USA > Massachusetts > Tracing the telephone in western Massachusetts, 1877-1930 > Part 19
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duties and the books for the Greenfield Exchange District have been taken over by him. In transferring the bookkeeping of the Greenfield Exchange District to the Accounting Office, Miss Annie C. Collins and Gladys M. Woodbury were trans- ferred from the Commercial Dept.
Miss Lydia E. Triebel, for eight years an employee of the Operating Dept., during the last four of which she has filled the position of Assistant Chief Operator, has accepted a posi- tion with the Traffic Dept. as Toll Service Observer at Green- field. Miss Mabel Yetter, a Toll Operator for the past five years, has been promoted to the position of Assistant Chief Operator in place of Miss Triebel.
Dec., 1908, Topics-Miss Florence A. Hosford, Cashier at Greenfield, has been appointed District Cashier of the Green- field District.
E. W. Beckwith, District Engineer from the Springfield of- fice, is finally located in his new quarters at Greenfield.
George Wright was given the position of District Switch- boardman at Greenfield in 1908. George first started in 1901 as Night Operator in the Haymarket Exchange, Boston, and then transferred to the Equipment Dept.
Miss Mary Collins, formerly an operator in the Springfield Exchange, and for the last three years in South Deerfield, was appointed Chief Operator of the South Deerfield Exchange.
Sherry W. Baldwin, Manager at Greenfield, was transferred to Bellows Falls as Manager in place of Harry Gray, in Decem- ber, 1908.
Edward E. Mellen was appointed Chief Clerk to District Manager Langmaid on Dec. 9, 1908. He entered the employ of the Company in the Pittsfield office as a Collector, Nov. 2, 1908, only a month and one week prior to his promotion.
Miss Myrtle E. Rhoades succeeded Miss Florence A. Hos- ford as District Cashier of the Greenfield District in April, 1909. Miss Rhoades was formerly Clerk in the Commercial Dept. at Northampton.
Sales activities resulted in a contract being taken for a No. 2 PBX of 8 stations for the new Franklin County Hospital in Greenfield. Also the PBX at the Stanley G. I. Co. was to be replaced by a two-position board carrying 150 stations. The
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
Hotel Weldon added 11 stations, making a total of 46 stations.
The May, 1909, Topics listed the following Exchanges and Managers in the Greenfield District, of which F. P. Langmaid was District Manager.
Bellows Falls
H. W. Buzzell
Keene
John F. Tafe
Greenfield
F. P. Langmaid
Brattleboro
R. J. Eldridge
Athol
A. C. Brownell
The Western Division appeared to be composed of these districts: Springfield, Worcester, Pittsfield, Greenfield and Burlington.
May, 1909, Topics-A telephone line is soon to be con- structed to the top of Mt. Sugar Loaf, a new state reservation in South Deerfield. This will be a very difficult piece of work on account of the Mt. being so steep and covered with ledges. Tradition says that King Philip and his savage warriors used this Mt. top for signal fires for communication. Now the white race will enjoy the telephone method.
GUIDE: "Kindly notice the long time that elapses before the echo of my voice reaches us. Hello, hello, hello!"
ECHO: (few seconds later) "Hello, hello, hello!"
MRS. NEWRICH: (formerly a telephone operator, absently) "Number, please?"
George Wright of Pittsfield, having found a congenial help- mate in Orange, started up housekeeping in Greenfield, where he was employed as District Supervisor of Equipment.
May, 1909, Topics reported that motorcycles were being used to great advantage by the Plant Dept. in the Greenfield District. The Greenfield, Brattleboro and Athol Exchanges had one 1-cyclinder machine each, and Keene, N. H. and Bel- lows Falls, Vermont each had a 2-cyclinder.
Underground cable was being placed along Church Street and a portion of Federal Street in September, 1909.
On Nov. 23, 1909, a meeting of the District Managers was held at District Headquarters, Greenfield, at which occasion S. K. Berry, Directory Manager, addressed them on the sub-
Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts 227
ject of "Directory Advertising." The plan for the solicitation of directory advertising by district and local Managers was begun Nov. 15, 1909.
Edward E. Mellen, formerly Chief Clerk at the District Manager's Office, was promoted to Manager at Athol and Orange, in place of A. C. Brownell, resigned. Earl M. Slate was appointed the new Chief Clerk.
Mary E. Falvey started working for the Company about December, 1909. She was associated with the Greenfield Busi- ness Office for many years.
The Jan., 1910, Topics-South Deerfield
The installation of a new three position switchboard at South Deerfield marks another step in the local development of telephony, which in the last ten years has been remarkable. Starting in with less than a dozen telephones ten years ago, the Exchange has grown to 240 subscribers. The original Ex- change consisted of a 16-drop switchboard in the Roche Drug Store. This was outgrown and a one-position board installed at the house of Jasper Gillette. When the Exchange moved into the Bank Block a few years ago a second position was added and now a third is necessary.
Jan., 1910, Topics-On January 1st, the Revenue Account- ing Dept. completed the transfer of Exchange Accounting for the Pittsfield District from Springfield to Greenfield. At the present time Exchange Accounting for the Greenfield and Pittsfield Districts is performed at the Accounting Office in Greenfield. The Springfield Accounting Office now handles only the Exchange Accounting for the Springfield District.
Archibald D. Flower, Jr., for the past three years Night Chief Operator in the Greenfield Exchange, has accepted the position of Test Man with the Plant Dept., at Brattleboro, and is succeeded in Greenfield by Anthony M. Affhauser, who has been Night Operator for about a year.
March, 1910, Topics-George E. Wright, formerly Central Office Repairman, Greenfield District, has taken the position of Wire Chief at Keene, New Hampshire, recently vacated by James Greene, resigned.
Earle M. Slate, formerly Chief Clerk, has been appointed Collector at Greenfield and Sidney H. Colvin has taken his
228 Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
place as Chief Clerk to the District Manager, according to the next month's Topics.
The April, 1910, Topics tells of Donat E. Gingras, former Collector at Greenfield, being promoted to Contract Agent with headquarters at Bellows Falls.
Leslie H. Streeter was promoted from Head Combination Man at Greenfield to Wire Chief in May, 1910.
Lester W. Martin, according to the Sept., 1910, Topics, has been transferred from Worcester to the Greenfield District to fill the position of Distribution Engineer formerly held by the late Edward W. Beckwith.
At this time it was reported that the following copper cir- cuits have recently been hung in the District: Boston-Green- field, Worcester-Greenfield, Bellows Falls-Greenfield and Keene-Greenfield.
Donat E. Gingras, Contract Agent at Bellows Falls, took the position of Chief Clerk to the District Manager at Greenfield about November, 1910.
In telling of the inauguration of a new Society, Topics ac- quainted its readers with the "Who's Who" in telephone circles:
"About 75 enthusiastic telephone men met at Greenfield on Dec. 30, 1910, and formed the Greenfield Chapter of the Telephone Employees' Association of New England. Thirty four members were transferred from the Pittsfield-Greenfield Chapter and the new Chapter was started with a total mem- bership of 55. Officers elected; President, W. T. Durfee, District Plant Chief; Vice-President, George F. Parker, Dis- trict Foreman; Treasurer, D. E. Gingras, Commercial Chief Clerk; Secretary, P. C. Lockwood, Manager, Keene, New Hampshire; Corresponding Secretary, H. A. Noyes, Greenfield Plant.
"Entertainment Committee: Frederic P. Langmaid, Jere N. Haskell, Donat Gingras, Charles A. Reynolds, Charles Law- rence, V. K. Redman, Eugene Henderson, Edward E. Mellen, Herbert E. Shaw, J. Walter Shelley, Anthony Affhauser.
"Committee on by-laws: Philip D. Lockwood, Ralph J. El- dridge, Lester W. Martin. Nominating Committee: Samuel F. Parker, George E. Wright, Harold Buzzell.
Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts 229
"Remarks were made by the newly elected officers and the following guests: E. W. Pierce, Chief Clerk to the General Commercial Supt., Boston; Clifford L. Vaughn, District Plant Chief, Pittsfield; C. L. Stone, District Plant Chief, Fitchburg; August McAulay, District Plant Chief, Springfield; C. F. Du- fresne, District Manager, Fitchburg; Harry V. Bicknell, Ad- vertising Dept., Boston; H. W. Emerson, PBX Dept., F. G. Daboll, Division Commercial Supt., H. E. Hughes, District Manager, Pittsfield; L. B. Stowe, District Manager, Spring- field; John K. Curtis, Special Agent, Western Division; Frank X. Colleton, Special Agent, Boston; Charles H. Lamont, Toll Wire Chief, Springfield; David Martin, Engineer, Portland District; W. A. Parker, Division Cable Foreman, Western Divi- sion.
"Letters were read from Harold S. Allen, District Plant Chief, Newton West District; R. P. Jones, Chief Clerk Rev- enue and Accounting, Boston; R. C. Marden, District Plant Chief, Manchester, New Hampshire; E. W. Longley, Auditor, Boston; C. T. Keller, General Commercial Supt., Boston.
"There were songs by Frank X. Colleton, of Boston; and J. Walter Shelley, Right of Way Man; Charles A. Reynolds, Con- tract Agent; D. E. Gingras, Chief Clerk to District Manager, of Greenfield. An interesting initiation of one candidate fol- lowed the speaking."
The following were the Greenfield District Contract Agents, as disclosed by Topics: F. B. Adams, J. N. Haskell, and C. A. Reynolds.
The new Telephone and Telegraph Society of New England became a reality in April, 1911, by the merger of the Class A section of the Telephone Employees' Association and the Tele- phone Society of New England. The Greenfield Chapter Di- rectory for 1911-1912 was as follows: President, George F. Parker; Vice-President, R. J. Eldridge; Secretary, Harry A. Noyes; Treasurer, C. S. Stebbins.
The attendance of the Greenfield Operators in the year 1911 was noteworthy. Nettie J. Herre, local Supervisor, and Anna B. Kossbiel were on hand every trick; Katherine Gro- gan, Senior Operator, and Carrie Bitzer were absent one half
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
day only; Nellie T. Mack and Matilda Moshert were absent one day during the year.
Robert H. Lawton's first appearance in Western Mass., telephonically speaking, was in 1911, when he became PBX and Central Office Repairman for the Athol and Greenfield Areas. He was first employed as Night Operator in Athol May, 1907, under the late Hattie Sawtelle and Frank G. Daboll. In 1910 he was advanced to Testman, and after his promotion to Central Office Repairman with the $16.50 weekly remunera- tion, he married Eva Lockwood, an Athol Operator.
March, 1912, Topics-On the first of April, F. P. Lang- maid, who since Aug. 16, 1908, has been District Manager of the Greenfield District, as well as Manager of the Exchange, retires from the Company to engage in the laundry business in the city of Greenfield.
In testimony of his service and personality, a luncheon was tendered him at the Hotel Weldon, Greenfield, which was attended by about 20 of his associates in the Company. A hand- some solid gold watch chain and charm were presented to him by those present, D. E. Gingras, Chief Clerk to Mr. Langmaid, making the presentation speech. Others who spoke in honor of the occasion were R. P. Jones, G. G. S. Perkins, E. W. Pierce, and many were the hearty and appreciative expres- sions of regard passed about the table. The good wishes of all who knew Mr. Langmaid are with him in his new enterprise.
The transfer of Jesse F. Hall from the position of District Manager at New Bedford to the similar one at Greenfield, came about in the shifting of positions resultant from the re- tirement of F. P. Langmaid.
Mary T. O'Connell started her telephone career in the Greenfield Accounting office in April, 1912. She lived in the near by town of Turners Falls. Mary was employed as a Book- keeper in the Exchange Service Dept., handling a thousand accounts, or so, at first. The work included writing out the bills, and preparing and addressing the envelopes for mailing.
The Burlington District of the Western Division, including the Burlington and Rutland Areas, which has been run on the unit plan since the Company reorganized in 1908, has been consolidated with the Greenfield District on April 1, 1912,
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
and is now to be organized under the functional organization. Manager John A. Russell of Rutland has been transferred to Burlington and is succeeded by Samuel H. Walley, formerly Manager at Milford, Mass.
D. E. Gingras, who has been Chief Clerk in the Green- field District, was appointed Manager of the Greenfield Ex- change on April 29, 1912.
Mr. Gingras, a native of Turners Falls, entered the service of the New England Telephone Co. in 1909 as a Collector. He was soon appointed one of the Contract Agents for the Green- field District. He was shifted about from one exchange to an- other, wherever current work required an additional man. In 1910 he was appointed District Chief Clerk for the Greenfield District.
The Greenfield District now consisted of the following ex- change areas-Athol, Greenfield, Rutland, Keene, Brattle- boro, Bellows Falls and Burlington.
Horace E. Roby, Traffic Inspector, was transferred to the Greenfield District in August, 1913, with headquarters at Rutland, Vermont. In November of the same year, he was made Assistant District Traffic Chief. Thereupon, Topics re- ported the following social event: "On December 29, Horace E. Roby, Assistant Traffic Chief, gave an enjoyable and en- thusiastic party at the Bardwell Hotel, Rutland, to the local Plant and Commercial Depts. and visiting employees from Springfield. Light refreshments were served, after which a smoke talk was enjoyed for the remainder of the evening."
Junkman: "Any rags, papers, old iron?"
Man of the House (angrily): "No, my wife's away." Junkman: "Any bottles?"
George E. Wright was promoted to the position of Wire Chief at Keene in 1914.
The April, 1916, Topics reported that Edward E. Mellen, who was transferred to Athol as Manager, will exchange ter- ritories with Edwin P. Wilbur, Manager of the Framingham Exchange, who desires to reside on his own farm in Orange, near Athol. Manager Wilbur entered the employ of the Com- pany in June, 1892, at St. Johnsbury as a Groundman and
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
later was one of the crew that ran the first copper wire from White River Junction to Littleton, and Lancaster, N. H., and from Bellows Falls to Rutland and Burlington, Vt.
Chester H. Pratt, in May, 1917, was transferred from Divi- sion Revenue Supervisor at Greenfield to the same position in the new Accounting Office at Rutland.
The Northfield Exchange was purchased from the North- field Farms Telephone Co. in February, 1918, which added an attractive school town to the Greenfield Exchange Area.
April, 1918, Topics-John F. Enwright, who was recently transferred from Gardner to Greenfield, as Manager, has had experience in all depts. of our Company in the Western Divi- sion. He started out at Fitchburg as a General Clerk in 1907. After a series of transfers and promotions, each one being well deserved, he was appointed Manager at Gardner in place of Fred G. Kegler who was with the 401st Telegraph Battalion.
Feb., 1921, Topics-Greenfield Area Transferred
To more closely coordinate plant activities within the area, as well as on account of the unnatural association of the Greenfield area with that of the Pittsfield District, as it was previously constituted, a new District was established on Jan. 1,1921.
The new District to be known as Northampton, on account of the location of its headquarters, is made up of the Green- field Area, from the Pittsfield District, comprising the ex- changes of Greenfield, Turners Falls, Northfield, Bernardston and South Deerfield; and the Northampton Area, from the Springfield District, comprising nine exchanges. The Hol- yoke Exchange was added to the District in 1923. The Com- mercial Dept. was not affected.
Miss Elizabeth M. O'Keefe, Chief Operator at Greenfield, resigned her position on Sept. 17, 1921, and two days later she was married. She had completed 22 years of service, start- ing with the Company as an Operator on April 1, 1899, and by reason of her unusual ability, made rapid progress and was appointed Chief Operator on Nov. 12, 1905.
Feb., 1922, Topics-Ralph Eldridge, Manager at Brattle- boro, first learned to operate a switchboard in Jencks and
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
Armstein Shoe Store at Shelburne Falls, where the Central Office was at one time located.
Resigning his position, he went to Greenfield, where for a time he was paymaster and timekeeper at Wells Brothers' Machine Shop. While there he became acquainted with H. E. Hughes, who was then Manager at Greenfield, and Mr. Hughes, who has a keen eye for picking out good men, offered him the position of Chief Operator in the Greenfield Ex- change.
Eldridge went to Shelburne Falls to talk the matter over with his folks and decided that he would decline. On going back to Greenfield he met Charles Lawrence on the train, who was then the local trouble shooter. Mr. Lawrence carried a coil of copper wire, spurs, com-a-longs, a hundred or two glass insulators, more or less, brackets, etc., and was, in fact, a typi- cal telephone man of that time and a more enthusiastic booster of the business could not be found. In the short ride between Shelburne Falls and Greenfield, Eldridge became thoroughly convinced that his life work was to be telephone business, and, accordingly, he accepted Mr. Hughes' offer. This was in February, 1902.
Combined July and August, 1923, Topics-On Thursday evening May 31, the employees of the Greenfield Exchange had a very successful "get-together" party, which was held in Odd Fellows Hall. The employees of all telephone offices within a radius of 50 miles were invited, and about 200 ac- cepted. The idea of the party was to have the visiting em- ployees become better acquainted with those of Greenfield. The result was most gratifying.
Present at the party were: L. L. Ross, District Traffic Chief at Pittsfield and Mrs. Ross; C. A. Weston, District Manager from Springfield and Mrs. Weston; L. V. Gillis, District Plant Supervisor from Northampton, and Mrs. Gillis; Carl Smith, District Plant Clerk from Northampton, and Mrs. Smith; H. A. Amidon, Assistant Traffic Chief from Springfield; Miss Mae I. Donovan, Toll Chief Operator from Springfield; Miss Helen J. Barney, Chief Operator from Northampton; Miss Alice V. Feeney, Chief Operator from
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
Holyoke; Miss Lillian I. O'Clair, Chief Operator from North- field; Mrs. Agnes M. L. LeGendre, Chief Operator from Turners Falls; William H. Shea, Wire Chief from North- ampton, and scores of employees from the near by exchanges.
Dancing was interspersed with vocal solos by E. J. Hugh and Joseph Marini; and Miss Dorothy Lyman rendered piano solos and readings. Refreshments were served at intermission by the Greenfield Operators. Mr. Gillis was Master of the art of punch serving.
Robert H. Lawton was appointed Greenfield Wire Chief in 1923. After leaving the PBX and Central Office Repair job in Athol and Greenfield in 1913, "Bob" served as Wire Chief in the White River exchange, and in 1915 returned to Athol in the same capacity. In 1917 he joined the 401st Tele- graph Battalion Signal Corps and served 14 months in France, becoming Master Signal Electrician in charge of central office installations. He returned to Athol in 1919.
April, 1924, Topics-Vail Medal to Sadie Collins
Our South Deerfield office serves a scattered farming com- munity, and in such a community a fire is a matter of serious concern, especially at night.
On Feb. 16, 1923, at about 10 P.M., Miss Sadie Collins, Junior Supervisor in charge, was called by a patron and asked if she knew the location of a fire, indicated by a blaze on the horizon.
She didn't, but she proceeded to find out, instead of assum- ing that because no alarm had been sounded in South Deer- field, the fire might be in Greenfield or Turners Falls. She called several subscribers and finally one said it looked as if the fire was at the Ellison place.
The Ellisons had retired for the night. After being aroused they made a hasty survey and then reported that one of their farm buildings was afire, and that their barn and other out- buildings, as well as the farmhouse itself, was threatened.
Miss Collins volunteered to summon help. She first called the Chief of the South Deerfield Fire Department and then rallied all the neighbors, with the result that the farmhouse and other buildings were saved.
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
Jan., 1925, Topics-Ralph H. Hoit has been appointed Manager at Greenfield. Prior to his recent transfer Mr. Hoit was the Manager at Palmer.
Ralph or "Dutch", as his friends know him, entered the Company at Manchester, N.H., in 1917. There, he was for a time Division Chief Clerk to the Supt. of Plant, and later he served as Right-of-Way Agent. Soon after his transfer to the Commercial Dept. in the fall of 1923, Mr. Hoit was appointed Manager at Palmer.
Nov., 1925, Topics-On September 6, Lillian O'Hara was appointed Chief Operator at the Greenfield Office. Miss O'Hara succeeded Josephine Gleason, who has been trans- ferred to Vermont.
Miss O'Hara entered the employ of the Company on Jan. 27, 1913, and served in various capacities until her promotion to a Supervisor's position in 1924. Rich experience, pleasing personality, and a true sense of management, presage Miss O'Hara's success as Greenfield's Chief Traffic executive.
Sept. 1, 1926, the Northampton District was discontinued, the Northampton and Holyoke Exchange Areas reverting to the Springfield District, while the Greenfield Area was re- turned to the Pittsfield District.
Keith Fletcher, Commercial Representative, was transferred from Springfield to Greenfield in March, 1927, taking the place of Louis E. Fontaine, transferred to North Adams.
William Hoggan, Commercial Representative at Pittsfield, was transferred to Greenfield in May, 1927.
July, 1927, Topics-Ralph Hoit, Manager at Greenfield, has a sense of humor and he needed it on this occasion. He was aroused from sleep by the ringing of his telephone bell. After banging his knee on a chair, he reached the instrument.
"Hello," he said as pleasantly as possible.
"Are you the Manager of the Telephone Company?" asked the voice.
"Yes, what can I do for you?"
"Tell me, how does it feel to get out of bed at 2 o'clock in the morning to answer a wrong number?"
Joseph E. H. Gamlin was appointed Line Assigner of the Greenfield Exchange area in 1928. He first joined the Com-
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
pany on Oct. 26, 1925, at Northampton in the Engineering Dept., transferring the following year to Greenfield as Wire Chief's Clerk, which position he held until his present assign- ment.
April, 1929, Topics-Leslie W. Ranney, for many years a Construction Foreman, with headquarters at Greenfield, was recently promoted to the position of Assistant District Construction Foreman, with headquarters at Montpelier, Vermont, coming under the supervision of Charles H. Pills- bury, District Construction Foreman.
Mr. Ranney is a native born Vermonter. He first went to work as a Groundman in a crew for our Company about twenty-four years ago at Keene, N.H.
Mr. Ranney's first job was cutting brush through swamp, swarming with mosquitoes, black flies and poison dogwood on a hot summer's day, having gone to work in the morning with the understanding that that was all the work the Com- pany could give him at that time. Also, the man who hired him was rather dubious as to whether he would stick. He did not know the Vermonters quite as well then as now. He did stick, even though for several days his face and hands were a sight from insect bites, as he was a bit of a tenderfoot, having just left school.
Jan., 1930, Topics-Wire Chief George T. Fahey was trans- ferred to the staff of the Division Plant Supervisor November 26th. Mr. Fahey's place at Greenfield will be filled by Frank D. Viens, who is known by about everybody in the Western Division as the genial Testman at North Adams.
Mr. Fahey has been employed continuously in the District since 1906. He was for many years Wire Chief of the Great Barrington area and played no small part in the rapid tele- phone development of that widely scattered territory.
In 1924 he was transferred to Greenfield where he has been very successful and made many friends, all of whom wish him continued success in his chosen field of educational work which he will follow in his new assignment.
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