THE MISER’S DIAMOND NECKLACE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2099, 16 September 1890, Page 1

THE MISER’S DIAMOND NECKLACE.

In the year 1740 there lived in the Latin quarter in P»ric a famous miser named.* Jriain Avere. .The w.ealtij.concoaled in the obscure rookery where he resided, was believed toj be fabulous, and was no doubt very .great. Among his treasure* * was a; colebra-ed diamond rieokjooej of immense, value. ' ! This tie concealed so carefully that he ultimately forgot it(i hiding place himself. He soughtdiligently for weeks, and, failirg to find it, became almost‘insane.' This rendered him even less capable of remembrance, and He took, to bis bod, broken in body as xn mind. A few weeks later a doctor and an old woman, who had sometimes done odd jobs about' his house, were at bis bedside* seeing that the end was near; As the; clock in the neighboring, l,ower tolled, one, he.ooased h|s lo.w, muttering, and sat up and shrieked « I remember where it is now. I can put my hand on the 'necklace. For Q-od’e salje let me gb for-jt before I forget it-again;’ Here hisuweakness an.d excitement overcame him,, and he spnk ;baok among hi* rags, itorie" dead. Physicians and students are familiar with these sudden oulflishioas of memory at the great crisis of human fate. Let the reader:oonsider this while.we relate an episode in the .humble career of ,a signalman, Andrew Agge, who. may be found, on duty ip h'® box ,at Cfulgaith, a little station on the Midland, 1 twenty-'three' mile* 'south of Carlisle. j Mr Avge is on duty nearly every day, and must .break hie, last without leaving his poet. The confinement and mental strain tell on the system. The ' strongest 5 men cannot stand-it long without feeling its effects. *lt makes i one; ’ think of the passionate, exola* clamation in Tom, Hood’s.“ Song of the Shirt”— -

“ Oh, Q-od 1 that bread should be so dear, And flesh arid blood ; so cheap." ; Our friend had been at the, same work [for many year** *Ufcough he was,only thirty-five when these were written. In. 1884 he began 'to fjcieTthat he was about to break down. 1 “ I-don’t know what ails me," be would say, ", but Toan’t eatd’ forced down, produced qq, •, gen*,e, of * latiafaotiqn ',op, strength.,, Botpefimea he. wat, qlarmed at finding he could scarcely walk ’on account of 'giddiness. He said to himself,What if I should!be seized with this at some moment when there iji trouble on the line, and I need ,ali mjj wits, about me P ”

Other features of this ailment were pains iri b}xe bnest arid sides, bostiveneis, yellow skin and eye** b'odytMte 1 tt'the'month, risings of foul gas in the' throat; &o. ! ' The doctor said iAgge must give up his confining work or risk utter disability. Ho could not. Wife and children were in the way. So he remained at his post and grew worse. But his work was right, telegrams 'write properly received arid gent, and ;no train got into trouble through any : neglect oy faixlt of hie, His disease indigestion ..and . dyspepsia—took, a step further, and brought orx' kidney,, arid bladder trouble. The dbdtor at^Appleby said “Mr Agge, you are poisoned with the foul stuff in yotir stomach and blood.’’, His doom seemed to be sealed. It was like ( a, warrant. Six months more rolled by. On duty one morning he was attacked with so great and so sharp a distress he could neither sit nor stand, fije says: "! tumbled down on that looker and lay there all the forenoon. Signals might be given, the telegraph needle might click, but X heeded them no more than a man in the grave hrieds the beating of the rain against his own tombstone. He was alone at first, but help arrived and the poor : signalman was carried home. Physicians labored on hie case without avail. Around his bed were hi* five little children, the mother being absent in an institution, to be treated for a serious ailment. Hero he lay for weeks, part of the time unconscious. Nothing was to ba done but to wait for the end. Than the torpid faculties awakenedfqramomout. Mbmoryflashsd

UP, AND BEOAIiXiED THE PACT THAT A MBDIOINK WHI6H HE HAD USED YBABI BBFOBB AND THBN THROWN ASIDB AND FORGOTTEN "WAS CONOHAIiHD IN A fIBOBBTy PIACB AT THB SIGNAL box. He senior IfcJ. and took a dbeej Bodn his bosvels moved,‘the kidneys acted; the.pain was; ceased, he felt better. VWith brightened hope he,*ent : to Carlisle for more. It arrived.' He "used ‘it, 1 arid'in a few days the; doctors: were astonished to find their patient out and on the road to re* cover/. Ho regained his health completely, arid, in speaking of his experience; said to tbe.writer,:" a ,wonderfal;thing it was that, on what promised to be my death*bed : , I suddenly remembered wherel I had put that half-used bottle of Mother Seigel’s Curative Syrup. - That dash of memory probably saved me from death.”