1044 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 26, 1022 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
The First Telephone 
Part II. 
Bell at that time was a successful 
teacher of deaf mutes. lie was au elo- 
••utionist and his study of voice culture 
and defects of language had no doubt 
given him the idea of a telephone, or 
‘ talking wire,” The publishers turned 
that short line to Cambridge over to him. 
He seemed to be regarded by most Bos¬ 
ton people as a “Crank” with some wild 
scheme which was not only impracticable 
but which could not be popularized even 
if it would work. Of course I was a 
mere boy at the time, but I can distinctly 
remember hearing the men who came to 
tlm store laughing at Bell's wild scheme. 
Well, he came and tinkered with that 
wire and attached a strange looking de¬ 
vice to it. It was not at all like the 
modern telephone, but a big, crude affair. 
1 remember what seemed to be a large 
wire running from it down into a big 
bottle of some liquid. And for some days 
Bell would come and try to talk with 
Cambridge. About all he seemed to say 
was: 
“Hoy! Hoy! Hoy! Can you under¬ 
stand me!” 
It came to be a standing joke with 
the boys at the office when people were 
slow and dull about getting the meaning 
of a word to call out “Hoy! Hoy!” And 
through it Bell went about with a serene 
face, smiling through those “Burnsides” 
like a man so sure of himself that there 
was nothing else to be thought of. And 
at last, after much tinkering, he actually 
got a message through. Then there came 
a day when a group of "big men” came 
to witness a demonstration, I was not a 
big man—only a little boy, and perhaps 
for that reason T was permitted to stay 
and see it. and I got close up to the tele¬ 
phone. near Bell. Well, he "called up” 
Cambridge and banded the earpiece over 
to one of these big men. There came a 
few words fairly clear and distinct, and 
then the thing suddenly went dead. It. 
would not work. There was only a jum¬ 
ble of discordant sound on the wire. I 
remember how that big man put the re¬ 
ceiver down with a laugh and turned to 
Bell as he moved away. 
“Bell, ir isn’t even a good toy. It 
won’t work. You can’t make it work. 
I'll write a letter, give it to this hoy. let 
him walk to Cambridge, wait for the 
answer, walk back with it, and get here 
long before that thing of yours can do it. 
A man in an ox team can beat your tele¬ 
phone for speed!” 
He meant it. too, and he was a man 
whose judgment would he taken by most 
people in Boston. As I write this I put 
down my pen and try to consider what 
life must have been to farmers at that 
time, when such a man was willing to 
back me for speed against a telephone 
message! I have not slowed up so much, 
but the telephone has put on speed. 
Everyone laughed, and Bell smiled with 
them. It was a contented, superior smile, 
from a man with the vision to look far 
beyond their limited view. And T can re¬ 
member what lie said—spoken without 
feeling or annoyance, hut with that power 
of conviction which comes to those of sub¬ 
lime faith : 
“T will make it work, I know what 
the trouble is. and it will bo overcome. 
Twenty years from now this boy will be 
able to stand where he does now and 
hear words spoken in an ordinary tone of 
voice anywhere in Now England. This 
wire will do his work of errand running 
far better than he can. and give him a 
chnnee at hotter things.” 
And then they separated—Bell smiling 
and confident as ever. Tie was an amia¬ 
ble man—a friend of humanity in the 
finest sense of the word. The scene is 
very clear in my mind, although of course 
1 cannot remember their exact words. 
The thing I did remembov was that no 
man ever gets far along the road unless 
lie has faith in his work and in himself. 
If be is to believe all that people tell him 
and accept all their discouragements at 
par he might ns well quit at once and 
get out of the race. Bell had that faith 
which may actually move mountains. Not 
all the New England inventors were as 
firm and solid in their faith. I was 
brought up by the man who invented the 
cast-iron sink. Up to his day sinks were 
mere wooden boxes, mostly rotten and 
leaking. This man made a cast-iron box 
to fit into the sink. He took it to the 
Mechanics’ Fair in Boston. A brighter 
man saw the value of it. and be went out 
and bought some plates and cups. lie 
called a crowd together, and before their 
eves dropped this crockery upon the iron 
sink. Of course there was a smash—- 
and no one would buy such a dangerous 
thing. The inventor was so discouraged 
that he gave up in disgust and went 
home. The other man pushed the sink 
business and made a fortune. 
* * * * * 
At any rate there is no question about 
the struggle Bell had in his efforts to 
start the “talking wire.” Many years 
later he stood not far from that same 
spot in Boston and talked clearly with a 
man in San Francisco. I wonder what 
was in his mind at that moment. At the 
time T saw him struggling with that short 
line I am surp he had a very limited idea 
of the possibilities of his invention. While 
lie spoke of hearing the spoken word from 
any part of New England, I think he 
considered that as about the limit of 
possibility at that time, and it was so far 
beyond t tie comprehension of those who 
listened to him that it seemed absurd. 
And now comes this “wireless," with even 
greater possibilities. It seems to me 
sometimes remarkable that older people 
should grow conservative with their years 
and cry out at the dreams of youth. For 
older people have seen many of these 
wonders grow from the very germ of a 
beginning. Therefore they should be the 
ones to have all sorts of faith in new 
plans and new methods. Strange as it 
may seem, they give vision and hope over 
to youth, and are more likely to find fault 
when their boys and girls accept the 
future as a sure and shining period in 
which most of our childish habits and in¬ 
stitutions are to be turned into “back 
numbers." As for me. having seen the 
telephone* the gasoline engine, the Hying 
machine and a dozen other marvelous 
creations arise from nothing. I can be¬ 
lieve anything of the future. One for¬ 
tunate thing about the telephone, as I 
see it. is that the use of this instrument 
grew slowly upon the people. They had 
time to grow into the change. It was not 
thrust violently upon them. The danger 
in the mighty changes that are coming, 
as I see if. is that habits of living and 
methods of doing the common things of 
life may come faster than education or 
the power to control these mighty forces 
which science and invention are constant¬ 
ly turning loose. No matter what indus¬ 
trial or social changes may be thrust 
upon us. a republic like our must always 
have for its foundation certain funda¬ 
mental principles and ideals. And there 
must always be some conservative and 
thoughtful class capable of accepting 
these mighty changes without letting go 
of the old standards. 
$ * * e * 
And I think the country—the farms— 
must supply this class of people. I think 
it is true that the telephone, the car and 
similar inventions have through their 
general use helped to develop the city at 
the expense of the country. This lias 
come to such a pass that in some of our 
great cities barely four or five per cent 
of the people owu their homes. Millious 
are destined to go through life with never 
the power to put their foot on a piece of 
land and say: ‘This is mine: I am a 
freeholder.” In New York it is said that 
thousands of families are forced to pay 
TO per cent, or even more, of till their in¬ 
come for rent alone. With them life is one 
long agonizing strain to procure food and 
clothing and barely keep above water. 
With such stimnindiugs and such a life 
rhe average city man cannot be inde¬ 
pendent or broad-minded. The dominant 
and mastering thought in his mind in fear 
—fear for old age and disability. It can 
hardly be said that the invention of the 
telephone or of similar devices has made it 
any easier for this class of city people to 
make a living or to secure a competence. 
It has been a convenience to most of ns. 
but the financial benefits have gone 
mostly to those who caw control a busi¬ 
ness and not to tin- underlings. The 
finest thing that could happen to tlis 
country would be the breaking up of such 
great cities as New York and scattering 
their business and population throughout 
the rural districts, creating cities and 
towns of moderate size hack at the water 
powers or closer to the food. I would 
like to break up Broadway and make 100 
or more Main Streets out of it. For 
history has no record of any nation which 
has long endured after it became top- 
heavy with city life—drawn in from the 
country. Whenever a nation becomes 
morally sick there is only one suitable 
nurse for it—rhe calm and satisfying life 
of the country. There is only one sure 
hospital—the farm home. H. w. c. 
Hog Bristles as a Fertilizer 
Will you advise me how to use hog 
bristles as a fertilizer? In manufactur¬ 
ing brushes we clip the flagged end of 
the bristles, and this waste accumulates 
quite rapidly. ti. h. k. 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
It might be feasible to grind the bris¬ 
tles to a fine meal, and in that case a 
material would be obtained which could 
be directly used with fairly satisfactory 
results. The bristles might be composted 
with manure, and in the course of the 
year they would thus be sufficiently 
changed to allow fairly rapid decompo¬ 
sition when added to the soil. They 
might also, as you suggest, he mixed with 
ground phosphate rock and inoculated 
sulphur and composted during the Sum¬ 
mer. In that ease both soluble phos¬ 
phate and soluble nitrogen would he ob¬ 
tained. Under practical conditions a 
mixture of ground phosphate rock and 
inoculated sulphur in the proportion of 
fiuir parts of the former and one part of 
the latter might be mixed with two to 
three part of bristles and then broad¬ 
cast over a small piece of land. This 
could then be cultivated iust as n garden 
is cultivated, let us say once a week or 
once in 10 days during the Summer. At 
the end of eight or 10 weeks the top soil 
would then represent a good fertilizer 
containing available phosphate and avail¬ 
able nitrogen. It could be put Under a 
shed and in the following Spring used as 
other fertilizers are used. It would be 
necessary, of course, to screen the soil in 
order to make certain that it will pass 
through ordinary fertilizer distributing 
machinery. jacot? g. lipman. 
New Jersey Experiment Station. 
No heat with 
this summer meal 
\ DISH of crisp, delicious Grape-Nuts, 
with cream or milk (some berries or 
fresh fruit, too, if you like) is cooling to 
serve, cooling to eat and cooling to digest 
—with a charm of flavor and goodness that 
rouses appetite enthusiasm. No prepara¬ 
tion, no cooking—no heating of the body 
afterward, as heavy, starchy meals do— 
but well-rounded nourishment for every 
bodily need. 
There’s a noticeable feeling of lightness 
and comfort after such a meal. 
Try this way out of the heat, bother and 
uncertainty that usually goes with the mid¬ 
summer food problem. 
Order Grape-Nuts 
from your grocer today 
"There’s a Reason” 
Made by Postum Cereal Company, Inc., Battle Creek, Mich. 
Olcott Corn Slicers 
and Corn Creamers 
Cut Short the Slicing .—* 
Creaming•—Canning Tas fas 
Corn off the cob us fast ns cars can be 
husked 1 — how that helps in preparing 
Corn Dishes or corn for canning 1 The 
Olcott Corn Sliccr removes nil of the 
kernel and a part or oil of the hull, as 
desired. Outstrips the old kitchen 
knife as a mowing machine beu s a 
Bcythel Its sister tool, the Corn 
CREAMER, takes off only the cream 
of the corn; leaves the hulls on the cob. 
Either tool, 25c. 
Buy at your hardware dealer ’» 
or tend money or stamps to the 
maker (portage prepaid ). 
Wilier Olcott 
AVANUFACTL'RliR ~ 
South Manchester, Conn, 
PATCHES lor Patchwork ter for house¬ 
hold liacknge. f’nlicoes, Percales, Ginghnms, etc. Other 
hsrgalus. TEXTILE ^Tlli:i>. Isi 301*. Tileivilla. Ctns- 
SAVE All Your Grain 
Dou't wait lor the custom thresher. Do your 
threshing when the grain is right ami get the 
full return from your labor. 
The Ellis Champion Thresher and Cleaner 
equipped with sell feeder and wind stacker .makes 
the iueui small outfit- 
If you have only a very little threshing to do. or small 
power, we can supply you w ith a machine w ithout 
self feeder or wind stacker ami at % price that 
will make your piiroliasH a real investment. 
Just *lv« us th* *l<» of jour .nalne »n<l the .mount of grain 
usually rmin.il .uti w.'il .iihmii a proposition on . iimetiin. 
that will t>« just tlio one for your work. 
ELLIS KEYSTONE AGRICULTURAL WORKS 
Pottstown - Pennsylvania 
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USEFUL FARM BOOKS 
Fertilizers and Crop, Van Slyke. .. .$3.25 
Feeding Farm Animals. Bull. 2.60 
Milk Testing, Publow.90 
Butter Making, Hublow. 90 
Manual of Milk Products, Stocking. 3.00 
Book of Cheese. Thom and Fisk.... 2.40 
Successful Fruit Culture, Maynard. 1.75 
Pruning Manual, Bailey. 3.25 
American Apple Orchard. Waugh.. 1.75 
American Peach Orchard. Waugh.. 1.75 
Vegetable Garden. Watts. 2.50 
Vegetable Forcing, Watts. 2.50 
Edmonds’ Poultry Account Rook... TOO 
Poultry. Richardson. 1.50 
Turkey Book, Lamou. 1.75 
For sale by 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 W. 30th St. New York City 
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