Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-06-06
THEY HEARD The rgRLApnoNg.
How slnart Telegraph Operator Exhib-
tied One Of Edison's Inventions.

How SMART Telegraph Operator Exhib-
tied One of Edison's Inventions.
"The trouble that is being experienced IN
several cities with electric light wires and
the number of men who have been killed
in repairing them, " said Western Union
Telegraph operator, reminds me of a lot
of smart men who, when electric lightning
was first talked about thought they knew
more about it than Edison. They wouldn't
let me say word about electricity, and in
deed didn't know much about it, but GER
tainly more than any of those hayseeds,
and / had to play joke on them which,
although it didn't kill any of the greenies,
came near killing me with laughing.
SIT was in little Iowa town, and was
the manager of the little Western Union
telegraph office. Every night the people
would get together in small crowds in the
various stores and lounging places, and the
amount of knowledge they showed in re-
gard to electric lighting would have made
Tom Edison go sit down in the woods and
wonder whether he knew what he was do
ing or not Oh, they were awfully intelli-
gent on that subject, and if ventured to
make any correction of their foolish no.
tions, l was told in plain words that 1 had
better keep quiet in the presence of such
learned company Well, thought they
needed taking down pogo two, and after
a little thought as to how it should be ac-
complished, took a newspaper reporter
into my confidence, and in the next issue of
the paper appeared the following startling
bit of news:
"'On next Saturday afternoon at o'clock
the citizens of R will have an oppor-
tunity to witness one of the most wonder
full exhibitions of Edison's genius as an
electrician that has ever been seen. At that
time a telegraph wire will be connected
with The Omaha Bee Office and Beecher's
church, in Brooklyn, and several tunes will
be played on the organ of the church, which
can be heard at all points through which
the wires will pass. The local manager of
the Western Union has been notified that
one of his wires will be used, so that all
who are at the Western Union Office at the
above mentioned time will hear this mar
velous performance of Edison's latest in
vention, which is called the terlaphone.'
"Well, you would have thought there was
a country fair in progress in that town the
next Saturday. AS early as 9 a. m. the
farmers began to come in, and by o'clock
the Office and the pavement in front of it
was crowded with those smart electricians
who would hear the music box and then
tell each other how easy it was DONE Yes,
they heard it and told how it was done, but
their explanation of it was on par with
their sense on electric lighting"
"But where did the music come from?"
asked one of the boys whose shoes were
fast filling with muddy Ohio river water.
"Well, I'll tell you A girl at the house
where l boarded had a little music box
that played three tunes. Two of them /
had never heard before nor since l saw the
box, and the third one was The Last Rose
Of Summer took the box and put it in
the bottom drawer on one side of my desk,
and put match under the wheel SO the
thing couldn't go off, and on the end of the
match tied a long piece of thread, which
l run up behind the desk to the top drawer
on the other side and fastened it, so that if
pulled that drawer out the thread would
pull the match out of the wheel and let the
organ play.
Promptly at o'clock l remarked that /
would smoke q cigar, and opened the
drawer to get match, and away went the
organ in Beecher's church. You could
have heard pin drop while the music box
played its three little tunes, and as the box
was smothered up with paper and other
things that will accumulate in a desk, the
deception was very plausible But when
she began The Last Rose of Summer l
had to blow my nose constantly to keep
from laughing. When it was all over the
crowd went away, satisfied that what they
had heard was a genuine exhibition of one
of the great Edisons wonderful inventions,
and, as far as l know, they have never
learned any different as | left there shortly
afterwards to find place where people
didn't know so much. Cincinnati Com
mereial Gazette.