Transcript
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Rest of the story. Bill Gray gazed into his wife's eyes, and he knew it was serious. He knew she was far more ill than she was willing to let on, more ill even than he had been willing to imagine. Already incapacitated and utterly bedridden, she could not seek help now. Bill must seek it for her. So frantically he did. Now, this is a scene repeated throughout history. Untold millions of times. And yet this time, this was more than 100 years ago. This time was to affect our lives forever after. Yes, even yours. Bill dashed out of the house and into the streets of Hartford, Connecticut. There was no transportation. The hospital was impossibly far away. He must get to a phone. Suddenly, in the middle of his dead run down the street, Bill Gray recalled there was a phone in the office of a nearby factory. Bill ran there. As you are aware, in Hartford, 100 years passed, as throughout the rest of the world, telephones were scarce. Very few homes had telephones. So you will understand why Bill Gray ran to the one place he knew had one, and why thereafter he persisted in attempting to use it even after the man at the desk told him to go away. This was the only phone within a mile, and he was determined to gain access to it, even though he was informed that such equipment was for the use of employees only. But you don't understand, he kept saying over and over, I need to call a doctor. My wife is ill. The man at the desk said he sympathized. On the other hand, he did not make company policy. Then who did? Begged Bill gray. That was Mr. So and so, said the employee. So Bill pleaded that Mr. So and so be summoned to give his permission. Somebody went off to look for the man, a high ranking company official who did come, who did say, yes, of course, for such an emergency, go ahead, use the telephone. And Bill called the doctor. Now, it is believed that the physician was contacted and arrived at the Gray household in time to treat Bill's wife appropriately. We don't know for sure. In fact, we don't even know what Mrs. Gray's illness was. And perhaps the reason we don't know those details is that what came of this family crisis, what resulted from this family crisis was so profound in its effect, so everlasting in its impact. You see, Bill Gray was mechanically inclined. And he proceeded thereafter to invent something that would have brought the doctor to his house sooner. And Bill patented his invention. What he saw as the potential difference between life and death, the world now takes for granted. And yet, every time you pass a pay telephone, a pay telephone. You will remember whose idea that was and why, for then you will recall the rest of the story.