The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1904-02-18

9o< night work which prefer
to avoid. An inventor is always an
unknown quantity, and it is an UNI
pleasant business ransacliing 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 in my experience
have met such characters in their own
homes. One was in q suburban house,
where everything seemed so easy that
l took my time about entering the open
windows but after 1 had stepped in
side knew that there was something
wrong. 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 rs
soon as possible, but l was so tied up
in the wires and strings that l tumbled
twice. Then the owner Of the house
appeared, aroused by the jangline
noises made by his Internal things.
There was 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 desist He offered
me everything in his house IL would
spare his invention. l had entered his
workshop on the ground floor and
every footstep Of mine smashed some
Of his precious things, What did l do?
Nhr I nNgpnfnn hfc ofNnlpDioG IN.
terfering with my work, took his gold
watch and spare cash, and departed.
The last i saw of the inventor he was
seated on the floor wringing his hands
in agony over his broken toys. l never
knew what invention he was trying
to make, but it was such a queer sort
of Internal machine that l never want
to stumble upon it again.
"The other instance where paid an
unexpected visit to an inventors home
was in New York. The fellow was
somewhat Of crank, I imagine and
he invented things for the pleasure of
1t, knew nothing about his occupa-
ton until aroused him in the middle
of the night by stumbling over his
shoes in the middle of the floor He
was the most composed man ever
met under similar conditions.
"'Why do you frightep a man in
that way| he asked, GROSSLY. rs it not
bad enough to rob the house without
waking me up by such noises|
"'Any man who throws his shoes in
the middle of the floor deserves to be
rudely awakened l answered, turning
up the gas to study the man better. Il
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,
1 might have accepted the situation,
But any man who will leave such a
draught blowing on a sleeping man
deserves to be-
L accept the correction replied,
bowling and stepping toward the door,
L will apologize and at the same time
close the door,
1.-THE perfect composure Of the man
had aroused my suspicious and dis
creetly kept my face toward him while
/ backed toward the door and closed
1t. There was click OF the lock- and
the door banged sharply against the
jam.
"'You have closed it with a 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 a good deal
Of inconvenience. As it is now, L
think you have made the situation I'M
pleasant for both of u.s.
~ do not understand I muttered,
more nonplussed than ever by the
mans words and attitude.
" 4 suppose not, but your ignorance
does not alter the fact. / shall, how
ever, seek to enlighten you. To do so
I must go back somewhat in my story.
I'm an inventor by profession'-these
words made me Sunderland 1 am
just now at work upon a very great
thing. In f0ct, it wiz prove a revolu-
ton in some lines of trade. l mean to
invent a time lock which will prove
superior to any on the market to-day.
This lock will be of value in an infin-
lite variety of ways, but chiefly for use
on safes and bank vaults. All that
you have to do is to set it for certain
length Of time, and no earthly power
can unlock it. You may blow up the
safe or vault, but the steel bolts will
not move from their position. 1t will
remain locked until the time expires,