Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-12-13
rnE Rer,aEo svaoLAe.


aas llarvelously Developed SenssoH
Hearing and Touch.
TT il not always possible" said the
retired burglar, Ito avoid making
aoise in q house; which doesn't seem
,emarkable when you take into account
he fact that q man b all the time In
strange houses, and more or less OF tne
time In the dark; the wonder IL tnat .
nan doesn't fall over something seven
teen times In q night and rouse the
whole neighborhood. A mans got MS
amp with him, to be sure, but he can't
oe all the time fOOling around Win
hat: In his ordinary goings about ne
,elies upon his sense Of touch, wnicn
comes to be very sensitive.
"A great help to a man In gettins
about 10 the fact that there's more or
ess sameness to houses, In the arrange
nent of the stairs and halls, and things
4 general: he ISN'T an architect. but he
has at least inspected a good many
houses. and a glance at the start, as q
general thing. will tell him how things
lie. And so. while he's got his lamp.
ne relies a good deal on his senses OF
,ouch and hearing. l don't know, but
( seems to me that could feel door,
,r a wall, or q partition before l
touched 1t, by the compression OF the
air between 1t and my shoe as put my
.oot forward, and one Il in state OF
constant readiness to stop. And no
natter how hard mans hands may be
hey are velvet-tipped as far as the
,ense Of touch is concerned. and as
FIELDING as willow. II he touches any
hing movable he rarely upsets 1t,
though he may sometimes; but the only
wonder to me Is, as l said. that he
Doesn't fall over things right and left.
But while he Is quiet himself, any
lOise, however slight. made by anybody.
n the house. he can hear with Ger
:ainty: he comes to be very sensitive
about that, too. II a man In q room
overhead gets out Of bed and stands on
the floor you can feel him II you don't
hear him. You know how boards that
have been trodden down upon the
oeams that support them swell up
again IL they are not walked upon for q
lime; the fibers of the wood spring back
o their original form. Then when you
walk on them for the first time, when
hey settle down. you hear them creak:
he way stairs do. the first time any
BODY goes down 'em in the morning.
Tou might hear n sound like this when
man, however quiet he might be him
,elf. got up and stood on the floor. But
f 1t was a perfectly frm and solid and
,ettled floor, that made no sound what
.ver, you could still feel him by the VI
ora ton Of the house caused by the
shifting OF his weight, communicated to
vOu from the beams Of the floor upon
which he stood. through the walls. and
thence through the beams of the floor
lpon which you are standing. The VI
oratiOn might be so slight that 1t could
scarcely be measured by any known
means. but In your condition Of sensi-
.iveness you could feel 1t.
Il really believe that In frame house
could feel a mouse walking on the
ioor above. I don't mean a rat. Some
times you hear a rat running across a
1oor: and that, under such circum-
stances. makes practically as much
sound and shake as q horse would gal
Oping over a wooden bridge; but
mean that I think l could feel a mouse
walking slowly over a floor overhead;
and you can easily imagine that II q
nan should knock down anything In
house. anything whatever. why. 1t
~ade more noise than an earthquake.
~ still have that sensitiveness Of
touch, just the same: and, though
ion't visit other peoples houses at .
ate hour. as formerly did, find my
'elf in my own house just as suscepti-
Die as ever to the faintest sound or jar"