The
xrSxf RAG ID!
f BT'I "M OF 'THE
-iwm. ' ill U: it.
C'-jy ' t XIX' 'ill v- f ll'Xk W ir1S
j irS'A mM Ill
OU set o of the
stations likt Maim
the world and it's
switchboard good and bad,
and death ttotices, winners and
all going on at once.
"And the 'fhone girl is a sort of pQle
who stis that the fight people get each
other though she could often save a lot
of trouble if she mixed in.
"Oh, I tell you it's hard not to inter
fere, sometimes, when you have the whole
world under your two hands!
t from "The
t . -
BEFORE a twltchbotrd, pulling
out on plug, putting la u
othtr, answering our "Hollos,"
flinging back a frequent "Buy," alta
Fate.
Sh bears uo resembkinca to tho
beautiful, cIiiskIc elhtara of tho
distaff .linit nclttHorM', the throe fatca
whom tho ancients believed preside
over human nffulrs. TAW one may
' chew gum. She may cling to tho
rnormouM, olij fashioned pompadour,
or the hideous "rats." Bh may
tpeak In aurly (ashion, even througu
her ob. . But sho la destiny Incar
nate. She may ttav the deciding
tot In many human affairs- If aha
Interferes she miiy cbitnge the cur
rent of h u nun existence by ulinply
witching the electrio current In an
other direction,
The telephone girl may seem a
conimouplace fisure to the ishort
alghted. but around her fingers may
be twined tho strands of our future.
Like a Judge upon the bench, hi
sits and ponders about pur fate and
paiwea ,aotnceA The sentence de
lada upoa whether she decides upon
Interference or nou-lnterference.
In Dixon, 111. Miss Rlll Webster
came to the office punctually to take
charge of the nlgbt shift la the main
office. She hung up her hat and
jacket, Huffed up her hair before the
little square mirror and smiled "Good
nlghl" at the girl on the day shift.
8 he answered a call for a young man
w so wasted to take a girl to a mov
ing picture show. She permitted a
yuuog wife to confide to her busbaad
that the baby had a tooth,
She beard a politician Invite an
other to a turning of a few o( the
boys just to talk things over.. An
angry housewlfo gave the grocer a
protracted piece of her mind because
he had forgotten her order for
brow a sugar. All of these Alls
Weboter beard, but did not con
sciously bear. Her fingers pulled out
the plugs and pushed them In again.
She said "Hello'' and "Busy" when
neces&ary, and her eyes looked be
yond the switchboard. Her thoughts
travelled farther. Suddenly she sat
very straight, and her cheeks went
as white at the plsstered wall of the
exchange room.
"Hello! This la the office of the
Chief of Police of Chicago. We've
got a line on your mau."
"On which mau? You don't mean
Hoc Websterf
"De careful about names. Tele
phone lines leak. Yea. He's ex
pected at the Polyclinic Hoplial at
8 this morning. Can you take the
next tralnT
"I can get the traiu. but I'll have
to get the papers first."
"Get the help or the State's Attor
ney. He'll oin shop at eight for
anything so Important."
-All right. Chief."
"Walt. Hello, Sheriff!"
"Yes. Chief."
Better bring the papers from the
Coroner' onV. too. They may be
needed. We muutn't let the fellow
give os the slip through some tech
nicality." -AH rtpht. Chief, Jf I ran get him
to his office."
"Thunder snd lightning! Of course
you can get htm to the office. le
I he telephone. Hon't fall to et the
Omaha
big antral
or North is
all on the
love stories
losers
Wonun." J
The Stage
Has Awakened
to the power of
the Telephone
Girl. This Scene
the Uit in "Th
Woman" Is eclipsed
by Real Life Perform
ances ' Told Here.
train. Want
identification.
"Good by."
The slim,
you to asUt la the
Goodby."
black
figure at the
switchboard swayed. Her trembling
hands fell to her lap aud shook
there as leaves are toaed In a hol
low by a wind. Rilla Webster was
but nineteen. Every oim said she
"looked young fur her age." Now,
will) drawu white face, she looked
tea year older.
"Bait!" rasped the board.
"Uz! Bix!" I.Ike angry bees
aswarm.
"B in! Uii B! Hx! Bx! It was
the profanity peculiar to the tele
phone. The girl's eyes were big and
black and wild. She preyed her
fhaking bauds to her temples. What
khoutd khe do? What should any
one do In any instance but ber duty?
She lifted her baud to the plug.
"That you. Sheriff? Pardou me.
You want, what? Tha Coroner's
office?' Her shaking hand was sus
pended. It seized the plug.
"Yes. The Coroner's ufSr at
home. Yes. There. Mr. Sheriff."
She sank back iu her chair aud
c!apeii the hands that were so
troublesome.
(). G.wi!" she breathed. ' O, Cxi!"
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I ' . . i i ' f 1 ' X
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Sunday Bee Magazine
Ooprl.i , 1011. by
Kzx!" challenged the board again.
"Bh!"
"Yes; who Is It? The Sheriff?
Yes; Walt a minute."
Again the shaking bands refused
their office. After all he was her
brother. Maybe ho was Innocent.
Blood was thicker than water, had a
stronger claim greater than Justice.
Should she warn blm? She knew
the telephone number of bis board
ing houne In Chicago. A few words
from her and bo could have five
hours' start of bis pursuers.
"Baa! lUz!" The telephone waa
showing the anger and Impatience of
the ver.Min at the end of the line.
Rilla Webster paid uo attention.
She resitted for another plug. She
shifted It. Her voice came almott
in a whisper.
"That you. Chicago? Get me uo,
don't. A mistake. Pardon mc.H
"Bx!" shrieked the switchboard.
"Yes. Mr. Sheriff. Yes, I can get
you the Slate's Attorney. He tele
phoned from bis club a little whi'e
ago."
Temptation attain tbrew Its black
shadow across her path, shutting out
the light of duty. She could fail to
locate the S'ate' Attorney. it
wmild be so eav.
! X mmmmmff
S.'X"' V '-, i ;'""
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vmtrican - h.iinif'.r. lrtat antim Miirn Reserved
"Bui"
"Yes. The Country Club? Yes.
U the State's Attorney there? PlcaM
get him to the phone at once. The
Hie Sheriff
'So, nothing at all, thank you
n slight cold, perhaps. Can you get
hlra to tho telephone? Yes, Mr.
Sheriff they've sent for bJm. There
ho is."
The work "was admirably done.
Tho Sheriff got his papera. made his
I cm in. met the plain clothes men from
I he Police Department, captured Dr.
Webster, helped to put h,lm througU
the third degree and wring from him
utter five hours the confession of
how .he killed his wife to avoid a
charge of bigamy.
in the excitement that followed In
both cities the fact that Rilla Web
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Miss Rilla Webster, the Telephone Girl
Who Let the Wires Catch
Her Brother.
Dr..
Webster.
Aiif . itepif
Wfio Sit Like Fate at the Switchboard
The Telephone Girl Who
Heard the Wires Hunt Down Her
Brother As a Murderer! A Telephone
"Temptation
threw its black
shadow across her
path, shutting out
the light of duty.
She could fail to
locate the State's
attorney. It would
be so easy. After
11, he was her
brother. Maybe
he was innocent
Should she warn
him?"
ster, telephone operator, was found
In a' swoon beside the switchboard
almost escaped notice, So did the
fact .that Rilla ' Webster was thj
murderer's sister.
Miss Webster was ill for two weeks
after her brother's arrest. From her
sick bed she told why f he had per
formed a deed as heroically unselfish
as that of the Roman Judge Brutus,
who sentenced his own son to death
Stories of the
Girl Who Beat a Racing Flood!
for disobedience to the laws of
Home.
"Yes, It was a terrible experience,"
she said. "I would rather have died
than gone through it. 1 wonder that
I did not die or go crazy while I nhc
at the board listening to the men
who could hang my brother."
"But you could have saved him."
"Yea, I could have Tipped him off
at his boarding bouse. I knew the
number. I even called Chicago. But
w hen I got Chicago I Just couldn't
Do you. know what saved me, kept
me steady, made me do my duty? It
was Just like a voice whispering over
my shoulder, a text I' learned at
Sunday school, 'Thou God seest
me.' J knew that If no one else
knew it Ho knew. I am glad. For
I did my duty."
Lena Blnckley played the t'ole of
Fate splendidly at Austin, Pa.
Harry Davis, the engineer, called
her:
"The dam is breaking. For God's
sake warn as many as you can."
So swift is tha mysterious
power of electricity that tha mes
sage had five minutes the start
of the great, green, crushing
wave moving as a great over
whelming wall from the river
upon the town. One second
Lena Bluckley stopped to think.
Then she turned from her
switchboard. There was not
time to give warning by
telephone.
She dashed down tha stairs
into the street, wildly swinging
her hat and screaming: "Tha
dam has broken! Rub to the hills!
Follow me!"
A few looked smptdly at ber, theu
turned into a store to nuke a pur
chase fur the evening meal they
would never eat.
The green marching wall broke
againtt the store. It rushed over It,
rrushlug it into ruins. "The dam
has broken! Run to the hills! Foi-
Page
Operators
low me!" screamed the hello girl,
a Paul Revero afoot.
Mwny heard, and, hearing, fol
lowed. ,
"The dam Is broken!" she shrieked,
leadlnp on her flying battalion up
the hill of safety on North Main
street.
When she had reached the top of
the hill Bhe turned to look back.
"From w here I stood," she said, "the
water seemed flfty feet high. There
was a big cloud of wliite spray above
It. Houses were tossing about In lO
The noise was like thunder."
All of tho group that reached the
top of the hill owe their lives to
Lepa Blnckley Fate at the switch
board, v
She had no thought of reward
but her employers, the telephone
company, have announced that
Lena Blnckley will hereafter get .
double pay and may hold her Job
for life, if she wishes.
In a Western city a telephone girl
sitting in a telephone room Quiet at
Miss Lena Binckle
the Telephone
Operator Who ,
Warned the Town
of the Austin Flocd
in Time to Save
Many Lives.
that midnight hour heard harsh
voices. She stared about the empty
room.
"Ill kill you!" shouted
thick with auger.
"You dare not touch me, yoa
coward!" The woman uefer
Anlshed the sentence. There was
scream, a fall. '
The telephone operator thrust a
plug in and called: "The police sta
tion. Hurry, please. Is this the po
lice station? PI en ho send a man to
No. 2367 Russell streut. A nun H
killlug a woman there. Certainly I
know. They had left the receiver eft
the hook. It was a 'live line. "
The police caught the roan as h
was slinking out of the door carry,
lug a dress suit case, hla bat pulls. t
lew and his coat collar turned up.
He has expiated bis crime because
a telephone girl, playing fate, brok
the rules and Interfered. '