The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1878-07-25
For the Brookhaven Ledger.
BEN JONES TELEPHONE.
BY PAP.


offices in the town from Post master to
Mayor. and is looking forward with no
little anxiety to the nominating Conven-
ton for his name to appear at the head
of the list as candidate for Congress
from his district. When young man
he was considered wild; always in for q
frolic, and being fiddler, no party was
considered complete unless Ben partic-
mated; but time the great regulator had
somewhat softened the hard spots in
his character, until few years ago he
ioined the church and up to the advent
of the new preacher, was punctual IN
his attendance on'lays of service. HIS
excuse for not attending church more
regularly, was that he had no enmlty
towards Brother Harmon, personally,
but he did dislike his long sermons, and
above all, his long metre hymns and
his abominable singing. which he con :
tended was so discordant, and Jared on
his ears to such an extent that he Tonnd
1timpossible to endure more than three
or four sermons year, and them only
on special occasions. Ben is an invent
i've genius, and having read good deal
in the papers about Pofessor Eddlson
and his photographic and telephone
l. al IN avnnrlnhnt
n little with view not only of making
improvements on ali yet discovered
methods of transmitting sound, but to
utilize his invention 50 that in case he
was fortunate enough to be sent to Con
gress, his constituents wonld be enabled
, to hear with their own ears, word for
word as he uttered them IN his big
speeches OH the important National
questions. Swelling with enthusiasm
over his new formed project, Ben pro
ceeded at once to bo.r from hls es
teemed friend Smith-the school mas
tex, an oid-time copy OF ComstocA
Philosophy, and for forty eight hours
he studied necessarily and committed
to memory all the known laws OF Acou-
sites laid down in that ancient volume
At length having we'll mstured his
plans he commenced operations. Pro
curing two large coal oil cans from the
drug store, he took them to the tin shop,
had the bottoms taken out and a good
sized wire turned in around the edge tc
stiffen the can. Then going to Jack
White. foreman OF the Babcock fire eX
tfnguisher. he borrowed his speaking
trumpet for pattern, after which he
had two tin cnes made; the moutl
pieces of which were soldered to- the
small ends of the cans. The heads OF
snare drum we're then soaked and draw
over the large end of the cans and wei
secured by fish line, then dried III the
sun and then the apparatus was nearly
complete.
The next thing on the docket was the
medium by which the sound was tt
pass from one can to the other. One o
Ben's friends, whom he had let into the
secret of his invention, suggested brass
wire, another gutta percha cord. but
Ben objected to the first, AS an infringe
ment on Eddison. and to the secon6
that the material was not sonorous
enough. He had plan of his own. He
had p,aved the fiddle too long to forge'
what his strings were made OF, OF the
sounds they had produced: in fact ne
had great faith in cat g1t, but how &c
get a string long enough for his purpose
without tying, for he recollected that
knotted string never produced the right
note on the violin, and arguing by anal
ogy, he abandoned the idea OF hddle
strings which he at first entertained
He then thought of killing Redmond
tom cat, and purloining bis intestlnes
TO suit his convenience, but then the
trouble of the thing, and danger OF DIS
covery prompted him to pursue
another course. Old man Black
Jackass had Just died of lock jaw NJ
would skin him and make use OF tne
hide. Accordingly the jack was skinne'
and after few days preparation, nesh
ing and taking the hair off, stretching
and drying, it was cnt into strip 'h'
size Of an ordinary shoe string. about
quarter of mile long, beirg wet asail
and carefully twisted and stretched z
its utmost tension, and then dried. /
received coat Of shelac varnish, wher
/ Ben pronounced it finished. With {
saddlers awla q hole was punehedln ths
centre Of the velum heads OF the caEs'