Show A LIVING DEATH the terror of a man whose bead read was caught by the hand of a clock new york morning journal ro have you ever been at st I 1 pauls aulls I 1 mean the great cathedral of london it yon have you doubtless know the dome you have looked down perhaps from its dizzy bight on th the copie people walking on the pavement beo he tow and who seem in the far distance beneath you like black ants crawling about when I 1 was comparatively a young man I 1 am not an old man even yet though my hair ia Is so gray rray I 1 went to london and one of the first objects that I 1 visited was st pauls I 1 had read of it often as a child I 1 bad had been told ee so frequently that it was wrens masterpiece every englishman assured me that it bad had no rival except perhaps st peters at romeald Rome and even 0 of perhaps that there vas was a doubt that I 1 was eager to see it accordingly taking an omnibus at charing cross I 1 went a along th the e strand passing by the memorable m lon m fora b le temple bar until a large dome looming into the heavens before me told me that the object of my pilgrimage was close CIOL 10 at band hand at first I 1 confess I 1 waa on a nearer approach I 1 found that the western facade hid bid the dome almost entirely tue interior too was cold and gray without a bit of farm warm color the aspect chilled me I 1 did not remain long in the auditorium if it it may be so called I 1 did not care to linger and read the on th a tombstones to departed do heroes I 1 at once ascended ed the e cairs until I 1 reached tha tho great g reat clock lock and there attracted by the c immense wheels that move the hevy heavy hands around the clock face I 1 took my stand just below the center of the great dial plate and to the right of he the pivot which the hands revolve I 1 is a a h bole ole about fourteen inches possibly 0 shibly somewhat more and this eole hole is usually left open toad to admit of repairs to the clock as needed A esrang a fascination took me to look through this hole more than two hundred feet above the street I 1 to get a panoramic view of bustling london eano below elow I 1 thrust my head therefore through the hole without further thought what a spectacle spec rewarded me for miles and miles in every diorec direction alon the city and the country about lay spread before me as a map I 1 saw the thames in tho the rays of the midday bun run looking like a silver thread I 1 saw the many bridges piles on piles of fine edifices I 1 looked down upon the vast parks whose wide carriaga roads seemed like narrow paths so busy waa was I 1 with the scenes around me th that at I 1 took no no note of time all my attention was engrossed by the view spread out around ma me and beneath me nearly any hour boar had bad parsed unheeded since I 1 took my position and as one object of interest ints rast after another met my gaze I 1 was still unsatisfied at length something pressed upon my neck for an instant I 1 was ignorant of tho the cause and my hands bands being on the inside of the orifice I 1 could not raise them to clear away any osti obstruction rue the truth the horrible truth burst on me all at once judge of ray my surprise and agony ony hen when I 1 thought for the first time of t the he inevitable passage of the ponderous hands I 1 slowly w ly and steadily but firmly the great minute hand was making its regular trip around the dial plate and it waa was that which was pr pressing esain against my neck I 1 felt its cold edge but it was too late to extricate myself in ysela too late to lurn turn my bead head I 1 shouted aloud for help heir but my feeble voice could not reach the street below and a moments reflection showed me that even n if it could it must take longer ban than three minutes to reach meat me at that hight bight and before that three min utes had bad become eis air my head would doubtless fall among the people on tho the sidewalk I 1 oh I 1 dreadful moments I 1 the great land band pressed more heavily every second with every tick of the mighty pendulum I 1 count counted a d off another moment of my fast last lessening life As my throat rested on the lower edgo edge of 0 I 1 the hole I 1 bad had the greatest difficulty in bie breathing athing heavy drops of mo moisture 1 oozed I 1 from rom my head at every pore 51 my y a eyes yes seemed starling starting from their sockets I 1 closed in my eyes uttered a feeble prayer and became became insensible but I 1 live to to tell 11 the tala tile I 1 yea yes at the last moment when life was barely assured and death was imminent the sexton coming to oil the works of the clock entered the room saw my peril il and with ready presence of nr mind n stopped the pendulum but only just in time then with a lever lover attached to the cogs of the th 0 great ell at wheel he pried back the band hand gr and nd set me free I 1 lived but was thoroughly exhausted my nerves were unstrung A brain fever followed and death seemed beckoning me away but my strong constitution enabled me to rally and after four weeks confinement at my hotel I 1 rose once again a well man but bat my hair from a dark brown hal hai become gray do you think after this I 1 can ever forget the clock of st paul |