Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 May 1891 — Wanted the Old Song, [ARTICLE]

Wanted the Old Song,

“Mister,” said a haggard-looking man, as he walked into the hardware store, “can you tell me where I can buy a phonograph?” “I guess we can order one for you, tir?” said the salesman who met him it the door. His face expressed surprise, but his tone conveyed assurance. “Can you get one that will work automatically—one that you won't have to grind yourself, but can fix it up and let it go off of its own ac•ord?” “I think we can arrange an attachment that will accomplish that result.” “All right; get it as quick as you can, will you?’ v •‘You want it as a sort of amanuensis, I suppose?” “No; my wife has gone out of town. I find that when I get home at night everything is so kind of solemn and still that I don't feel like going to bed, and when I do to bed the silence is so oppressive that I can’t stand it. So I thought if j could get a phonograph and have the aired gii 1 talk into it for about threequarters of an hour; something about its being a nice time of night for a self-respecting .married man to be getting home, and all that sort of thing. I would set it before I went to bed and succeed in getting to sleep. It’s funny how a man will miss these fid familiar sounds.”