HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1962-11-29, Page 3erweight person cart Miss
of pleasure in life. The
nwho has too many pounds
rtluous fat .cannot do jus-
t) smart clothes and she
0 able to enjoy the same
fes as her slimmer friends,
while those extra pounds are hard
on het heart, Food fads don't
usually do any good and they may
be harmful to health. The doctor
can prescribe diet and exercise
and, if necessary,, treatment of
the cause of the .overweight.
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-LAW NO. 1207 OF THE TOWN OF
INGHAM PROHIBITS THE PARK- °
Q QF MOTOR VEHICLES ON ANY
REET BETWEEN THE HOURS OF
A.M. AND 7 A.M., AT ANY TIME
TER THE lst DAY OF DECEMBER 0
D BEFORE THE lst DAY OF MAY,
63.
JAMES MILLER,
Chief of Police.
0
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Telephone History Recalled
As Dial Brings New Era
The year was 188G and Wing'
ham was eight years old as a
town and striding with high
hopes towards the twentieth
century when the telephone first
arrived here. That year a
small switchboard, about the
size of a ladies shoe box, and a
crank -type telephone took up
quarters in James McGuire's
store on Josephine street and
Mr. McGuire was placed in
charge of the community's
first central office.
"Owing to atmospheric dis-
turbances, long distance talk-
ing is not always satisfactory.
At times subscribers 100 miles
away can be heard with aston-
ishing clearness, at other times,
difficulty is experienced."
In those words the hardy pio-
neer telephone user was told
about service in a slim Bell
Telephone directory for Dec-
ember 1886, that included the
names and addresses of Wing -
•
hings have changed
inl7years
'ey
.e's
nd
•at
ma
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s li
n
;c0
0
nd so has Esso oilheat
s been 17 years since John last wore his uniform. It was around the same time
t thousands of Canadians were able to install new, carefree oil heating equip-
nt in their homes. Some of these faithful furnaces are now beginning to show
ns of age. Time works both ways however, and many important improvements
ve been added to both heating equipment and fuel quality.
costs very little to modernize your home heating plant. Maybe all you need is a
w burner for your present furnace. Even a complete new oil heating unit costs
itch less than you might think. Everything you need is available on easy budget
tins with the low interest Esso Heating Equipment Finance Plan.
you are considering modernizing your equipment, investigate all the angles.
scuss your problems with us and let us help you to continue to enjoy the safety,
hvenience and economy of Esso oil heat with modern heating equipment.
11 your local Imperial Esso Agent or Distributor for complete information
about obligation.
pend winter in the wonderful world of
warmth
ham's first telephone subscrib,
ers.
The list showed Dr. A. Beth-
une, who had his office at the
corner of Centre and Patrick
streets; H. W, C, Meyer, who
had his telephone in his office
at Victoria and Josephine
and another in his borne at
Patrick and Minnie streets; the
Grand Trunk Railway station
and the Great North-Western
Telegraph Company,
The Blake telephone, which
stirred the town to talk in these
early years, contrasts sharply
with the streamlined, modern
phones of today. It consisted
of three boxes mounted one
above the other on a board and
usually occupied a prominent
place in the front parlor where
wicker furniture, fancy fringes
and rope portieres added to the
fashionable decor of Victorian
living.
The topmost box contained
the magneto generator which
the caller cranked to ring cen-
tral or another party on the
same line. The middle box
had a hole in it for the mouth-
piece and the lowest box con-
tained the battery for the talk-
ing current. A bell shaped re-
ceiver dangled from the left of
the top box and a sturdy crank
protruded from its right side.
The modest exchange gave
service only at specified hours.
A turn of the crank on these
old-time telephones and the
switchboard responded between
the hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
on weekdays, 2 to 4 p.m. on
Sundays, and 10 a.m. to 12
noon as well as 2 to 4 p.m. on
holidays. However, by 1901,
the office remained open 24 -
hours a day to provide contin-
uous service for Wingham's
ever increasing number of tele-
phone customers.
The first two decades of Wing -
ham's telephone history saw
several changes in the manager-
ship
anagership of the exchange. James
McGuire remained in charge
until 1887 when he was suc-
ceeded by Dr. Towler who took
over these duties until 1891.
In 1891 A. L. Hamilton was ap
pointed local manager and three
years later he was succeeded
by H.F. Gordon. From Mr.
Gordon the responsibility of the
telephone office was handed
successively to Colin A. Camp-
bell in 1895; S. B. McCall in
1904; P. M. Tansley in 1907
and L. Binkley in 1908.
Successive telephone man-
agers in the community through
the years include C. B. Robin-
son; James H. Scott, W. G.
Hamilton, Mrs. J. 0. Heal,
H. P. Carmichael and H.H.P.
Johnston and J. C. Luke.
During this time numerous
improvements in local service
and its increasing demand were
bringing about a rapid growth
in Wingham's telephone system.
A year after the exchange
opened the town could boast
15 telephones. In 1894 there
were 44 telephones connected
to the local switchboard and in
1906 the 100th telephone was
installed. By 1925, 822phones
had been put into service. It
required another 22 years be-
fore the 1, 000th set was instal-
led but from that time the
number steadily increased with
a slight fall during the depres-
sion years.
It was a major step forward
in June 1949, when common
battery service was introduced
and the era of the hand crank
telephone came to an end.
Fire threathened the ex-
change in 1958. The Bruns-
wick Hotel, which was next
door to the office, was com-
pletely destroyed after a blaze
that lasted five hours. With
only a firewall seperating the
Bell exchange from the flame -
swept hotel, operators remain-
ed at their posts despite the
thick smoke and falling mason-
ary.
As the conversion of some
1,800 Wingharn telephones to
the dial System fast approaches,
the alert, friendly operators
who have served here so faith-
fully for many years, will be-
come a part of the past, but
to this community comes a
communication system com-
parable to any on thecontinent.
Win:ham Advance -Tithes, Thursday, Nev. 29, 1902 -.Page B
"' Ago ve vir ve Witr ittir
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