The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, February 27, 1913, Page 6, Image 6
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