- Back at the mill, there's a debate going on in the office about whether to put in a telephone.
- Mr. Ackerman is very confused about how the telephone would work (newfangled technology!). Plus, he rants about the cost, remembering the telephone numbers, even about how women are employed as the operators. He's an old-fashioned kinda guy.
- When Mr. Ackerman finds out that a business competitor has a telephone, he stops his grumbling and demands they get one as well.