The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-12

| Western Men for Talking TO 1helr
Wives Children and Dogs.
From the Chicago Inter-Ocean.
4 Considering the fact that millions of
miles of wire and half the states Of the
country are included in our telephone sys-
TEN. and that we have something like
5000 subscribers, 1t isn't strange that
some peculiar things happen over the long
distance lines" said the telephone man, as
he leaned back ,ih his chair after connect
ing Omaha and New York with Chicago,
just to show how easy it is to talk across
1900 miles.
THE other day the papers printed a
story of how q bank president in Mime
apolis presided over a meeting of directors
in Lowell, Mass he went on. THAT was
correct enough, but it wasn't such an I'M
usual thing as one might infer from read
ing the accounts of it. 1t has become qHite
a regular thing for railroad and bank di-
rectors who can't get to a regular place
of meeting to be connected with the meet
ing place by wire BY the use of a large
transmitter he is able to hear everything
that goes on, and take part in the pro-
ceedings almost as well as though he were
\
lance phone has been used to close some
of the largest commercial transactions
that have taken place in this country dur
ing the past five years
THE use of the long-range telephone for
great business affairs seems natural
enough, for the high charges are trivial
compared with the interests involved. But
anybody who hasn't had chance to learn
from being in the business would be as
tonished at some of the messages that so
over the wires and for which the senders
pay good round sums on the way Of tolls.
l suppose the reason for this is that the
telephone is still comparatively new to
most people; they look upon it with some
thing of wonder, and they like to expert
ment with it to see if 1t viii do all that is
| claimed for 1t.
Here, for instance. is a case that we
had last night and one of a kind that we
get six days in every week. Cincinnati
man had come to Chicago on business. He
had evidently just left his train when he
came to the phone and called up his Ohio
house. There evidently wasn't any partic-
ular reason for it, except his desire to talk
with his family. One after another the
mother and five children came to the
phone and exchanged a few sentences
with the head of the house. In such long
dis stance work, where the charges are high
1t is customary for the operator to notify
the user of the time so that there won't
be any confusion about the cost at the
end. In this case the conversation kept
dragging out and the night manager, who
had the wire, notified the man every five
minutes: I'm take five minutes more The
Cincinnati man was determined that every
one of his family should hear his voice
and he didn't care how much it cost. Last
of all the baby was brought to the trans
mitter, a youngster who could just lisp
Hello papa and then the man settled his
bill for $1OS without a murmur, doubtless
feeling well repaid in having listened to
his baby's coo across that distance.
"Of course that's an extreme case in the
size of the charge BUT in other respects it
isn't an unusual thing, especially with
Westerners. 1t seems to me that about one
in every ten men, whether they live in Chi
cago or some little crossroads town, rush
off to the telephone the first thing when
they strike town, and call up the wife or
: sweetheart whom they have left behind at
home To the outsider their little home Cos
sip more or sweet nothings don't seem to
l amount to much, but dare say it makes
life pleasanter for those who are interest
ed, so nobody else can object to it.
II remember a case more peculiar than
that of the Cincinnati man chat happened
while / was manager in the Chicago OK
change. A man in The city had a fox ter
rler of which he was very proud, while
the dog was as completely devoted to him.
He had to go to some place in Michigan
/ on business which kept him away for sew
/ eral days. AS soon as he had gone the
= dog began 10 suffer from severe attack
of loneliness. He wouldn't eat, and lay
about moping until the mans wife was
a afraid the terrier would die before his
. masters return. One night the man went
into the station of the town where he was
stopping and said that he wanted to talk
to his dog. So connection was made with
the terriers ear. Instantly he recognized
i his masters voice and began to frolic
about and bark at a great rate Two or
\ three times after that the Chicago man re-
r peated the performance, and he ddn
mind the $40 or $12 that 1t cost him in the
Il | least.
= There have been various fiction stories
written which involve proposals by tele-
phone but know of at least one instance
| in which such a thing actually occurred.
The young man was so pleased that when
il was over he told me all about it. He
had been counting a girl in an Ohio town.
the name of which it isn't necessary to
give here, had quarreled with her for
some foolish reason, and had come East,
intending to sail for Europe. He had been
= thinking the matter over on the way, de-
g cided that he had been fool, and when
q he heard that another fellow was after
: the girl made up his mind to heroic meas
ures. So he sent a message to the girl
asking her to come to the telephone, but
!, not giving his names When he came to The
+ office TO keep the appointment he was the
most nervous fellow 1 ever saw, and I'll
o bet that no man was ever more agitated
: in the actual presence of his charmer. But
he managed to get through the business
) some how, and the result was so salts
factory that the first thing he wanted TO
know when he came out of the booth was
how soon he could get train back 10 the
| West
1--WE have good many queer orders to
D fill, and they are becoming more numerous
as the telephone comes into more general
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