The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1900-08-24
THE HOT WATER BUTTON.
A Country Couple which Accepted
the Directions Literally.


This IS n tale OF prc-lng the button.
Blaine Yllcs Of SkoNhegan tells II to
me- / don't know where he got the
facts; couldn't have been In Skowhe-
gan, Of course.
But, wherever N was, a couple from
fhe country came 10 the hotel OF which
the tale is told. or course this may
have happened IN Bob IIalnes' hotel In
Skowhegan, but doubt II, for Bob has
told me many times that II Is liberal
education for man, woman or child 10
stop I'm bis hotel five minutes.
Rural parties In question asked 10 be
shown 10 room; boy escorted them
up; left them standing In the center OF
the room looking around.
over the electric push button, Of
course, was the usual card directing a
guest 10 ring once for Zee water, twice
for hot water etc. IL is evident that
the first business OF the new arrivals
was 10 study the card,
In about five minutes the bell on the
annuncIator In the Office commenced 10
ring - prln-h-ng, prin3-ng, prin-n-ng,
prin-n ng.-giving theshot water call
over and over. The number shown
was the number OF the room occupied
by the rural parties.
The boy rushed into the washroom
aud drew pitcher Of hot water. Still
the bell kept sounding steadily, two
rings I'm quick succession.
"Git move on" shouted the clerk
10 the boy. "Therr parties In slumteen
must bc considerably fused up on the
hot water question. They must have
cold feet"
The boy was already half way up
stairs, running like a deer. The bell
still kept ringing
The clerk crazed by the noise OF the
bell, stood mp In n chair, saying things
I'm rapid succession, and held his hand
on the gong, dulling It's sound.
The boy tore into the room, with his
pitcher OF hot water stopping. The
new arrivals, man and wife, were
standing before the electric button.
Their eyes were on the card. The man
held n bowl carefully under the button.
with his head turned away, so that the
hot wator wouldn't squirt I'm his eyes,
and the woman was pressing the but
ton with regular stroke. They were
doing their best to get hot water strict
ly according TO directions.
"Iere. stop that" yelled the boy to
the woman. Here's your hot water"
The man with the bowl lowered that
article and looked at the boy.
"What," says he-the man from the
rural distrlcts-"d'ye have TO bring 1t
In pitcher In the old fashioned wayp
Waal, | snuml What's the trouble
with yer watcrworks here? I've been
prcssln this button accordln TO the
rewles here on the card, and there
haln't n darned drop of hot water come
out yit. When things amt workin, ye
ought to hang up n sign sayin out OF
order That's the way they do on the
weighn machine up to Slle Cobb's gro
cery store"
And when the bellboy came out OF
his swoon he told the clerk, and the
clerk went gravely up stairs with a
tiny card on which he had written,
"Not Working"
lie CuTTlcu II spike Hnu nhinlncT,
and after gaining admission to room
slumteen he nailed up the card with
the spike.
The guest surveyed his work with In
terest.
"There, that's buslnessw said the
man from the rural districts. "Ef she
amt workin, say 40, and ef It's goin TO
trouble ye any TO fetch water up here
me and the woman will come down ter
the sink and wash up. Jest as soon
dow It's not ."-LeMlston journal.