Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-01-26

| Il will tell you, he replied, calm
ing himself with an effort and resum-
ing his seat. AS L have said, L have
made chemistry my life study, but L
have studied it with fixed purpose,
and that purpose is to invent a com
pound that will render the body of
any living animal impervious to fire.
Think of the renown that awaits the
man that can render the human body
| fireproof! Think of the sutferings and
deaths caused by fire that he could
vanquish! / have labored hard for 20
long years, and at last, at last, he al
most shouted, Il believe l have per-
fected it'
with trembling hands he drew
from his pocket bottle filed with
thick, black fluid and small syringe
with needle point, such as physi-
clans use for hypodermic injections.
Man, he exclaimed, "a thimbleful
of this elixir, injected into mans
veins, five minutes after injection will
render him SO impervious to fire that
he could crawlinto your furnace and go
to sleep there without 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 e7e
had no effect upon me? l am fire.
proof! [ have taken the injection, and
all the fires of Hades could make no
impression on my tleshl'
81 began to be alarmed at this en-
+bnciaSt ha
and excited, but L inquired:
" How do you know it will work to
the extent you claim, professor?'
" I made my last expert ment last
night, he replied, 'and it was glo-
rious success. 1 took large dog, adj
ministered 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 1 get home tonight I
shall let him out
And you expect to find him
alive?' / burst out incredulously.
" L 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 only one more trial is necessary to
convince the world that it can be done
nay, that it is done and that is to ex-
pertinent on human being! After this
last experiment shall introduce legis-
lation making incubation compulsory,
so that death by fire will forever be
thing of the past, and my name will
be 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.
'T started to my feet. Ny eyes
were opened at last; [ was talking to
lunatic, determined madman. /
| looked at him with horror and made
up my mind that he should not thus
commit suicide; would knock him
| down with stick of cord-wood first.
meanwhile he had drawn small
| bottle from his pocket, removed the
cork and saturated handkerchief
with it's contents I smelt the fumes
of ether. In a second, before could
think further, he sprang upon me. In
stantly it flashed upon me that he in
| tended to experiment upon me, not
himself. With the cunning of mad
man he had thrown me off my guard
and intended to etherize me and then
to inject some of his compound into
my body.
snow, as you see, I am n pretty
rugged man, and l was still more SO
ten years ago. Without weapon of
any kind, it was to be struggle IN
which strength and strength alone
would count, and to my dying day l
shall never forget the desperation of
that combat. 1 fully realized that if
he succeeded in placing that handker
chief against my nostrils all would be
ended; so, shouting loudly for help. I
put forth my strength in my fight for
| life. In less than minute realized
that had found my match.
II had succeeded in grasping his
wrists, and I dared not release them
for fear of the ether. Back and forth
we pushed, round and round we cir
cled; we tripped, fell, broke apart and
|
she rushed at me again with wild,
unearthly cries; he bore me backward.
I struck against barrel OF lime, and
over 1 went with him on top; some
thing pressed down hard on my mouth
and nose; struck out blindly, then a
great blackness came over me, and I
knew no more.
''When came tomyself was lying
on pile of old bags, right where you
are sitting now, with a man working
over me; near the door was my pro-
fessor, securely manacled between two
other men in uniform. The pro-
fessor was bewailing his ill fortune
and pouring out curses upon his cap
tors for interrupting him.
Well. neighbor,' said the man
| who was attending me. that was a