Show SPIRIT ringert AT THE bet an operator bothered by persistent communications from the other world eight or nine years ag ago 0 a well telegrapher considered one 0 f kno known wa the best in the profession sion leit left this city for IL better position at omaha he no was a round good natured young fellow follow and a great favorite with all who knew him very neat in bia personal appearance pe arance being aldaya iw ays dressed in n t the hp latest and best that t fashion dictated ue ile was without bad habile habits and correct and businesslike in sll 11 lis hie dealings the other day a journal reporter was stopped by the extended band hand of a dilapidated specimen of hUmIn humanity ItY who with a strange quaver in in his voice asked if the reporter did nol not recognize him without waiting for the reply lathe in the negative which he BUT saw in the unresponsive glance ot of the reporter he introduced himself as the dapper little telegrapher of other days suspecting this as a preface to N a demand 81 ad for a cash contribution abe newspaper man was putting his hand band into his pocket when the seedy man interposed a gesture of dissent im not asking for a cent the boye boy have staked me and I 1 have a ra railroad broad ticket t that at t takes kes me to the old homo home in western new york I 1 just stopped over a few hours to eee two or ot three of the people who knew kow me mein 1831 and 82 I 1 leave tonight to night I 1 the reporter could not restrain ah impulse to ask what had brought about buglo great a change in the apt ap t bearance pe arance ance 0 I 1 bis his acquaintance r IV well ell 11 he replied with some hesitation it abir spirits i to at t least not ardent spirits for I 1 1 to any extent in liquor it was spirits of a very different kind I 1 dont know that they ever meant me any harm but they have about ruined me as a telegrapher theres one now dont you hear hea the bounder sounder P G P PG 0 1 L T 0 my call ill just answer them that means buty busy perhaps let me alone until I 1 tell my story 1 I never knew anything abaft elair ritualism itna liem never cared anything about it and all at once eix six years ago without any asking or desire on my part I 1 found myself to be of of the strangest stran geet and most distressing media mediumistic powers I 1 had a friend of abbat my wo we had learned telegraphy together in clove cleveland land and bad had always been very intimate ab about out the fine t I 1 went to omaha he went to cheyenne we kept up a peyres correspond ond enee find aud wiro wire at rafter 29 a go tl id d the babeta babita habit 1 fatias ani occasional al spree he was a deuchle deU delfe cale ate sensitive fellow and on so sobering bar b tap he would be the most me melancholy an c ph oly chap imaginable ilia his sprees became more aria frequent his fita fits of kr deeper one day following a prolonged debauch he disappeared from Cheye cheyenne one odthe of the boye boys knowing our laj intimacy ume telegraphed me to know it if be he came t to yo 0 omaha mah it was exactly 1220 10 ati at night as iwas I 1 was taking the message off the wires when I 1 heard the sounder on an old and disconnected instrument one that the boys about 0 the office bad had played with thumping away T G P G P G 1 I 1 answered 18 11 mechanically on myown my own instrument the mate ter and the bounder sounder thumped out the information that he my friend had passed ed over only a minute or two before V re and that I 1 would find out all about it three or four days la terin the san francisco papers it wag was all strange 11 1 to 0 M me 1 incomprehensible A ran 41 first I 1 thought h h t that billy was some bort sort of trick ba on me but t there ere was the old disconnected instrument and no chance of any hoc hocus a s po u berof 8 of that kind on tho the fifth d day ay tl thereafter I 1 got hold of a frisco friso paper 3 per in which was the not notice ce of ot th the e death eath of an unknown me man an posed to be about 24 years old old at a third rate hotel and t the b e coroners verdict 0 death t from rom ex excessive e e a ve ua of alcoholic drink a and empoe exposure are aa As I 1 was reading this the sounder started up again tou you got the papers it rattled away the coroner was right great roundup up for a young man wa it 1 I like tho the of this remark continued the operator and eaid said as a mu h when the old sounder took it up and continued with even creator greater recklessness billy had always bee been neven even at his worst con ri 0 of the of others he had the instincts of a gentleman but apparently 1 1 y after atter he parsed over he became 1 lost t to all decency and all regard forthe for the feelings and welfare of him who had been bis his best beat friend while here in tho the flech ue kept up such a racket in the orn omaha hs office that he interfered with my hasin pos and bere here was no shutting him 4 after a time be he began to bring 1 in other operators who had passed over and then better believe I 1 had a time of it some of these were disreputable e fellows and moat most of them were of a claes class that no respecting operator on earth would cato to raso date with I 1 tried to beep keep straight quit drinking entirely but they brought a bad amo atmosphere sphere about me a and my acquaintances began to cu cut t me my work at the became mixed in spite of all that could do for the spirits soon got tired of the ol 01 old J rounder sounder and cams over 0 1 the live line the consequence was that I 1 w waa as discharged I 1 feel verv very sorry about it tat at first I 1 had saved up a hundred dollars or so and made u up my mind to keep away from the cal click c of the instrument entirely for a month or so and give the spirits a chance to is fasten boand te on some other poor operator I 1 dodged them for about a week and ws was beginning to feel like my old belt self 1 again ga allu w when hen one night I 1 was wakened f from m a sleep by signals on my headboard head bead board P G P ir P G I 1 answered 1251 25 that is busy and turning over tried to go to sleep again no use billy and the other spirits found me and they kept up their deviltry until near bayli daylight glit from that time until this ive never been able to get away from them a halt hall hour beey they leave lave put a spirit watch on me and they seem ao ap take turns following me about ao that I 1 cannot give them the slip they in with my in y work so that I 1 no longer feel safe in any kind of tele r raphy ak y and im going home to the oad f folks 0 to work on the farm and to 0 o get got rid ol 01 the spirits if it is possible to do so the reporter suggested tug that he ile could turn hie his medium alil p to account oun t that h t it bad a wo iceney ney value and w would id be considered a novel novelty he ile shook bis his head despondently despondent iyo you dont understand me I 1 dont want to make money with them I 1 want to make my living without them I 1 am ready at any moment to turn over these spirits to anybody who wants them and can take them off my hands bands |