Evening Star Newspaper, June 19, 1932, Page 79

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"THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JUNE 19, 1932 Sunday Morning Among the Cross-Words ACROSS. 99. State of equality. 1. Trouble. 100. Cicatrice. 8. Tool for punching 102. Not warm. holes. 103. Omened. 11. Enlarge. 105. Cut in two parts. 14. Consoles. 107. Not neat. 21. The merchant, in “The Mevrchant of Venice.” 22. A billow. 23. East Indian split pulse. 24. Corrosive. 25. Calumny. 26. Pertaining to the sense of touch. 28. Machine used to weigh anchor. 29. Small bird. 120. Pruit capsule of & fern. 125. Craws. 126. Small bird. 129. Bird of the crow family. 130. City in Italy. 30. A number. 131. Chief divinity of 31.One of a sect of ancient Memphis. Italian philoso- 132. Bustle. phers. 133. Catch suddenly. 32. Rubber tree. 135. Feminine name. 33. Conjunetion. 138. Seaweed deriva- 34. Egyptian solar tive. disk. 139. Rodent. 36. Emperor. 140. Abyss. 38. Musical pair. 142. Beetles. 39. Sailor. 145. Complete. 41. 147. Away; Scot. 42, A memorial. 148. Wreathe around. 44. Female deer. 150. Medicinal plant. 46. Drawn along the 151. Type of Prench ground. song. 49. Malt beverage. 153. A seed vessel. 50. Causticly. 154. Measure of 51. City in Illinois. length. 53. Image. 155. Dry—as wine. 54. Coral keys. 156. A whatnot. 56. Indian weight. 157. Perfumed. 58. Scorn. 158. Diocese. 60. Unit. 159. Craft. . Coal hods. 160. Worked. . To elevate. DOWN. Poltroon. Stimulator. Majestic. A weight. To loose. Laughing. Trunks of trees. Small planet. Prosperity. Fastened. Newspaper arti- cles. A species of glass- 78. Main suit in cards. . Mediterranean fruit basket. . Giraffe. . Put down. . To fend off. . Cock’s crest. “OD® Mk - - » wort. 13. Act of choosing. 14. Safe. 15. Spoken. 16. Gait of a horse. 17. Dolt. 18. Fortress. Continued from Sizth Page residence, and all police stations, including Brightwood, Benning and Tenleytown; Colum- bia Institute for Deaf and Dumb, Government Hospital for the Insane, District Reform School, Washington Asylum, Health Office, and coro- ner’s office. The success of the private wires, however, did not permit of connection with other phones than those on the one circuit, and hence the necessity for an exchange office soon mani- fested itself, and resulted in the signing of a petition by a group of citizens, on October 1, 1878, and sponsored by Mr. Maynard. in which they agreed to become subscribers to the Wash- ington Telephone Exchange for one year from the date of its orgamization. The first page of this agreement as photographed and given the writer by the telephone company, the original being in Mr. Maynard’s handwriting, reads: “Washington, D. C., Oct. 1st, 1878. “Arrangements have been perfected for es- tablishing a Telephonic Exchange in this city, similar to those in successful operation in Bos- ton, Albany, New Haven, Chicago and other cities, and it is proposed to commence business on the first of November, or as soon as the requisite number of subscribers can be obtained. “The subscription price, which will cover all charges for use of the necessary instruments, wires, etc., will not exceed four dollars per month. “GEO C. MAYNARD, Supt. “The undersigned hereby agree to become sub- scribers to the Washington Telephonic Ex- change, for one year from the date of its or- ganization, according to the plan explained above. * * *” And this was signed by R. Beresford, the printer, then located at 523 Seventh street northwest; Washington Naylor, 1326 E street; W. W. Johnston, M. D, 1307 F street; T. E. Chidister, Ph. D., Ninth and H streets; A. M. Gibson, 1342 Corcoran street; N. V. Jeffires, McPherson squaré; R. G. and E. C. Ingersoll, 1417 G street; Middleton & Co., 1427 F street northwest (northeast in orizlnal). James & Saville, 342 D street, and Curtis, Earle & Burdette, 700 Ninth street. UST how many of these are still living the writer cannot say. R. Beresford is dead, but his daughters still carry on the business; Washington Naylor and Dr. Johnston are no longer, R. G. and Ebon C. Ingersoll have both gone down into history. Ebon C. died in June, 1879, and his noted brother, Robert G. Inger- soll, the once famous lawyer and agnostic, de- livered his celebrated funeral oration at his brother’s residence, 1403 K street northwest. In “Washington, Past and Present,” we are told, “Mr. Maynard began to make arrange- ments for the establishment of a central office system, and in the early part of December, 1878, a 24-wire peg switch was installed in a room on the first floor of 1423 G street north- d. 47. Entrance to mine. 48. Poetical feet of three syllables. 51. Indians of a cer- tain tribe. 52. Seaport in Bel- gium. 55. Golf term. 57. Diminutive spirit. 59. Obscures. 60. An English queen. 61. Place. 62. Worthless canine. 63. Howl. 64. Mexican food. 65. Ship’s store- keeper. 67. Poetical feet of two syllables. 68. Restore to a for- mer position. 69. Exaltation. 70. Title of respect. 71. Small child. 74. Muse of poetry. i L 79. Young swine. . ,// / 81. Coin of Denmark. 82. Mountain pass. //% / 83. Row. 85. Swings. f=) W 87. Crooked. 89. Hooded serpent. . Harm. . Humble. . Part of the hand. . Score. . Dollar; abbr. 96. Crafty. 99. Excusable. 101. European deer. 104. Small islands. 105. White. 106. Feminine name. 108. Enormous. 110. Song thrushes. 111. Conduct. 113. Female sovereign. 114. Infernal. 115. Silly talk. 116. Tree. 117. Sorrowful. 119. A number. 121. Danish money of account. 122. Royal entertainer. 123. Without thought. Harris & Ewing. One of the early exchange operators of W ashington. west, with six lines connected to it. Burnet L. Nevius, now residing in Chevy Chase, Md, operated the switchboard. He started working as a messenger in Mr. Maynard’s office Septem- ber 7, 1877, and later became chief operator and still later superintendent of operators. Mr. Nevius resigned from the company in 1908 to go into business for himself.” Recently the writer met Mr. Nevius and talked over the early days of the telephone when he as a mere lad entered the office of Mr. Maynard as & messenger. In 1879, the equipment required more than one person to operate it, and Ben. Steinmetz, /fl - I-%% =] i e B IIIVWIIIIII%WII I/WII/WII%I EREBE MY Illlll I%fi.l%@ll%@lllll. il EaAd N3 Jdaaa 4nn LT N G ll HAEREEN ///// /I /HIH/HIEIIIH%WIII ,Ilfl/lll}% ELE ma fl%flllll%fllllfl' HIEE O L ® NN d =. %ll l/filllfi% flll l/“fil // 124. Roamed. 127. Struck gently. 128. Article of mer- chandise. 134. Life raft. 136. Carouse. 137. City in Oklahoma. 140. Ancient inhabi- E. E. Bawsel and Maurice Otterback were em- ployed to assist Mr. Nevius. Another well known Washingtonian with a wide acquaintance who, at one time, was a tele- phone operator, is Irving H. Hoover, now chief usher at the White House. The late A. P. Crenshaw, for many years general superintendent of construction, was one of the telephone pioneers in the District of Columbia. Other early employes, now re- tired, include J. Harry Miller, Ira “Duckey” Harmon and Joseph Ebert. Women were first employed as operators in 1881, and the one thus engaged was Miss Mary Lloyd, now Mrs. Mary Newhall. “Then came Miss Ella Donaldson, Miss Lula French, Miss Maggie Mudd, Miss Lilie M. Godfrey, Miss Liz- zie Powell, Miss Janey Boyle, Miss Minnie Rich- ardson, Miss Eunice Nevius, Miss Anna Pros- peri, who is now Mrs. Maurice Otterback. Mrs. Otterback was the first woman chief operator in Washington. Her sisters, Miss Clara Pros- peri, Miss Elizabeth Prosperi, now Mrs. C. E. Fenner, who later became chief operator in the old East central office, Miss Aspasia Prosperi, now Mrs. Lee R. Herrell, were also operators. Miss Lucy Prosperi, now Mrs. Oscar C. Fuller, was employed in the bookkeeping department.” When the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. took over the operation of the telephone system in Washington there were about 900 telephones connected with the switchboard. During the next three years only about 300 tele- W%fill%fllll%“ tant of Scotland. 141. To insulate, 143. Vegetable. 144. Frame for carry- ing the dead. 146. Of a dun color. 149. Obtain. 152. Self. phone stations were added to the system. On June 10, 1886, the records of the company showed 1,174 telephones in service. . The launching of the telephone came at a time when there were serious financial difficul- ties in this country, and when those who had money to invest in stock were exceptionally cautious. It was not an easy thing to convince the public that the telephone would prove a com- mercial and financial success. Jay Gould came on to Washington to look things over and ape parently did not invest in the stock. Chauncey M. Depew, an especially astute financier in his “Memories of Eighty Years,” tells us how he missed making millions, saying: “One day in 1876 I met Gardiner Hubbard in New York and he said to me, ‘My son-in-law, Prof. Bell, has made what I think a wonderful invention. It is a talking telegraph. We need $10.000, #&Zad will give you one-sixth interest for that amount of money.” Mr. Depew investigated the matter and de= cided not to part with his $10.000, and later seriously regretted his mistake for he tells us that the amount requested would, in the end, have yielded with dividends and the increasing capital, $100,000,000. But so it has been with nearly all great ine ventions, it is difficult to realize their importe ance and their money-earning powers until it is too late, and when “opportunity” has left and closed the door behind it. Spinning Wheel Genius Robbed of Reward HE old familiar story of the inventor who slaved to work out some device of benefit to mankind only to be robbed of the fruits of his invention has no better example than the case of Samuel Crompton, inventor of the spinning wheel, which revolutionized the spinning indus- try of England early in the nineteenth century. Crompton, born in Lancashire in 1753, began work early as a cotton-spinner and added to his meager savings by playing the violin in a theater. With the money he was able to save out of his earnings he worked diligently to per- fect a device which he anticipated would make for a greatly improved yarmn. Finally, after years of labor and disappointment, he managed to bring his device to perfection. marvelous was his yarn considered at the he was forced to guard his invention al- with his life. People flocked to see his machine and even placed ladders at the win- dows in order to peep in. He managed to keep his secret, however, but having exhausted all his funds he was unable to raise the necessary money to secure a patent. In desperation he confided his secret to several manufacturers, some of whom used his device without paying him a cent and others made niggardly gifts to- taling in all only about $300. In time, however, with the aid of friends, he So time, most was able to start in business for himself, emr ploying members of his own family first and later expanding his business. Finally, the na- tional value of his invention was impressed upon Parliament, which voted him, at the age of 60, or 35 years after the perfecting of his dee vice, a national gift of $25,000. Magnets Remove Impurities Edison’s old scheme of recovering iron frong ore by magnetism was discarded after $4,000,000 had been spent upon It. The proposition wad successful, but about the time the idea was coms pleted there was made the dicovery of iron on the surface in the Northwest, where the metal could be recovered at such a low figure tha§ the Edison plant could not compete with it, Recently the same principle has been availed off for a somewhat different purpose. Fredericl R. Johnson has devised & magnetic scheme no§ for the recovery of the iron, but for the elimie nation of it from certain clays which havg heretofore been useless for the purposes of pote tery-making by reason of the presence in it of particles of iron. The iron discolored the prod< uct so that it was useless for the manufacture of fine ceramic ware.

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