Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1916-12-28

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NWTEEN minutes Of twelvel
A brief quarter Of an hour later
and all the town bells would be
madly ringingj the factory whis-
fes would be footing; horns would
shrill raucously; the restless crowds
surgfh9 saimfessly through the streets
Awould faise voices In the hysterical
pendemoninrn that customarily wakes
the dying year into extinction.
aAThen,,r said Myrtle the telephone
hi 10 herself, "then my busy time
commences, Every lunatic in town
VIII begin trying to get his or her
friends on the wire to yell Happy
New earr-everybody will be want
Ing their numbers at once and all sore
because the telephone company hasn't
put In 5000 extra wires for their es-
peciai convenience tonight"
The metal Hoop with the receiver at
her ear had grown irksome and heavy
pn Myrtle's head. Her hand raised to
i dust it more comfortably just as
one Of the little white lights flashed on
before her.
aNnmber; please" (plugging the hole)
Grand 1854 s.. What did you
say L. Yes, ! know I have a sweet
voice. but my name don't happen to be
.Kiddo' There you are"
Just then another light flashed In
Myrtle's section.
Number please . Riverview 4197
Thank you -. What? 80. Oh,
beg your pardon -. ALL"
"Why don't you listen us you're paid
to dot" growled back n mans voice
soyer the His articulation was
thick, hoarse. Evidently he was labor
Ing under some tremendous. strain.
However It is not for the mere tele-
phone operator to resent, whatever her
Spfcvocatfon.
Y ssN4tIT shank you" said Myrtle In
the same pleasantly modulated tone as
y before and made the proper connec-
ton. But not even then being certain
that she had correctly understood the
mansss thick directions, she cut In on
the line to listen for a moment and SO
S~forestnil further complaints from him.
: with the receiver clalnped tight to
her she could hear the phone bell
buzzing family across the city-in a
house, Myrtle judged, BECAUSE the Riv-
erview, exchange lay in the aristocratic
n Y residential section. Buzz-Buzz-zz-z!
( Then came q woman's voice-soft,
sweetsand low.
"Hello -. Oh, is that you, Jim? l
had gotten quite anxious about you. ]
expected you home to dinner tonight.
You promised, you know. -. And
sSnookums' was 9 disappointed when
sashad to tuck him in bed without kiss
ing his papa good night. He was so
excited by all the noise on the streets
and kept asking me If his bad daddy
wouldn't come home early to him on
New Years eve. II really think you
might have, Jim, because"
sOh, / know! l know!" interrupted
the mans voice impatiently, although
he, evidently was making a strong ef-
fort to conceal his distraught condition
from her. Business detained me at
the Office later than / anticipated, Ed.
ma, md afterwards afterwards
Hurry Forbes dropped in and we went
0utefor a bitesto eat together"
but you'll be home right away now,
! wont you, dear?" pleaded the woman's
I gnteel coaxingly. "Please don't stay
my Iater. I've promised 'Snookums
3 9hSt youll be home to wish him a Hap
I ~ New Year while the whistles are
still. blowing"
II can't possibly make 1t now
there's a big deal we're talking OYER
.sJimn--reproachfully II thought
you assured me you never would dab
BILE In the market again after that last
time when you rlsked oil we had in the
world simply on the chance of making
a few dollars without really earning
IT.
Edna, IL"
':Jirn, your very voice sounds queer
~. Nothing has gone wrong at the of
flee there today, has there, dear?"
"No ... No, nothing" came thu
mans voice YEARLY, soothingly. "Don'
worry now -. No use any more. Elk
cuse me if I spoke sharply, little girl
I'm tired o%ut-that's all -. Yes, yei
/. Good-by, dearest one"
Ss3The receiver clicked sharply and thu
listening Myrtle experienced a sense 0.
physical relief, the exact reason fol
(which she. would have been at a los'
4 to explain. How strangely the maj
had intoned his good-bye-almost al
II be never, expected to be able to 50!
1t again to the wife he loved. It wa
/ as If
eyes. number please Oh"
It was the voice of the same MAJ
speaking Grossly over the wire.
acct me Grant .6212-quickl" h
crowded. .T'm In q hurry"
she plugged the proper hole con
Meeting him and listened for a mo
ment.
.sHelloi Grant 82123 the Morgue
Well, this sis James r. Thornton talk
ing. Yes, JAMES Thornton Of J
+. Thornton, Inc. I'm about to com
init suicide In my office ut 147S Stoc
" I,~nt,cr r. vo,,1l rond vOu