The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-11-26

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depended entirely upon circumstances.
you may remember, for example,
| the terrific uproar that was occasioned
by the mysterious appearance of a
baking powder 'ad on the MARBLE
rooted rotunda of the State House in
one of the north Atlantic capitals. The
facts as afterward developed by the
senate investigating committee, We're
very strange and puzzling. The rotun-
da had been freshly scrubbed it seemed
! by an old Irishman, who had done a
particularly neat and thorough job, and
| dozens Of people who passed through
it during the next two days testified
| that the marble was absolutely stain
less On the third morning, however,
curious dark spots began to appear
| and soon resolved themselves into let
! ters. They grew blacker and blacker,
and by noon the baking powder adj
| doomed out In all it's glory, twenty-five
feet long and nine feet wide To cap
| the climax it was found that the dis
coloration extended into the marble full
| ly an eighth of an inch, and later on
cost the state nearly two thousand dol
| lars to have ii removed by a sand blast.
LIE llldllGE lltS SllltC pCCil gu LS'll soNN
with the authorities, so I don't mind
telling you that while the innocent old
Irishman was scrubbing the hall he
quietly traced the letters in a colorleSS
solution Of nitrate of silver. That
chemical, as you probably know be-
comes black after being exposed to the
light for certain length of time. The
identity of the honest scrubber / Will
leave you to imagine
Another coup that attracted wide
attention at the time was the ineXpli-
cable presence of a ninety-foot stream
err flying from the pinnacle of one of the
tallest church spires in the United
States and bearing the name of we'll
known patent medicine 1T was discoV-
cred one bitter cold morning in January
and created profound amazement, for
the temperature stood at five degrees
below zero that day, and it was mani
testify impossible for any human being
to have scaled the sleet-coated spire.
The pinnacle was exactly one hundred
and eighty-six feet above the pave
ment, and the newspapers advanced all
sorts of weird theories, including the
use of kites and airships, to explain
how the streamer was attached. The
congregation was furious but it was
impossible to get the thing down until
the following spring, and it remained
standing ad.' for nearly one hundred
days. The explanation of this singu-
lar occurrence was abSurdly simple.
You see, everybody had forgotten about
an humble steeple-jack who had as
cended the spire away back in the pre-
ceding April, to regild the metal work
at the tip. This steeple-jack carried
with him, under his blouse, tightly
rolled streamer and a small wooden
box. He attached both to the side of
the pinnacle and fastened down the
streamer with a bit of wire which
passed through a hole in the box. In
side the latter was some simple me-
chanism, operated on the thermostat
principal, and so adjusted that when
the mercury in small thermometer fell
to five degrees below zero it formed an
electric connection and released the
wire. After these things were quietly
arranged, the steeple-jack reRlded the
top, came down, got his pay and disap-
peared. The rolled stdeamer and box
We're entirely too small to be observed |
at that height, and, moreover, they |
We're partly hidden by some ornate
scroll work. There they remained, UNI
seen and unsupported, until that bitter |
night in January when the thermome- |
ter, for the first time in the year, fell |
low enough to make the connection and |
release the fastening. A gale was tear
ing through the upper air and the |
streamer instantly whirled out to its |
full length, exactly as the tightly wad- |
ded colors break from a masthead in !
a yacht race. They discovered the trick 1
when they removed the butting, but in |
the meanwhile it was one of the biggest |
mysteries of the day.
These little affairs will give you |
general idea of the business. 1t had its |
fascinating side, | assure you, and |
when I retired, couple of years ago,
felt quite lost. Since then the field has |
been entirely unoccupied"
The dapper stranger lit a fresh cigar |
and for a while silence reigned. Then a
man from Chattanooga spoke up.
IT beg pardon" he said but it
strikes me as very--or-singular that |
never heard of any of those exploits
before"
Possibly you have forgotten them"
replied the dapper gentleman, pleasant
ly. But that was the trouble about
the work; it lacked permanency-ther
was nothing enduring in it. I wrote, so
to speak, upon water. Wherever I |
went / left behind me a trail Of people
With sandpaper and scrubbing brushes
ousily engaged in erasing my finest
achievements There was no hope of
coming back in after years with my
and pointing out the
and public edifices 1 had de-
laced. 1t was very discouraging," add
ID the dapper gentleman, getting up,
with sigh, land to tell the truth that
was the real reason why I retired.
Well, will bid you good night
THAT seems to be quite a remarka-
Die man." said one of the group, as the
stranger disappeared in the direction of
he elevator car.
"Um-m-ml" grunted the gentleman
rom Chattanooga, she is certainly
uite a remarkable liar."--New Orleans
COMPULSORY ARBITRATION.