The Washington times., 1901-12-01
The Party Line System Beats
Sewing Circles.
GETS THE NEWS In BED.
An Indiana widow Who Knows All
About NeiEhborhood Affairs, Al
though She Is Bedridden and
Does Not Reccive Any Visitors.

BlgS second carter py MS iUSt lhai
riage."
The introduction OF the telephone into
the county was the dawning of a new day
for this bedridden woman. Her life had
been lonely one For over ten years
she has been confined to her bed. She
lives with her son and daughter. The son
is always too busy around the farm and
the daughter around the house to permit
of their being much with their mother,
except for the hours following supper. and
so the Widow wilkins had lonely time
OF it,
She didn't get much sympathy either.
The neighbors couldn't understand why
she didn't either die or get well il she
were sick. Farmer Mathews said that he
allowed the wilder were jest too lazy
tew draw her breath. an she oughter be
ashamed OF herself tew act like that. The
Widow wilkins got her revenge when the
party line telephone was put through the
county and carried down the road on
which her house stands. Her son sub
scribed. and telephone was duly Install
ed in the house. There are ten other sub
scrlbers on the same line. The widow
discovered quite by accident one day that
she could listen to what other people we're
saying on the wire without their being
any the wiser. When the widow found
this out she was happier than Robinson
Crusoe was when he found Friday.
It had been hard work before for her to
keep in touch with current events and the
happenings down at Elmtown. five miles
away. Suddenly she discovered that all
the events. news, scandals, political in
trigues. and miscellaneous gossip Of all
sorts were, so to speak, kept right in her
room. nice and fresh every day, and all
she had to do was to turn on the tap and
let it run into her eager ears. The first
day the widow discovered that Bill Daw-
son was going to sell his farm for $1,000.
that Tom Yunt wanted TO be a constable,
that Bill Aliens COW was dead, and that
Spruce Hawkesby was sparkling Luke
Twanby's Sue.
After she had discovered all of these
state secrets the Widow wilkins had to
hang up the receiver so as to give herself
the opportunity to lie back in bed and
gasp. 1t was more news than she had
heard before ior two weeks. 'Lawsy
sakes alive" said the Widow Wilkins,
''them new-fangled things do beat alt.
! The next day the widow wilkins had
the receiver at her ear before breakfast.
| She heard some more strange
and startling information. Malinda
Hawkins was talking to some
man in the city about selling out
7
| was swearing at the man down at the saw
mill for not sending up the sills for his
| barn. 1t made the widows blood run cold
to hear the flights of rhetoric used by
| Pete, but somehow she could not put the
receiver down. ''orful, orful,'' sighed the
widow, ito hear that Pete Saunders talk
/ that way. He used to be in my Sunday
school class. too. l wonder ef he's swear
! in yet. I'll see" And she hurriedly
| picked up the receiver.
! The Ridow's room used to be a rather
| dull place to spend an evening, and her
son and daughter we're wont to yawn many
/ times before o'clock, and wait visit
/ fully for the hour to retire. But now 1t
was all different. The widows room was
/ turned into a social club. The widow be-
( came a most delightful oonversationalist.
! Her son and daughter hung breathless on
! her words while she related a full ac
count of all the astounding things she
/ had heard during the day. Then at times
| she would vary ,he monotony of her re-
| citals by taking down the receiver again,
/ and after carefully plugging up the trans
mitter would repeat to her eager listeners
/ Just what passed over the wires.
The various church societies and the
! quilting bees were never fond Of holding
/ any Of their meetings at the Widow Will
! kins' The members said it was because
! the Widow wilkins lived so far away,
I but the fact was that the Widow Wilkins,
/ confined as she was to her house and hav-
ing few visitors. was lamentably ignorant
of good lively morsels OF gossip and an
afternoon at the widows was unusually
uninspiring. But some way all OF the So
cieties. the quilting bees and the sewing
circle began going over to the Widow VIII
klns' to held their meetings. She had
seemed to suddenly acquire a wide and
comprehensive insight into the lives OF
those who lived around her. and her con-
yersation was NEST interesting.
But after a while the farmers who had
telephones on the party wire that ran
through the widows house became tired
of having their secrets spread broadcast
over the country. Farmer Thompson
found out that everything he told Hi Mil
( Ter and Bowers was known to every mem
ber OF the Baptist Aid Society. and Farm
/ er Thompson knew well enough that only
I one or two members of the Baptist
/ Church had telephones. Farmer ThomS-
son had his suspicious, so he said but he
decided to wait until he was sure.
Z So he sent a decoy telephone message
to Hi Miller. He told Hi that he intended
to set up a saloon at the corners" and
sell the best Kentucky whisky at two
drinks for cents.
"Sho" said Hi, KANT do that,
Thompse,'
yes. l kin" said Mr. Thompson. TITS
a goin' ter be moonshine ticker, Hi, from
way down in KalntueiSy."
Better look out for reyenooers," an
swered Hi.
The next day the report was spread
broadcast that Farmer Thompson was go
ing to start a saloon and sell moonshine
whisky Farmer Thompson traced the re-
port down to the Widow wilkins. He
went up TO see the Widow wilkins.
.-Widder." said Mr. Thompson, Il hearn