The Carlisle independent., 1906-10-18
FORTY YEARS AGO.
MEN LivEc WITHOUT MUCH NOW
 DEEMED INDISPENSABLE.
Telephone Is Only One Of Many Cen trivasces Which Have Added te She Comfort and Profit
 Of the World,

kort nTe years marks, we may say, the maa of middle age. yet the re- tccspect of the last 45 years will point ta many ofa.tbe. most remarkable, and .s now considered. indispensable. in- ventians 3ad devices of civilized life, says the Philadelphia Record. These, the middieaged man. as boy, did Oet eyeo dgeam of. Going back to the tiese when the man now 45 was i've. We w.ti find that he and all the rest ot mankind lived very satisfac' tcrily without telephones. Scarcely house of any considerable size would now be deemed habitable without one. When communication with distant pcint was needed quickly the teie- graph was brought Unto reqaiS.tioa. V great haste was not requisite, let ter sHf6eed
 The expedition with which business Is neW transacted was obviously i'm nossitie without the telephone. d. though other inventions. then equally unkHeWa. contribute much to the hur- vs ol today. The electric light, like most otaec electrical inventions, was IS distaat as the telephone; though gss and oii principally the former, c,ade what was considered saisfac- tory iHamiration. Great construction works could not. however, be carried 1o hy night with gas, while now, by lrc. light, they may. In that day the miner toliea underground by the dim Hickering illumination Of a candle.
  with incandeseent electric lights and kept practically as light as are sur face. establishments by night.
 Forty years ago. a speed of 30 miles py rail was deemed wonderful, and continuous trips Of more than 2Q9 miles Were rare. Changes of cars were frequent on long distance jour neys. and as the segments Of road were in those days controlled by dif- ferent com pauies, there was much transferring of passengers and bag gage, and buying of new tickets. Din ing cars were unknogn, and wayside lunch counters, with their familiar gongs and summary all aboard' ter miuations U unsatisfactory and ab ereviated repasts, were the rule.
 The postage rate on domestic iet- ters was thea three cents. and foreign postage vas charged to Canada and Mexico. whiie every negotiable docu- nent, deed. check. bond or legal in scrumeHt bore an internal revenue stamp. Bankers. brokers, stationers, druggists and even saloon keepers kept q supply Of revenue stamps on sale, and merchants had them in sheets ready to be affixed to receipts if even for the most tri1ing amounts.
 Every bank and merchant, and prac- tically every storekeaper then sub scribed to some publication which gave q weekly list Of new counterfeit bank notes; and these publications. owing to the then imperfect methods of engraving and registration. were usuaily many pages in extent.
 Sonls 0. the war, printed On single meets oI music. were strung along park fences. and sold at penny apie6e, the dealer being generally a wounded soldier Of the civil war, in- capacitated for work Small change was mostly Of paper in denominations >f three five. ten, Z5 and 50 cents. For q tine 15-cent bill was circu- lated. bHt t was soon withdrawn Nickel three-cent pieces. as substi- 1utes f1r silver three-cent pieces. were 1iso in circulation. though the silver chree-cent piece. or ''scally," was not rare. Plugged silver pieces. when there were aGY silver pieces, usually i've. Or ten cent pieces. were the rule rather than the exception. though the holes and lead filling seemed in 10 way to interfere with their circulat ing capacity.