The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-01-22
About a Burglar,
an Inventor and q
Patent Time Lock
By GEORGE f. WALSH.


4 l. r stumble upon in my mid
No~ night work which i prefer
to avoid. An inventor is always an
unknown quantity, and it Is an un-
pleasant business ransacklDg his
house. He might be as harmless as a
child, or he might prove more diaboli-
cally cruel and cranky than an escaped
lunatic. Only twice I'm my experience
have met such characters in their own
homes. One was in a suburban house.
where everything seemed so easy that
j took my time about entering the open
windows; but after ! had stepped in
side / knew that there was something
wrong j found the floor strewn with
all sorts of strings and pipes and coils
OF wire, which, when ] stepped upon
them, tangled and made all sorts Of
noises.
81 tried TO get out OF the window IA
soon as possible, but | was so tied UP
in the wires and strings that | tumblcd
twice. Then the owner Of the house
appeared, aroused by the jangling
noises made by his Internal things.
There was n scene that nearly cost me
my life. escaped, however, by tear
ing around among the pipes and wires
until the man went down on his knees
and begged me to deslst. He offered
me everything in his house If ! would
spare his invention. 1 had entered his
workshop on the ground floor, and
every footstep Of mine smashed some
OF his precious things. What did ! do?
Why, accepted his apologies for in
terferlng with my work, took his gold
watch and spare c-sh, and departed.
The last saw OF The inventor he was
seated on the floor wringing his hands
i'm agony over his broken toys. l never
knew what invention he was trying
to make, but il was such n queer sort
of Internal machine that i never want
TO stumble upon it again.
"The other instance where ! paid an
unexpected visit TO an inventors home
was i'm New York. The fellow was
somewhat OF a crank, ] imagine, and
he invented things for the pleasure OF
it. knew nothing about his occupa-
tion until aroused him in the middle
OF the night by stumbling over his
shoes in the middle of the floor. lie
was the most composed man l ever
met under similar conditions.
"'Why do you frlghten n man in
that wayT he asked, GROSSLY. is IL not
bad enough TO rob the house without
waking me up by such noisesY
"'Any man who throws his shoes In
the middle OF the floor deserves TO be
rudely awakened answered, turning
up the gas to study the man better. i
owe you no apology
"'You are wrong he answered. You
do owe me an apology. If you had
shut the door Of my room behind you,
/ might have accepted the situation.
But any man who will leave such Il
draught blowing on n sleeping man
deserves to be-
Il accept the correction i replied,
bowling and stepping toward the door.
Il will apologize and at the same time
close the door,
"The perfect composure OF the man
had aroused my suspicious. and l dis
creetly kept my face toward him while
II
it. There was click OF the lock. and
the door banged sharply against the
jam.
"'You have closed IL with very
bad grace and with little thought of
the consequences the man added. III
you had given me time TO explain You
might have saved yourself n good deal
of inconvenience. As il is now. !
think you have made the situation un-
pleasant for both OF us
81 do not understand I muttered,
more nonplussed than ever by tie
mans words and attitude.
81 suppose not. but your ignorance
does not alter the fact. l shall, how
ever, seek TO enlighten you. To do so
1 must 60 back somewhat in my story.
I'm an inventor by professlon-these
words made me Sunderland l am
just now at work upon very great
thing. In fact, ii will prove reyolu'
tion in some lines of trade. l mean &c
invent time lock which will prove
superior TO any on the market to-day
This lock will be OF value in an intin
ite variety Of ways, but chiefly for ust
on safes and bank vaults. All tha'
you have TO do is to set IL for a certain
length OF time, and no earthly powe
can unlock il. You may blow up th'
safe or vault, but the steel bolts will
not move from their position. IL will
remain locked until the time expires
md then the steel spring will open
automatically
"I have met such locks In my wor
before said, impstiently: but wha
has that to do with the present case
"'Very much. indeed. II you wer
of n discerning nature you woul
have noticed the connection befor
now. have put the time lock on tht
door TO test IL. Every night | retir
aud lock the door. and no power ca
open IL until In the morning.
"A mighty good protection frol
your WIFE l answered with a grir
But why was the door open when
enteredr
"'That also will explain. tt
night was so hot that l thought
would leave the door open. Beside
my wife is away. visiting her mother
Now I understand. Tlen ! am
believe that am locked in here wi
you until In the morning.
"'Exactly. and that is the time q
private watchmnn raps OIL the ontsl'
coor to see II all In well
al see.' replied. smiling less plea
a .l