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LAUGH AT WROIS COST A Mil Mr. Ritterhoff Tells How vented Him From a Million I A laugh at the wrong time lost i th Herman W. Ritterhoff a million dol- j up lars. Mr. Ritterhoff is the contract-' to ing superintendent of the Home Tele- j pa phone Company. For thirty-five \ years he has been working for differ- j bu ent telephone companies in Kansas ; Ch City, and it hasn't soured his tern- in per nor worn the edge off his happy | a disposition, nor smothered his hearty j tel laugh. But he laughed once in- the to wrong place, and that gave him one . we of his best stories. ! tic "Did I ever tell you how I miss- j ed being a millionaire?" is the way! wc he begins this story. "No? Well, j ' - the chance came to me twenty! ** years ago when I was working for j de the old Bell Telephone Company.! *ai Its offices then were at 6th and Wy-; andotte street and we used the old | Blake transmitter, a ^telephone that! 00 had a crank in the front of the | cl? * box, which you whirled around a half dozen times to call central. One ; me of our customers was A. B. Strow-1 He i j ger, an undertaker, who had his 1 v place of business on the north side i sas West 9th street, between Wall and | Wyandotte streets. Strowger had 001 - ^ ' 1 i nn< more trouble witn nis teiepnuuv * than any other man in town, and,! as I was the trouble man, all of his ! cai complaints came to me. Nearly ev- C01 ery day he would call me up and m>" tear around about his telephone. I ^ie sent every workman in the office. lef' down there at different times, but; I * they could never find anything wrong with his 'phone, and this al-1 ways increased the fury of old Co: Strowger. | iz 'Whenever your men come my trv 'phone works all right, and as soon as they go away the dad burned old j 'phone refuses to work,' he used to j a say. 'I tell you, it's the girls at the' f ' switchboard. They've got it in for ln , i exc me. [ pla He became possessed of the idea that the girl operators were system-1 . aticallv working against him, and he j tttqc 0^ nf this that he got i T? UO OV vvjl* t ~ - w to hate them. " 'I'm going to put every girl tele- ; phone operator out of a* job one of ; w * kil these days,' he said to me one time ? i i. on over the phone. f> , the "This 'climax came one day when I ^ a friend of his, whose wife had just ^ died, tried to reach the undertaker J Q, over the 'phone and could not do1 j so and then called another under- j taker and Strowger lost the patron- i . age. And so 1 decided to go my- ! caJ self to Strowger s place and see what j sai was wrong with his -phone. When I went in he stormed and raved about j j the money he had lost and the girl j operators. I . ' " 'It's those girls in the central j ^ % office that's doing It, Ritterhoff,' he said to me. 'But I'm going to get i . I me ^ ^ T'*? nrAinor +A TMlt OV even wiiii cm, a m gviug iw j/ui ^ | ery last one of 'em out of a job. Look ! r \ , , v* a at this.' | ' voi "And he pulled out a drawer of j! ^ i his desk and took out a lot of draw- j M ings and spread them out before me. ; ? "Whatis it? I asked him. | . " 'Well, sir,' he said, 'I've set here ^ for hours at a time watching that j ^ ' ' durned telephone of yours, cursing, them girls that's got it in for me, i ^ ' and figuring out a plan to get even j with 'em. And I've got it. I've got! ^ the thing right there that's going I on* to throw every one of 'em out of! , a job. I've invented a telephone that i ' clS don't have to have no central switch board, no girls to operate it, and j ^ there it is.' th< "Well, sir, I looked over his , be* plans, and I saw right away that he had made a wonderful discovery, Qu and then I tried to find out what lui was wrong with his 'phone, and I soon found out. He had an old tin ^ sign with his name on it hanging out in front, and it got rusty, and he had a new one painted and brought! the old sign in the shop and hung j F it on the rear wall over his tele-! - - - ! Ar phone. When his-front door open- j ed and shut it caused a draught of air, and the tin sign hanging on the wall swung back and forth and : Ca occasionally it would get caught in j bli the two binding posts that stuck up j th above the telephone, and would se short-circuit it so the telephone do would not work until the door in wTould open and another draught th would swing it free. j tr; "Strowger was not much of an j pe artist, and his drawings were very j ac crude but he had a good idea all; th - _ I _ right. He proposed to me that if I ; be "would help him with his plans and fu get them in shape so he could ap-1 ply for a patent he would give me! cu 10,000 shares of stock in the com-i ge pany he intended to organize to m put his invention on the market, and tis I agreed. He came with his draw- i pr ings the next Sunday to my office in j Si fg time .lion dollar: Sense of Humor Pr< i Being Worth dollars e telephone building, and I fix( ? his drawings, and he sent the Washington and was granted tent for the automatic telephone "He sold out his undertakir siness and took his patent licago and rented a suite of roon the Rookery building, and put i working model of his automat ephone there and then sent for n comp and set it in operation. *nt, and while his device was pra al, and worked to perfection, is put up so awkwardly and tl An if- uroo OA ArnriA + ' 'i r\iiiauoiiip uu xu >? uo ov vi uuv^ ten he opened a closet door to sho to me, and I saw the clumsy so red connections on the wires lghed loud and long; I couldn Ip it. "But that laugh cost me $1,000 0. Old Strowger slammed tt >set door shut. He was mad as met, and he turned his back c > and wouldn't speak to me agai] wouldn't even answer the lettei rrote him after I returned to Kai i City. 'Soon afterward he organized npany with $50,000 capital t sh his invention, and that we i beginning of the great Amer i Telephone Company. Before lid go to Chicago again and claii 10,000 shares of stock Strowge id, and I found out that he ha t me out of his company bec-aus lad angered him by my laugh ? clumsy workmanship. "Now that Automatic Telephor mpany which old Strowger orgai d has grown to be one of the bi I wealthy companies of this coui , and the 10,000 shares which In't get in it would have made m millionaire. They are installin ,000 of his automatic telephone Chicago now; it is used almo: dusively in California. They ai .nning to put it in New York an may supplant all other telephone time."?Kansas City Star. Young Lee in Lexington Jail. Lexington, Feb. 22.?A. V. Le< 0 on yesterday afternoon shot an led Capt. W. L. McNeill, conductc local passenger train No. 61 c 1 Seaboard Air Line Railway ne? } town of Swansea, was lodged i i Lexington county jail at 12:3 lock this morning by Sheriff Sii Miller. Lee, who is only 29 years of ag< heartbroken with grief, and whe led on in his cell to-day told th ne story as was.given to the pres him last night before leaving C< nbia. He clings to the version that tli jotine was the result of the acc ital discharge of a Colt's specu rolver, the property of the expres ssenger, C, E. Hutto. A. C. Le< Rock Hill, who is a Southern Rai y engineer, and the father of th mg man, is expected to reach Le: ,rton to-morrow afternoon or earl mday morning to take steps to s< -e his son's release. Young Lee 0 anxiously awaiting news fro: 1 wife, who resides at 212 Hunting 1 street, Savannah. Sheriff Miller returned to Colun l this morning to make a furth( 'estigation as to the cause of tt Doting and to confer with the co er of Richland county. There is a feeling of anxiety hei to what version of the shooting < Hutto will give, it being claime Lee that he was an eye witness 1 * unfortunate anair. nuno u? en placed under a $200 bond f( > appearance at the coroner's ii est, which will be conducted in C nbia on Monday at noon. It is understood that Geo. B* mmerman, solicitor of this circui 11 be present at the inquest Mo: y to look after the prosecution. [OLDS BUYER GUILTY, ALSO union of Judge Shipp in Anders* Liquor Cases. Anderson, Feb. 19.?In Sou tr'olina the buyer of whiskey from ind tiger is guilty of a violation e law and is punishable just as tl ller, according to a decree hand< wn to-day by Circuit Judge Ship dismissing several appeals fro e recorder's court on the charge ansporting contraband liquors, a aled on the ground that they we ting as agents for purchasers ai at the whiskey was not contrabai cause it was to be used for a la 1 purpose. The defendants stated that they s red the whiskey from a blind t, naming the man, and th erely carried the whiskey from t ?er to the purchaser. The cas obably will be carried to the Sta ipreme Court. SEABOARD CONDUCTOR KILLED 5\V. L. McNeill Shot by A. V. Lee Baggagemaster. Columbia, Feb. 21.?As the resul of a bullet penetrating the brain, Con ductor Walter L. McNeill, who run a local passenger train from Colum bia to Savannah, died at a local in firmary at 10:20' to-night. From the evidence adduced an< the interviews obtained, it seems tha jd Mr. McNeill was accidentally killed m He was shot in the right temple b: a V. Lee. a baggagemaster on his train with a 38-calibre Colt's revolver be lg longing to the express messenger, C to E. Hutto. The shooting occurred a is Swansea at about 5:lo o'clock thi: ip afternoon, in the baggage car of Me ic Neill's train. Lee was immediately ie arrested by E. M. Martin, constable I to Magistrate Jeffcoat, of Swansea c- on the instigation of Sheriff S. J. Mil it ler, of Lexington county, who was im le mediately notified of the killing, at Miller brought Lee to Columbi< w and he was placed in the city jail >1- Late in the night Deputy Sheriff H I Haltiwanger, of Laxington county 't took Lee to the Lexington county jail. Baggagemaster Lee to-night in the police barracks, explained the Le killing as follows: "Capt. McNeil! a was always of a playful nature, anc n seemed to delight in playing with a. the members of his crew. He was :s one of the best trienas i naa, ana i l- would not have hurt him if it had not been accidental. When .we were a coming up on our trip, yesterday in ;o a s-cuffle I threw Capt. McNeill. When is we were going down this evening i- he came in the baggage car when 1 I was checking baggage and said: '] Ti am going to dirty your back.' I re r plied: 'Mac, leave me alone; I have d to make a manifest of my baggage.' le "There was a revolver belonging it to C. E. Hutto, the express messenger, lying on a trunk beside me, and ie I picked it up. Playfully Mac and 1 l- grappled, I having the revolver in g my left hand and it was pointing l- over his shoulder. During the scuffle t r>io+ni woni nff hut doine nc JL tliU pilJWVl Tf VA*U VM.) ^ v w ;e damage. The other conditions of the .g scuffle are somewhat hazy to me, bul is from my best recollection. I think st that McNeill then grabbed the re e volver. I do know that I called tc d Hutto to come and get the pistol, is "While the plaful scuffle continued, the revolver was again fired and McNeill relaxed his grip on me At that time I did not think he was ^ hit. When he fell to the floor I sa^ e, ^ his face was covered with blood. J )r immediately took several handkerchiefs from my pocket and endeavored to wipe the blood from his face McNeill himself took his own handn q kerchief and tried to- remove tin flowing blood from his face. "When I ascertained that McNeil] was really hurt, I immediately called ^ to Hutto to get a doctor. Up to this time I really did not think that he g was injured, but from the blood flowing from his face I knew I was mistaken. All baggage cars have stretchers in them, so I dragged the one in my car over and placed the j head of it on the trunk to lay McNeil] on it. At this time McNeill was crawling on his hands and knees tc ^ get out of the coach, and I had tc prevent him from throwing himsell from the train." y Shot by Man Found With His Wife a. "\T n P/lh 9 A T.llthpi 15 OiaUiilUUL, v a., jl vu. -v. hi B. Besserman, a merchant here, lie?; ?- in a critical condition in a hospital to-night as the result of bullel l- wounds inflicted by- A. D. Worth, s ir hotel clerk. le Returning to his home to-day, Bosr serman found Worth in the companj of his wife. When he saw Bosserre man Worth drew a revolver and firec 2. four shots, two of them taking ef:d feet. Worth was arrested, as alsc to was Mrs. Bosserman, the latter as ai is accessory. ir Last week Bosserman in a vain en a- deavor to save the life of his onlj o- child submitted to a blood transfusioi operation. It is feared that owin$ ill to his weakened condition from th< it, loss of blood from the operation hii n- wounds may prove fatal. J. STOKES IZLAR A SUICIDE. Deed Committed in Printing Office ii >n Savannah, Ga.t Savannah, Feb. 19.?J. Stokes Iz th lar, 27 years old, a native of Sout) a Carolina, committed suicide this af of ternoon at Braid & Hutton's print tie ing establishment, where he was em 3d ployed as press foreman, by shootinj p, himself through the head. Th m young man had been ill recently, am of is said to have been despondent p- There were no financial or othe re known troubles. Izlar died instant id ly from the effects of the shot, whicl id penetrated the brain. E. D. Izlai w- a brother, took charge of the re mains. Izlar is survived by his moth ;e- or, brother and one sister in Savan ti- nah, and three sisters in South Caro ey lina?Mrs. H. Schumhoft, of Rowes he ville, Mrs. A. G. Hart, of Hartsville es and Mrs. Nellie McTier, of Hardee .te ville. He came to Savannah fror Orangeburg. I CHEROKEE MAN IS SHOT. j , Charles E. Smith is Wounded by W. I K. Duggins at Goucher. | t Gaffney, Feb. 19.?Charles E. j - Smith, a well-known white man of 5 s the county, was shot yesterday af ternoon about 4 o'clock by W. K. j - Duggins. The affair occurred in the j Goucher section of the county, where | j i both men live and are of some promi- j t nence. A shotgun was the weapon j V . used and the entire load took effect j ; in Smith's back and head. Dr. J. G. | , Pittman, the attending physician, I - says that the patient will recover. \ . Sheriff Thomas went to the scene and | t arrested Duggins and to-night lodg- j 5 ed him in the county jail. Duggins i - makes the statement that he shot : * Smith on account of a domestic af- ! j fair. | Electrioity and Its Uses. | There was an old sign in a down- | town window which read: | 1 "We will be a mother to you." r It was a standing invitation for ; lone bachelors to go inside and be * ' patched and mended and have but- f ' tons resewed. But if a couple of en- | ? terprising women offered to be a | 5 mother to a comparatively few men, | 1 what name shall we apply to elec- { ^ tricity? Is there anything now that | 1 the electric current is not called upon i 5 to perform? $ in JbuuLit: JLium^a ic uui \jnij ngiito * I * 1 the house, but warns it of burglars. J 1 It rings the front door bell and 1 sweeps the floor. It curl's milady's 1 hair and brushes the husband's > shoes. If the house gets ablaze it rings the fire alarms. Attached to es a fan it makes a cool breeze on a hot pc day and in winter it warms the f room. It summons you to the telephone and then carries your mess- aE ' age hundreds of miles in any direction. It brings the servant, with a ? ' cup of coffee to your breakfast table, I L while at the same time it whirls the j ? L brush that grooms your horse in the > stable. If it does not run your au' tomobile, at least it saves the husky > arm of your chauffeur by starting the \ 5 engine for him. Hitched to a brush, * the elusive but all-powerful force : will polish your silverware, or it will massage your face. ) By car it will carry a man to his office, where all the motive power in his place of business is supplied by ' this weirdest of all nature's forces. For the farmer, electricity can and 5 does do wonderful things. It first separates the cream from the milk j r and then churns the butter. It does the family laundry and cuts the feed ' for the cattle. Coupled to a saw, prmvprts a tree into fire A ^ V/ VI 1 V/i 1/J V VM ? WW w ? _ _ wood. It grinds the flour for bread 5 and shells the corn for horses. With a little suction apparatus, electricity ^ will snatch the dust from your be' loved books and make your picture 5 frames look like new. It enables you 5 to talk across an ocean and pretty soon no one will come to Philadelphia or go away from it except in a J railway pulled by this invisible } monster. 5 And to think that one who lived 1 only so short a while ago as Abraham 5 Lincoln never saw an electric light! * ?Philadelphia Ledger. ? . THREE HOUSES DYNAMITED. High Explosive Used on Residences of Negroes of Cunmiing, Ga. Cumming, Ga., Feb. 19.?Three 5 houses, occupied by negroes, were 1 dynamited here early to-day. One of L the dwellings was almost completely L demolished and the other two were badly damaged. Race trouble between the negroes and white inhabitants last autumn which followed assaults by two ne1 groes on white women and the lynching of one negro, it is believed, have ^ * been responsible for tne property 1 destruction. - TRAINS CRASH IN SENECA YARD. r 1 Conductor Jay Hutchinson Seriously r Hurt and Others Slightly Injured. a * Seneca, Feb. 19.?Southern train No. 30 ran into the Blue Ridge passenger train in the Seneca yards here at 7:15 this evening. Conductor Jay Hutchinson was seriously injured. 1 Flagman Day and the expressmen were only slightly hurt. Baggage master Lucian Abbott and Mail Clerk a Frank Carpenter were also slightly - injured. The baggage car burned rapidly - and it took heroic effort to get Ab? bott out. One negro passenger was r"'1- -Al rm n-or/l not e Hurt, ine oiuer pa-Baeiiscio r^ d seriously injured. ^ :. The Blue Ridge train was crossing r the track of the main line when No. = - 30 dashed in and struck the second li passenger coach. The mail and baggage car and one passenger car burned rapidly and were in ashes in a few I) minutes. All mail, baggage and ex- 4, press were destroyed. In the baggage 0< i- car were eight trained dogs, which E perished in the flames. IJ ;, All the injured were rushed to B !- Seneca, where Dr. E. C. Doyle, Dr. n W. R. Doyle, Dr. Stribling and Dr. Hines rendered every assistance. I THEY ARE HERE! 1 f! I tfek. We have some as I I ^ nice Horses and i I Mules in our stables j1 ^ljg|5il|g in Bamberg in some || time, and the prices and terms II will please you as well as the || stock. We also have some ex- || tra nice Buggies, Harness, Whips || and everything in this line. Come g | and see what we really have. 11 | JONES BROS J1 1 . BAMBERG, 3. C. j| ?j| MONEY TO LOAN! ' .-A,? I represent the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, one of the strong- . t and most liberal companies in existence, and can offer you a most liberal >Iicy contract. This company has plenty of money to loan. I have just completed a an for the company of $45,000, and have one of $5,000 now under way, id I would like to place some more in this county. SEE ME AND INVESTIGATE . D. COPELAND, JR., Bamberg, S. C. t . We B an/cec/af/is money a/id, became cr partner* fnthe 3 usm ess Our successful business men began hy saving the first money they earned so that when a busi- t ness chance arose they were in a posit.on to ' grasp it. AT any senior members of great firms became junior members of that same firm by having AT ON EY SA YED with which to buy the Jirst interest they had in the business. Start a bank account and see how happy you will be to see it grow; it will be the best friend you have, and the BEST PARTNER. ^ Do YOUR banking with US. nav 4 ner cent, interest compound m w * ? jl? ? ? I ed quarterly 011 savings deposits ' Farmers & Merchants Bank I I EHRHARDT, S. C. J 'have you seen them?") We want you to come and see that i ' 4 pretty pair of Bay Mares we have. 1 They are worth going miles to look at. 8 And when we get them hitched to I one of those handsome new Buggies 1 that we have for sale, together with a 1 set of our handsome Harness they are I simply grand. Come and let us sell | you a Horse, Buggy, Harness, & Whip | I I CMHAIT oMlr?adAvc""e I Jt ?! UlTJLUailj D?imuerg,...j. FROST PROOF CABBAGE PLANTS We guarantee our plants Frost Proof. We guarantee full count, Safe ^ elivery and satisfaction in every way or money refimded. Prices 1,000 to ,000 plants $1.25 per thousand, 5,000 to 9,000 at $1.00 per thousand. 10,00 at 90 cents per thousand; Special prices on larger lots. Varieties are arly Jersey Wakefield, Charleston Wakefield, Succession and Late French utch. Plants ready now. Prompt shipment on all orders. Send money by Registered Letter, Express or Post Office Money Order. THE CARR-CARLTON CO., Box No. 27. MEGGETTS, S. C. y ^ -i_ ' " -n