Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1900-05-10

HIS LAST INVENTION.


always spending days and nights over
the manufacture of some wonderful
machine or other which was to revolt
utionize the world and make him fam
Gus, only 10 find after all his labor
some irremediable flaw in his plan
which rendered the completion OF the
machine an impossibility, or prevent
ed II working.
He gazed around him on the gaunt
skeleton in wood and brass Of past
hopes, and clenched his hand Hereby
"a failure! Everything in my life
is n miserable fnilure!" he cried
aloud, as he paced the floor
II was not the breakdown of an o.
binary invention, however, that
wrung the bitter words from him, He
had grown accustomed to walking in
the morning with an idea worth mill
ions in his head, and going to bed at
night with the knowledge that II was
not worth n million match-sticks;
and had become quite philosophical
over the failure OF his plans for mon
ey-making. But this time 1t was
different arrangement that had broken
down, an arrangement by which the
inventor hoped to make himself and
children n home; and the handspring,
in the shape OF Deborah Dene, the
woman he loved, had failed him. In
his clenched hand he held the letter
she had sent him, abruptly ANNOUNCE
ing that she wished to break OF their
engagement.
There was a revolver laying on the
inventors bench, which had thrice
had It's bright barrel pointed towards
his forehead, but three times the
mans purpose had failed him at the
decisive moment
81 fail in everything that would
make life worth living, and cannot
even kill myself" he went on, in his
despoiring solloquy, "Must every
thing ] try prove a railure?"
He took up the revolver once more
with sudden determination, and hold
ing the barrel between his teeth, pull
ed the trigger, There was click,
but nothing more; he had forgotten,
after all, to load the thing.
He had failed once more TO kill him
self and the nervous shock he had eXi
perienced had made II impossible for
him to repeat the attempt He must
think of something, he told himself,
which would make the last act easier
for him. lie was determined on sui
eide and had committed himself by
informing Deborah Of his intentions,
but when the single movement of
finger was in moment to make all
the difference between life and death.
his physical courage deserted him and
his finger became powerless He must
prepare some plan for killing him
self In which the exact moment Of
his death would be decided by chance
or the action OF machinery,
The idea pleased him by suggesting
the need Of invention, need which
his mind was always ready to meet.
and he set himself with melancholy
pleasure to think out the details of a
hlling-machine which should fulfill
all his requirements. Death must be
painless and instantaneous, Of course,
but must act at different moment
from that at which the victim took
the decisive action which would make
his fate certain and Interchangeable.
He drew out plan rapidly, making
rough sketches OF the mechanical de-
t9ils on the back OF Deborah Dene's
fatal letter,
Then he went down to his forge on
the floor below, and worked hard at
the manufacture of the instrument he
had invented. II was finished by mid
night, and, in grim sort of way,
Ralph Carbon was proud Of his work.
The invention was in the form of
dynamite bomb, which would explode
by the slow action of an acid eating
through barrier of cement. One of
his past failures had left him with
the dynamite on his hands, II was in"
closed in a carefully welded iron case,
joined strongly so that once the Case
was closed it could only be opened by
the exercise Of considerable force. 1t
was connected as strongly to an iron
chain, which the inventor fastened
around his waist joining the two ends
with Yale paddock. When he had
locked 1t he bald the key on his anvil,
and, with a stroke Of his hammer, beat
1t out Of shape.
To get away from his anvil and tools
with chance they still offered him of
changing his mind and breaking the
chain around his waist, as well as to
save the empty house from needless
injury, the inventor put on his hat
and walked out into the country road
that stretched in front of his lonely
dwelling,
lie walked along rapidly, anxious,
while his determination remained |
firm, to place as great distance as
possible between himself and any
chance of undoing his handiwork.
There was not a soul abroad, Of
course, at such an hour and Gordon
had no fear of injuring anybody but
himself by the explosion that now he |
was expecting every moment. When,
the. road took him near any habitation
he made wide circuit, to keep it out
side the range of the dynamite bomb
around his waist. With the same
thoughtfuIness for others he stopped
when, after about half an hours walk,
he caught sight of the figure Of a
woman approaching him, He was
like a man with the plague, whom it
was dangerous toapproach, and Ralph