The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1901-06-28

"rhcy're busy-IW call you" That is
IN" eNaSperatlng sentence usually heard
On the telephone when one is in a great
hurry to get the person at the other
telephone often knows that the phrase
I'll call YOU, means ~nothing-that it is
mover used seriouSly-and after waiting a
few minutes he calls again. Sometimes
me message back. Still busy" or
BUSY YETI or "BuSy-IU call YOU and
occasionally the operator delights the
man in the booth by saying, There they
are!"
They have a differen, method in Bos-
ton. as a New Yorker discovered a few
days ago. He called up a business house
ahd was told. The line is busy; ring OFF,
i was a sharp, rasping voice, and the
New Yorker connected it at once with a
]ieve they're busy at ALL" said to the peo-
pie near him. '1'll try again"
Give me no: 1000, please"
"Ihe line is busy; ring off,
How do you-"
The line is busy: ring off,"
'Well. try them again. anl-'
THE line is busy; ring off,
There was never a change in tho tone,
never a word more or less. and the nan
from New York saw IN his minds eye
how the impairment younsSter sat repeat
ing over and over again the reason-de-
stroying sentence.
After a fve-ninutes' waiting he made
another attempt to reach his friend.
A wCman'S voice answered and asked
the regulation question, and in a few sec
conds the raSping voice was heard again,
THE line is busy; ring off,
Say! are YOU sure there IS"
The line is busy: ring off,
Then the New Yorker hung up the re-
cciver, and when he gained the ear Of the
central office again he asked: Can that
ring off,"
Yes, if it's fixed right. That's the
rraphophone hv which we save work.
What number ?'-New York Tribune.
Sally Bronson is goin' up to Maine to
spend summer with some of her folks.
amt she?' asked the wife Of the village
Law! That's news to me- exclaimed
Mandy Meddercorn. did she tell yep
NO, but it's a fact. Some time ago
they writ fer her to come. an she sent
a postal back Yesterday tellin' EN- she'd
II understand that Noitall says your
new picture is a monstrosity." Il don't
'he never had an opinion of his own.
He merely repeats what others say
Philadelphia Times.
He has checks round as apples. Mine
are hollow.
He is portly, even naughty. I am not.
He has big, sleepy eyes. Mine are dim.
He has paws soft as velvet. Thin and
trembling mine.
He stands ready for a frolic. I've not
time.
He has repose. Worried am I.
He is. in short. big and beautiful. sleek
and silky. fat and fne-which I'm not
and never can be.
Yet we live the same.
He has no advantage.
The same house shelters US. We
food, he lingering fondly over all save
fruit courses, being especially devoted to
rice, milk, soup. meat, oil and vegeta-
bles. We even sit upon the same chairs.
So why this awful difference?
But hold! Though neither has the ad-
there is one great big difference: He
does not work between meals.-Philadel-
phia Record.
Accommodating: Come back as soon
as possible said her mistress to Maggie,
who was going home in response to a
telegram saying her mother was i'll.
1CS, num-. pIONllSeu MaSSle. n uaS
or two later a letter came: Dear Mis-
Smith: i will be back next week pleas
KEEP my place, for me mother is dying as
fast as she can To oblidg Maggie
~-Lippincott's Magazine.
A young Arizona lawyer who recently
visited Detroit gave the following as an
example of the style of justice that pre-
walls in some remote sections of the from
tier:
a certain justice Of the peace, whose
knowledge Of the law was never gained
from books or actual practice before the
bar, was hearing an assault n battery
case. The lawyer for the defense was
shouting his arguments when the court
said:
THAT will do. Set down.
He then adjusted his spectacles anG
sagely observed:
"Prisoner. sthand up! Accordin' tai
tn law an tn evydince-an' there is NJ
evydince-Oi foind yez guilty. sor. an
foine ye $50. If yez air guilty, faith
it's a very loight sintince: an if yez all
not guilty it'll be a mighty good lessor
for ye."-Detroit Free Press.
Sir Mountstuart Grant-Duf, in hi.
DIARY" tells a story about Father
Healy, who happened to be sitting in
tramcar in company with two very i'll
hro1 Dro%oS+Orfc ~hoen Commensurate.