The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1884-09-19
OUR TELEPHONE.
BY Julia A. Chadwick.

useful 10 us, nOuSenOlu OF women,
aunty thought it would be ''as good as
man in the house, and not half the trouble"
We girls agreed with the higher powers, of
course, with the additional reflection that it
would save us many a wet, windy, or warm
walk after forgotten trifes, which in our
housekeeping were not few. Only Lulu
laughed and laughed again, breaking at
intervals into ecstatic chuckles, and pic
turing mother and aunty with a vocabulary
of telephone slang, calling out "Hello!
hello! do you get it? etc. you're
just inviting the world, the flesh, and the
devil into Spinsters' Snug Harbor," she
saba remark which Mortified aunty, who
said she had no idea one would be obliged
to use such language. But mother did not
hesitate, declaring in her stately way that
she should leave all personal contact with
the thing to us girls; what she thought of
was the convenience and the safety.
SO it was decided and the man came on
Saturday to put the wire up. There was
some discussion as to whether we should
have bell which should ring only our own
CALL or one of the less expensive ones which
sounded the call of every one on the line.
The latter was finally decided upon. 1t
would be company, aunty thought, to
hear the little musical tinkle; and, after
all, there were only seven subscribers ON
each line. Mother, with a dignity which
forbade all suspicion of curiosity, inquired
who the other subscribers were.
''The Ormes," the man said, land the
Peytons and brakes, were all, so far; but
he was to go to the Dyke House on Mon
day to see about it. They had not settled
on it."
We girls exchanged glances. Lulu, who
was sitting on the lowest step of the stair
case chuckled with fun and mischief;
mother drew herself up and concluded the
conversation. We all felt it sort of tri-
umph that our telephone should have been
put in first.
There was bitter feud, long standing
and dead, sort of Montague and Capulet
affair, between the Macartneys of Dame
mora and the Somerindykes of the Dyke,
beginning, of course, in dispute over
property in old days when the families had
intermarried, and continued, by judicious
litigation, to our time, in the shape of a
dispute over perfectly worthless piece of
land-a mere rocky gully which divided
the two estates. In our early years there
had been rotten bridge over the Dyke,
which a fearful fascination led us to pre-
fer as playground to many prettier
spot. And there had taken place meet
ings, more or less clandestine for the pur-
pose of playing Jacks" and other innocent
games with the one hope and heir of the
Dyke House. But the bridge had long
since fallen down, Frank Somerindyke was
away over seas, we had grown up to the
family enmity, and the Dyke was crossed
only by warlike glances
The man was to come on Monday morn
ing to put up the instrument in the hall.
Lulu continued to giggle and chuckle,
and to produce more choice bits of slang,
learned Heaven knows where-she said
from her Sunday School boys-until at last
on Sunday morning, when she informed us
that the church bells were ringing us up,
mother ruled sternly that not another word
was to be said about telephones until Mon
day. So the subject was dropped, though
/ think in her heart of hearts mother felt
that she Lad added one more cause of pride
to the list of her triumphs over Mrs. Som
erindyke, before whose envious eyes, as she
sat in her lonely pew, she week by week
paraded her five blooming daughters. For
once, however, this amiable triumph was
not complete the lady of Dyke House was
not alone. As we rustled and huttered up
the aisle, handsome, manly head appear
ed above the high pew door, and scanned
us with merry blue eyes.
There was some subdued excitement
among us; we noticed an additional shade
of pink in Lulu's cheeks, and though when
standing up she kept her eyes strictly at
home, we surprised some furtive glances
across the isle before she disappeared into
a corner of the tall, green-lined box which
we called our pew.
We recollected some "sweethearting"
which had taken place years before, at an
age when sweetmeats were as important as
love affairs, and we laughed a little among
ourselves, but we did not mention the Som
erindykes before mother or aunty, and lit
tie Miss Lulu, though the youngest, had
way of being let alone, so no allusion was
m AIDE to her bushes. And next morning,
the interdict being raised, we began again
to talk telephone. The man came, the in
strument was put up, and mother sent for
''the girls to receive instructions.
Missy (she was the eldest, and named
for Aunt Artemisa) went boldly up to it,
and took hold of the receiver as she might
have grasped the lanyard on loaded can
non Jane, Fan, and | crowded around
and listened eagerly to the words of the or
acle. 1t all sounded very easy, and Missy's
first essay, under the guidance of the man,
was successful.
Remember" said he, 1.-TWO taps calls
Central Office; four is your call. When
some one is using the wire, the hammer
will fly back, and one tap means the line