TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS
Our reason for existence is to render telephone service to you, tor your business use and
tor your social convenience. No one is better able than we are to appreciate the fact that the
quality of our service is of the utmost importance to you and to the entire community. Our objec­
tive, now as always, is to make your telephone service the best possible; that is vital to our
welfare as an operating telephone company.
IN
THE P A ST
- ■ - - wo havo boon Justly p ro u d of o u r service. It w as fast and reliable.
boro w as on a p a r w ith th e boat in an y c o m p arab le city in th e U nited S tates.
D U RING
B efore th e w ar o u r serv ic e in H ills­
THE W A R
I hon cam e H itle r s m ad rush into P o lan d In 1939. In com m on w ith ev e ry o th e r civilian service, th e adeq u acy of
o u r telo p h o n o sorvicc ste a d ily docllnod for reasons q u ite beyond o u r pow er to a lter. G o v e rn m en tal re g u la tio n s, plus
th e co m m o n u rg e of p atrio tism , dem an d ed th a t wo should servo th e needs of th e arm y , th e n av y and asso ciated w ar in ­
d u strie s lit st. at w h a te v e r sacrifice of convenience to o u rse lv e s o r to you. O u r e v e ry reso u rce in m oney, equipm ent
and m an p o w e r w as th ro w n into tho effo rt to w in th e w ar. O rd in a ry civilian re q u ire m e n ts had to ta k e second place.
At thfl sam e tim e th e re bogan a ra p id d issip atio n of o u r force of tra in e d o p e ra to rs and tech n ician s. M any of
th e best oí t h t poople upon w hom wo dep en d ed for o p eratio n and m ain ten an c e of o u r p la n ts left us. T h ey w e n t either
into tho arm o d forces or in to w a r in d u strie s w ith w hoso in fla te d w age scales w e could not com pete, as o u r ow n wage
scales w ero h e ld at fixod ceilings by tho g o v ern m en t.
O u r H illsb o ro forco has not b een affected so b ad ly as m an y of o u r o th e r exchanges, b u t w e still h a v e too m any
c o m p arativ ely n o w and inexporiencod o p erato rs. O ur sta n d a rd of efficiency h as n a tu ra lly declin ed d esp ite th e h a rd ­
est and most n e rv e w ra c k in g w ork by th o sm all g ro u p of fu lly ex p e rien ce d em ployees w ho h av e re m a in e d th ro u g h ­
out th o w a r porlod.
W ith a progroK’ ively w eakoned forco of o p erato rs, an d no now eq u ip m en t w h a te v e r, w e h an d le d a rapidly
m o u n tin g load of t r a f ile e v e ry w h e re in o u r system . T he fig u res speak for them selves:
AF TER V-J D A Y
W hen th e w a r ended, w e all h e a v e d a sigh of relief and looked fo rw ard to th e
e a rly r e tu r n of n o rm al conditions. W e p laced o u r o rd e rs for new telep h o n es and w ire an d
sw itch b o ard eq u ip m en t and hoped for a let-d o w n in th e traffic load. So far from V -J day
h av in g b ro u g h t us any relief, o u r o rd e rs for new eq u ip m en t, ex cep t for a few d rib lets,
h av e n o t b een filled and o u r o v er lo aded facilities and o v erw o rk ed p erso n n el are called
upon to h a n d le an ev er-in creasin g load.
Since 1939. all over th e U. S. A., th e n u m b e r of long d istan ce calls, b oth p laced
and a c tu a lly co m p leted , has in creased b ey o n d th e p o w er of an y o n e to p re d ic t and b e ­
yond th e p o w er of any co m pany to h a n d le p ro m p tly w ith th e p erso n n el an d eq u ip m en t
o b tain ab le. At th e sam e tim e, o w ing to w a r conditions, it b ecam e v astly m o re d ifficu lt
for o u r o p e ra to rs to p u t th ro u g h a n d co m p lete th e calls th a t w e re placed.
In o u r F o rest G rove D istrict (co m p risin g 18 E x ch an g es in th e area aro u n d P o rtla n d )
w e h an d led 730.403 long d istan ce calls in 1939. In 1945 w e h a n d le d 1.367,754 long d is­
tan ce calls.
T h e tem p o is n o t s la c k e n in g . T h e re is no le t-u p . L o n g
D istan ce C alls p la c e d in this d is tric t to ta lle d 117,641 in
J a n u a ry , 1946. In M a y , 1946, th e re w e re 143,564.
In H ills b o ro . d u r in g th e m o n th of M a y , 1938, th e re w e r e p la c e d 7,957
L o n g D is ta n c e C a lls . In th e m o n th of M a y , 1946, th e re w e re p la c e d 18,724
L o n g D is ta n c e C a lls , a n in c re a s e o l 135% .
W e h av e a w a itin g list of o v er 9,000 ap p lica n ts for telep h o n e service, 500 of th em
in H illsboro. W e w a n t to serv e th em as soon as w e can, if o n ly for th e obvious co m ­
m ercial reason th a t o ur in ab ility to serv e th e m is co stin g us p e rh a p s 550,000 ev e ry m o n th ,
ov er o u r e n tire system .
D u rin g th e w a r p erio d o u r in s ta lla tio n s of th e few telep h o n e s th a t h a v e b een a v a il­
ab le h av e been re g u la te d b y g o v ern m e n t o rd e rs. T h at co n d itio n still holds. W. P. B.
O rd er U-2 d a te d S ep tem b er 27, 1945, sets o u t ce rta in ru le s an d sch ed u les of p rio rity to
w hich w e a re leg ally re q u ire d to ad h ere.
G re a t p re ssu re has b een e x e rte d b y so m e p eo p le w h o a p p a re n tly fe lt th a t th e ir
needs sh o u ld o v er-rid e th e g en e ral good a n d th e g o v e rn m e n ta l re g u la tio n s. W e h av e
done o u r b est h o w ev er to allo t o u r a v a ila b le serv ices re g a rd le ss of p erso n alities, in a c ­
co rd an ce w ith th e le tte r an d th e sp irit of t h e law . W e believ e th e se v ario u s re g u la tio n s
a re in th e b est in te re st of th e m ost people? in a n y case, th e y a re th e law to w h ich w e
m u st conform .
B u t w e can n o t serv e th em u n til w e c a n o b tain n ew telep h o n es, lin e m a te ria ls, new
sw itch b o ard facilities, all th e ap p lian ces t h a t a re essen tial to a b ig in crease in o u r ser
vice. T he sam e reaso n s th a t a re h o ld in g u p su p p lies of ev e ry so rt all o v er th e U n ited
S tates, h av e m ad e th e m a n u fa c tu re rs of te le p h o n e eq u ip m en t u n a b le to m eet th e tre m e n ­
dous p o st-w ar d em an d s of th e in d u stry . In sh o rt, th e w a r tim e con d itio n s th a t im p a ir­
ed y o u r telep h o n e serv ice a re still w ith us.
D u rin g th o w a r perio d , it w as im possible to o b ta in m a te ria ls to m eet th is g re a t in cre ase in civ ilian telep h o n e
servico re q u ire m e n ts; q u ito p ro p e rly , th e g o v e rn m e n t im posod d ra stic lim itatio n s upon su p p lies for o th e r th a n m ilita ry
an d w a r in d u s try needs.
In o th e r w ords, as th e w a r-tim e load in creased b y leap s an d bounds, o u r a b ility to cope w ith it w as ta k e n from
us. th ro u g h no fa u lt of o u r ow n. T h at condition, of course w as not confined to th is com pany; it w as n atio n -w id e, p a rt
of th e p rice th a t wo all h a d to p ay to se rv e th e a rm y an d th e navy an d w in th e w ar.
F o r six y e a rs o u r e n tire In d u s try faced th ese conditions;
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VASTLY INCREASING DEMANDS BY ARMY. NAVY AND GOVERNMENT.
RAPIDLY MOUNTING CIVILIAN DEMANDS FOR ORDINARY TELEPHONE SERVICE.
A VOLUME OF TELEPHONE TRAFFIC FAR BEYOND OUR WILDEST PRE-WAR DREAMS.
RAPID AND PROGRESSIVE DEPLETION OF OUR FORCE OF SKILLED MEN AND WOMEN.
TECHNICIANS AND OPERATORS.
INABILITY TO OBTAIN EQUIPMENT OR SUPPLIES TO MEET CIVILIAN REQUIREMENTS.
It is n o t s u rp risin g th a t o u r service to th e p u b lic d e te rio ra te d d u rin g th a t period; on th e c o n tra ry , w e h av e ev e ry
reaso n to bo p ro u d of o u r w a r record, p ro u d of th e fact th a t d e sp ite th e m a g n itu d e of o u r w a r e ffo rt w e w e re still ab le
to serv e th e civ ilian p ublic as w ell as w e did. In e v e ry o th e r c o u n try at w a r, little a tte m p t w as m ad e to m a in ta in te le ­
p h o n e servico at a n y th in g lik e a p re -w a r basis; civ ilian telep h o n e serv ice w as ru th le s s ly c u rta ile d or elim in a ted a lto ­
g eth er, as it h a p p e n e d to su it th e plan s of th o se resp o n sib le for w a r o p eratio n s an d w a r in d u stries.
S u p p lies a re tric k lin g in slow ly h o w e v e r an d w ith a re tu r n to a n y th in g lik e n o r­
m alcy in m a n u fa c tu rin g conditions, th e s itu a tio n sh ould im prove ra p id ly from now on.
IN H ILLSBO R O
N e w telep h o n e s h av e b een o rd e re d a n d w ill b e in stalle d as soon as th e m a n u fa c ­
tu re rs can d e liv e r th em .
N ew sw itch b o ard facilities h av e b een o rd ered an d w ill be in stalle d as soon as w e
receiv e th em .
N ew c a b le ad d itio n s w ill be in s ta lle d as soon as th e cab le an d a u x ilia ry e q u ip ­
m en t is received.
You m ay re s t assu red th a t w e a re v e ry m uch aliv e to th e p re se n t in ad eq u acies and
sho rtco m in g s of o u r service, w h ich a re com m on to telep h o n e serv ice all o v er th e U n ited
S ta te s at th is tim e.
U n til n o rm al co n ditions re tu rn , w e a n d o u r su b scrib e rs alik e a re th e v ictim s of
co n d itions w hich a re affectin g p ra c tic a lly e v e ry b u sin ess and serv ice to som e e x te n t in
th e e n tire U n ited S tates.
W e hope th a t th ese co n d itio n s w ill n o t last m uch lo n g er an d w e are d e te rm in e d to
re sto re th e serv ice to its fo rm e r efficien cy at th e e a rlie st possible m o m en t. M eanw hile,
w e ask you for y o u r p atien c e a n d re a so n a b le co nsideration.
West Coast Telephone Company