The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-06-11
THE LATEsT PROFANITY CURE.

THE LATEST PROFANITY CURE.
Edward Ravenswood Jones was holy
terror; there wasn't the slightest shadow
Of doubt about il. He was temperate in
his habits. neat in his dress, hated tobac-
CO. and did his work in a very thoroughly
manner. But as past-master IN the
gentle art OF profanity-why, green
Bermuda parrot fresh from voyage on
a slow cattle ship would have turned
pale 10 hear him. IN all other respects
he was quite an ideal young man, but
the many foibiIes that the other fellows
in the office possessed seemed TO have
combined in him &c swell the food OF
his horrifying eloquence-
Ramsey. in his Scottish Life and
Character" says OF an old Highlander;
He didn't swear at one thing particular,
but puist stude IN 10 middle OF Ia road
and swoor at large Wen, Edward
Ravenswood Jones was very much like
the Highlander, and was continually let
ting himself out without the slightest
proTocation.
WiImot OF Wilmot & Co. the big Frank
lin street wholesalers. had received COM
plant after complaint about this sorry
habit OF his employe. and didn't know
what to do. II the case had been an
ordinary one the problem would have
been easy. A call on the carpet, [
threat TO discharge on a repetition OF the
Cdense and the thing would have been
over and done with. But this was not
an ordinay case. To begin with, Jones
was q valuable young man, with a re-
raarkable aptitude for the business, but,
more than that his father was a very old
friend, and there weer obligations to be
remembered incurred in the earlier days
Of the citys growth when Jones senior
was the big merchant and Wilmot him
self the strugglin clerk. The swing OF
the pendulum had reversed their positions
so there was a tangible reason for len
iency and Wilnot was very lenient and
a very just employer.
The chief Of the shipping department
was in despair, and half the young wo-
men ledger keepers had even ceased to
nod good morning 10 the miserable often
der. He himself was beginning to realize
to some extent the enormity of his daily
breaks but seemed helpless. Nobody
knows what might have happened if VIII
mot had not one day gone little bit out
of his ordinary routine and taken lunch
at a club where scientific men gather to
gether.
He sat at a table with an old crony,
and the couple were joined by the chief
electrician Of a local telephone company.
They fingered over the meal for a couple
of hours, talking about all sorts OF
things till the conversation came round,
naturally enough, to the enormous ex-
pansion OF the telephone service through
out the country and tn erapidity with
which It had inJertwined itself with every
phase Of commercial life.
Suppose" said the electrician, that
all the telephone syestems of the United
States could be brought under one switch
and that switch suddenly turned off. The
whole commercial world would be para
lyzed b ythe stoppage Of an agent that a
few brief years ago was practically I'M
known"
The talk drifted to the subject OF tele-
phone girls and the wisdom OF employing
them at exchanges in place Of men. Then
the expert grew impressive. Il tell YOU
gentlemen he said wit hemphasis, the
telephone girl is here TO stay. She not
only does the work more rapidly and
thoroughly than men ever could, but she
has killed of 50 per cent OF the natural
proclivity Of the mercantile community
to swear at every little provocation."
Wilmot pricked UP his ears. ere was
topic Of absorbing interest. what do
you mean by that7" he said.
Just this. We have found from &C
tual experience with our own men en-
plOyes that many who habitually used
profane language dropped the habit very
soon after they were placed where they
had to come in constant communication
with telephone operators, and we have
had similar reports from bushes houses.
The employment Of these girls, so to
speak," and he smiled, has damned up
the profanity Of the free American citi-
zen and kept it within reasonable
bounds"
On his way back to the office from
lunch Wilmot actually caught himself
Whlstling. He would try the telephone
cure on Jones, and in order not OOffend
him by changing his job would Just tell
him that be wanted a confidential man
in the box in his private room for a while.
The young man who ordinarily filled the
place was, to her itnense establishment,
given a months leave on fun pay, and
Jones was duly installed, Walker effect
ing the change with such tact that 1t
was believed in the office the scapegoat
had been promoted.
The sad feature of this whole story
comes at the end Of 1t. They extended
the experiment from one month to two,
but the case was one that the electrical
experts remedy could not touch In
deed, the experience seemed 10 give zest
to his profanity. and he swore harder
than ever.
They've got Jones now in sound-prof
cubby hole where he examines waybills,
at an increased salary, and cuses at the
tissue paper sheets on his desk til they
wilt and shrivel before him.-John r.
Rathom, in Chicago Record Herald.