The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-10-13
USES OF THE TELEPHONE.
How IL Has Been Utilized in Legal
prOceediugs-Rrma Session
Off Sunday school.

How IL Has Been Utilized III heg"i
prOceediugs-Rrm Session
Of sunday School.
Chicago Inter-Ocean.
Of late the telephone has been util..
lied to a considerable extent i'll legal
proceedings. Aflidavits have been
sworn to, Acknowledgements have
been taken, and in one case at least
testimony has been received by teie-
phone. This last Innovation must b.
credited to Fort Scot, Kas., where two
witnesses described as prominent busi-
ness men, were permitted to give evil
dence in this manner, the attorneys
stipulating that no objection should he
taken to this unusual proceeding.
Another case that has attracted un-
usual attention is reported from New
York, where an affidavit which had
been telephoned from Cincinatti and
ack knowledged over the wire was ac-
cepted in the supreme court as sufil-
cient ground for the issuance OF an at
tachment involves a considerable sum
of money. The proceedings were un-
usual and interesting. The facts were
telephoned from Cincinnati over a long
distance telephone line, an aihdavll
was prepared at New York END or the
line and read to the complainant, who
was standing at the telephone III Cln-
cinati, where in the presence OF Wit
nesses made the required acknowiedg-
ment. 1t was still necessary to have
some one in New York talk with the
complainant and positively identity his
voice. This was done, the papers were
filed and the attachment issued. The
interested parties announced that sew
eral days' delay had been avoided by
utilizing the telephone, and by THIS
prompt action it was possible to have
a Indictment satisfied which 1t might
have been difficult otherwise to accom-
plish.
Many important transactions have
hinged upon telephone messages, and
the courts have long since recognized
their admissibillty as evidence unueI
Droper restrictions. Probably the first
instance of this kind, and, at any rate
the most notable early example of the
telephone in law, was the part played
in securing the conviction Of terdl-
nand Ward, Gen. Grants partner in
1885. On October, 20 of that year,
James D. Fish, who had been con-
victed of wrecking the Main nationa
bank of New York and was at thai
time serving a term OF ten years al
Sing Sing, testified that he nad re'
ceived instruction from Ward oy tele'
phone regarding the disposition Of Ger Ger
! tain securities, amounting to Sl5O,OO0
Wards attorneys, Gen. Tracy and
Bourke Cochran, objected strenuously
to the admission of this testimony, bu'
Justice Barrat decided against th' m
# NAV be interesting to recall the fac
that BENJAMIN Fish, a brother of the
| convicted president of the Marln'
bank, i'm support of the testimony al
ready mentioned, declared under oait
hat he had stood within eighteel
inches of the telephone while his pro
ther was talking to ward, and That D.
,eard the latter's voice distlctly an'
recognized it. When the attorney 70
Ward declared that this statement was
ridiculous the prosecution produceh 9
| etter that Ward had written to Fish
complaining that every one III th'
room where the telephone was place.
.ould hear the conversation. Ih'
prosecution relied upon the telephone
message to convict Ward, and when al
nnneaI was taken after Wards sen
rnce to ten year. imprisonment Jus
ice Barratt's decision admitting tn
.eIephone message was sustained:
Another striking example or TN
,oyel uses to which the telephone ma
,e mt, but in an entirely different linz
from those mentioned, was afforded by
remarkable session of q Sunda
,chool at wichita, Kas., where th'
superintendent, who was confined Il
,is bed, conducted the services with
mt the slightest hitch by means of al
unusually sensitive telephone. Th'
.hurrh and residence were connecte'
by telephone, and three megaphone
were employed, one at the head OF th'
.uperintendent's bed, one suspended
from the center Of the church and ONT
in front of the pulpit. The superln
epdent's voice was distinctly heart
bv the CONGREGATION rs he said "Goo'
moruinpn and announced the routine
of The school. He called for his favor
ite songs, and they were borne to hi
ar with all their melody and volume
He ioined in them heartily, and at th'
lose of the service he told the scholar
that if they had enjoyed the hour a
much as he had it was the grandes
Sunday school session they ever had.
Many other incidents might be re
lated in a similar vein, all going Il
how that this wonderful inventor i
not restricted in its usefulness TO or
lering groceries or breaking engage
ments, but that its influence extends
INTO every part of the domestic, pro
essional and social organization.