﻿PREHISTORIC 
  TELEPHONE 
  DAYS 
  

  

  227 
  

  

  tion 
  and 
  was 
  responsi- 
  

   ble 
  for 
  my 
  early 
  bent 
  

   toward 
  scientific 
  pur- 
  

   suits. 
  

  

  LIFE 
  WITH 
  MY 
  GRAND- 
  

   FATHER 
  

  

  However 
  much 
  I 
  

   may 
  have 
  excelled 
  in 
  

   these 
  exceptional 
  pur- 
  

   suits, 
  my 
  grandfather 
  

   made 
  me 
  speedily 
  real- 
  

   ize 
  that 
  I 
  was 
  grossly 
  

   ignorant 
  of 
  the 
  ordi- 
  

   nary 
  subjects 
  of 
  study 
  

   that 
  every 
  school-boy 
  

   should 
  know. 
  He 
  

   made 
  me 
  ashamed 
  of 
  

   this 
  ignorance 
  and 
  

   aroused 
  in 
  me 
  the 
  am- 
  

   bition 
  to 
  remedy 
  my 
  

   defects 
  of 
  education 
  

   by 
  personal 
  study. 
  He 
  

   helped 
  me 
  to 
  map 
  out 
  

   my 
  time 
  and 
  devote 
  

   certain 
  hours 
  to 
  the 
  

   ordinary 
  school 
  sub- 
  

   jects. 
  He 
  also 
  gave 
  

   me 
  personal 
  lessons 
  in 
  

   elocution 
  and 
  English 
  

   literature. 
  

  

  My 
  grandfather 
  was 
  

   well 
  known 
  as 
  a 
  Shake- 
  

   spearean 
  scholar 
  and 
  a 
  

   public 
  reader 
  of 
  Shake- 
  

   speare's 
  plays; 
  so. 
  of 
  

   course. 
  I 
  had 
  to 
  make 
  

   myself 
  familiar 
  with 
  

   the 
  plays 
  of 
  Shake- 
  

   speare 
  and 
  commit 
  to 
  

   memory 
  lone 
  passages 
  

  

  MELVILLE 
  BELL 
  (BROTHER 
  OF 
  ALEXANDER 
  GRAHAM 
  BELL) 
  

  

  Colaborer 
  in 
  the 
  con 
  

   joint 
  trainer 
  of 
  

  

  from 
  

  

  Caesar, 
  

  

  "Hamlet," 
  

   and 
  "The 
  

  

  "Macbeth." 
  "Julius 
  

   Merchant 
  of 
  Venice." 
  

  

  He 
  also 
  gave 
  me 
  instruction 
  in 
  the 
  

   mechanism 
  of 
  speech 
  and 
  permitted 
  me 
  to 
  

   be 
  present 
  at 
  the 
  instruction 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  

   his 
  pupils, 
  so 
  that 
  I 
  might 
  observe 
  for 
  

   myself 
  his 
  methods 
  of 
  correcting 
  defect- 
  

   ive 
  utterance. 
  

  

  This 
  year 
  with 
  my 
  grandfather 
  con- 
  

   verted 
  me 
  from 
  an 
  ignorant 
  and 
  careless 
  

   boy 
  into 
  a 
  rather 
  studious 
  youth, 
  anxious 
  

   to 
  improve 
  his 
  educational 
  standing 
  by 
  

   his 
  own 
  exertions 
  and 
  fit 
  himself 
  for 
  col- 
  

   lege. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  found 
  it 
  necessary 
  to 
  allude 
  to 
  

   my 
  grandfather, 
  and 
  to 
  his 
  work 
  in 
  cor- 
  

  

  struction 
  of 
  the 
  automaton 
  speaking-machine 
  and 
  

   the 
  '"talking 
  dog" 
  (see 
  text, 
  pages 
  235-239). 
  

  

  recting 
  defective 
  utterance, 
  not 
  only 
  on 
  

   account 
  of 
  the 
  influence 
  he 
  exerted 
  upon 
  

   my 
  own 
  life, 
  but 
  because 
  the 
  profession 
  

   he 
  founded 
  became 
  in 
  process 
  of 
  time 
  a 
  

   family 
  profession, 
  which 
  was 
  handed 
  

   down 
  to 
  his 
  children 
  and 
  grandchildren. 
  

   His 
  two 
  sons, 
  for 
  example, 
  followed 
  it. 
  

  

  His 
  oldest 
  son, 
  David 
  Charles 
  Bell, 
  of 
  

   Dublin. 
  Ireland 
  (181 
  7- 
  1902), 
  was 
  an 
  

   elocutionist 
  and 
  corrector 
  of 
  defective 
  

   utterance. 
  He 
  was 
  the 
  father, 
  by 
  the 
  

   way. 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Charles 
  J. 
  Bell, 
  of 
  Washing- 
  

   ton. 
  President 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  Security 
  

   & 
  Trust 
  Co. 
  

  

  His 
  other 
  son, 
  my 
  father, 
  Alexander 
  

   Melville 
  Bell, 
  of 
  Edinburgh, 
  Scotland 
  

   (181 
  9- 
  1 
  905), 
  was 
  also 
  an 
  elocutionist 
  and 
  

  

  