Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1912-07-18
Is SATURDAY
@ NIGHT
BY
- xMl4uHW .PURysll
FOOL KILLER NO. s."

gypsy hag, jeering at the Haunting
skirts of silly visitors, sin gibes at the
hollow triumph of the sinner. "They
laugh best who laugh last" taunts sin
I've seen the infatuated moth dart to-
ward my study lamp OIL summer eve.
Brushed away, 1t returns again and
again until finally it drops, singed and
suffering. Then death is merciful.
Poor foolish moth, Aye poor foolish
sinner! Hes daring" | said to the
comrade Of steeplejack as we watch
ed his fellow climb the dizzy side of
towering smokestack. Yes" he an
swered laconically, 'but it gets 'em in
the end" I've stood at the door Of the
mission In the Stun district, at the en-
trance of the bridge of signs" beside
the marble slabs of the morgue. Say,
not only does 1t hold true Of him who
mocks at height but also him who
mocks at sin. st gets 'em in the end"
| "FooI Killer No. g."
Remember Peter Nissen, that young
Chicago clerk? Peter visited Niagara
and became infatuated with the idea
that he could pass through that inferno
of waters below the falls called the
whirlpool rapids, where Captain Webb
lest his life. Asleep or awake, he
dreamed of little else. He designed
and constructed little closed boat
with which he was to dash through the
raging maelstrom. Newspaper men
focked by the score. He asked a group
what he should call the boat Face
tiously we suggested "the Fool Killer"
And Fool Killer he called it. To the
Joy of Nissen and the amazement of
the thousands assembled, he came
1 through the ordeal alive and straight
way began the construction of Fool
Killer No. 2. There's a special provi-
dence for children. drunken men and
fools A second time luck favored him
He grinned quietly. modestly declared
he had charmed life and was going to
build Fool Killer No g. This time he
would make folks sit up and stare"
Fate was giving him more string.
In the fourteenth chapter Of the first
book of Caesar it says. Whom the i'm
mortal gods would destroy they first
give unto them greater impunity,' etc.
In due time Peter constructed a great
canvas globe with steel ribs that
would be rolled on the sea by the
winds. He waved bis hand goodby to
his friends on the Chicago wharfs and
set out for the east shore of Lake
Michigan. The rolling ball disappeared
in the mist of the lake. Twenty-four
hours later a woman. attracted by the
circling of gulls around surf worn
spot on the Michigan shore, went to
see what attracted them. Tossed on
the leaping and ebbing waves she
found the body of man and a few
hundred yards away the collapsed
frame and torn covering of Fool Killer
No. 3. There was no need of No 4,
No. had done its work.
/ The Pitcher and the Well.
] 1.-THE pitcher that goes too often to
the well is at last broken" Simply
longer way of saying, 1T gets 'em in
! the end" There may come No /
and No. 2, but then there comes a No.
8, and the curtain is rung down on
newly made grave. A young man sur
/ wives his first spree and with some diff
Guilty straightens up after his second.
! Some day there will come his fool
/ killer No. g." and he sinks under the
waves with scarce a cry. Old gamblers
never win from a greene at his first
game of cards. They let him feel the
thrill of success following peril, and he
/ is shared for his own destruction He
risks once and wins. doubles his stake
and wins, throws fear to the winds,
robs the till. ventures out In No. and
/ is dragged from the waves a poor
drowned thing. never more to raise its
head Newly arrived youth in city
must see the sights. Hardened COM
panions take him to red light district.
He escapes once. twice No. 3 is his
tomb. For the rest of his life he's
wreck, with bitter memories and rot
tenness of bones. The only safety is
to let fool killers alone. Don't build
No. l, and No. nor No. 8 will ever
mock you.
AT the Last"
| Remember the biggest trout you
caught when boy? Under the rope
bridge half a mile below the old mill
there was pool. crystal clear IN the
middle of that pool O mighty trout fan
ned himself with his fins. For an hour
you tried every device you knew to
hook him. Drop grasshopper In with
out hook. and he snapped 1t before
/ you could say Jack Robinson. The mo-
ment you dropped in baited hook he
lay there deaf, dumb and blind. still as
milestone. At last In sheer disgust
you went up the creeE leaving hook
and line hanging uncurled from the
i bridge When you came back an hour
later there was Mr.. Trout dangling
from the end Of your pole. He knew
| the danger, but chose to lie and think