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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1904)
Methods and Luck of a Lucky ManBy Wm. H. Osborne (dj.yi ipht, l'.X4, by William Hamilton Os borne.) CHAITKH XV-Continued. St: ewrl'ig J-.lci l.niimcr, o 1 1 "r It usual will, f in tchnl forth his hand and took the. hind nf llliH Pcgcy iviiiiini.il. A h- il d hi hf o1mtc.1 upon lirr wrist a law mosquito, f 1 to bursting, fo.istln;? lilinM-lf upon MI:HlVTO-':i vi ry him- Hood. It How away. Hit li ft lis Infernal tincture ti'liind, wkh the Inevitable result that Mi.ss l'indletoii (not with malice aforethought, however), released her hand from tin- firaup c.f .h.lm Ixirlmcr and, applying the tips of tho finger of her other hand to the spot, IxK.in to ruli it with violence. "Oh!" alio oxcbilmt J. aficr the niannrr of young womankir.il, "these tc;rlblo mm- QUit'iC"'." John l.orin.cr. nalizlng Mint if the mos quito wi'.s permitted to interfere with his possession of Miss IVgg'a hand that the tnu.iqulto wan an Insufferable pert, at once drew from ids pocket a small phial, and once niorti holding MIm lVwy's hand llr iii I y wlUi his own, dabbed a small por tion of the ii'Hild In Mm phial upon ilio spot. MJss Peggy sighed with relief. "Dear tn" fche Bald, "wiiy, that takes nil the sling away." There being no fur ther i:eic-;sity for withdrawing her hand Bho lelt it accordingly where 11 win. "Ifs Oil 1:1 ne," she reiterated. She took the phl.il. "What hi It?" Hhe demanded. John Ixirl Bii'i' smiled. "That," lie Hiild. "is Mie Halm of the Isle of Swat." "Willie did Jim get It?" she asked. "M:u!e it," ho replied. Thou he told her the whole Hloi y. A week later all Monroe roso aa om; man end slapped itself. Summer was on; the J r-'t y ino.qiiito Imd come with it. The people howled. Mosiull ues were every where. Monroe was unprepared for them. Hitherto It had been reasonably Immune, lint Mie situation was terrible. Men could rot work, could not eat -more than all, Could not sleep. Half of Monroe hid no Wire scre.-iin. Monroe suffered accordingly. In the i:iidst of this, as upon the oc casion or every great crisis, a man arose. This man was John Ixjrlmcr. He put upon the Monrce market the article that furnished the relief. He ad vertised this article. And this article bore the e nonunions name of "Ixirlmer's llalm Of tins Isle of Swat." He placed It in every drug store In town. He sent to tho Isle of Swat for mure of the raw material. The lHle or Swat was not no very far nway, nnd he kept tho "Surah Margaret," under Mie direction:) of the Akooud of Swat. p'ylng to nnd fro; and later, faster vessels. In the hold of the "Sarah Margaret" all this time were kepi Imprisoned Captain Jcnks and his male. They may he there to this day; at any rate, there they will remain until the Akoond of Swat Lives the word to his faithful crew. Well. Ixiriiner had to Bell his article at a small price, and It cost considerable to miLke, nnd the profit necessarily was email. The people of Monroe bought It because tbey needed it nnd hoeauso it was a Rood thing. I.orlmrr never knew, nor did anyone else except liillington O'Kecfe nnd Constitutional Smith, tho cause of the Scourge of mosquitoes. Ixirimcr kept on making the Bluff; It sold well, ami be was adding somcthlnK to his hiimII Income. Hut though I.oilim r did not know it, this was but tho thin edge of the wedge, for Hudtlcnly the unexpected happened. Mon roe's early summer was pretty well alon-r when summer opened up in the eastern Stales. Tim entire eust had Buffered all the spring from heavy rains. It had rained forty days und forty nlKhts. It wan Im possible to plant crops. Such crops as were planted rotted In tho ground. The ruin developed Into a genuine calamitv. Hut there was more to come. Tho exces sive moisture upon the surface of the eastern states brought something with it. The city of Monroe, smitten as It was ty a scourse. of mosquitoes, bred by Mie Ingenuity of Constitutional Rmlth, had risen in its sufferings nnd walled. Now nil the eastern slates, smitten by millions upon millions of mosquitoes bred Of tho Hiijarabunihinco of surface water, writhed and rose In a genuine aguny, and crlel aloud for help. "Mosquitoes," was the cry, "mosquitoes." Babied cried day and '"night, small boys scratched nnd scratched In vain; women groined; men swore. The cast was us F.gypt under the seven plague of Jehovah. "Help, help," it cried. "Peace, peace," and there was no peace. For a time there was no relief. Men screened their houses to no purpose. The mosquitoes were loo small; either Miey were too young or they Were an Improved variety, hatched with u view to circumventing the ingenuity of man. They en pt through the wire screens ns might llo-is. They penetrated the siercd precinct Inside the ti hn"t ledroorn canopy. They Hew where they listed. Thry were any wiiere and everywhere. Houses which theretofore, protected by Its sereins, had never known mosquitoes, now found Hoir Inside walls black with them. They filled olllees, skyscrapers, churches, nstaurants, theaters, banks, factories; they were of a Buffering public. Some drug stores at first hired a man to stand in front of tho stores, his face anointed wi!li the com pound a living example of its efficacy . He was left untouched by the pest?. The compound was harmless; it was colorless, nnd but for a sliphtly pungent odor, it had no cmell. Tt did riot stain. It left no Freasy mark. Hut it did the. work. t'PK SWAT, HPT UONT HO IT. and PON'T SWAT, HPT PSK IT. read the sign. This eastern epidemic was Indeed a bit of luck. Hut It V.n.i the kind of luck that did not Usually follow John Ix;iimer. It was ConKtttution.il Smith's luck Ids reg ular kind. Hut It was luck. Before long the name of th? Isle of Swat and the mime With this grove, ultimately, he can supply the world. The llalm of Swat was certainly effi cacious. It killed the monquit.o; it kept him away, and it took the venom out of Lis sling. It was discovered bit'T that it was a cure for bee sting and kindred affections. At any rate It was the thing Miat the peo ple clamored for. There was a huge de nrmd, and John Hcrimer worked night and day to furnish the supply. It was good bu.ntss. this. It always will fc. The Palm of the Isle of Swat will al ways sell. It was Ixirlmer's pood fortune that he commenced Its mar.u.aclure just when ho did. Pnder milder circumstances It is possible that the people would not have appreciated it. Hut now that they understand itn efficacy they will always use It, whether the mosquitoes be few or many. " IN FACT, I AM Mil. O'KHKFK, AKOOND OP SWAT." legion and all prevalent; they were In evitable. They were devllliih and Infernal; they were unbearable, they were unspeak ably maddening. It did not take John Lorlmer long to find this out. In two weeks the eastern drug stores were holding their hands out to him for relief; he hud sent his samples to tho east. A fow days later the phar macies In New Yurk blossomed like the rose with signs: "Ixirlmer's Halm of the Isle of Swat." I.orimer had patented his compound; and, beside, he had tho corner on tho com modity. His remedy was sold nil over under dif ferent nanus. He did not care under wbat name it was sold so long lis it sold. Some times it was called by mistake "lie of Swat." Sometimes "Swat lie." Sometimes something else. Hut the name by which it was generally known was simply "Swat," id nothing else. "Five cents' worth of Swat" wa the cry of John IOrlmer became a household word. Constitutional Smith had lndtd builded better than he knew. Smith had done well. Hut ho had not done as well as had John I.Ttmer. Smith without Uorlmer would have lii'en a cipher In this mosquito crisis. Smith hail made a discovery; Ixuimcr had developed it. Smith had Mie Idea; Ixirlmer hart the genius. Ho riid the work, nnd lie had done it woll. Within a very Phort Mmo I.orimer had pled upon tho market the following com modities: "lyoiimer's Halm of the Isle of Swat." "Horlmer's Kau de Cologne of Swat." "Ixirlmer's Perfumes of the Isle of Swat." "lxn imer's Wiru Sc reen Pit hit of Swat." ("Ihla latter made the screens mi deadly to the mosquitoes that they would not enter.) "Ixirlmer's Turpentine of Swat." "I.orlmer's Soap of the Isle of Swat." For tho liencllt of his business he planted a grove of trees from the Icle of Swat which he surrounded with a high fence. It Is cheap, and like other cheap things, such as hairpins, thread and kindred com mo.Uties, it yields enormous returns. A 10 cent bottle cost I.orimer 5 mills. John Horl tuer has made a small fortune out of that one summer; ho has done more, he has an established bminiss-. And more than all he is before the public eye. lie has i ven tilated, he has airlvtd, ho has become known. He has built n factory, he has employed men, he can command money and credit and commodities. He has become, what he nhvays desired to become, a factor in the business world. Uorimer's opportunity has come at last. Ho had waited for It; he had prepared himself for It. He knew It when lie siw It. I.orimer will get along. He will manufacture in the future many things. Success will lend him more ingenuity. The wi rtd will hear of Horimer'B This and I.orl mer's That. For Lorimer has a greut head upon his thoulders. Out of tho very ci nter of the nettle Fu ture, John I-oriiiicr has plucked tho flower Success. CHAPTF.R XV f. Confutation Smith an Honest Mnn. The mosquito season Is over. The retail demand for Halm of Ihe Isle irf Swat has waned; but orders for the future come In steadily from the wholesnlers. Down on the Isle of Swat Constitutional Smith does all things for ail men. He maintains the reputation .f Hlllington O'Keefe. And his business judgment has reduced the expense of production. of Ixirl mer's great balm to a minimum. Fo.- he has set to work all the able Inhabitants of the Island et them to work planting