Evening star., 1900-07-09
MAN AND MOUSE TRAP.
The WreckaEe Made by an Exciting
Encounter In a Dark Room.

The WreckaKe Made by an Exciting
Encounter In a Dark Room.
Frcm the New Orleans Times Democrat.
Talk about your peculiar mishaps," said
young man employed in one OF the rail-
read offices in St Charles. some
thing happened at our boarding house
tho other night that 1 think is en-
titled to first money. One Of our
dodgers is very fat man. who has a job
bcokkeeper in wholesale house near the
r.ver. He is almost as tall lying down as
he is standing up. and, with such paunch.
Is rather slow In getting around. but for
all that he is a perfect bundle Of nerves
and the most excitable man 1 ever knew In
my hfs Well, he has a room directly un-
der mine, and lately We have all been
bothered more or less by mice. The land
lady declared war on them, and for light
artillery she bought lot of small wire
traps-those dome-shapcd affairs with holes
around the top for the beasts to stick their
heads into.
1.-THE servant put one In each room, and
a few evenings ago. when she was going
around batting tho lot. was careless enough
to leave the Eat mans standing on top of
his dresser. He happened to be out at
tending a singing society that night and
didn't get home until about / am. His
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
the first plunge he made he stuck his fat
forefinger into one of the apertures OF
tho mouse trap. and the thing snapped
down on him like the jaws OF a bulldog
Now, imagine. If you can, continued
the railroad clerk, "how you would feel
yourself II you were prowling around In
dark room and some unknown monster sud-
denly nailed you by the finger and hung
on 1 am free to say l would probably
have howled just loudly as the fat man
did. He supposed, of course. that the
thing that had hold of him was alive, and
when he tried to knock 1t off his hand en-
countered 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 1t was a
Living creature. and 1t was then. as he
explained afterward, that he tried to escape
to the hall, and got tangled up with the
furniture.
How he came to demolish so many diff
ferent things in such a short time 10 a
mystery, but you know how easy it is to
bump into all the articles In a dark room
under the most ordinary circumstances, and
a. fat man with a mouse trap hanging to
his finger would naturally be great deal
more destructive. Anyhow, it was that
first below Of mortal terror that awakened
me. and the next thing heard was sue
ceseion of frightful crashes mixed with the
noise Of breaking glass, shutting feet. torn
cloth, falling furniture and ten-ply profan-
ity. I could have sworn that my neighbor
was having fight with at least eight bur-
glars, and, needless to say, the whole house
was up in a moment. OF course nobody
was anxious to go in and get murdered
while that awful row was in progress, but
presently it died down, and when We pushed
oren the door we found the bookSeeper
sitting in the middle Of the room, totally
collapsed. with the mouse trap still hanging
to his finger and the floor Uttered with
the wreck of all his belongings.
"A ifty-pound lydtiitc shell couldn't have
nrNdnpa6 a Nar
since then a desperate argument has been
in progress as to who is responsible for
the damages. The landlady declares the
fat man will have to pay for the smashed
furniture, and he sweGrs by the nine gods
he won't give up a cent. On the contrary.
he wants remuneration for hSs lacerated
finger. the shock of his nerves and the
suit of clothes ruined in the battle. I
wouldn't be surprised if the case got into
the courts with the mouse trap Exhibit
A."