'I
PAGE SIX
THE BEND BULLETIN, BEND, OREGON
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1949
Bend Telephone Development Over 45 - Year Period Traced
Local Operators Now Handle Up to 23,000
Calls Daily; Distant Cities Are Being Dialed
I'Olli
Vrty-fivo years ago thin full, telephone exteiiiiion and development in Die Bond country
stitutod hiK news, as this paragraph I ro a aged files of The liulletin testily:
"The switchboard for the Hend telephone c;cliango 1ms arrivid ti ltd work oi insiawng
the unit in the plant, is under way. The exchange will have HO instrument (.-ervinif HO
homes and plaees of business). The local Horcieo wire will have a full melallie circuit.
However, the long distanee wire is a single I'ik ."
Th. date was October 2, l'.XM, and at thn'. time a Ioiik distance line was beinif con
structed to lYinovillo. whieh was connected with the outside world. The 1'riuevillu line
was Jit) miles in length. It was completed late in the fall of l'HM, and a Ioiik distance call
from Bond to Ohio made front page news in The Bulletin.
rictures on this page partly illustrate Beid's progress in the field of communication
in the past ! years. There are now HO eircu;U. between Bend and Portland, ami lines
serving the Pacific states pass through the lucid station. I'alil'ornia broadcasts for release
in Seattle, Wash., stations, for instance, utilize miibtate lines.
Local calls average between HI, 00(1 and HII.'IOll d uly certainly a vast incroiiMo over the
calls handled by Bond's HO telephones of -'15 years ago. Long distance calls handled in Bend
average 1 150 to 11(00 per day, and they go t all parts of the United States. Incidentally,
Ioiik distance calls are dialed, with person 1 1 perron dialing in u.ie generally wort of Chi
cago. There are 511 girls on the payroll of the Bend office, and !IS of these are on the job
daily. In other parts of the Bond street bui'ding are technicians handling transmission,
carefully watching circuits, caring for central office repair and scanning instruments
that locate possible breaks.
On this page are pictures that illustrate sumo of the activities of the local office. At
the left is W. G. Wilson, transmissioninati, ii front of the test board and the telegraph
board. Other pictures show
operators at the switchboards,
technicians at work and oper
ators enjoying a rest in their
lounge room, considered one
of the finest in the state. This
room is equipped with a kitch
enette, including a refrigera
tion unit.
At the right is one of the
many busy girls on the oper
ators' staff, Joan Shepard,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Fred S. Shepard, of the Turn
alo community. .Miss Shepard
is information operator, with
some 500 calls for informa
tion received daily. The girl at
this desk also handles the
TWX machine the automat
ic printer.
Underlines identify other
pictures in the group.
Cameraman Visits Telephone Plant Office,
I
ft T-i
ca
f t 3 " 1
, " "I
i v - t
This Unit Looks Complicated
Local Test Board Pictured
ft A
fx--
On a tour of the local telephone plant recently, Web Loy, Bulletin caiheraman, found his way into the
office of Sterling M. Sorenson, chief testboardman in the local office of the Pacific Telephone &
Telegraph Co. Carolyn Graham, in conference with the chief, is plant reports clerk.
fir ,F ti u .
ii ii n 1
I I ID l& 1 : u
i:y rr- 5 HI .:;;.v
. ; if' '-fin
i f Mil , rv-i !
V i
Operating the "J" carrier repeaters In the Pacific Telephone & Tele
phone Co. plant in Bend is R. C. Stennett, transmlssionman.
E. B. Matthews, left, central office repnlrmnn, and R. M. Nedrow, deskman, are shown here In front
of the local test board. This jilecc of equipment would Imvp been Rtrnngely out of place In Bend's
central oflce of 45 years ago, when there were 20 telephones In the entire village.
Operators in Conference
Operators Have Comfortable Lounge Room
Busy at Long Distance Board
Mil mm r p,,H gu
Pieiuicu in conlerence are Mrs. Minnie Livingston, chief operator
In the local telephone office, and Mrs. R. N. Newland, evening chief
operator.
Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. operators In the Bend office have a lounge room which they consider outstanding
(chief operator) and Mrs. Max Wcuver.
district. Some of the operators are pictured here enjoying the room comforts while resting. From the left they are Mrs,
Marguerite uanson, Marian nam, Mescal smith, Mrs. Minnie Livingston (chief operal
In the entire
Fred Brecst,
Between 1150 and 1300 long distance calls are handled tlirougn tho
Bend exchange dally. Here Is a view of the long distance operators
at work. Doris Thompson Is at right, Mescal Smith at left