Woodruff County news., 1908-03-26

put neither the ethical nor humorous phases of the situation seemed to strike him.
 The next morning Rand aDpeared ln church in clerical garb. The strick- en clergyman, his white head bowed on his hand as he leaned on the arm of hls chair, never looked up, after pre- senting Rand as Rev. Dr. Carleton smith of Chicago, who would read the morning lesson"
 From my seat in the first pew, per maps 70 feet from the exact spot where the speaker was standing, I could ob- serve every movement that both he and Rand might make.
 It was fully 15 minutes before any. thing unusual occurred.
 Suddenly the old clergyman's voice LOOK on a momentarily rasping note an lnarticulate cry of agony and des. peration! He went on speaking me. chanlcally, with his eyes closed. Rand sat motionless, but with the manner of a tiger about to spring. He was lis. tenlng, and l could tell from his face that he also was hearing what was beating in Dr. COleman's ears-the rolling anthem of the unseen singers.
 As for me, 1 could not catch the faintest sound beyond a low, confused murmur. Rand removed the micro. phone, which he always carried for magnifying sounds, once or twice after few seconds, then quietly drew some sheets, apparently a small set oi notes, from his pocket, found some. thing, folded the pages, and instantly was lost in the most profound thought. Dr. Coleman was staggering, struggling through his address. l stood ready to rush to catch him should he reel and fall forward from the pulpit. There were evident signs of deep concern for him in the congregation. Perhaps it was only two minutes, but it seemed an hour that this situation held.
 Then Rand, rising unobtrusively, reached forward and turned off the desk light. A moment later look of relief came over the old clergyman's face. He opened his eyes, paused a moment, as if to steady himself, then went on again. and waited perhaps 50 seconds. l knew from the hand to his ear that he was still listening. Then he turned on the light once moro and again listened. He next said something in low voice to Dr. Cole man, and, settling back comfortably. folded his arms and listened to the sermon at his ease. He had solved the mystery.
 How l endured the half-hour till Rand and I were walking down the avenue, arm in arm, with the happy old clergyman, I do not know. Dr. Coleman and he had already had some explanatory words together, for the first thing l heard was:
 But, my dear Mr Rand, how did you make so wonderful a discovery? I can hardly realize it is a mystery no longer,
 Tt was really very simple, after all Dr. Coleman" replied Rand. Through the Callahan men I col lected in advance, among other things, the musical programs from every church on Manhattan island. By my microphone l discerned that it was Pfeister's Ave Maria that was being sung somewhere this morning, it's echoes apparently audible to your ears alone. From my indexed notes l found that the only church where this number was being sung was the Church of the Revelation, on the West side, mile away, distance far too great, of course, for the natural conveyance of sound. Instantly, how ever, it flashed over me that this was one of the old churches in which l had learned the old sounding-boards of the Teleautic Company had been placed. Here were the same music and the same sounding boardS-bu no wiring had been put in. I looked at the base of the sounding-board beside me. No wiring was there now! Yet there must be a connection. There must be wires-wireless reproduction being eminently absurd. AS l sat absorbed in thought l raised my eyes and chanced to see that the electric wires to the desk light ran over the top of the sounding board. One chance in a million of chance connection by the electric lighting company! Rising, l turned off the light as you may re- member, and the music ceased to be audible l turned the light on, and the Ave Maria could be heard to a close. You were alone in hearing the faint sound-waves so clearly, because your ears were in the exact focus of the radii of the sounding-board. l no ticed yesterday that the other church services began at 11:15, and l will guarantee, without visiting the audi torium of the Church of the Revela- tion, that the other board is so placed that the choir sings directly into it. If you were in the habit of keeping your desk light burning all through the service, and if you stood just where you preach, you would hear the other sermon and all the rest of