The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-05-07
TIE YauNTEp TELEPHONE.

that her telephone is haunted. and some
Of her neighbors agree with her, and
now the theory is being discussed with a
suggestion that the instrument Is a
proper medium for ghosts. and creduious
householders are afraid TO answer the
telephone bell lest some uncanny disclo-
sure greet them
No doubt E-hen science has perfected
the telephone we will find ourselves in
long distance communication with Mars
or other planets which have offered US
neighboriy overtures to which we could
not respond. If the explorers OF air
viii iend all their faculties to the eevel-
opment of vibrations condensiEg them 10
focus for human intelligence. world
OF wonder may open TO our listening ears,
and the sixth sense aid Us 70 knowl-
edge OF the gods Then Tesla might
gather in the telephone cup the power
now lying dormant in the air shaft wait
ing for a llberat0r The theory ante
dates the use of telephones. Many years
ago q Chicago young woman wrote re-
markable book. called The Automaton
Ear" 1t told the story OF q man who vas
possessed with the idea that ali the har-
monies Of earth, since the morning stars
sung together for joy. were still conferred
in the air and could be reproduced If an
ear could De invented TO gether and re-
tain them. SO ne invented an autouaton
ear which was a success. but the inven-
( tor had overlooked one condition. With
/ the sounds of joy and the songs OF har-
mOny came the groans OF disc0rd and tire
walls of sorrow. and these so predominant
ed that ne went mad and died of disap
1 pOintment.
When the busiest and most necessary
Official on the circuit in Oak Park was
/ asked to come up TO a certain number
and find out what was wrong with the
telephone, he sent sub. who reported
: ad p
ring true"
So David Campbell went there himself
and found a distressed matron, who said
mysteriously:
4 sent for you because I'm having
I trouble with my telephone
so l understand, he answered, wires
| caught somewhere by the. high winds,
most likely. l viii soon find out the
trouble, Mrs. Blanke. 1 am used to those
( difficulties
/ Il don't think you are responded Mrs.
/ Blanke, '-and l am afraid that all your
! skill and experience viii not help in this
/ case. The truth is, my telephone is
| haunted"
| Haunted" The electrician gave
start his Scotch ancestors had believed
| in second sight, but spook in tele-
1 phone, his business sense refused TO har-
| Dor the idea. Impossible. Ny dear
madam, who ever heard of a ghost in a
| telephone"
I hear voices and am ~ung up to take
strange communications, persisted Mrs.
B. Take down that receiver and listen
| moment"
He did so. and heard the usual Mum
Der, please" much TO his satisfaction,
and then rung off and turned cheerfully
to Mrs. B.
you see, it is all right. What led you
to think otherwise?"
will only laugh at them. The other night
when the high wind blew 1 was out
spending the evening with friends. when
l was called TO the telephone. l dis
tinctly heard the voice of my little son
Theodore, whom I had left at home in
bed. He said to me: please come home,
mamma; I'm awfully afraid Of the
storm. I told him to go in and sleep
with his brother, and 1 would soon be
home. He said all right, mamma.
good-by.' and rung Off When 1 went
home he was sleeping where ! had left
him, had not been awake and did not
even know it was storming. Yet it was
my boys voice l heard and no other"
Mr.. Campbell looked politely incredu-
lous, and suggested that the boy might
have telephoned in his sleep. but he
could not convince the mother Mrs.
Blanke had another experience in re-
serve.
L was thinking of friend at dis
lance and wanting to hear from her,
went TO the telephone to call her up. As
soon as / put the receiver to my ear
heard some one speaking. and asked who
il was, and my friend answered, without
Being called. Now, is that te4epathy or
what is it?'
Il think" said the electrician gently,
that the telephone has got on your
nerves. Let some other member of the
family answer for a while. You take these
incidents too seriously, and even If you
cannot account for them, they do not
mean anything. 1t is a common event for
telephone bells TO ring mysteriously, but
a crossing Of the wires or a mistake in
the number could easily be the cause.
Might 1 venture to suggest that some
roguish member of your family may be
playing tricks?"
But Mrs. B. would not admit this for a
moment, so the baffled electrician was
obliged TO leave the mystery where he
found it, and the troubled matron went on
losing weight every day and feeling sure
whenever her telephone bell rang that
some ghost was on the wires. Then a
friend moved into her suburb and put
herself into telephone communication
with the outside world. At an early
date Mrs. Blanke called up Central and
asked for her friends number.
Fourteen hundred and ninety-two.'
came the answer 1t stirred strange
memories in Mrs. Blankes mind. She
called it up with an indefinite feeling
that she had heard it in some former
life. A wierd voice responded.
who is this?" she asked, cautiously.
Columbus"
Columbus who?'
"Why. Christopher Columbus. I discov-
cred America in 1892. Say. what do you
want? Prhaps you'd ike to talk 10 Ferd
OF Isabella. sHurry up I can't stand
here a whole century. I'm tired"
Mrs. Bianke recognized that voice. II
was that OF her own hopeful Theodore.
who vas visiting the small sen Of her
friend. Both boys were in the early
period of American history and had
struck the coincidence of the telephone
number as an aid to memory.
Mrs. 3. gave her hopeful a snubbing
for his precocity and was permitted 70
talk with cher friend So one Of her
telephone ghosts has been laid. but she
still persists that she is likely az any
time to be placed In direct communication
with the unseen powers Of the air as a
medium Of exqressiol.-Mrs. y. L Rayne-
Frye's Fish STORY
C7rom the Saturday Evening Post)
Senator william p Frye IS an ardent
lover Of the sport Of fishing. Once. after
his return from his summers outing. he /
met the celebrated naturalist, Agassiz, /
Glowingiy. Senator Frye described his /
experiences
Among my triumphs" said he, was |
the capture OF & specklee trout that /
weighed fully eight pounds.
DR. Agassiz smiled and said. Re
serve that for the creIUlous and ccnviriaI /