Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-06-28
HIS CASE OF FRIGHT.
ONE MANS STORY or HOW HE WAS
COMPLETELY uNNeRvED.
IL Wns simple Enough Incident,
Yet He Declares That the simple
Thought of II Has often since
Brought the swent 20 U,s Fsce

TbonEht of II Has often since
Brought the sweat 90 His Face.
VERY few grown up people know
what fright really means, except per.
hsps a dreams" said the quietest man
In the group that had been spjnnipg
yarns In the hotel corridor. when I
speak Of fright" lie continued. II don't
mean alarm in any OF it's ordinary
senses-l mean that sort Of brute panic
thot robs man Of speech, thought and
volltion; that turns him sick and cold:
mat leaves such a deep and indeIible
scar on his whole nervous organism
that the very memory of 1t, years aft
erward, will make him quail and shud.
der. IL is impossible, in my opinion,
for mere danger to produce that feel.
ing. even In the rankest towards. for
you must bear in mind II Is not fear
that am eDdeavoriDg 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 lie is frightcn-
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. III tell you about it in
as few words as possible.
"ln 1889 was holding Job as proof
reader ia big printing establishment
in Chicago. The building then occupied
by the concern was a rambling old bar
racks of a place. and the little inclo-
sure where | worked was in the en-
trcme rear of the upper floor, which
was used as composing room. Next
to my cubby hole was another and
considerably larger inclosure, where n
religious weekly was set up on special
contract. That second room had a
sinister reputation. for the sufficiently
startling reason that it 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 OF 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 1t
abided, and it seemed to invest the
place with peculiar air of gloom.
Il have gone into these details TO
give you an idea of the lay NJ the
premises, and now I'll get to the point.
Ono night. in the fall of the year, / had
an unusual lot of proofs to read and
decided to go back. after a late sup
per, and finish them up before going
to bed. When | reached the building
everybody had gone. and 4he place
was as black and silent as aScave, but
l let myself in at side door and CROP
ed my way up stairs. fumbling in my
pockets for a match. To my annoy
ance l didn't have single one, but
remembered there was a 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. SO 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
inclosure 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
had an Impulse to back ont and beat a
retreat, and, while l put that aside, |
unnerved. The loneliness of the place.
the pitch darkness. the whispering
noises one can always hear in a big
empty building at night and the men,
ory of that ghastly story of self muir
der, all made my heart beat like a
drum. and it required every particle of
resolution | possessed to enable me to
take step forward.
Il moved slowly and cautiously, with
my right arm extended to ward off
obstacles and had advanced perhaps a
dozen PAGES when my clutched hand
was laid fatty upon human face.
could feel the nose and eye sockets
against my fingers. and d 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 it
was the incarnation of horror. | real
ized then and there. for the first time
in my life, the real meaning of the
word fright. III l had actually seen a
ghost. It would have shaken me less,
but that face against my hand in the
dark-ah. l will never forget it, never.
as long as ] live.
Il recoiled. and as I did so my fin
gers encountered the matchbox. By
pure instinct snatched out a dozen
matches and struck them on the table.
A gas jet was half foot away, and in
nm instant l had il lit. Then l under
stood the situation, and you will smile,
no doubt, when l explain, A printer,
whom | knew very well and who was
the sot of the office. was standing be-
side one of the cases in a drunken
doze. He had been ON q spree. and
when the Office was closed he was ly-
ing asleep. unnoticed. 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.
until l blundered against him in the
dark.
That's the story, and, as said be-