Badly Played

Mr. W. H. Preece, the well-known electrician, tells an amusing story about the early days of the telephone. That the queen might test the new Invention, he put Osborne, Portsmouth and London ín communication, and arranged that a band should play while Her Majesty was at the other end of the instrument. The queen was detained, and before she arrived the band had been sent away. But a happy thought struck Mr. Preece. Why not himself act as the band? He to the instrument and hummed into it "God save the Queen," and asked if Her Majesty recognized the tune. "Yes," she said, "it was the national anthem - but very badly played!"