BURDENS OF CIVILISATION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 154, 24 March 1908, Page 3

BURDENS OF CIVILISATION.

THE TELEPHONE. ...■'" Groat, as has been tho havoc wrought,, in. civilised domestic iifo by tho advent of the . 'door-bell, it does. irf>t compare v.'it|i the 'ruin of. peace' and calm worked by the 'telephdrie. Tho shrill sound', of. its bell breaks into the silence of the earliest moriiing hours; it calls 'the'mother.: tho father, tho eldest son; or 'the .infant < from.' the Jbroa'kfast; table; ,it ..checks 'tho. guest , in lii's telling'.'.of - his best , dinner-table story ;\ it calls the cook; 'away from a consultation with her mistress;- it' the husband froin . tho fireside,. andyfills . His only-free evening at- homo with ihusincss ■ problems ;'and' suggestions. ' ■ It • makes -05.gagements'. we don't, want -to keep; it asks -for information.:wo don't want to give; : it' . loads.;.us .with new'• •responsibilities'^.*iit annihilates space,.'and gives us, a hundred next-, door- neighbours; - Our; best -friend .or" .our worst -enemy can, with..tho. exercisp- -of. .'a -.little • ingenuity, chain us-, to fchoy-telephono ..for a. day,- If .our .dentist so.'.commands, wo . daro .not stray from the, reach .of his voice. Tho wisest man is lie who refuses: to have a . telephone in -his hoinotho; mosti.heartless ,is ho ; whp,,,hayingia'.telephone,;.deliberately! takes the'receiver'olf. tho hook. : and; leaves ■it' off foi; hours/ But whilo* wo .admiro. : ,tho Jmanv.wha dares,; : bo..telephonelcss,' how, .jvo aimso him. v.'hen we want ,to ring\ ui> -his family, ■ never considering that if;that is. one Jiome-.wo cannot .'ring up'it is o;ie home that' 'cannot ring .us ..up.. Thbro was- a--period- of ..exultation' and pride .'in tho possession'' bf' : a' telephone'.-. .That has* long since, gone; 1 and; ■ thoughf-we now 'deliberately' -buy., ourselves into slavery, wo'. acknowledge' tho' pressure .of 'the yoke, and' daily ■ complain . "of 'its'weight. • ..' * 1 • ■"■ ; A Then, though- not often, so considered, the telephono is- a .-real-bar to social intercourse, and-especially is. this the case in the-smaller' -towns. - There, was. 0110 homo I-used to visit ..whose was tho casual (Callingof'delightful, friends-and relations; At any . hour oi thc day or'"evening th'fey woukl 'stray;' in, uncnnouncedy and-.: "'eagerly welcomed,' would' have a'littlo geiicral conversation, .and• ■ stray- out again, having delivered:', tlio.. rnes--sago or-the invitation with which, they'.'camb ■ charged.. .'Now .that us changed: - They call on each other/ when.they must, or when-they happen 'to' bo .passing, but all tho' - cheery running in "'and cut is over.t They ring up' now - when .they; havo-'anything to' say, and where, tho/.whole family used; .to, share the •pleasuro. of ,a visit, 0110.,n0w has' tho solo' pleasure, of, the telephoned conversation. - It must be admitted that tho conversations aro lengthy affairs. Tho, conversqrs sit down in 'easy chairs,;;and . say. everything that is in ..their'hearts, for ten minutes, a. .-quarter'of an.hour, twenty, minutes—it,..does not matter, :whihs'tho-visitor -whoso idea: of'a telephonic, communication is. to say what sho has to say, l and !get it .over, is ' jeered at -for her manners."-. - , And' tho .telephono brings : tragic opportu-" iiities. I sl)udder .now when. ! think 1 of. one' :I' nearly. saW; - It was at a friend's hoiiso'in : tho north that a ladywas introduced .to the visitor .with whom . I was: talking. . "Oh,, Airs. Limerick,", said tlio new-comer, • "havo you a. daughter named Gwerinic?. No. , We 11,,; I'll tell you .wiiy .1- asked. - ..I .was telephoning yesterday and: got, 011, to a Across .'wire, so tliat.l could.licar 'a conversation carried,oll by two ■ othqr. people;... it - was very .interesting. Tho- girl. was.;telling tho man that a friend ...of , hers'' to engaged; to ..Gwen Limerick'.; She said they had been .'engaged for; aiyear,. and. no ono.knew,about.it, not even, their 'parents. Sho herself ,-liad' only just'found it out, amV by chance.- 'She was so ahiused',- and I, thought' it would bo so funny if you. were the mother of Gwennio Limerick. Wouldn't it?" "Yes, it would," said. Mrs. Limerick, who looked . distinctly startled: and,.uncomfortable. .' '.'Only; as',it happens ,my daughte\. is ,not engaged, arid her namo is .not ; .Gwennio."; But several xtim'es v .that aftornbon. ,1' saw her, when sho was -by Jierself, and I Ijliow she was. saying .her daughter's name to trying to , make out whether. ; it could possibly bo mistaken for Gwennio. As it happened it could.not be; but what an opportunity, for, a tragedy 1. . • Tho other story is of a real tragedy, 110 less. than the loss, by a family .in the south, of the .services of a. good servant,., because: her."young man,'' whoUived 100 miles away or more, would ring her ,up on the longdistanco telephono every .morning at six o'clock)' and : every morning hor doctor, —had*, to'wake and switch: oil, his extension wiro toilet the lovers i converse, a connivanco. that obviously could not last for long.; :'... . ! Perhaps wo shall utimately bo ,a finer, raco ■for the introduction .of , telephono into our lives. It may., make' us , quicker, moro ready-witted. It is a clover person who can think at a telephone. It may mako.us moro patient, - though this ■ I greatly doubt, , for nothing strains tho quality of patience so severely as constant calls of tho exchango, and'the man who, is. a saint everywhere else is apt to be , a sinner at the'phono.