The Lucknow Sentinel, 1972-05-03, Page 13VG
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THE LUCKNOW SENTINEL IL UCKNOW, ONTARIO
PAGE THIRTEEN.
A
Arabell BOshell Retires.. After .Long Servite, With Bell •
Over 100 pests attended' a re-
' toment smorgasbord dinner for
Arabell Bushell at Stratford on
Sunday, April 16th.
Mrs. Bushell, the fornier Ma -
belicnmeron of Lucknow , has
-retired after many years with
the Bell Telephone. Company.
She first started with Pell in Luck-
now in. 1929. •
Ralph Stevens, the-District ,
'Traffic manager of Bell Canada
from Kitchener, acted as Chair-
man and presented Mrs. Bushell
with the president's 'wallet. WM:
Brooks presented the life mem-
bers' certificate and Mrs. Don-
elda Fralick , :Chief operator of
Stratford, on behalf of all co-
workers', ex co-workers and
'friends presented a. black purse
along with a substantial sum of
money.
Mrs. Sylvia Dtown of Detroit ,
'known to the entertainment
world as "Saucy Sylvia", drove
up from Detroit 'for the occasion
and favoured with some of her
numbers.' Mrs. Duncan Simpson
of Ashfield, played for a,sing song.
Friends from Lucknow and vic-
inity included Mr. and Mrs,. Rob-
ert Simpson, Mrs. Mildred Cam-
eron,. Mr. and Mrs. Lomax Bush-'
ell, Mr. and Mrs. Duncan Simi),
,son, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Simi).-
son. Mrs. Philip MacMillan and
Mrs. Harold Londry.
Miss Mary Hoyle , on behalf of
the Committee; presented-Arabell
with a corsage. She received
telegrams, flowers and gifts from
other 'friendS.
Guests were from Toronto ,
Hamilton , Kenmore , N'. Y. ,
Kitchener; New Dundee, Platts-
ville , Woodstock, Shakespeare ,
Tavistock, London, Glencoe,.
Mount Forest , Fxeter, Wingharn
Detroit , Port Stanley , Medina .and
:Stratford.
' The head table Were family
members, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart
Cameron and. Kenneth,. Mrs. Mil-
dred Cameron, Mr. and Mrs.
Robert Simpson, and Mr. and Mrs.
Lomax Bushell, Mrs. Arabell
Bushell.
The following writeup appeared
in the §tratford weekly. newspaper.
A dollar a day used tobe opera tor's
eir
tt
!d
id
ily
ut
ke
883
.25
for
long
,hen
;e
Arabell Bushell -- still using the telephone,
•
For 18 years, Arabell Bush-
ell turned day into night.
Now she has to revise
way of living. Friday, Feb.
4, she retired after 10 years
with the Bell Tel ephone
ComPanY, 18. 'of thOse years
as a night operator.
And her last night was a
'dilly.' It was, the night the
worst blizzard of the season
hit this area, and it appeared
everyone decided it was a
good time to telephone-long
distance, locally, or just' to
ask questions of the op.
erator,
When 'cable television went
off for a time, and one sec-
tion of Stratford was without
hydro for over an hour, many
people turned to the tele.
phone to help pass the time.
'It was quite a n.i g h t,'
Mrs. Bushell said.
But after .30 years of deal.
ing with' all types of erner•
ed to take most things in
her stride. She Made many
'friends'. 'over-the years`i'ii
Lucknow,Wingham, Glen.
MountForestandStrat.
ford, the Centres where she
Worked as a Bell operator.
Many of these 'friends*
she never met :Taller they
.wereidentifiableonlyby
theit'Voices; and not their
faces. But there are many,
people who have cause to
thank Mrs. Bushell. • •
There was, for instance,
the woman, living alone, who
hecaine frightened when. she
saw someone looking in her
. window late One night The-
Woman called the operator,
MI'S. Bushell; who kept the
, woman talking on' the phone
.while she called the police
and until the' poliCe reach -
She even helped settle a
fa-mily dispute. One man
threatened to leave his wife
if she didn't learn haw lo .
make 'a lemon pie.
Mis. BuShell called het
ather who supplied a re.
ripe for a inever•fail* lem.
on pie, and "peace and good-
.
will was returned to one
There have been mans
changes since 'Mrs. Bushell
fir0 became an operator in .-Ludknow in 1920. And not
Only in eqUipMentl
In 1929 she worked eight hours a_Alay-for-the prin-
cely sum of $1 a day. There wereere tim
e,
twQ operators at that
time, They must have Put the telephone 4. -4 bed' at night!
Mrs. BushelPs tou-r -of 1114, .in Stratford began in 1937, after a couple of
y ears in Wingharn. After two years
fil!erSrtreadtf' to ulencoe as chief
Stratford
'
_she was trans.
/oPerator.
'Besides 'being chief op. .erator I had to collect money for the .telephone bill s in Glencoe• p M r s; Bushell
....._now here they-had-their-own
business until. Mr, Bushell's
death.
MrS. Bushell returned to`
the Bell Telephone Company
in 1954 and was sent to Mount
Forest as night operator. She
was there for two years arid
then came to Stratford•
where she has been night.
operator 'fora the last 16
early this month. .
For many of her years
as a' night operator, MT s.
Bushell said, the, night op-
erator was often called upon
to locate. a doctor whel
someone was suddenly. taken
• On, the . other 'side of the
scales,' she said She has
often had a new father 'call
her just to say his wife has
had a Jiaby.
*They were so happy they
just had to talk to Someone'
and tell the news,* she add.
ed.
In' the early days an op-.
erator 'was a jack-of-iill-tra-
dea.
Mrs. Bushell recalls that
in Luc know •the operators
had to keep the fire going in
the stove which heated the
office. At times, when the
clerk was out, they also had
to look afterthe drug store
• where the Bell office Was
located.
And the life of an opera,
tor had , its hazardous mo-
rnencs...The kindling kir the
office stove io Lucknow was
kept in a barrel. One morn0
ing the' second ope r at o r
reached-into-the-barrel-to-get
Some kindling. She slipped'
and ended up headfirst in
the barrel - wedged in.
Fortunately ' for the op.
'erator two Bell Iines•
men from Stratford came a-
long a 'few Minutes later
and rescued the operator
from her predicament.
In those ,days the Bell of-
fice was also the centre for
all fire calls. When the op-
erator received word of a_
f -ce it was she who sound-
ed the alarm alerting the
volunteer firemen their ser.
vices were-requireci--And-th
operator also had to direct
the firemen to the scene of
• the fire.
But the sounding of the
fire,alar m also alerted. every
resident within, 'earshot, all
of Whom picked. up their tele.
phones waiting to know where
the fire was. A .fire meant
the operator was going tv
have a hectic few minutes,'
getting the firemen off to
the .fire and answering doz-
ens 'of calls as 'to its where.
abouts..
0-7-day opera-teats-work-
ed, a straight shift, . of eight
hours with the *night* op-
erator.responsible for the
remaining 16 hog.ts.
."We were allowed to sleep
at night,* Mrs. Bushell said.
*Some nights We would get
Ve r a 1 hours 'Sleep, but
there were many nights when
you'd no . sooner lie down
(there was a couch) right
beside the switchboard) than
there would be a call.'
But the Bell office was the .
centre of activity. not only
when there was a fire. Anoth.
er time was election night.
All the results in federal,
provincial or municipal elec.
tions were telephoned into
e Bell office..
• f‘I used to prepare aboard
before election day,' Mrs.
Bushell said, *and put it up
on the wall election nigh t.'
Everyone gathered there .to
see . how the ' election was
-going locally and, if it was
a federal or provincial
tion, how things were going
'elsewhere.*
It was the job of the op-
erator to record the - re-
turns on the board as they
were' received.
..*A_t_.•-the-end-of-..theeyening
they would pasS the hat and
take up a collection for the
o Perato r,_ M r s._Bushell.
said. *We might get $1 or
$2.'
Life:has many fruStrating
and some aggravating Mo.,
ments for an operator, par-
' ticularly at night. "
*I managed'to ,keep my
. head and not' fall apart in
an. emergency,' Mrs. I3ush.
ell said, *and there is a real
satisfaction 'in koowing that
you have been able 'to help
someone.*
And even today in the tele,
phone company, with 'all its
.automatic equipment, the hu-
man e le rne n t sometime s
creeps in. And this happened
not so long ago inStratford.
*A woman called me late
One 'night and said she , had
a halidful of pills she Was
going to take," Mrs. Bushell
• 01 talked to her for over
an hour,'MrS. Bushell said.
°I told her she would never
be able to hear the birdS
singing again in the morn-
ing and never see the sun
shine again.
iter-arFhourthe-woman
said, *YoU have talked me
out of it," Mrs. Bushell
added.
A m ong her memorable
moments with the Bell, Mks: .
Bushell* includes the opening
—of the new-service--centre
here, on Albert Street.
'walked over to the site
of 'the new buildingone morn. '
ing after work,' Mrs.' Bush-
ell said, *and watched as
they -turned Me first ground
for the new building.*
She was also the' last op:
erator to leave the old build-
ing on Albert street (where
'the Jani .Exhibition .i s now
located).
Since the introduction of
the dial-direct system the
number of calls handled by
the--night-operator-has
ped, but her, nights; from
midnight to 7t30 a.m., are
not spent in idleness.
The night operator does
the directory, work-keeping
the directory up to .date.
This means changing names,
addresses and telephone
numbers :where necessary,
and adding new listings. She
is also responsible for sort.
ing toll charge slips for both
daytime and night calls.
Mrs, Bushell plans to
start her 'retur to a *nor-
mal* day•and.n ght life with
a holiday in Florida. A fte r
that - what?
At this point We is not
sure. She may stay in Strat.
ford; she may return to Luck-
now, and she ' may even'go
back into the field of physio-
massage Which is beingused
more and more in the treat.
ment of a number of condi,'
tions.
Mrs. Bushell's tenure With
Bell include d• the days in
which the comPany promoted
the slogan, *the voice with a
smile,' referring to those '
operators who used to ariS.
wer: *Number, please."
Today's younger opera-
tors have gained their ex.,
___mrience since the
tern came into effect. They
are courteous and efficient
but there are Many who will
4nils•-ethe voice with a sirdle*-
when placing a long distance
call or requesting operator
assistance in the early hours
of the morning.
Put your money into
• our gu a ranteed invest-
n'ient
:.•
eertificates now
paying .seven and 'three
quarter per cent
interest.
RIA and
REY
TRUST COMPANY SINCE 1089 , •
1 •years
73 for 5 years.
Lealand Hill, Mangier
Elgin and Kingston
Streets "'
'Goderich 24,-7381
said,
She was married shortly
after going to Glencoe, and
Mr,. Bushell then left the
employ of the 'Bell. " ' She and her husband took a course in physio.Massage in. Toronto, and were the first couple in Ontario to [godlike in that field. The
Bushells returned to Ltick.
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