USA > Massachusetts > Tracing the telephone in western Massachusetts, 1877-1930 > Part 28
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The advent of telephone cable in Springfield was described in the Republican of Feb. 2, 1884: "The two new telephone cables which have recently been strung from the Central Office at the corner of Main and Bridge Streets to a point as far south as the Opera House are real curiosities in their way. Out- wardly the cables present the appearance of ordinary lead water pipe 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Inside each of these pipes,
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts 337
however, are 52 small copper wires. Each of these is covered with two thicknesses of cotton tightly wound and outside of the cotton is a coating of paraffine. It is over these small wires that the sound is transmitted, and to the uninitiated it seems a matter of wonder that with so many wires packed closely to- gether there should be no confusion of sound. The cable is very heavy on account of its lead covering; but is very securely suspended and is a great improvement over the numerous lines of wire that have been in use."
Looking backward to the 1880s, brings to mind the re- nowned author, Edward Bellamy, who started his popular book "Looking Backward" in 1886. Mr. Bellamy was born in the Bellamy homestead, Chicopee Falls, and, in 1880, he and his brother Charles founded "The Daily News" of Springfield. "Looking Backward" portrays a socialistic utopia in the year 2000 and compares this peaceful state with the war-torn, pov- erty-stricken condition of his own day. It made such a pro- found impression that the Massachusetts Legislature passed laws permitting the cities to own and operate utilities and al- lowing them to set up stock piles of coal for the use of all citi- zens. This last measure was later declared unconstitutional.
On March 2, 1884, New England Telephone Co.'s stock sold at $39 a share, while on April 20th that of American Bell Co. brought $158. Springfield's 35,000 inhabitants raised $60,000 for its library.
In April, 1884, the Republican, in reporting further im- provement in telephone service, stated: "The telephone mana- gers begin today the vexing work of cutting up the circuits on Armory hill, improving the service by making 16 or 18 circuits out of the present 8. The work will necessitate some crossing of wires, so that the would be users of telephones must have pa- tience if their machines work spasmodically for two or three days. Poles have been set in Lyman street between Chestnut and the New York and New England Railroad depot, making a thoroughfare for more wires than could be used under the old scheme of hanging them on ridge-poles."
A thrilling innovation was reported in the Republican of May 28, 1884: "An order has been issued from the New Eng- land Telephone Co. giving all clerks, operators and "inside"
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
employees of the company a 10 days vacation during the sum- mer. Manager Daboll has prepared a schedule of the vacations of the employees in his district, so arranged that all shall go and come between June 14 and September 1."
Miss Mary H. Rehm is one of the best operators in the tele- phone office, according to Topics. Her two sisters are also operators there.
"Say Mose, howcum you name dat gal 'Lectricity?"
"Well, you see, Sam, mah wife am Dinah and ah'se Mose and dynamos makes 'lectricity."
An important announcement appeared in the July 29, 1885, Republican:
"William J. Denver has been called to a field where his abili- ties as an electrician will have greater play than here, having been appointed Assistant General Manager of the New Eng- land Telephone Co. He will take up his new duties at Boston August 1.
"Mr. Denver has been in the telegraph business for 30 years, and established the Gold and Stock telephone office (Spring- field Telephone Co.) when that was opened here in the early days of telephoning. His successor as Manager of the local Western Union office is his brother, Henry Denver, who pre- viously held the position as Chief Operator."
In 1886 the divisions were abolished and Frank G. Daboll, who had been Western Division Supt., was appointed Manager of the Springfield Exchange, according to the Sept., 1908, Topics. Nothing was said as to whom the managers would re- port, but it is surmised that they reported to assistant general managers. Under the telephone classification in the 1886 and 1887 Springfield Business Directories, William J. Denver's name appeared as Assistant General Manager, while Frank G. Daboll was listed as Manager. In the 1888 Directory, the name of J. W. Duxbury took the place of William J. Denver.
Augustus McAulay entered the employ of the Company in 1888, and for a number of years travelled about New England helping to construct toll lines.
Martin A. Goodwin came to Springfield about 1889 and was connected with the central office. He was very popular with subscribers because of the courtesy and conscientiousness with
Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts 339
which he did his work; it being not uncommon to have a re- port of a defect accompanied by a request that Mr. Goodwin be assigned to repair it.
Mr. Goodwin began in Fall River in 1879, and spent about two years in that section. After a short period in Boston, with the Bay State Telephone Co., he went to Pittsfield for 8 years.
James A. Campbell was first employed in Springfield as groundman on April 14, 1891, and in May the next year he was transferred to Lowell.
Lexington, Mass., was the first exchange in the world to be operated on a common battery basis,-1893. Wellesley was equipped similarly in 1894.
Lovell B. Stowe was first employed by the New England Telephone Co. in August, 1893, as groundman at Springfield, according to a later Topics. In December of the same year, he went to Burlington as night operator and the spring of 1894 qualified as combination man, one year later going to White River Jct. as manager. In 1896 he returned to Burlington, tak- ing the position of manager.
Raymond O. Nickerson, according to the Republican, came to Springfield from Boston in 1894 to serve as chief operator and wire chief for the Western and Northern divisions of the company. He came from Woods' Harbor, N. S., to Boston, where he entered the employ of the American Telephone Co. in 1888, and served first as an operator and then as assistant wire chief.
Henry Denver became connected with the Springfield office in 1895. He was associated with the Western Union Telegraph Co. for years, and aided his brother, William J. Denver, in organizing the Springfield Telephone Co.
Frank C. Buck started work with the Company Jan. 1, 1896, as a collector. To facilitate these collections, he used a bicycle for which a monthly compensation of $2.08 was allowed. The busier pay stations had to be collected every morning and then a bundle of bills awaited him for collection. After completing his collections on Fridays and enjoying an early supper, he returned to the office and attended the switchboard from 6 P.M. to 7 A.M., thus enabling the night operator to have a
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
night off and himself a Saturday off. A collector in those pre- inflation days received $25 a month.
The switchboard, Frank relates, was a magneto multiple board with 14 positions, and the drops had to be restored by hand. There was only one operator after 9 o'clock, which did not permit any napping-although a gong sounded with each incoming call. Newspapers, liverystables and doctors seemed to keep the annunciators dropping.
R. O. Nickerson was Chief Operator and performed the functions of a Toll Wire Chief, testing the toll lines each morning, and repairing the switchboard; which operations he taught Frank to do. The American Telephone Co. had an operating room with a few positions and a test board next to the local operating room, and calls to places outside the New England Co's. territory were switched to the American Co's. board.
Charlotte Gregg entered the employment of the Company Nov. 7, 1896, as a clerk, working for Giles Taintor, Division Supt., and was advanced to a bookkeeper the next year.
Mr. Taintor remained only a short time and was succeeded by James H. Barry, who had been Supt. of the Northern Divi- sion for two years. (The position of Division Supt. was evi- dently restored.)
Emma Luther, who later became Mrs. Courtlandt L. Kites, started as an operator in July, 1897, the switchboard being in the Kinsman's block. The three toll operators were Nettie Baldwin, Cora Hinckley and Eva Ball. Eva Frost, who was very quick with her hands, was the toll switch operator. Other operators mentioned by Mrs. Kites, were Alice Bailey, Mabel Lamberton, Marion Langdon, Amy Lane, Minnie Webber and Alice Daley. When subscribers wanted to get information about the election returns, fires, baseball results, etc., they simply asked the operators. Mrs. Kites well remembers the avalanche of calls when the Old City Hall burned in 1905. She was appointed a supervisor prior to leaving in February, 1906, to become PBX operator at Rood and Woodbury's. Eva Frost also left then, but returned later as Mrs. Bryson and became the matron of the rest room on Worthington Street, where she remained many years.
Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts 341
Frank Cignoli and Walter D. Taylor also worked there, ac- cording to Mrs. Kites. Frank Buck remembered them, as fol- lows: Frank Cignoli was a short, slight man who could climb a telephone pole like a monkey. They used him a great deal on toll line troubles. After working a number of years, he left to go with the Southern New England Telephone Co.
Walter D. Taylor was an outstanding foreman of Central Office installation, working out of Boston. Later he had charge of the installation of the Holyoke and Springfield common battery offices. He married Winifred Sellew, a popular Spring- field local operator.
Early in 1898, Lovell B. Stowe was transferred from Burling- ton, where he was Manager, to Springfield as Division Cashier.
The preparations for opening the Chicopee Exchange were described in the Republican of May 13, 1898: "The local ex- change is being fitted up at 561 Front Street. The entire first floor of the house has been leased by the Company and the operator will live on the same floor with her office. Sixty nine new 'phones have been received, which, with the subscribers already on the Springfield circuit, will make the number of subscribers to open with between 150 and 175. The Company expects to have the local exchange in running order by June 1. The poles are about all set and the wire is being stretched. This involves the trimming of a good many shade trees."
On June 16, 1898, it was learned from the Republican that the new Chicopee telephone exchange was now ready for busi- ness, and that many new subscriptions had been received from the hotels, physicians and private residences, and that a num- ber of business places were talking of having instruments put in.
The location of Chicopee's first exchange was where it is today, at the corner of Front and Bemis Place. Mrs. H. A. Cleveland was the operator, chief operator and manager-all in one. Herbert Sherwin of Hyde Park, Vt. was the night operator.
The papers were full of news regarding the war with Spain. The U.S. forces were trying to get in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba, the American Squadron having bombarded it June 3, 1898.
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
The Republican of July 23, 1898, reported favorable news regarding Manager Daboll: "The employees in the telephone exchange, on July 21, 1898, presented Mr. Daboll with a ma- hogany morris chair on the event of his recent promotion." This promotion made Mr. Daboll the Supt. of the Western Division again, in place of Mr. James Barry, who was trans- ferred to the Central Division at Lowell, in the same capacity.
The Company's move from the Kinsman's Block to 99 Bridge Street was described in the Topics of Jan., 1914, as fol- lows: "In 1899, the office was moved to Bridge Street, the Com- pany having purchased the building formerly occupied by the Parlor Theatre (where Steiger's Man's Shop is now located). Here a common battery system was cut over on Feb. 4, 1899. This was one of the first boards of this type in the Company's territory and attracted a great deal of attention at the public opening. The ultimate multiple capacity was 4200 lines and when installed the exchange had 1395 subscribers. The new board was equipped with 14 positions. These quarters were thought to be adequate to meet the growth for a long term of years but they were outgrown in less than ten."
At the time of the move, Frank Buck was made Central Office Repairman, looking after the switchboards.
"Billy" French, who had done this work when the office was in the Kinsman's block, became Assistant Manager of the Springfield exchange. He started as a Messenger boy with the Springfield Telephone Co. in March, 1880, and soon was made an Operator. When the growing business needed the services of a Collector, he was appointed. Then he became an Instru- ment Assembler and a Switchman.
Ida Cross, one of the outstanding operators, started work March 1, 1900.
L. B. Stowe was appointed Manager at Springfield in Au- gust, 1900, having been District Cashier.
Loretta L. Kennedy started work for the Company Oct. 20, 1902, as an Operator, in the Bridge Street Building.
About 1902, Augustus McAulay was appointed Division Foreman. He had transferred to Springfield in 1898, becoming the Assistant Division Foreman in 1901. He joined the Com- pany in 1888.
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Edward M. Stannard came with the Company in 1902 as an Inspector in the Plant Dept.
James Campbell was appointed Assistant Division Foreman. He was promoted to Station Foreman of the Holyoke District in 1900.
Charles E. Lyons, a native of Springfield, started to work for the Telephone Company at Springfield in April, 1903, serving as a groundman in the Plant force.
About 1903 or 1904, R. O. Nickerson was transferred to the Division Traffic office and at one time he was Toll Inspector for the whole New England territory.
Frank Buck took his place as Chief Operator. Among Frank's duties was hiring the operators, of which there were about 150 when the local operating office took over the long distance operating done by the American Telephone Co.
William P. Ring came to work for the Company June 22, 1903, digging holes on Rogers Ave. for farmers' lines. In those days the "ground hogs," as they were picturesquely known, were laid off for the winter, when the temperature was often down to about 22 degrees below zero. Frank McInnis had him transferred to the American Telephone Co. to learn line work, and then "Pitt" was sent to Westfield, January, 1905, as a Com- bination Man.
Augustus McAulay became Supt. of Construction in 1904. He worked up to this position by his ability and diligence.
An Agency telephone office was started in North Wilbraham Jan. 18, 1904, in the home of Mrs. Emma Mowry, who was its first Agent. There were only two lines in use at the beginning.
"I would like a pound of your golf sausage," she said to the West Water Street butcher.
"Golf sausage? Sorry, Madam, but we don't handle it. We have liverwurst, ham sausage and other kinds, but no golf sausage."
"Oh, dear, I'm so sorry. My husband said he much preferred the kind made in links."-Republican.
About 1904 East Longmeadow, which had been served by rural lines from Springfield, was furnished a small village switchboard, and George B. Robinson was appointed Agent. Mr. Robinson was engaged in the quarry business and
344 Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
also was the owner of a store on the east side of Prospect Street a few hundred feet south of the Square. Here, Miss Susan F. Delehanty went to work as the first Operator. In 1911, Miss Delehanty succeeded Mr. Robinson as Agent. An interesting account of this exchange, as related by Miss Delehanty, is given in Chapter 22.
Leroy F. Rodimon was one of the "Bridge Street Gang." He started work in his native town of Easthampton in 1901, as night operator, working from 6 P.M. to 7 A.M. Shortly after the exchange was moved to the Newkirk block, Manager Proctor transferred Roy to Northampton to do installing and to at- tend to subscribers' batteries, the jars of which occasionally needed replenishing with salammoniac powder. It was in 1903 or 1904 before the first barrel of dry cell batteries was de- livered.
In the spring of 1905, Leroy recalled, was transferred to Springfield and the next year he became a Division Installer. A few Agents from Boston traveled around selling telephones, allowing three months' free trial. Supt. Daboll sent out con- struction gangs to set poles and run the iron wire to the new customers' premises. Roy went about exchanges in Western Mass. and Southern Vt., installing the instruments. He walked about the towns carrying quite a heavy bag on his back and the telephones in his arms. He was allowed to hire a team for the outlying sections. Arriving at a premise, he had to dig quite a deep hole, throw in from 50 to 100 feet of wire, attach one end of it to the building, and then fill the hole. This constituted the 'ground',-necessitated by there being only one iron wire to a line.
Vertran F. Jones started his telephone career after Labor Day, 1904, as a Stock Room Helper. Their quarters were in back of the commercial office in the Bridge Street Build- ing, according to "Vert." After a year he was transferred to the Installation and Repair Dept. In a year and a half he re- turned to the Stock Room as Clerk.
In 1905 Harry Oakes was assigned to the position of secur- ing permits for pole and underground terminal locations in the prescribed area in Springfield. Harry started at Orange in 1894 as relief operator and in 1896 was advanced to night
PARLOR THEATRE
-
-
FIRST THREE SITES IN SPRINGFIELD
Center, Haynes Opera House. Bottom, Gilmans Block. Top, Parlor Theatre Building.
LOVELL B. STOWE-1917
HARRY I. SANBORN-1920
G
CHIEF OPERATORS AND ASSISTANTS-1911
Front row, left to right: May Donovan, Julia Lyons, Daisy Lane, Loretta Kennedy, Stella Reimers, Helen Mckenna. Back row: Mar- garet Reid, Agnes Dowd, Lula Cambell, Mollie Cummings, Alice Mansfield, Eva Foster, Helen Downs, Theresa Corridan.
CLASS F EXCHANGE AT GRANVILLE CORNERS-1910
Mrs. Charles Tryon, the Agent, operates the wall-type switchboard in her parlor.
GEORGE H. CAMPBELL, STOCK CLERK, STANDING AT LOCAL TEST BOARD, 99 BRIDGE STREET-ABOUT 1908
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
operator. In 1899 he was transferred to this position in Green- field and did some collecting during the day.
Early in 1901 Harry was transferred from Greenfield to Springfield as night operator for the American Telephone Co. After serving in the Manager's office in the New England Co., at Springfield, as clerk and pay station attendant a short time, he became timekeeper and paymaster for the District Fore- man.
Harold W. Bates, according to Topics, was transferred from Athol to central office and testboard work at Springfield in December, 1905. Entering the telephone business in June, 1902, at Barre, Mass., as a night operator, Harold soon found his niche in the Plant Dept., to which he transferred in June, 1904, at Athol.
Frederick W. Williams started work in 1906 in the stock- room at Springfield.
Nelson C. Pardee also started work in 1906, reporting at the shops on Farnsworth Street, South Boston, known as the Mechanical Dept. Later, he transferred to the General Con- struction Dept., where he worked in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts until 1909. Since then Nelson has worked at the Springfield office and has successfully han- dled switchboard repairs, M.D.F. work and power mainte- nance.
The Republican of June 3, 1906, reported the following: "Springfield has the honor of making the machine to break the record between New York and Boston, a 40 H.P. Knox car with a waterless engine, doing the trick Memorial Day,-503 miles in 19 hours and 53 minutes, an average of 25 miles an hour. The sextet making the trip on Memorial Day were George Kerr, H. L. Bowles, P. B. Moore, A. E. Dennison, Harry Corson and W. E. Wright. During the whizzing trip the speeders say they are innocent of toppling over farmers and pedestrians, and didn't have to alight to assume a reclining position beneath the car."
Grace and Sally Darling became identified with the Reve- nue Accounting Office at Springfield in 1906, Sally starting December 3 and Grace, the day before Christmas. Grace worked in the Company's Bridge Street Building "rating" toll
346 Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
tickets,-that is, figuring the tariff for each ticket. Some of the girls working in that building were Clara Charles, Isabel Hall, Eleanor Healey, Etta Rice and Catherine Adams. C. H. Hoyt was the Auditors Chief Clerk, R. P. Jones being in charge of the Revenue Accounting Dept. at Boston.
Sally Darling started in the toll section of the Auditing Dept., which was located in the Fuller Building (now the Valley Bank & Trust Co. corner Main and Bridge). She sorted tickets and made out the bills in exemplary handwriting. Anna McCarthy had charge of that phase of the auditing.
In 1907 the Accounting office was moved to the Wason Building, 33 Lyman St. Here, Grace Darling became a book- keeper. She kept the accounts of the Great Barrington and Westfield exchanges, about 2000, in her big ledger, making out the bills and addressing the envelopes in fine handwriting. Regardless of later promotions, the sisters still retain fond memories of the days when they kept their own ledgers and wrote out the bills in long hand.
The Telephone Topics made its appearance in May, 1907, and, from then on, it has provided generously of the telephone information contained herein, as well as some given pre- viously.
The May, 1907, Telephone Topics, the first issue, refers to twelve private branch exchanges with 115 stations which had been installed recently: The Hotel Henking had 50 stations; the Springfield Provision Co., and the Springfield Daily News each had 11 stations, and the rest ranged from 3 to 8 stations. There was a total of 58 branch exchanges in the Springfield District with 1082 stations. This class of service was finding much favor with large business houses, hotels and factories. The Phelps Publishing Co. had the first PBX, according to W. H. French-a small turret connecting 15 stations.
The difficulty involved in training new operators in Spring- field led to the appointment of Mrs. Charles W. Lemont as Instructor. Mrs. Lemont was the former Alice V. Hitchcock, a telephone Supervisor at Portland, Maine, and was just mar- ried to Charles W. Lemont, the well-known Toll Wire Chief of the Western Division at Springfield.
The first Telephone Topics also reported the following:
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Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts
A police signal system has recently been installed by the Com- pany at Indian Orchard, consisting of nine call boxes and a small switchboard at the Orchard police station. The system is of great benefit in keeping patrolmen in close touch with headquarters, and the Department is well pleased with the new system.
About 1907 the Springfield telephone business had become so large that it was necessary to form a local wire chiefs organi- zation, and an office with a test board was opened on the first floor.
James W. Lewis was transferred to Springfield in 1907 as a Substation Installer. He entered the employ of the Company in 1904 as an Installer at Pittsfield and was transferred soon afterwards to the Boston Division, where he was engaged on switchboard installation in New Hampshire and Massachu- setts.
The Operators retiring room in the Springfield Exchange was refurnished, and Mrs. Mabel H. Andrews was installed as matron. Reading matter and periodicals were provided, to the gratification of all.
George H. Campbell went to work for the Company in 1907. He spent a few weeks with Fred Williams at the Indian Orchard office. Fred was in charge of the 2-position magneto switchboard and also did the installing and repairing of tele- phones in Orchard and Ludlow. For further telephonic ex- perience, George was permitted to attend the four public telephones in the Bridge Street Building for a few months and then was assigned to the stock room. The telephones did not come ready to install, George recalled; the cords, receivers, transmitters, bells, condensers,-all were ordered separately and assembled in the stock room.
June, 1907, Topics-Wholesale Moving.
The Company has outgrown its quarters at 99 and 103 Bridge Street, and to provide room for additional local switch- board equipment, it has been found necessary to remove the Superintendent's office to a new location. New offices have been leased in the Kinsman's building, corner of Main and Bridge Streets, and Division Supt. Daboll, Division Foreman McAulay and Division Cashier Stowe, with their office force,
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