OCR Text |
Show far i -i i ." 'Y ADVbNIUKCKo CLUB . . am ' t "Maniacs 1 rap By FLOYD GIBBONS Famous Headline Hunter. HERE'S one from a fellow reportcr-and by golly, after reading read-ing his yarn I am almost convinced that maybe there is a thrill or two in the newspaper business after all. Charles K. Clrlch of Long Island City Is the lad. and It happened on Sunday, January 1013. while Charley was working as a reporter for the New York Herald. He was sent by his city editor to Interview a man who had called up on the telephone and promised the , paper he biggest "beat" since the Spanlsh-Amerlcan war. Well, Char ey does., t Anow about Its being the biggest beat, but it certainly landed him In the biggest mess of trouble since that war the fello mentioned. Ths address they had given Charley was In the sixth story of an apartment building in One Hundred and Twenty-second street On the way up. he noticed that the negro elevator boy turned three shades whiter when he told him whom he had come to see. The boy said: "I hopes you has a good time with that bird." But Charley attached no particular significance to his cryptic remark. , As he approached the door, Charley heard angry shouts and oaths within, accompanied by the screeching of a parrot. During a lull In the shouting he heard sounds such as a man might make by beating a bird-cage bird-cage with an Iron rod. The sounds mystified Charley, but they didn t alarm him. If they had, he might have saved himself a lot of trouble. Reporter Invited to Enter Room. Charley rang the bell. A tall, stout man opened It. He was in bis shirt sleeves and on bis left shoulder was perched a parrot, lie had a jb j The Man Invited Charley to Enter. heavy stick In his right hand. Ills face was swollen, and froth flecked his pale lips. Charley thought he was drunk, hut he explained his errand. The man Invited Charley to enter and, grasping his arm In a vise-like grip, pulled him into the hall. He thrust him into a small parlor, locked the door and put the key In his pocket. Then, for the first time, Charley began to be afraid. This man was a luna- , tic a vfl.trong, athletically built lunatic. And except fqr a small pocket knife, Charley was unarmed. The man thrust the parrot Into its cage and fell to beating the cage with a stick. The parrot shrieked at each blow. "You'll force me to kill you yet, Kmma iJoldninn,' the man shouted, and spat viciously at the bird. There was no douht In Charley's mind now. The man was a raving lunatic. He got up to go. but the man turned on him snarling: "Sit down, d n you. I'll attend to you as soon as I've finished with Kmma Goldman." Then he fell to heating the parrot's cage again, and Charley sat down. He had just remembered that the key to the room was in the lunatic's pocket. Maniac Threatens Him With Death. When the man had finished beating the cage he turned again to Charley. "I'm an electrical expert," he said suddenly. "I'm going go-ing to charge you with electricity to the gills." Charley looked around wildly for some means of escape. There was none. "And what If I refuse to be charged with electricity?' he asked. The big man smiled coldly. Facing him menacingly he whispered: "He-fuse "He-fuse and you die. You have your choice. The operation may kill you, but surely you won't mind sacrificing your life for science, will you?" A queer story of Ie Maupassant's flashed into Charley's mind the story of a man who outwitted a homicidal maniac by humoring him. No, he said, he'd he glad to sacrifice his life for science. And then he feigned sudden Illness and leaned against a door. "I'm sick," he said. "You don't want a sick man for this operation, do you?'' "Certainly not," the man growled. "A perfectly sound man is needed." "Then," said Charley, "I think I'd better take a walk around the block and get some air. I'll be back In a few minutes and we can go on with the operation." Wild Man Falls for Story. "I think you're right," the man assented heartily. "I'.ut it's understood under-stood you must come hack In five minutes. Do you agree?" Charley nodded. The big man unlocked the' door and followed him through the hall. "Remember," he shouted as Charley passed out of the door, "you're to be back In five minutes." He slammed the door, and Charley went down the stairway, three steps at a time. Outside, he found a policeman and told him his story. Six husky cops were sent to the house with orders to arrest the madman. He fought them fiercely for ten minutes before he was subdued and placed in an observation observa-tion ward at Bellevue hospital. "Later," says Charley, "they removed him to Matteawan Hospital for the Insane, at Keacon, N. Y., and placed him In a strait-Jacket. He died there some months afterward. In the room in which he proposed to conduct experiments on me they found a revolver and two large knives, sharp as razors. That he aimed to carve me Into bits, once he had me under his control, was as certain as two and two make four. Thanks to De Maupassant's Maupas-sant's story, I escaped that fate." WNU Service. |