The St. Johns herald., 1898-06-18
CASES OF BAD LUCK.
TRIFLING BITCHES WHICH HAVE
 COST A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY.

Little Accidents, Generally Unavoidable,
 That Sometimes Prove Deciding Factors
 In Transactions of Considerable ImpOA
 tance.
 A good many of the important events of this life are governed by little things. Many fortunes have resulted from trif1es 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 35 trans were drawn up, waiting till the line was cleared. Lift Ing lacks were procured, and in three quarters of an hour the obstruction was removed, yet that slight delay cost the tramway company over gro. It 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 trife as an engineering hitch. Not long since 8 we'll known firm delivered a torpedo destroyer to the naval authorities. She was in every respect perfect boat, tLe result of masterly 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 a careless workman thoughtlessly emitting to screw steam cock tightly and fit it with a washer.
 Another curious instance resulted in a clear loss of e25O, 900 to the unhappy victim. He was the holder of large quantity of South African stock, bought at a low price during a 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. He left his office with jaunty step. He had net ted fortune i'll 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 ill trans mission. It 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 thu 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 a 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 huge fortune.
 The man who suffers mostly by tri- fling hitches is the inventor. hummer able fortunes have been lost by five minute delays i'll 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 in COIL nection with an invention happened to an engineer who had spent some years in perfecting hydraulic railway brake. The idea was in every way perfect, and in conjunction with his son he had con- structed models and partially drawn un