The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-23
HIS DFLUSION.
An Old Man VINO Thought II His Duty 20
Start and Stop . Cfty's Machinery.

sIt isn't every city Of 10000 people that
has a man to set the municipal machinery
going every morning and stop IL promptly
at 5 o'clock every evening" said the mar
from the southern part Of the State. That's
the kind Of institution that we maintained
In u town for a good many years. and
we'd have IL yet II the man who took this
responsibility on his shoulders hadn /. gone
and made an error one day which broke
his heart and brought him to his grave.
Our town starts business at 0 o'clock
every morning. The City Clerk is at his
desk at that time, the courts are ready for
business and everything is prepared for
the starting Of the municipal machinery
the moment the clock In the City Hall tower
the hour.
About five years ago an old fellow showed
up in front Of the City Hall a few minutes
before Q O'Clock in the morning, and just
as the clock above him struck be tapped
the sides of the town fountain with a little
bamboo stick and then went away. At s
o'clock he came around again, tapped the
fountain once more Inc left without a
comIhent.
Every morning after that save on Sum
DAYS and holidays, he would go thrt ugh
tne SANS ptTlOTl Huilttt anu dibtt u WHlls
people began to notice him. One day a
crowd OF us went up and asked him what
he meant by tapping the side OF the fountain
every morning and again every evening.
He looked at us in surprise for a moment
and then calmly announced that he was
| setting the city machinery in motion. That
| turned out to be his h~allucination.
II had a notion that the town couldn't
conduct its official business without some
one TO start IL every morning, and that like
,n n.1tpA IL uHatn1A rtrn inAgAntfaly tHnlAoa
| some one came around at the right time
in the evening and stopped it. We found
that he was a harmless old gentleman and,
of course, no one objected to his tapping
the fountain twice a day.
MY! but IL was q sight TO see him in the
morning. He would go through his per-
Torrance with all the dignity in the world
and no matter how many people gathered
TO look at or guy him, he would always do
the thing In the same way and never smile
or make any
1T got SO that crowds would gather
every evening TO see him shut of steam,
and then after awhile ii got to be such an
old story that nc one paid any attention
to the old fellow.
winter and summer he never missed
a day M he was always on time to the
minute. On Saturdays in the summer
when the city offices closed At noon he
would come around at that time TO shut
Oh steam.
.On one Of the very hot DAYS last summer
our town tool a holiday. h city ma
chinery took a day on and Il was announced
that il would do so the day before.
But the news didn't reach the old man
and he solemnly started things going as
usual hat morning. When he came around
in the evening to close the town for the day
some one told him he wa making a mistake.
He didn't believe it al first. but he soon
found out that II was true and II broke
his heart. A week later he was taken i'll
and In two weeks he was dead.
There was nothing the matter with him
tha the doctors could find and we made
up our minds that he just died of a broken
heart. The explosion of the delusion that
he had been fostering for years was too
much for him.