The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-05-15
PECULIAR MlsHAP.

ssralk about your peculiar mishaps.
said young man employed In one OF the
railroad Offices I'm ST. Charles, to a New
Orleans Times Democrat reporter, some
thing happened at our boarding house
the other night that / think is entitled
To first money. One of our lodgers Is
very fat man. who has a job as book
keeper In a wholesale house near the
river. He is almost as tall lying down
as he is standing up. and. with such a
paunch, Is rather slow in getting around;
but for all that he is perfect bundle of
nerves and the most excitable man ever
knew In my life. Well. he has room
directly under mine, and lately we have
all been bothered more or less by mice.
The landlady declared war on them. a.
for light artillery khe bought a lot, OF
small wire trsps-those dome.snaPeu az.
fairs with holes around the top for the
beasts to s,.... their head into. The SER
want put one In eacn room, ana, Few
evenings ago, when she was going around
batting the lot, was careless enough 10
leave the fat mans standing on top
of his dresser. He happened TO be out at
tending a singing society that night ana
didn't get home until about a. m. Ills
room was pitch dark, but he knew there
were some matches on the dresser, and,
moving cautiously across the floor. he be-
gan paving around for the box. AT about
fat forefinger into one of the apertures
of the mousetrap, and the thing snapped
down on HIM like the jaws of bull
dog, , ., ,o, o.,, oon,,nrsa
the railroad clerk, 'how you would feel
yourself IL you were prowling around In
dark room and some unknown monster
suddenly nailed you by the finger and
hung on. ! am free to say | would prob
ably have howled just as loudly as the
fat man did. He supposed, Of course.
sl..t h. ht.x, hat had hAld ~ I'm xtac
alive. and when he tried to knock IL
off his hand encountered the corpses of
two mice that had been caught In the
other holes before he came In. The touch
OF their soft. furry bodies confirmed the
idea that IL was a living creature. and IL
was then, as he explained afterward.
that he tried to escape to the hall and
he came to demolsh so many different
things I'm such a short time Is a mystery,
but you know how easy II Is TO bump into
all the articles In dark room under the
most ordinary circumstances. and fat
man with mousetrap hanging 10 his
finger would naturally be great deal
more destructive. Anyhow II was that
first below OF mortal terror that awaken
ed me. and the next thing heard was
a succession OF frightful crashes, mixed
up with the noise OF breaking glass.
scuffiing feet torn cloth. falling furni-
ture, and ten-ply profanity. | could have
sworn that my neighbor was having a
fight with at least eight burglars. and
I'm a moment. OF course nobody was
anxious To go In and get murdered while
that awful row was In progress, but
presently II died down. and when we
pushed open the door we found the book
keeper sitting I'm the middle of the room
totally collapsed. with the mousetrap still
hanging to his finger and the floor lit
tered with the wreck of all his belongings
50-pound lyddite shell couldn't have pro-
duced more picturesque ruin. Ever
since then desperate argument has been
In. 10 10 ...tl.
the damages. The landlady declares the
fat man will have 20 pay for the smash
ed furniture. and he swears by the nine
gods he won't give up n cent On the
contrary. he wants remuneration for his
lacerated finger the shock OF his nerves
and the suit OF clothes ruined I'm the
battle. | wouldn't he surprised N the
case got into the courts. with the mousse
trap as exhibit A.