The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-18
PdR4LYZED by FRIG HE.
An Experience Set Forth 10 Illustrate What
the Expression Means.
From N, N,w ORLEANS Times D,nocrd'.


From n, N,to Orl.an, Times Dsniocrd'.
Very few grown up people know what fright
really means, except perhaps in dreams" said
the quietcst man in the group Of night owls who
had been spinning yarns in The hotel corridor
When ! sr,ak Of fright" h. continued, i don't
mean alarm in any OF fits ordinary senses mean
that sort Of brute ranic that robs a man Of speech,
thought and |yol,uon; that turns him sick and
cold; that lea such a deep and indelible scar
on has whole nervous organism that the very
memory II it, years atterward, will make him
quail and shuddcr 1t is impossible. in my opin-
ion, for mere danger 10 produce that feeling. even
in the rapkest towards, for you must bear in mind
1t is not fear that | am endeHvorIng To describe,
but something entirely different. something
against which PERSONAL courage furnishes
no immunity whatever When " man
Is afraid his instinct j. h. run away, 10 escape,
when he is frightened, he has no such impulse -
he simply suffers.
In 1859 was holding a Job as %proolrra Ter
in a big printing establishment IN I hiCngO, he
building then occupied by the concern vqs a
rambling old barracks Of a Place and the little
inclosure ~her' | worked was in The extreme r'ar
uf the upper floor. which WAS used as y com
posing room Next Ia my cubDyh hole was on
other and considerably larger inclpSlIrn wh"r' .
religious weekly was set up ON SPECIAL contract
I hat second room had u sinister reputation, lor
the sufficiently startling rcaSo, that II had been
the scene Of two suicides. \ former collector
for the firm, who was short in his accounts, had
gone there to blow his brains out, and later un a
poor old printer. brOken down and despOndont,
had cut his throat IN front oi the cracked looking
g.asS, which hung over tn sink MI that hap.
It nhidrl, and Il seemed 10 invest the place with
q peculiar air OF gloom, have gone INTO Ties"
details To- give You IN idea Of the lay of the prem
iSes, and now ! II get 10 the point
One night, in the fall uf the year, had an
unusual lot Of proofs 10 read, and decided 10 20
back. after a late Supper and finish them up
before going 10 bed When | reached the build
ing on my rturn from the restaurant everybody
had gone, and III" place was ms blHck ana silent
as a cave, but ! let myself in at n side door and
groped my way ,~urstairs. umtling IN my pockets
a single one, but | remembered there was a boxtul
on a table in the Office Of the religious weekly.
and knowing the composing room pr"tty thor
uughly startrl without hesitation for my den.
The sky was stormy and overcast that night.
and inside the building II was perfectly dark, 80
dark that ! literally couldn t see my hand before
my face Nevertheless | reached the pToufroOm
without any miehap, and had Just opened the
door of the adjoining lnclusure To get the matches,
when the thought OF the two suicides flashed
through my brain and sent an icy SILVER dow
my spine For a moment | had an impulse TO
back out and beat q retreat, and, while ! rut that
aside. | wont deny that was considerably I'M
n,ryed. The loneliness Of the place, the pitch.
darkness, the whispering noises one can always
hear Ia q big empty building at night, and the
memory Of that ghAStly story Of sill murder,
all mad" my heart beat like . drum; and 1t re-,
IAIl ~ VIZ 1'l 49, - ~ W.T. HF''N
to enable mo a. take a step forward moved
slowly and cautiously, with my right arm eN-
tended 10 ward off obstacles, and had advanced
perhaps a dozen PAGES, when my cluiched hand
was laid tatly upon a human lace. could feel
the nose and eyesockets against my fingers and
a Stubhlr Of beard pricked my palm.
Now, gentlemen. this may seem like nothing
aS toll il here, with the inCandesCent, Allale
and people passing 10 and fro, but in that black,
deserted rookery II was the inCArnatiun II horror
! realized then and there. for the first time in my
life. the real meaning II the word fright II !
had actually seen n ghost II would have shaken
me- less, but that face against my hand in the
dark ahi | will never forget II, never, as long
as live raCoilel, and rs did 50 my fingers
encountered the matchbox by pure instinct
| snatched out a dozen matches and struck them
on the table; a gas jet was half a foot away. and
in an instant | had il lit Then ! understood the
situation, and you will smile, no doubt, when
explain,
"a printer, whom | knew very well, and who
Wa the sUt Of the uflCs, WINS standing beside
one Of the cases in a drunken do7e. lie had been
or n spree, and when the office was closed was
living asleep, unnoticed, behind n pile Of Paper
My steps on the stairs had aroused him, and he
staggered to his feet and stood there, silent and
stupid, until I Numbered against him in the dark