New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-04-04
TELEPHONE MANIA.
8 MODERN DISEASE FROM WHICH ONLY
THE FRIENDS OF THOSE AT
. ,CTrn SUFFER-

I'm. to,spbonc mania is among tho latest negative
knsult. OF modern inventions, and those who are
Ii victims are objects of dread to their fellow
ulti7ens although they themselves frequently Two
n bssful ignorance of their afhicuon
The telephone maniacs are usually men OF ies-
IRE who have small appreciation OF the value OF
lime. and the more leisure they have the less nope
there Is for them, far as cure Is concerheu'
Occasionally ono may see busy telephone h"n'so'
but the instances rare, and In those cases .ne
tnalady is not fully developed and the chances io
ultimate recovery many. Among women the,'
seem 10 be few real An unms'akapie
symptom of the disease is q desire to talk 10 peo
ple at distant points about all sorts OF thihss o'
All hours Of the day night.
81 am the prey of several Of those incurable ma
MACS" said busy man. whose office Is visi'eu y!
hundreds Of people daily, ard at times they NAM
life a burden but / see no way TO euro 'he" VI
10 escape their fortunes one of them cans INC up
at my home just about breakfast time ABOUT 'hieo
mornings every week and asks me such 'l,po c
questions as, Wasn't il a fine day yes,efo"! "
Did YOU ever see such disagreeable weather do W"
are having? or DO you think this VIII De eoou
oay for wheeling?' or VIII you go down'o"n
early?' or How did you like the play las' hie"''
When he wants 10 give an air OF business " ~
talk he asks my opinion about the s'ocA ma.
of which l know absolutely nothing OF TIC "
will | be sure TO attend directors mee'ns
which he knows | would not miss If had 10 80
without my dinner All the time my cohee is get
ting cold my family grows impatient ana "' ''i'
Der is ready 10 assert itself. When reaeh III!
ofice an hour or two later the boy tells me 'iia'
several persons have called me on the teepnoie
and | know by the names what their messages
could have been and what they will be wheh 'ney
call again. 49, -
The experience of this busy man Is ike that Oh
hundreds and 10 avoid the senseless chat'ef anu
constant 'hellong" Of the manlacs. many pusy
mon keen their names out of the telephone al
rec,orv and refuse to answer calls when their num-
hers become known, The worst feature about Inc
disease il that those who have It never reailze
that they are making themselves obnoxious ana
regardless OF the hour or the pressure OF business
they insist on telling long stories over the WIRE
'Whon man tells you story face 10 face;
moved hy the telephone maniac, ne can see py
the expression Of your face II he mas the Ieass
knowledge OF physoSnomy. now the story su y h
vo, aud IL is an easy matter to cut man OH py
e look or gesture. Eut whera are you when me
story-tellcr is ten miles away? He has you cor
nered and YOU must listen. There is method in
The madness Of of the telephone crahks eS
peciay those who call mp this ONCE. man w" a,
the last moment his courage fails him. ne rehens,
eers that he has engagement elsewhere anu iu
up on the telephone and ask from distance wha az
ne afraid 10 ask at short range Men na,e go 20
he turned down. and take II with better grace over
but We have other telephone maniacs. who think
they see anything about him in the newspdpeIs
and tell him what fine letter he wrote or w ht
a lovely speech he made. or ASK IL lhls oL NiIs
repor1 is true; ana all this from people VINO II
they came his Office. would probably never sa.
wcci WREN people 20 still further and only a few
DAYS AGO 2 telephone caller wanted to Know from
Mr. Depo% here was vas, any nyon G1Go' Il Would pe
difficult matter 10 get along in IarSe civ oiiee
without telephone but we olten ieei lihe o,s
pcnsirg with it, If only to avoid the telephone
crank