The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1912-04-23

The way in which we have come
to look at the conyeniences and luxus
RES 81 modern clYIltzations As absolute
matt f-fact necessities Is rather, en-
amusing and startling thlng, Is yon
win stop to think about It
The other day, in an office building
where 4 occasionally hare business l
found the elevator out Of order. Word
came that the lift would not be run
ming again for tltteen otswenty min
utes, and yet a constantly increasing
group OF people stood at thetbotto7n
waiting for it, Apparently The ldea
that they might ascend to their offices
by way of the stairs did not even occur
10 some Of these people. The elevator
-an invention which has not been IN
common use over SO years-had be
come such an integral part Of their
existences that when che lift stopped
running they were quite at loss how
to get upstairs.
Because Of q leak in the water main,
the water was turned of in our street
during the daytime for several sue
cessive days recently, and such upset
and dlsgruntled households you never
saw. To be sure, We were, lyerl warn
Ing each morning in time to jill up
pitchers and other vessels with q days
supply OF water, but despite thai, 9the
empty faucets were a constant thorn
in the flesh. 1t seemed almost impos
@sible to get 1t. through out heads that
| We deotiid not have the customary sup
ply Of water at our service bSsa l:Sist
Sof the hand. A dozen times a day we
tutned the faucets, and then stood bse
iGleinl, ,geng, repenbering that our
Fshouldibe magic Touch wag no longer
potent. The foreman Of the gang who
was working on the leak was continu-
ally .beseeched ito tell when the work
would be done, and an almostqPstpa'
BILE peace settled upon our househS lds
when the siege was over. I'VE GER
Itainly viii remember how much hay.
ing, running water means, afterstllis,
we said. And We did-for a day or
two. aaas :
At several Of the informal little gath
erings which constitute the chief so
lcial intercourse Of a certain group,
one young girl was missed$ why
isn't Gretchen here?rr asked someone
iashe hasn't been with us at all lately
WELL confessed the hostess, 4
lust got this up on the spur ofthe mo.
smerlt, and she hasn't a Telephone and
Iso I couldn't get her. Twas la%fHlly
sorry" !;
why that's just the way i was with
me- cried the girl who had been the
hostess OF the last gathering.
land me. too" contributed apother,
hostess. !:
why didn't you write her note?
asked someone:
Goodness me. said the first girl,
a almost never do that. Writing a
note seems like a terrible task to. ms
nowadays. Besidesi you cant get AflIl
answer until thesnext day. pppse
| would have had time Ger that but
I'VE just gotten out of the habit. We
usually reach Gretchen through hei
auat's telephone, but her aunt has
been away these last few weeks.
Suppose telephones should iHs some
unimaginable way, be SWEEP, isht OF g..
.of existence. Can you plgtpre life
without them9
And yet they say thai as great q
civilization as ours persisted in the
darkness Of tile middle ages, and ;t that
thousands Of years ago in asss.Tta
many OF the wonderful contrfsaa ces
which we call modern, were common.
They. prophecy wonderful things for
the year 1000. What viii ssls year
SOQQ5hring ps?!: -