The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1901-08-01
INGENUITY WASTED.
who Applied Himseh to Trivial
InventiOnt:


who Applied Himself to Trivial
Inventioni:
Recently there died in Belgium a
man, Johannes Schilven, who, had his
energies been only diverted into their
proper sphere, would have been hailed
is {: genius of very high order: AS
it is, his fame has been narrowed
to only the few who happened to live
In his vicinity, says the Cincinnati En-
auirer.
The man $ home was gloomy house,
surrounded by grounds that had once
been well kept. Solitude was all he
cared for-solitude SO that he could
work out the strange ideas that filed
mis- brain. To obtain peace he would
indulge in all manner of the strangest
whims.
For instance, he was wonderfully
skilled electrician. The neighborhood
was infested with half-starved cats;
which naturally found happy hunt
Ing ground in the uncared-for garden
of the recluse. For these cats he man
ufactured some exceedingly life-like
models of mice, which he placed upon
aiminutive railway line in his gar
den, causing them to move like tiny
trains, each mouse being charged with
q strong electric current. The
'snouse railway" was placed ih the
grass, the mice appearing and disap-
pearing at intervals. Such bait
proved irresistible to the cats: They
pounced on the mice and were in-
simultaneously eleotrocuted by the
Misunderstanding "prey." Death was
silent and speedy. Their interment
fiendish joy.
But the extraordinary mans genius
did not allow him TO rest at cat=kill-
ing. His home was perfect wizards
palace of surprises. A man from the
neighborhood once forced his way up
to the front door and knocked boldly
at the door. The effect was electrify-
ing and painful. The door few open as
though by magic. The next instant
and the temerity of the stranger was
rewarded by the discharge of a bucket
of water full in his face. The action
of knocking had set in motion some
concealed mechanism which opened
the door and threw the bucket of wa
ter. the door then slamming uncom-
promisingly, as though to add insult
to injury.
On one occasion a gang of thieves,
lured thither by the stories of the
country people, determined to make
a burglarious descent upon the house
of mystery. They waited for dark
night, and then made their assault
upon the back OF the house. Here, to
their surprise, they found a window
wide open, and having easy access
from without.
A silence, as of the grave, reigned
on every hand. One of the thieves
climbed in through the window. In
moment a babel seemed to ensue.
Bells were rung, fireworks went off,
flashes of lightning-this is all accord
ing to the description of one of the
robbers-darted hither and thither,
and the terrified men took to their
heels and ran. That was the one and
only attempt to enter the house bur-
glariously. Of course, the explanation
of the phenomena is perfectly simple.
The recluse had merely elaborated
the ordinary burglar alarm. He had
left the window open as a lure to the
unwary.
And so this strange man lived on
from year to year. He was rarely
seen about, and no one was ever in
vited to see him. Who he was and
what he was no one seemed to know.
He left nothing in the house to prove
his identity-not a scrap of writing
nothing but his poor furniture and
his ingenious devices and models.
It was ascertained that he drew a
small sum of money annually from a
Brussels firm, who did not even know
his name. The money was to be paid
to him anonymously. A small sum of
money was found in the house, and
this was never claimed. The annuity
died with the recluse.
So much for the life history, or all
that is known of it, of man who
was possessed of extraordinary gifts,
and yet who benefited nobody by
them. The house where he lived has
just been pulled down, and the
grounds laid out afresh. To-day there
is no trace of the man who made mice
that killed cats.