Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-07-23
HIS CASE OF FRIGHT.
ONE MANS STORY OF HOW HE WAS
COMPLETELY UNNsRVED.

Vet lie Declares That the simple
Thought of IL Hns Oftcn Since
Brought the sweat 90 His Face.
"yery few grown up people know
what fright really means. except per
haps ia dreams" said the quietest man
In the group that had been spinning
yarns in the hotel corridor. when |
speak of fright" he continued, II don't
mean alarm in any of its ordinary
senses. mean that sort of brute panic
that robs n man of speech, thought and
yolition; that turns him sick and cold;
that leaves such a deep and indelible
scar ON his whole nervous organism
that the very memory of it, years aft
erward, will make him quail and shud-
der. 1t IL impossible, in my opinion,
for mere danger TO produce that feel
Ing, even in the rankest towards, for
you must bear in mind it is not fear
that am endeavoring to describe, but
something entirely different something
against which personal courage fur
nishes no immunity whatever. When
a man is afraid, his instinct Is to run
away, to escape; when he is frighten-
ed, he has no such impulse he simply
suffers. | 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 i'm
as few words as possible.
'In 1889 was holding job as proof
reader in IL big printing establishment
In Chicago. The building then occupied |
By the concern was rambling old bar
racks of a place. and the little inclo- |
sure where | worked was in the ex-
treme rear of the upper floor, which |
was used as a composing room. Next |
TO my cubby hole was another and |
considerably larger Enclosure. where n
religious weekly was set up on special
contract. That second room had a
sinister reputation, for the sufficiently
startling reason that II had been the
scene of two suicides. 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 despondent,
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 1t
abided. and IL seemed to invest the
place with peculiar air of gloom
II 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, l had
an unusual lot of proofs to read and
decided to go bnck. after n late sup
per. and finish them up before going
to bed when reached the building
on my return from the restaurant,
everybody had gone. and the place
was as black and silent as cave but
let myself in at side door and CROP
ed my way up stairs. fumblng in my
pockets Tor match. To my annoy
ance didn't have n single one, but |
remembered there was boxful on n
table In the Office of the religious week
ly. and, knowing the composing room
pretty thoroughly | started without
hesitation for my den.
''rhe sky was stormy and overcast
that night. and Inside the building 1t
wns perfectly dark, so dark that liter
ally couldn't see my hand before my
face. Nevertheless ! reached the proof
room without any nlishnp and had
just opened the door of the adjoining
Enclosure to get the matches when the
thSught OF the two suicides flashed
through my brain and sent an Icy shlv-
err down NY spine. For moment I
y had IN Impulse 10 back ont and beat
retreat, and. while | put that aside, |
won't deny that | was considerably
unnerved Tho loneliness OF the place,
the pitch darkness, the whispering
y noises one can always hear In big
empty building at nigh, ana the mem
af flint aha ~ nf gaIP mn
der. all made my heart beat like II
drum, and il required every particle OF
resolution | possessed 10 enable me To
take step forward.
II moved slowly and cautiously, with
my right arm c.tcndcd to ward off
obstacles. and had advanced perhaps n
dozen PAGES when my clutched hand
was laid hntly upon human face.
could feel the nose and eye sockets
4 against my fingers. and Il stubbe OF
beard pricked my palm. Now. gentle
men, this may seem like nothing as
tell II here, with the incandcscents
ablaZe and people passing To and fro.
but In that black deserted rookcry II
wns the Incarnation of horror | real
\ lied then and there for the first time
In my life, the real meaning OF the
word fright II had actually seen
ghost, II would have shaken me less.
but that face against my hand In the
dark | will never forget II. never.
as long as live.
~ rccclled. and ns did SO my I'm
gers encountered the matchbox. by
pure Instinct snatched out dozen
matches and struck them on the table
l A gus jet was half foot away ana In
nm instant | had It It, Then | under
4 stood the situation, and you viii SMILE
II no doubt. when | explain. printer
lN whom | knew very well and who was
the sot OF the office was standing be.
4 side one Of the cases In drunken
b doze. He hal been ON n spree, and
n when The oiice was closed he was ly-
" ing asleep. unnotlced, behind n pile OF
pdper. My steps on the stairs had
K AROUSED him. and he staggered to his
( Il feet and stood there, silent and stupid
( " until blunGered against him In the
dark.
tH That's the story, and, as bald be.
fore. u seems like nothing 90 tell. yet
sh1e bare thought OF II has brought the
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