet if has killed no one. beside
the guinea pigs. except your deg he
replied The dog must have beso
digging where the guinea pigs are
buried. and 50 contracted toe dsssssA..
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04

surUuRn Berlin, where went to see an
eminent becteriolooist and asked him
how long microbes inclosed in a tube
containing gelatine would retain their
vitality. His answer was: For ever
so far as is at present known" That
answer has poisoned my whole life.
Six feet under ground. in the grave of
Prof. Schwartz. lies the Purple Death.
waiting until the day when the ceme-
terry viii share the fate of all cemeteries,
and be cut into building lots. Then
the tube will be exhumed and broken.
and the pestilence that is to sweep
away so many human beings set free.
l have sometimes thought of exhuming
the coffin Of Prof. Schwartz and search
Ing for the fatal tube, but to do this
would be to invite the catastrophe
which dread. for, in all probability.
the tube has become unsealed bv this
time. My only hope is that an earth
quake viii some day bury the cemetery
too deep for any spade to reach the
grave of my poor mad friend
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04

shows where yne BODY OF gne eler1
was found" 'sthe door where Miss
Jones came In" tho window where
the robber escaped" "the door where
the robber entered" and other minute
details Another diagram shows tho
postal clerk as he stood at his desk. buS
fails to represent the robber and tho
sandbag, although everything else,
even to Miss Jones' desk, Il portrayed
wildly.
Many pages Of closely-printed tyPs.
are filed with the history Of the efforts
Of the government sl.uths
There were two theories TO work
upon" writes one of them: First, that
Robinson had robbed himself and in
6icted upon himself the injuries 10
cover up his crime, or that SONS one
familiar with the Office and with the
habits of Mr.. Robinson had planned
and successfully put in execution tho
robbery. called TO my assistance the
superintendent Of the Piukertou agen-
ey of this city, who rendered me every
assistance in his power. without cost.
70 get some clew 70 the perpetrators of
she bold robbery. We have worked
upon every plausible theory, but have
failed to get any clew to lead US on .
successful trail"
The outcome Of the work on these
two theories is reported as follows:
The result OF the investigation IN
this case has convinced me OF two
things: First, that il was bona Ode
robbery; second. that IL was conceived
and planned, il not perpetrated. BY
some one perfectly familiar with ths
workings of that branch Of the postal
department In this city, but the plan
was SO well executed that up to the
present moment we have been unable
to get single clew that would fasten
the guilty party"
So the robbery remains q mystery.
and the thrilling story OF the two gov
eminent sleuths goes on fle In the an
mails Of congress-
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04

merly so very conspicuous, were being
bred out, and had nearly disappeared
, Their persistence through 80 many
strongly-marked varieties, except those
Of late date, Is singular. for there is
fairly good proof that when first do
mesticated the dog was red or bright
brown, like the pariah, dingo, etc.
As far as / can see, we do not find
the spots white on a black or dark
ground; nor yet black or dark on a
white or light ground. My explana-
ton is that they have arisen as .
permanent marking after the dogs
s'sported" to black under domestica-
ton. and have been preserved and
Possibly they are protective, and simu-
late eyes.
One morning in Asan. Just at dawn,
/ had occasion to go on into the gar
den, and while STOPPING to examine
some flowers, near a fence partly COW
cred with creepers, l Suddenly saw an
animals head looking through, and
what seemed to be two black and SEEM
ingly large eyes glared at me. sus-
nat WAS dDOuc
to spring over, ! started back. clapped
my hands, and sh outed. To my relief,
however, saw tail wag. and found
that the spectator was a coolies dog
knew very well, and which recognized
me The use of the tan spots-in this
ease ~ least-then occurred 70 me.
May it not be that the spots thus serve
. protective purpose, and have often
barred the lives of dogs Cblack do,,sl
from their enemies. the smaller telines,
such as the ciouded leopard, etc7 Per
haps the matter is not new; but IL Il Ia.
IL seems worth looking into. I have
several dogs with black bodies and
heads; the tan spots, rather pale, are Of
the size Of a shilling. i have shot one,
keeping the skin OF the head as . curl
osity.-Nature-
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04
The dMeita 1ay Eagle gridaY 7Hornng gauuaru 1895

good, ana does great harm. but TO
come back to what was saying before
we spoke of influenza. Look at tube
number 81. 1t contains microbes that
will produce disease having some Of
the characteristics of hydrophobia, and
some OF those of dropsy, while 1t also
has symptoms which are entirely new.
1t was one of the earliest Of my new
diseases and would certainly be very
eficacious, should it ever become cpl
demic. have, however, invented
other diseases which are far superior to
it. Here Ii a tube" he continued, tax
Ing it almost lovingly in his hand,
(which contains my chef d'euvre. The
microbes are q cross between those
found IN the venom Of the tuboba, tho
most deadly Of all known serpents, and
those OF the Asiatic plague. By the
way, am the first man to discover the
existence of microbes In snake venom.
call the new disease which these
crossed microbes produce the purple
DEATH for the reason that the body of
the person who is attacked by it be-
comes purple before death. 1t kills in
less than thirty minutes, and there is
no remedy which has the slightest
effect upon it. As to its infectious
qualities. it is the king of all diseases.
It were to break this tube while we
are In this room together, you and 1
would be dead within an hour, and
from this house the infection would
spread SO rapidly that in two days, at
furthest, not human being would be
left alive in this poor little town.
Think what would happen. were we
Germans to use these microbes in our
next war with France. A single bomb
filed with the purple death. and thrown
within the lines of French army,
would render a battle an impossibility.
Before six hours were over there would
not be left in an army Of four hundred
thousand men survivors enough to bury
the dead!"
The mans eyes sparkled With pride.
His weakness had almost vanished
while he was talking, but suddenly he
sank back on his chair, and feeb1y
begged me to assist him into the other
room.
When he was lying on the sofa, and
had somewhat regained his strength,
asked him what possible good he ex-
pected to accomplish by adding to the
number of diseases which already
afflicted humanity.
II have told you," he said, "that I
am philanthropist, only. unlike other
philanthropists, 1 have intelligence,
and. hope, the courage of my convic-
tons You have heard me say that all
the poverty and misery of the world
are due to overpopulation. Well, have
there in my laboratory the remedy for
this evil. / can, with merciful swift
ness and with absolute certainty. re-
duce the population Of Europe to q
half, or third, of what it now is. I
have only to take my purple death, and
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04

and whe- l went TO his house, In e..
evening. he did not come as usual t,
open the door. Suspecting that he wa
Ill, went to the side of the house
where knew his room was situated
and called TO him. He answered, bu
without showing himself at the win
dow. He was not quite well, he said
but assured me that he would be abb.
to see me the next day, and that IN thu
meantime he should want no assistance
He would not consent to see me; and
went back to my villa somewhat I'M
easy, and half determined to break int
Schwartz's house the next morning il
case he still refused to open the door.
That extreme measure, however, did
not prove to be necessary. When
called at his house in the morning, be
opened the door, and invited me to
come in. He was looking wretchedly
i'll, but ne assured me that his attack
was over, and that there was not the
slightest cause for uneesiness. He
took me into his library, and tried to
converse with his usual ease. The at
tempt was q failure, and I saw that,
besides being weak from the effect OF
his illness, he was both preoccupied
and troubled. Finally, I asked him
frankly to tell me what was the mat.
ter, and to permit me to be of any serv.
ice that might be possible.
He remained silent for q little while,
and then he said:
"My dear friend, I have made up my
mind to trust you. My Illness has
shown me that it is no longer safe for
me to keep my secret absolutely to my.
self. l shall die suddenly. and possibly
very soon. In that case there must be
some one who will know how to prevent
the catastrophe which would otherwise
happen to this pretty little town.
where I have spent so many happy
hours. Give me your word that what ]
shall tell you shall remain secret se
long as I live"
I gave him the desired promise
rashly, as / now know, but without
dreaming Of its nature.
He rose from his chair and told me
to follow him into his laboratory.
There was nothing remarka bic In the
appearance Of the place. had once
before seen the laboratory Of a bac.
teriologist, and it closely resembled
Prof. Schwartz's Laboratory, except
that the fittings Of the latter were
rather more elaborate and complete
On one side of the room was q series Of
shelves filed with carefully sealed
glass tubes. containing what 1 as
su1ned to be gelantine. schwart,
called my attention to these and said
''If you should And me dead, or dy
ing, some day, I want you to take
every one of these tubes, break then
one by one In a bucket full Of the
liquid which you will find in yondeI
glass jar, and then bury the content:
of the bucket, glass and all, in thu
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04
Eloquence interrupted.

During a political campaign a we'll
known lawyer IN G western state was
addressing an audience composed
principally of farmers Like a wise
speaker-and shrewd candidate-he
tried TO suit his speech to the occasion
In a tone which he evidently consid-
cred both cordial and honest, and with
a winning smile. he began: MY
friends. my sympathies have always
been with the tillers of the soil. Nv
father was a practical farmer. and SO
was my grandfather before him. I
myself was born on q farm. and was.
so to speak, raised between two stalks
OF corn" Here his eloquence was
rudely interrupted by the trumpet
tones OF farmer in the rear Of the
hall. "Jimminy crickets!' he shouted,
If you amt pumpkin The house
came down." and the candidate. for
the moment, at least, was sadly
snbarrassed.-Youth's Companion
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04
a THRILLING OBJECTIVE STORY.
The Exploits OF Two Govenn~nf elsvthl
Told In . Public Docamsnt-

The Exploits Of Two Governnenf eisgfhs
Told In . Public Docamsnt-
The government publishes q great
variety Of matter IN the course Of Q
year, from presidential messages 20 .
history Of diseases Of the Fsdsy, and
tie variety Of reading matter has been
increased within The lsst few days By
the publication Of . real detective
story. with diagrams according 20
Gabori.u.
Thisis the history OF the sandbagging
and robbery o: . stamp clerk IL the
Chicago pos. Office one dark night Las:
winter, when the wind WA whiz,lin2
around the corner and tie sieet dash
lag against the windows The EtoTy Of
the crime sod the vain search Of the
t~o government sieuths for the eriz.s-
inzl are given 81 gTes: length and Ia
the rainutsst detail AL of this g. con-
tanned IN pamphlet Of eleven pages.
socozps Dyiny q claim CT tie LAT. pest
master for the amount Of he robberv.
which be was compelled 20 make good
There are . n1nter Of diagrams TO
illustrate the SOY One o. tAea
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04
OLD Pfo<fR~

At the Paris Non, de Pieto, The or.
eial pawnbroking ests blishment. q
wedding ring pawned in 1857 has been
redeemed Only seventeen francs was
lent upon IL originally, but the tlckss
was renewed thirty-six times, and the
owner paid fifty francs In interest.
Tickets are s,ill renewed every ysas
Tor a pair OF cotton curtains pledged
'oT four francs twenty-five years age
sn5 for al ufabrella pawned Ia issa
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04
BLACK AND TAN.

Reasons for tho Peculiar Cslor Of Certain
Dogs
When in Melbourne last year. went
carefully over all the dogs In a show
with one of the stewards, and we found
the spots in all the black-and-tan ter
riers, foxhounds, deerhounds, collies,
lurchers. etc; but could get no infor-
nation regarding them froa the ex-
perts-
In some of the highly-bred toy dogs,
rs the small black-and-tan terriers, I
found on inquiry that these spots, for
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04
intensity of Confined Souod

The intensity Of confined sound is
illustrated at Carisbrook castle, Isle of
Wright, where there is well zoo feet
deep and l2 feet in diameter. When a
pin is dropped into it, the sound of i,
striking the surface of the water, Is2
feet below. can be distinctly heard
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04

lie looking up from his booxl-Tl
% . hesstGeSiso wrote this gs@-rE
she-~East poers IN tha.4
he-Tk2t enc in 1hich the lIre o.
csirs- Water. water everywhere. ant
not a DRIP - dsiaks--Dstrost Frrs
PreEA
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04

But why have You not carried out
your scheme of depopulating the world
during these two years?''
my friend" replied the professor,
81 am not so strong as I believed my.
self. The truth is I have lacked the
courage to begin the work. have
been like a surgeon whose nerves will
not permit him to perform a painful
operation although he knows it is the
only means OF saving the patients life.
But / shall delay no longer. / may
have very little time to live, and, be-
sides, now that / have told YOU all, my
secret is no longer safe. Oh, / do not
for an instant doubt your word. and /
have perfect confidence in your friend
ship, but when q secret is known to
more than one person it is no longer q
secret. But / will have more courage.
In another week / shall be as well
as ever, and then 1 will begin the
work OF redeeming the world from
poverty. Now must ask you TO leave
me for must try to sleep. By-tne-bye,
there is duplicate key Of my door
that you will find hanging on a nail in
the hall Take it with you, and don't
hesitate to use it IN case Of necessity
CHAPTER ".
I left the professor and returned to
my house in a most unenviable state Of
mind. / had not the slightest doubt
that what he told me was strictly true.
Granting that the man was mad-and
surely no sane man could have calmly
proposed the death of hundreds of un-
offending men-still the death of my
dog was sufficient evidence that
Schwartz's claim thy. he had invented
hellish microbic I5isons was true. I
had given him my word to remain ST.
lent If kept my promise should be
accessory to the crimes which he un-
questionably meant to commit. If
betrayed him l not only broke my
word, but made 1t certain that either
he would be condemned to q madhouse
or would be sent to the gallows
could not determine what it was nv
duty to do, and l spent night of more
terrible anxiety than any criminal ever
spent who knew the galiows awaited
him in the early morning.
All night long. and far into the next
day. l ceaselessly debated the question
what ought to do. Towards noon. not
having yet heard any sound Of life in
my neighbor's house, l took the key,
and, entering, went up to his bedroom.
He was lying in bed. with the bed
clothes drawn up close to his chin, and
/ spoke to him, but he did not answer.
When touched his forehead 1 found
that he was dead and cold. He had
evidently died soon after going to bed,
for the body was already perfectly |
rigid
/ did not lose moment in destroying
the tubes in his laboratory. 1 placed |
them carefully. one by one, In bucket |
6lled with the disinfecting fluid which
be had shown me, and then broke them
With blow Of marble pestle. When !
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04

why Go 30 many novels cod iuss -
The marriage Of the hero and hsrosney'
The author stops there because hs
wants 20 lesve them while they're hap
w i. World.
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04

earth not less than four feet deep. Do
this with the utmost care, making sure
not to break single tube except
under the surface of the liquid, other
wise cannot answer for your life.
You perfectly understand me?'
Perfectly" / said; ''and 1 will
promise to carry ont your wishes. The
tubes, presume, contain the microbes
of various diseases"
His face ightened up with a glow Of
enthusiasm. They contain the mi
crobes Of diseases" he replied; but the
diseases are nearly all new. They are
inventions Of my own, and some of
them are infinitely more deadly than
any disease known to the medical pro-
fession. You remember the death of
your dogP The poor fellow died of a
disease which is absolutely new, and
which kills in less than six hours II
that disease We're once introduced into
any city in the world it would spread SO
rapidly that in week the place would
be depopulated'
CHAPTER Ill
II do not understand what you mean
BY newly-invented Diseases" said 1.
How is it possible for man to invent
disease?"
'Allow me to sit down" said the pro-
ifessor, ''for / am too weak to remain
standing. The answer to your ques-
ton Is very easy. Certain diseases are
produced by certain microbes and
alberto psychologists have confined
themselves TO trying to discover the
pecific microbe of each disease, and
ben to discover a remedy that viii kill
:he microbe without killing the pa
icnA No one but myself has ever
ried to develope the deadly powers OF
Known microbes. Look at that tube
numbered II. 1t contains the microbe
II disease have cultivated until IL
will produce deadly disease in TWEEN
E-four hours after the microbe is taken
INTO the system, and will kill the pa
lent infallibly in twelve hours more.
That is only one Of the dozen similar
successes that have obtained. Then
I have crossed different microbes, or
rather cultivated them together, SO
n6No pcCO4AS "a
3acing a new disease. partaking some
what of the character of each of the
diseases which the microbes, if cult
cated separately. would produce Il
was who invented. in this way, the
present variety 81 infuenza, by cross
ing the microbes OF malaria fever with
those of pneumonia. i was living in
st. Petersburg at the time, and acct
dentally dropped the tube containing
the germs of influenza. Some one must
have found it and opened it, for when
the influenza broke out instantly rec
ognized it as my own invention"
Il have always heard."I ventured 20
remark. that the influenza is disease
which has several times during the
present century appeared in Europe"
There have been epidenics of dis
ease called influenza" he replied, bat
they differed from the present one
They lacked the symptoms of malarial
poisoning, which sre characteristic OF
my own Influenza / have always been
very sorry that lost that tube. for an
epiSaYnyc If II, flueu p can do NO rsa<S;hle
The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-04

Tailor 10 BOY seus out with biIr-
"aa be very angry 81 receiving st7
Boy-Oh, 70. Quite he contrary. soS
he asked Ie o cal a2aln--Chau-
6rG1an