Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-07-09
CASES OF BAD LUCK.
THRILLING HITcHE9 WHICH HAVE
COST A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY.

Little Accidents, Generally Unavoidable,
That Sometimes Prove Deciding Factors
In Transactions of Considerable Impor-
lance.
A good many Of the important events
Of this life are governed by little things,
Many fortunes have resulted from
tri1es. On the other hand, thousands
have been lost.
Not many days ago furniture van
broke down on one of the lines Of an
important tramway system. Within
five minutes 30 trans were drawn up,
waiting till the line was cleared. Lift
ing jacks were procured, and in three
quarters Of an hour the obstruction was
removed, yet that slight delay cost the
tramway company over g70. 1t had
disorganized the whole system. The
trans failed to put in an appearance at
the usual stopping places at the appoint
ed times, and throughout the length of
the lines waiting passengers travelled to
their destinations by other conveyances.
There is perhaps no such costly trifle
as an engineering hitch. Not long since
we'll known firm delivered torpedo
destroyer to the naval authorities. She
was in every respect perfect boat, the
result of mastery designing and splen
did workmanship, yet at the very outset
of her steam trials she met with mis-
hap which necessitated her return to
the contractors for repair. This hitch
cost the firm e600 and was found to
have been brought about by careless
workman thoughtlessly emitting to
screw steam cock tightly and ct it
with washer.
Another curious instance resulted in
clear loss of e250, 600 to the unhappy
victim. He was the holder Of large
quantity of South African stock, bought
at a low price during slump. On sud
denly receiving the tip that it was like
ly to boom Immediately, he settled a
limit at which to sell, and when the
price had reached this figure wired his
broker to sell out Immediately. Ee left
his office with jaunty step. He had net
ted fortune in one coup. A few hours
later the stock fell just as suddenly as
it had risen, and to a figure consider
ably below that he had originally paid
for it. Judge, then, of his dismay when
his stockholders clerk drove to his
house and asked for confirmation of a
telegram they had just had, which ap-
peared to have been delayed in trans
mission. 1t was his message authoriz-
ing them to sell, and as the stock was
at such low figure they were anxious
to consult him before moving in the
matter. The unfortunate investor was
dumfounded at the lost opportunity,
which ON inquiry proved to have result
ed from an accident to the telegraph
boy. He had been knocked down and
stunned by cab and conveyed to hos
pital. His message had been sent out
again as soon as possible, but the de-
lay, slight as it was, had lost one man
q huge fortune.
The man who suffers mostly by tri.
fling bitches is the inventor. Innumer-
able fortunes have been lost by five
minute delays in getting out projections
during which times others have stepped
in with similar ideas and annexed the
reward of their promptness. A curious
and somewhat pathetic instance i'll con-
nection with an invention happened to
an engineer who had spent some years
in perfecting a hydraulic railway brake.
The idea was in every way perfect, and
in conjunction with his son he bad con-
structed models and partially drawn up
patent specifications. To the latter,
however, he had not condded certain
small mechanical detail-the very one
which had cost him so much labor to
work out successfully-his idea being
that his son should endeavor to over
come the difficulty himself till the pat
ent was entered, when he was to learn
the secret of the mechanism.
The very day before the specifications
were completed the father dropped dead
of heart disease through excitement,
and when, later, his son came to exam
inc the drawings he found the detail he
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