I'm sure there are folks on the list from the Mark Twain House in Hartford
who can correct the exact language here, but if memory serves, when you
visit
the house you see a hand-written Twain note tacked up next to the phone
describing at least three states of sound quality (or background noise) on
the telephone:

1. Sounds like thunder
2. Sounds like artillery
3. Sounds like thunder and artillery

Scott Dalrymple