Evening star., 1924-12-26
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

| yes. this is mo. Who is this?
Hello. yes. Who is this? What? Oh,
I really haven't time. Somewhat
Somewhat. Who's this? Aw, tell me!
Who's this? ] haven't got time.
asked you If you were Mr.. Smith.
Not? Who Is It, then? Huh? What?
Who? What's that? OH"
Bang!
The receiver smashed back on the
hook put an end to this actual tele-
phone conversation, or at least so
/ much of one end of it as ] was privi-
/ legged to hear.
/ Shamelessly I jotted the sentences
down as the fair damsel uttered them.
What the young man at the other end
! of the line said could only be con1ec-
| tured from the line" of talk given
| above.
Do you remember when you went
on like that over the telephone2 How
you stood at the phone by the hour.
participating in a perfect stream of
chatter which seemed to be In fair
| way to have no ending, even as 1t
! seemed to have had no beginning?
| Perhaps It was that afternoon you
| called up the beautiful Miss Jones to
ask her If she would not honor you
| with her company to the dance to be
! given that evening by your fraternity.
Now, Miss Jones knew as well as
! you did that, according to the ethics
of the thing, you were lamentably
| late, nay, criminally so, in inviting
her to that dance.
She was well aware-and so were
you-that you already had asked
| several fair ladies, each fair one in
turn having turned you down, or for
some other reason having been un-
able to accept your kind invitation.
Perhaps that was why Miss Jones
| and you found it so necessary to talk
over the telephone from 1890 to $3.50
pm. going over and over the same
ground time and time again, with va
rious infections of the voice used to
, bring out the precise meanings. 1t
| was very important matter.
Looking back upon it now, you
wonder what on earth you managed
| to say then to be able to stand at one
end of telephone line and keep up
continuous fire of chatter for three
solid hours.
You have learned economy of words
since then. If you had 1t to do over
minutes: Hello. Miss Jones-will you
so to the dance with me tonight
| well, see you at 8. Goodbye"
Wonder rful old days, when you took
an hour to tell your best girl good
night!
x \ \ =
Me and the Boy Friend is the title
Of catchy popular song that gives a
picture of nice little fiapper who talks
very ungrammatically, but delicious
ly, and who, no doubt of it, would
say, Yes, this is me-" over the tele-
phone, in defiance of all the purists.
After all, that is one fine thing
about the telephone. 1t does not cor
rect our grammar, or stop to call us
down when we happen to make some
pet mistake that it happens to know
about.
The telephone merely transmits
what is put into 1t. 1t takes IT in at
one end and sends 1t out at the oher.
In between are scores Of men and
women who handle the mechanical
end of this marvel which we accept
so complacently. Behind all are the
brains of men living and dead, the in
ventors, electricians, engineers,
hands" and business men who made
and make the telephone q possibility.
We accept all this as q matter of
course, which is as It should be; for
this is an age of marvels, what with
the airplane, radio, phonograph and
many other wonderful discoveries.
Yet, when we stop to think about it.
the far-fung telephone still holds its
place among the wonders of our age.