Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1900-09-12
HIS CASE OF FRIGHT.
ONE MANS STORY OF HOW HE WAS
COMPLETELY uNNERvED.

SSWFeE ELY UNNEHvEO.
IL Was . Simple Enough Incident,
xet He Declares That the Simple
Thought of 1t Has often since
Brought the Sweat to HI. F.c..
very few grown up people know
what fright really means, except per-
haps In Dreams" said the quietest man
IN the group that had been spinning
yarns In the hotel corridor. "When I
speak of fright" he continued, II don't
mean alarm in any Of its ordinary
senses-1 mean that sort of brute panic
that robs q man OF speech, thought and
vontton; that turns him sick and cold;
that leaves such deep and indelible
scar on his whole nervous organism
that the very memory Of 1t, years aft
erward. will make him quail and shud-
Der. 1t Is impossible, in my opinion,
for mere danger to produce that feel
ing, even In the rankest towards, for
you must bear in mind 1t ls not fear
that am endeavoring to describe, but
something entirely different, something
against which personal courage fur
nishes no Immunity whatever. When
aman Is afraid, his Instinct is to run
away. TO escape: when he is frighten-
ed he hos no such impuise-he simply
suffers I never had but one expert
ence Of that kind In my life, and the
circumstances of the case were very
commonplace. I'll tell you about 1t in
as few words as possible.
I'm 1880 was holding job as proof
reader In q big printing establishment
In Chicago. The building then occupied
by the concern was a rambling old bar
racks Of place. and the little inclo-
sure where worked was in the ex-
treme rear Of the upper floor, which
was used as composing room. Next
to my cubby hole was another and
considerably larger inclosure, where a
religious weekly was set up on special
contract. That second room had a
sinister reputation, for the sufficiently
startling reason that 1t had been the
scene Of two suicides. A former col
lector for the firm. who was short in
his accounts, had gone there to blow
his brains out, and later on poor old
printer, broken down and respondent,
had cut his throat in front of the
cracked looking glass which hung over
the sink. All that happened long be-
fore my time, but the memory Of it
ablded, and 1t seemed to invest the
place with peculiar air of gloom.
u have gone into these details to
give you an idea Of the lay Of the
premises, and now I'll get to the point.
One night, In the fall Of the year, had
an unusual lot Of proofs to read and
decided to 60 back, after a late sup
per, and finish them up before going
to bad. When reached the building
on my return from. the restaurant,
everybody had gone, md the place
was as black and silent as cave, but
l let myself In at a side door and crop
ed my way up stairs. fumbling in my
pockets for match. To my annoy
ance didn't have single one, but l
remembered there was q boxful on a
table In the office of the religious week
ly. and. knowing the composing room
pretty thoroughly. started without
hesitation for my den.
The sky was stormy and overcast
that night. and inside the building 1t
was perfectly dark, 30 dark that liter
ally couldn't see my hand before my
face. Nevertheless reached the proof
room without any mishap and had
Just opened the door Of the adjoining
inclosurc to get the matches when the
thought of the two suicides flashed
through my brain and sent an icy shiv-
er down my spine. For a moment I
had IN impulse to back out and heat a
retreat, and. while put that aside, l
won't deny that was considerably
unnerved. The loneliness of the place,
the pitch darkness, the Whispering
noises one can always hear in big
empty building at night and the mem-
ory Of that CHASTITY story of self mur-
der, NIL made my heart beat like a
drum. and 1t required every particle Of
resolution possessed to enable me to
take step forward.
II moved slowly and cautiously, with
my right arm extended to ward OF
obstacles. and had advanced perhaps q
dozen PAGES when my clutched hand
was laid fatty upon human face. l
could feel the nose and eye sockets
against my fingers. and stubble Of
beard pricked my palm. Now, gentle
men. this may seem like nothing as
tell It here, with the incandescents
ablaze and people passing to and fro,
but In that black, deserted rookery 1t
was the Incarnation Of horror. l real.
lied then and there, for the first time
In my life. the real meaning of the
word fright. II had actually seen q
ghost, 1t would have shaken me less,
but that face against my hand in the
dark-ah. will never forget 1t, never.
as long as livel
II recoiled, and as did 80 my fin
gers encountered the matchbox. By
pure instinct snatched out dozen
matches and struck them on the table.
"A gas Jet was half foot away, and in
an instant had 1t lit. Then l UNDER
stood the situation. and you will smile.
no doubt, when explain. A printer.
whom knew very well and who was
the sot of the office. was standing be-
side one Of the cases in drunken
doze. He had been on a spree. and
when the Office was closed he was ly-
Ing astep. unnotioed, behind a pile Of
paper. My steps on the stairs had
aroused him. and he staggered to his
feet and stood there, silent and stupid.
untili hundered ngainst him In the
dark.
-That's the story, and, as said be-
fore. II seems like nothing to tell yet
the bare thought of II. Inns brought the
sweat to my forehead."-New Orleans
Nmes-D Democrat.
Give the true American daily news-
paper and piece OF pie, and he will
make himself at home anywhere on
earth.-Chicago News.
Vegetable ivory.
In the forests OF the Pacific slope
In Ecuador abounds the species Of
palm which bears the nuts known af
vegetable iyory,n The nuts are ex