A lady in Kalamazoo stepped into a store to use the telephone. She rang a short ring and placed the receiver to her ear. There was no answer. This was repeated several times without results. Words failed to express her opinion of the service. The proprietor having had no trouble with the instrument, stepped up to see what the trouble could be. The critic had been turning the handle of a pencil sharpener fastened on a shelf near the telephone.

(Found in Bell Telephone Employee Newsletter, April 1920)