Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1906-02-25

Eye and car fixed upon this great
central motor library I was able to
discern something Of the methods en-
ployed. The consumer-living, say. in
the Bronx-would ring up the Bronx
submotor library and call for 634s--
Isle Of Man The Textbook girl at the
Bronx sub-stat ion would Immediately
connect the caller with the central
library the wire, by means of a. large
switchboard, would be IN turn con-
nected with cylinder No. 6343--Isle Of
Man on shelf No. 81, sixth floor. alcove
222, and in ten seconds Hall Gaines
latest novel, The Gloomster of Greba,"
would go rafting over the wires IN
through Central park and Harlem intoE
the regions of the Bronx, where theN
would-be reader was anxiously await
ing the results of her CALL
Other Calls
other calls similarly made for 54sB
-Gramercy, from Murray Hill, would
Immediately send Mr. Davis latest ro-
nance into the boudoir of some fair
admirer of his genius; 634, 92s-Brook-
lyn, called from Manhattanville, would
carry the poems of Edwin Markham to
some would-be consumers ears. and so
on. Not a known book In the whole
history of letters but could be 'rung
up" at this marvellous storehouse under
this even more marvellous system with
out an immediate response unless one
were to receive the telephone response
Of the present hour: Ring off, please,
the wires busy"
or course. there were Inconvenience.
as | was made aware by hearing a
complaint from lady In South Brook
lyn, who was very wroth because In
the midst of an exciting episode in a
historical novel by Stanley Weyman
somebody had switched her off to the
last chapter of 1.-THE Simple Life" by
Charles Wagner but the usual excuse
of crossed wire explained this to her
satisfaction. and it was clear that in
the main the service worked to the best
interests Of everybody.
Such was the library scheme of 1914.
and of course, things being so, all the
letters of the period being thus locked
up in cylinder form and securely
stored away upon the shelves of the
big institution at Forty-second and
Fifth avenue, ! was unable to form
connection with the central Office or
any of the sub-stations, and could not
possibly get hold of my own books
even for my own benefit.
He Was In III
1t was with a thrill of joy, however,
that | discovered that / was repre-
could be called for at any time by any,
one who chose to ring up No. 4.123J-l
Columbus: No. 56347-Hades and No.
1881 Herald square The titles of
these books were unfamiliar to me, and
must assume are still to be written
In some metamorphosed condition
that today l do not dream of:-"An-
drew MacGargilrs Revenge" THE
Life Story of Ferguson Tinkletop" and
'rhe Inventions of Matthew Bilker-
son of Butte" The discovery of these
items filed my soul with a curiosity
of the widest sort for 1 must admit
that SO far in my wanderings through
life l have never yet even imagined
that books having such titles could
appeal to the kind of a constituency
that ! am most eager to win to
friendly regard for myself.
Indeed, 1 am daily growing more
and more excited over the discovery
that in 1914 such works are to be cred
tied to my name, for / frankly don't
like the titles, and it seems truly aw-
full to me that I am inevitably sched-
uled to perpetrate such things, but |
am, perforce, for the moment COM
PEELED to sit in patience waiting for
another trial of the pectrophone to
disclose to ME the contents of those
books, for just as / had made my
memorandum of the titles the inventor
and owner of the apparatus returned
and 1 was compelled to give up the
machine to him.
He wanted to look up the year 1908.
He had just read Mr.. Roosevelts
statement that he would not run again
for the presidency and he was anxious
to see what the future had to say on
that subject.
You never can tell so far ahead
just how things will be- he said, "and
I want to lay few bets with some
intelligent reason for putting my
money on one side or the other"