The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1907-01-18

| | don't know what happened. Every.
/ thing was red before my eyes. was
conscious only that something fell
with thud to the Ground-somethIns
hat the crowd tramplcd under foot,
and that the fircmen were attaching
The hosc--and that had done it.
Blood, Blood" | cried in a
wild frenzy breaking away from the
crowd and running up the street,
Hood
As ! ran great number Of police
officers passed me. on their way to
the riot Their eyes were wild and
hlOOdshot
staggered on until reached Won
Niudcn's house He had got there
before ne
Won Mindon," I cried, beating
the door franticslly.
He came out. and ! started back In
surprise Won Miudcn It was but he
was completely cncascd from the
waist up. in a metal cylinder that
surrounded his body. II was full OK
holes and emitted a white vapor that
almost completely enyeloped him.
He laughed. Steam he cried.
IT'S the only thing only anti.
dotc for the madness. Wait" He
opened a small valve. and out came
flood Of steam Instantly the blood
left my brain. For the first time
IN hours | felt Ike n rational being,
Then he produced another portable
generator and attached 1t to my per.
son
We must 20. Anson," he explained.
in the cause Of humanity"
We then proceeded TO the two
leading newspaper offices and dictated
notices Tor their bulletins. directing
everybody TO keep their windows
shut, to keep indoors. and to keep
their kettles stcaminE Won Minden
and myself as We went through the
streets, cried: Steam, Steam" to
all whom We met
The sun rose the next mOrnhg-as
red sun As last nights moon had
hcen-and wherever shone the sun
that day, il shone down upon ruin and
disaster. The whole world woke to
find itself gone mad
The next day every state In the
union was Clamoring for one man
Won Mnden-the federal government
most of all. a special session OF
congress was called, Committees had
experimental with Won Mindcn's
steam generators. They sent for me.
chanlcs and engineers from every
state, and called Won Minden in, In.
side OF As hours Won Minden's up.
paratus was being manufactured and
distributed all over the country
In week, however, the officials
and Won Minden with thcm-began to
wake up to the fact that while steam
was the great remedy, It was n rem.
cdy that the masses didn't want. 20
them madness was intoxicauon-
they preferred II to sanity.
II was Independence day. July fth,
that th" crisis came. On that day.
from every town and city in the
United States. by prcarrangemeut.
men by thousands and tens Of thou.
sands. started out mad as they were.
yet with semblance of order, bound
i,r one common destination
They were bound for Washington.
They had become anarchists They
had determined to wipe out the
United States governmcnt-the prcsi.
dent, congress, and every depart.
mcnt
On July Is. that fatcful day. I
stood with Won Mindcn on top Of the
Washington monument.
The mob had surrounded the city.
The entire government had left II,
and was speeding west by separate
routes.
At a preconcerted signal the mob
entered Nothing could have kept
them out, and no attempt was made
10 do so. Won Minden sat at my
side with his finger on a button. lie
was ready at an instant's notice to
loose upon the mass of humanity pow.
erfnl jets Of steam that would either
kill or cure. For awhile there was
no disorder The great army entered.
rank upon rank, and filled every
street and every park. They were
there to destroy, but to destroy when
the time came. Suddenly we heard
murmurs-something was wrong.
Then a wild yell OF rage. growing
stronger as the time went on, burst
from the thruats of n million men.
They had been thwarted.
At that moment Won Mindcn pressed
the button. | looked out. Nothing
happened. Something was wrong.
Look. look" | cried Below"
1t is quite unnecessary for me to
describe it. The MACS of citizens be-
low, in its frenzy and disappointment,
had become uncontrollable-they had
become wild of rage. they threw
themselves, not upon the city, not
against the public buildings, blu; upon
one another All day long that fierce
battle ragged within the streets OF
the city.
Won Mnden covered his eyes with
his hands. MY God" he moaned.
We threw ourselves upon the floor,
at Isybt al.