The Paducah sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1898-1906, 1902-11-27
AN ASSISTANT, SUBJECT
[Origfnal1

large and dreamy. his body small and
delicately made. He was bent and
withered.
"Why should I do thatT I asked.
Because desire your assistance"
us any one in danger, dyingf"
"No one is In danger, no one is dy
ing, and yet It is a matter OF death
about which wish your assistance"
II am sorry. sir. but l am hurrying
to keep an engagement and cannot
comply with your request"
"Your engagement can wait l can
not. l have been many years coming
to my present position and do not in.
tend to defer satisfying myself as to
the result of so much thought. Come"
"But you can at least give me some
idea as to the nature OF this assistance
you require"
THAT can be better explained In
practice than in word. am a poor
talker, and this crowded street is not
at place for communicating what
one may have to say. There are toe
many people passing. Come to my
house. There we will be alone. There
l can explain to you that which has
occupied the principal portion of my
life. 1 propose to honor you with a
confidence never before bestowed on
any living person. Only the dead have
ever received 1t. The time has now
arrived for me to impart it to the liv'
ing"
What was my surprise to find my
self following this strange creature as
though had been his dog. He took
me through narrow streets, | suppos-
ing every minute that he would dive
| into some OF the mean buildings by
the way. but he did not. After Jour
| ney that seemed intermlnable we found
ourselves IN a thlnly settled district
and my conductor finally led the way
into large brick dwelling that stood
alone. The blinds were closed. and the
place had every appearance Of being
unoccupied Taking me to rear room
on the ground door. he Dade me be
seated and announced his object. He
had no sooner commenced to speak
than his eyes flashed until they seemed
to me TO be like two live Goals.
81 have been experimenting" he
said, "for years upon new method Of
cremation. have done away with
the hours heretofore required TO incln-
crate and am now able to accomplish
the work In ten minutes II you will
step in here, l will show you my re-
tort"
without windows and with but the one
door through which we entered. We
had no sooner passed in than he turn
ed the key and put 1t in his pocket In
the center Of the room was square
brickwork resembling an oven.
This is my crematory," said my
strange host. "The heat is galvanic.
You see those wires. They conduct the
current to the inner part. where by a
new union OF chemical forces hereto
fore unknown the heat is generated
/ This door is the aperture through
which the object TO be Moderated en-
tiers by means of this rolling carriage"
"But, my dear sir" | protested, ~
am not interested in crematories."
81 am" he replied decislvely. 81 am
about to test my invention, and I need
an assistant as well as a subject. | am
going TO experiment upon you. You
will have the advantage over a dead
subject Of being able TO tell me exactly
wherein my device fails, wherein 1t is
successful"
81? How could tell you, being in
cineratedr'
Come, mount to the carriage" He
drew a revolver and held 1t to my tenn
pie.
Trembling, l mounted the carriage
and lay fat on my back. Then there
was n creak OF rollers, and l moved
forward and heard the clang Of the
furnace door.
Whether or not lost consciousness
| do not know. At any rate. there
was a blank. Then | heard the voice
Of the operator outside ask II | had
any suggestions TO make. | replied
that | would most respectfully suggest
that he open the door and let me out.
"Not until you have learned from ex
perience the defects of my oven," he
said.
at is perfect" l replied.
at is the high degree of heat that
wish you to report on especially"
ut is seven times hotter than the
Gerry furnace into which King Nebu
chadnezzar thrust the prophet DanielP
exclaimed.
Excellent have not yet turned
the heat on. II it is hot now, what
will 1t be when in operationf Now
will make the connection"
Hold on cried. 81 have noticed
a defect in the brickwork. Ii you turn
on the heat, the oven will crack open"
That's queer" he said. Il made
that brlckwork myself. It's all right
You're mistaken. Watch everything
carefully so that you can give me a
perfect account of all points TO be
tested"
he