El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-05-26
A Mystery Unveiled


M the telegraph service was ex-
ceedingIy primitive and limit
ed. Most lines consisted Of only one
single wire which weighed about SOS
pounds. an English mile and which was
a good deal thicker than a lead pencil.
There were no insulators and the wires
were strung on rough teakwOOd poles
resting in a shallow crack at the top
of the poles which were put up in the
most haphazard manner so that the
wire very often nearly touched the
ground No apparatus was known
with which to locate where wires
might be broken so when connection
could not be established between two
stations men had to be sent out from
each end to discover the location OF
the break
once when I arrived at Mercara
from COnnamOre. where expected 10
get well earned rest before gong on
to Mysore was unpleasanIly SUR
prised BY the infOrma ton / received
from the operator
che connection to lIysore has been
broken off for several days, he said,
but only between three and five In the
afternoon I can't imagine what the
reason is
NO, sir. I did not send him out be-
cause. I knew you would be here very
soon"
Tell the runner 70 De Le14L 4lLE-e-
dfately and let me know the moment
the connection is broken off next
time"
A little after three that very after
noon the connection with Mysore was
broken orr and It was not until
few minutes before five that it was
established again
What is the matter2' was my first
question to AlysOre-
Every thing is in order in MysOre,
sir" came the answer
Il shall send the runner from here
early tomorrow morning send your
man out at the same time / ordered
j then had a talk with the runner
and the next morning he left with
six armed men
During the next five days c0nnec-
ton was broken off every day at the
same time The sixth day the runner
returned with his report he had fol-
lowed the wire and found everything
. in order He net the man rom NY
sore about half way who said he had
found nothing wrong
NeVerth eless, we could not set Ny
sore on the wire a single afternoon
between g and O'Clock I decided TO
take a hand myself and started the
next day at dawn accompanied BY
score of coolies Ny morse the camp
equipment and my servants sent
along the road to a village about five
miles ahead and told them TO have
lunch ready for me there.
1t was u o'clock and while my men
were cooking their dinner / sent for
the principal man of the village TO
see If he. might suggest any cause Of
and I began to question him
i am a poor old man., ne said
who never goes into the jungle. so
know nothing, but i shan send YOU
Nuniah. the lumberman- who NAV per-
haps be able TO tell you something
About IS minutes laCer Nun1ah
came / explained everything to him
and then I asked him If he knew what
might be the cause.
I Go, your eXcellency,' he replied
Then ten me,e said
Il VIII ten YOU, when Z am paid for
il. The British government is rich
enough and I am q poor man. If your
eZcellency VIII give me 20 rupees L
promise to show you what is the mat
ter with your wire You may shoot
me If I don't"
8 accepted his conditions. and he
said: But only your excellency and
one man may come with me and you
must permit yourself to be absolutely
guided by me. We leave when the
sun reaches the top Of those trees
How far must we Walk
About two miles"
I figured out that this would get
US TO the place about o'clock so i
felt convinced the man was right
About half past one we started and
after a while Nuniah asked me and
my servant who carried my rifle to
take off our shoes as the slightest
noise Of our steps would ruin every
thing. We walked cautiously for a
short distance and then hid ourselves
among some bushes in a place where
we could see quite stretch or the
wire Right in front OF Us was pole
and between this one and the next the
wire was barely seven feet from lne
ground
They have not some yet, whispered
what has not come yet27 7 asked.
Those who play with the wire
Your excenency must promise me not
shoot themI You fool. 7 have not
come to shoot people The law VIII
punish them and you VIII be called
as q witness
He smiled strangely
Il am willing to testify, # an
asked" he said
We do not have to wait long After
little while we heard the sound as
OF many children's voices and OF
branches being pushed aside A mo-
meut later half a dozen big monkeys
sign to somebody behind. The next
moment hundreds of monkeys came
rushing ont Of the woods
There they are your eUcellencys"
whispered Nunjah-
''The monkeys I exclaimed. What
can they dO-"
Wait a moment and YOU win Sc
Il did see The monkeys divided
themselves into two groups and each
group climbed up the poles and walked
along the wire until they met in the
middle Of it and their weight made
the wire touch the ground. Here was
the explanation OF the mystery.
looked at my watch and saw that il
was 10 minutes past three. Then L
rushed out and drove the monkeys
away. Nunjah now became ralkative
and told me that this crowd of
monkeys had come to this part Of the
jungle a short time ago, He had
watched them playing with the wire
about the same time every day. He
did not like TO shoot them because
he believed monkeys TO be gods
Next morning the poles were moved
and when I returned to Merc4ra i
was told that the connection had been
broken off from 10 TO II minutes past
three only