The Opelousas courier., 1899-04-01
A FIREPROOF MAN.
BY ADDISON p. nUNROE.

from his pocket a bottle filled with
thick, black fluid and a Small syring'
with a needle point, such as physi
clans use for hypolermic injections.
Man. he exclaimed, a thimblefu
OF this elixir, injected into a man.
veins, five minutes after injection viii
render him so impervious to fire tina
he could crawlinto your furnace and e
to sleep there without a particle of in
jury; could inhale the flames without
injury to throat or lungs! Why, he
shouted, stepping in front of me, it is
the invention of the century! Doyou
wonder that the heat from your fire
had no effect upon me? I am fire
proof! have taken the injection, and
all the fires of Hades could make no
impression on my tiesh!'
Il began to be alarmed at this en-
thrslast, he was getting 50 nervous
and excited, but inquired:
"'How do you know it will work TO
the extent you claim, professor?
81 made my last experiment last
night, he replied, and it was a glo-
rlous success. took a large dog, ad-
mlnlstered a powerful opiate, so that
he would not resist, injected the proper
amount of the elixir and placed him
IN my large furnace and shut the
door. When [ get home tonight |
shall let him out
land you expect to find him
alive? L burst out incredulously.
~ most certainly do, and he will
be none the worse for his experience,
except that he will be pretty hungry;
two hours after [ left him my assistant
told me he was sleeping peacefully.
Now onlyone more trial is necessaryto
convince the world that it can be done
nay, that it is done and that is to ex-
pertinent on a human being, After this
last experiment | shall introduce leeis-
latlon making incubation compulsory,
that death by fire will forever be a
thing OF the past, and my name will
handed down to future generations
as the greatest benefactor of the HUI
man race. And now, having taken the
injection, and with that magnificent,
glorious fire of yours at hand, [ pro- |
pose to test it on myself, with your
permission
81 started to my feet. Nv ewes
we're opened at last; [ was talking to
l lunatlc, a determined mailman. I
ooked at him with horror and made
Up my mind that he should not thus
commit suicide; [ would knock him
with a stick of cord-wood first.
"Meanwhile he had drawn a small
'ottle from his pocket, removed the
'ork and saturated a handkerchief
With It's contents; / sme!t the fumes
{ ether. In a second, before [ could
hlnk further, he sprang upon me. In
family it flashed upon me that he in
ended to experiment upon me, not
.lmself. With the cunning of a mad
IAN he had thrown me off my guard
nd intended to etherize me and then
0 inject some of his compound into
~ body.
"Now, as you see, I am a pretty
ugged man, and I was still more so
years ago. Without a weapon of
ny kind, it was to be a struggle in
'hich strength and strength alone
'ould count, and to my dying day 1
ball never forget the desperation of
lat combat. I fully realized that if
e succeeded in placing that handker-
hief against my nostrils all would be
nded; SO, shouting loudly for help, I
ut forth my strength in my fight for
fe. In less than a minute I realized
[ had found my match. !
II had succeeded in grasping his :
rists, and I dared not release them t
II fear of the ether. Back and forth
9 pushed, round and round we cir !
ed; we tripped, fell, broke apart and |
'se again both at the same instant. c
"He rushed at me again with wild. c
nearthly cries; he bore me backward. a
struck against a barrel of lime, and t
'er L went with him on top; some '
ing pressed down hard on my mouth t
Id nose; [ struck out blindly, then a t
eat blackness came over me. and I
lew no more.
when [ came tomyself + was lying
a pile of old bags, right where YOU
e sitting now, with a man working II
er me; near the door was my pro
ssor, securely manacled between two G
her men in uniform. The pro- a
ssor was bewailing his ill fortune
d pouring out curses upon his cap Is
for interrupting him. Ii
well, neighbour said the man Il
was attending me, that was a
close call; wait until your head
is a little clearer and I will explain ="
'1n a short while they told me that IL
o professor was an inmate of a lu- I"
Tic asylum IN P, where they
re employed as keepers. He had ce
cceeded in escaping that morning. al
d they had tracked him with great W
hcult.y, as he was wonderfully cum hi
1g. When in the neighborhood of
r kiln they had heard his wild b,
outs as he made his last attack on T
and rushing thither had arrived til
1t as l fell, overpowered. After a fl,
sperate struggle they had secured
HE is sound enough except on 81
8 subject of fire. said the keeper. ~
My last night he poisoned n of tn
r pet dogs with some chemical mix
treated the body with his elixir
then put it in the furnace. The IN
y way we could quiet his frenzy ST.
t tell him the dog was sleeping nc
.etly. And now, rs we must get IN
4 back to the institution, is there
we can do for you?' M,
4 requested him to 60 to a certain n.
mhouse and call one Of m helpers re
take my nlano i :.