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hey all,

I was looking at a funny plaster-covered thing sticking out of my wall, which I had always assumed to be a plugged gaslight, and a little poking uncovered the mouthpiece of a brass speaking tube (this is in the back parlor of a 1905 limestone). The other end was presumably buried in the kitchen wall downstairs, so with a little sleuthing and shouting down the tube to a partner, I guesstimated the spot in the wall ad bored out a hole. Unbelievably the end of the tube was still there, plastered over and buried under sheetrock. I assume it was covered over when the house was split up into apartments, and went the way of its dumbwaiter companion (which has now been converted to utility closets, its pulley still buried in the crawlspace.)

Anyway, has anyone else made similar discoveries? Were they commonly used? And is there any place to get a matching mouthpiece for the downstairs end of the tube?