The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1910-11-03
PARCELS SENT BY
TELEPHONE
MacNally's Invention
For Woodsmen
Boy Banished to Woods For Health
Makes Himself Useful.

II WAS DchiiC "oNANaAa' AtN
In the Skowhegan High school. He
had begun to work harder than ever.
He was trying to win the Senior prize
which was given during the last half
Of the year to the Senior who had the
best article in English.
One night during the latter part Of
October after Bonnie had come home
from his school, he was suddenly TAX
en- Ill. The doctor told him that he
could not go to school any more that
year and to save his life he must go
into the Maine woods.
Bonnie received the words of his
physician with courage, but yet he
was very sorrowful. He hated to
give up his school. it being his last
year and the future looked so bright
before him. He had planned after
graduation to go to a school of tech
nology as he wanted to be an inventor.
One week from the time he was
taken down sick, Bonnie had recov-
cred sufficiently from his attack of
sickness SO that he started to go far
into the Maine woods. He was to go
ten miles from any settlement and
about one hundred miles from his
home. His father had made arrange
ments with a lumberman for him to
stay in the woods with him, but have
a camp by himself.
For several days after young Mac
Nally had reached the woods he was
homesick. but he finally got acquaintr
ed with the lumbermen and after two
weeks felt quite at home. He had
begun to keep the books for the lum-
herman and with this work his mind
was more occupied. He had to tramp
through the woods on snow shoes a
number of miles each day. This
made him hearty and when
night came, and he came in to
his supper he could always eat the
baked beans and hot biscuit and go
to bed and sleep soundly through the
night. He had begun to gain after a
short time, and felt more like himself
IiC idu DC6 uu W Dc d eat utiD W
the lumbermen and they were always
glad to have him around.
After being in the woods about
three weeks Bonnie began to notice
how inconvenient it was to get the
necessaries into the camp. There
might come a big snowstorm one day
and 1t would be several days before
they could get out through the tote
road to the settlement. Bonnie be-
gan to think how he might help these
poor hard working men out and keep
them provided with their little wants
There was telephone line that ran
from the camps to the settlement but
1t did not serve much purpose as it
was seldom that any one cared to
talk to any one at the other end. But
Bonnie thought that there might be
some way that he could bring that
line into use, 80 that he could send
parcels over it. He sat up nearly all
one night thinking how he might do
1t, when suddenly it came into his
mind that he could do 1t and do 1t
easily. He went to his trunk, dug out
two dry cell batteries that he had and
a motor that he had used to expert
ment on and looked at them hard and
steady for about ten minutes. Then
he began to work. He was up early
the next morning and taking his snow
shoes started out along the tote road
following the line. He went to
camp where he knew there was
man who had worked for telephone
company the summer before and
hired him to work for him that day.
The next morning our friend MacNally
was out early trying his scheme with
his fellow five miles away. He first
sent a potato that weighed about
eight ounces. He had made arrange
ments that II 1t reached this fellow,
the man should take the potato
from the carrier and send back some
thing weighing equally as much.
Twenty minutes elapsed and Bonnie
waited anxiously. He soon heard the
telephone wire sounding and soon he
saw his parcel carrier coming along
the line with small paper bag of
beans. He was delighted His scheme
had worked. 1t had proved practical
In the distance Of five miles 1t had
worked all right and he figured that
there was no doubt but that 1t would
work the other five to the settlement
He told the foreman of the lumber
camp what he had done. He would not
believe the young man at first but after
Bennie had taken him and shown
him. the foreman let Bonnie have five
OF his men that day to go the other
five miles and complete the plan. 1t
took them nearly all day. 1t had
been arranged between Bonnie and
the foreman when the line was ready
to work from the settlement, that
Bonnie should telephone to the camp,
and the foreman should start the car
rier with something In it weighing
about half pound. In an hour
after Bonnie had telephoned that ev-
erything was ready, there came over
the wire the parcel carrier with four
onions in 1t. Whether or not the
onions made Bonnie weep or the joys
of seeing his plan working does not
make much difference. He, neverthe-
less, wept.
Now 1t was up to the young man to
put the parcel carrier to serviceable
use. He telephoned the foreman and
asked him what he wanted. Back came
the word to send pound Of butter
Bonnie put this in the parcel carrier,
then sent 1t going over the line. He
waited expectantly for an hour. He
he'd almost given up the thought that
1t had reached there. but soon the tel