The evening times., 1899-10-07
AFTER TELEPHONE FAKIRs.
A Nuisance Complained OF Lately in
Southern Cities.
From the New York SUM-

AAt oOuln IN some places In tue 0outI
the inhabitants. and especially the tele-
phone subscribers. have been made to suf-
fer serious trouble The superintendent in
one city sent communication to headquar-
tiers recently saying that subscribers were
falling OF in punches and phones had to
I be removed from residences on account OF
the annoyance caused by the telephone ia
KRIS. was sent TO that city. 1t is pref
ty good sized town of its kind. and ] found
matters in bad shape. The telephone girls
said they were afraid TO go home at night
unless they were properly guarded. The
gang had sent hundreds of messages 10
central, warning the girls that they would
be killed if they gave information which
! would lead TO the gangs being discovered.
This naturally frightened the operators
The fakirs who were playing the tricks
/ must have thought IL funny, but their tricks
had serious consequences. One morning a
lawyer was sitting in his Office when his
! desk phone buZzed and he answered. A
faint voice came trembling over tc his ear.
. Is that you?' il said. Well, this is
the house. Fanny speaking. Do, Mr.,
come home quick, Mrs. B. has taken poi
son. The doctor is here and says she can't
live. He told me to tell you to come here
! quick, quick, run
The poor lawyer was greatly alarmed.
the street there was carriage near and
he bounced in, telling the driver TO take
] him 10 such and such number. 1t was
private vehicle and the man refused The
lawyer took the big stick he was carrying
and gave the driver q whacking blow over
! the head. He fell senseless. AS he start
( ed to rise he got second blow, and then
/ the lawyer, who was wild, jumped on the
seat and drove at a killing pace for his
home. You can imagine how he felt when
he reached his gate and saw his wife just
. going out with a friend to shop. The law
yer went 10 the telephone company, but
got no satisfaction. The manager said il
! was tx work Of the fakir gang. The
! worst cSmage from the cruel joke was TO
1 the driver. He had to be sent to the hos
! pital for treatment and il cost the lawyer
a good round sum 10 square matters.
A few days later, young merchant an
swered the phone TO find a female voice
presumably that of his betrothed. She said
he had not acted decen1y in a. certain
transaction with another woman. the facts
I, OF which had just come to her ears, and
she wanted TO say that she was just then
going on board a steamer bound for New
York. She said that she would never re-
turn and that her lover would never hear
( Of her again. This information set the
young man distracted. His bicycle was
/ near, and il was a mile and a half to the
/ boat He heard the three blasts SO IA
miliar 10 him just as he was leaving the
store. From that moment he pushed that
! wheel at the highest pace. In turning a
! corner he ran square into a team and was
thrown violently. They picked him up and
the doctor said he was badly hurt. Friends
took him 10 the hospital and it was feared
Ihat he could not live. The next day there
were brighter signs and he opened his
eyes. His sweetheart was there by his
side. The man was unable to figure out
where he was, though gradually his mem
ory returned and finally he was able to
tell of the telephone message. This pro-
Voked his friends beyond endurance De-
nands were made on the company to as
certain the names of the miscreants but
this could not be done
After these two occurrences the gang
seemed 10 reach down for lighter plane.
Several persons got messages that they
would be shot on sight and preparations for
defence were taken accordingly Practical
jokes were frequent. One day a party Of
young men were invited out to dine Ev-
erything passed of pleasantly and the
young men seemed to have an enjoyable
evening. Early the following morning
there was ring ar the telephone A ser
want who answered, was asked to call the
lady of the house. The man who rang
gave his name as that of one Of the young
men who had dined in the party. The
lady spoke pleasantly.
Well, that's all right said the voice.
for it's very proper, guess, to speak nice
ly 10 me after that bum dinner of yesterday
Now, look here, Mrs. -, ] can stand for
a good many things, but / can't stand fol
those tomatoes in that soup you gave
US yesterday. Say, that was bum din
ner anyhow
We'll, the lady was indignant When
she got her breath she rang up her hus-
band and told him of the conduct of a
man whom they had considered a friend
/. The husband rushed to the office where
the young man was working and demand
ed an explanation. The young man was
at a loss TO explain. He denied that he
had called up Mrs. -- and that he had
been insulted by the husband who thought
he could have been guilty of such conduct.
The husband saw that it was the work of
the fakirs and he went over 10 the central
Office TO complain. AS usual he got no
satisfaction, but that night his phone
came down.
Not week after this minister walked
into clothing store with thirty boys
trailing at his heels. He called for a
member of the firm.
q" That was a kind offer of yours. he
said, and / have brought my choir BOYS
down for the surplices'
4" Surplices?' asked the man in aston
ishment
Yes, surplices. / got telephone mes
sage from you yesterday telling me that
you wished to make donation in the way
of surplices and / came for them
The clothing merchant said he had
never sent such a message or made such
an offer. He told the minister that il was
the telephone taking gangs work, and the
little boys had to tramp away without their
surplices.
Late one night soon after this. one of
the women most prominent socially was
giving a musical reception. While the
festivities were going on there was a call
at the phone and a demand for the lady
of the house. This is the chief of police
said the voice at the far end, and the
neighbors are complaining of the noise at
your house. You will have to stop that
music right now, and If you don't | will
send down men to have the house pulled
The woman never thought for a mo-
ment of the fakirs; in fact, she probably
had never heard of them, and she said she
would stop the music. She whispered to
her intimate friends that the evening would
have TO be closed and begged them to go
so as 10 get others way. Well in ten min
utes the music had ceased for the night
When everybody had left, the woman con-
fided 10 her husband the order from police
headquarters. He was ready to shoot any,
body on the instant. The chiefs Office de-
MED that any such message was sent.
These are only samples of the fake
VII lie rA1a n1 Ix- 3 h.