The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-08-22
You THINK YOU. HEAR SOMEONE
Mysterious Noises in the Night That
Startle and Alarm You.


Startle and Alarm You.
What would not be revealed would
census to be taken of the men in Chicago
who have been awakened by the sound of
a thief of the night cutting the screen
away from the kitchen door, and the
saving hole in the woodwork SO a. %
enable him to thrust his hand through,
shoot the bolt and then break in to revel
in midnight debauch of crime? How
many men of this lakeside city have held
Joint debates with themselves on the wis
dom of getting up and uttering loud,
protracted and res onant whoop, as COM
pared with the more discreet plan of ly-
ing still and fearfully permitting the
robber to rob? And the cats out in the
back entry, battling at the iron garbage
cans for what feasting lies in fishheads
and day-before- yesterday beef-do they
wot n single wot as to the horror that
they are generating in the parlor bed
room 40 feet away? A cat at garbage
can does not in itself resemble red muir
der running riot, but it sounds exactly
that way. Every noise which .one such
makes is the precise racket which goes
with the commission Of fearful and
hideous crime.
The dictionary definition of window
shade says nothing of concealed weapons,
jimmies, dynamite or gags And yet
the II. IN. window blind is a creature
which goes about its business armed cap
a-pie for treason, stratagem and spoils,
to say nothing of offenses more COM
mon, and consequently more to be dread
ed. Given a window. blind which does
not just fit the opening, and which in n
sobbing way rubs against the vertical
sides of the easement; given also the
hour of Marco Bozaris, and, in addition
co. hnc rftVnY xlntt.
earnest civilian, embraced the farms of
slumber up to the time when the rubbing
begins, and there is II combination which
would drive Nine. Tussaud distracted,
fill Chief Badenoch's reception room with
choice and distinguished slaughters, and
make hair of the Circassian and tangen-
tai sort the proper and correct thing A
common yellow window blind which sells
ordinarily for 43 cents or for 90 cents on
bargain days, can bully the Spanish
Inquisition out of its boots when it comes
to terrifying mankind.
The doorlock which takes n notion to
rattle back into it proper place after
having been turned too far earlier in
the evening knows it's business also,
and its business is to people the mind of
the man who is just reused from sweet
dream of peace with horrible pictures Of
eXtemporaneous death. In the case of
the lock which, having been turned too
fur back, later releases itself with a
sharp click, allowing the bolt to take it's
natural position, there can be no manner
of doubt. The Hs1iawaked fiat dweller
has good and am pld5 s.n to believe
that the noise comses-----tbe lock-be-
cause, in fact, it does me hherefrom.
Then rises into rapid Hn minesce. this in
quiry: "wbat sort of nfS is it who is
out there with skeleVh key letting
himself into this 1atg' OF course, he is
large, bulky man, with chloroform in
his possession, and bearing great bur
den of deadly weapons. He has come
to get everything in the fiat, from the
folding bed to the napkin rings, and he
is going to perform with many strange
firearms if necessary to achieve his oh
ject. Perhaps, after all, the ill-ftting
window blind, which sways in the
draught, is the greatest criminal of the
age More midnight alarms have been
caused by it than by almost any other
inanimate malefactor, although the pan.
try door, which, standing ajar, is push
ed open or is closed by the pug dog out
on meandering expedition, is decent
second.