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Clinton News Record, 2015-07-29, Page 1010 News Record • Wednesday, July 29, 2015 The Clinton Bell telephone exchange Just four years after Alex- ander lexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, Joseph Yuill leased a private phone line from Melville Bell, Alexander's father, on July 26, 1879. The miracle of carrying a voice through the wires had arrived in Clinton. With 11 subscribers, a tel- ephone switchboard exchange was established in Clinton in January 1885 in the rear of William Jackson's Gents' Furnishings Store on Victoria Street. When the long distance line from Stratford opened, a "telephone concert" was given. The News Record marvelled that "the music could be heard more dis- tinctly than if one were beside" the orchestra. The Huron History Dave Yates Huron News -Record boasted its office had a tele- phone and could "now whisper to our neighbours in town and Goderich." As the early phone sys- tems were "party lines" where several telephones were connected to the same line, the telephone Directo- ries included sensible advice on phone etiquette. Under "Imperative Rules; the 1885 Directory warned that "if the person you call does not answer the first PIL OEICH 514 S2 Pt111 .FOR MOVIE INFORMATION... www,rnovielinks.ca kvrg llLYr®r71-BOO-265-343B 1 ANN Birthday Club eigigLucas Dunn Casey Neutel Isaac Bennewies Brayden Haderlein 1l Reece Morden Logan Fallone Adiyah Zondervan Ashlyn Anne Edwards Kaitlyn Carter Zachary Rhynard Elise Brady Jack Mc Ash July 27` July 31 Aug 1 Aug 1 Aug 2 Aug 2 Aug 2 Aug 4 Aug 4 Aug 6 Aug 8 Aug 11 if you wish to have your childs name & birthdate in the Birthday Club for ages 1-12, please call the office, it's free. 519-482-3443 111 Call our In -Store Bakery to Order BIRTHDAY CAKES OR ANY SPECIAL OCCASION CAKE • MAGIC CAKES • CHARACTER CAKES • Clinton • BIRTHDAY CAKES • Made to your specification. �rOODLLD 6 Mary St., Clinton • 482-9341 time, do not call more than twice" as "unnecessary ring- ing is a nuisance to all along the line." Users were also told to avoid listening in on, let alone interrupting, the conversation of others as it was considered a "very great annoyance." As Bell's Clinton agent, Jackson managed both his store and the switch- board. The hours of opera- tion were limited as the switchboard was open Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays and holi- days. It was not until May 1, 1899 that Clinton received 24 hour phone service. In 1887, Robert Coates took over as Bell agent and oper- ated the switchboard exchange from his Albert Street jewelry store. Two years later, J. B. Rumball became the Bell agent. After a fire destroyed his building in 1892, Rumball relocated the switchboard to another building on Albert Street where it remained unti11956. With 39 telephones listed in the Clinton exchange by 1894, Rumball was the first full time Bell agent. In the phone system's early days, the caller turned a crank on the side of the telephone's wood box chassis. The crank "rang up" the operator at the switchboard exchange who asked the caller for the nwmo NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION name of the intended sub- scriber. The operator inserted the caller's wire into the appropriate switch- board plug, which caused the telephone's clapper bells to ring at the other end of the line. In the early years, there were so few tele- phones that only a name rather than a number was needed. In 1894, a system of phone numbers was put in place where the caller asked for a number rather than a name. Dr. J. W. Shaw of Rat- tenbury had the same phone number "22" from 1894 until his death 61 years later in 1955. In 1927, Dr. Shaw set a local long dis- tance record when it only took 17 minutes for him to call Oakland, California. The Rumball family was the name most closely associ- ated with Bell operations in Clinton. J. B. Rumball's son, Raymond, entered the busi- ness in 1905 at age 14. When he retired in 1951, Raymond Rumball had risen to the superintendent of Bell's Gen- eral Plant in Montreal. In 1907, J.B. Rumball's wife, Clara, became Bell's new agent in Clinton. Clara Rumball managed Clinton's Bell exchange until her retirement in 1933. The three Rumball's had a com- bined total of 87 years of ser- vice with Bell telephone, according to an article in the SOCIETE DE GESTION DES DECHETS NUCLEAIRES News Record. After Clara Rumball's retirement, Miss Lillian Ken- nedy became Clinton's chief operator of telephone traf- fic. Almost exclusively women, switchboard opera- tors, were affectionately known as the "Blue Belles:' By 1939, five Clinton Blue Belles handled over a thousand calls per day from almost 900 local telephone subscribers. In July 1939, the old wooden battery phones were replaced with a much smaller phone that no longer required the user to ring up the operator. With the new system, when the caller picked up the receiver, a light flashed at the switch- board indicating to the operator that someone wanted to make a call. In 1956, with 1500 phones in service, the Clinton exchange had out grown its Albert Street location. Bell opened a new dial exchange building on the south side of Rattenbury Street. Dial phones were considered "really modern" technology. Considered a "really mod- ern" technology, a News Record editorial said "dial phones in Clinton are the outcome of a progressive community:' As they were such a nov- elty, Bell launched a public education campaign in the schools to showpeople how NWMO Learn More Centre The Municipality of Central Huron is one of several communities in the early stages of learning about Adaptive Phased Management (APM), Canada's plan for the safe, long-term management of used nuclear fuel. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization is working collaboratively with the community to advance preliminary assessment studies. If you would like to learn about APM, meet NWMO staff, ask questions or offer your thoughts, please drop in to the NWMO community office and Learn More Centre in Clinton. Everyone is welcome. to call using a dial and sent instructional booklets to area subscribers. A huge dial phone was set up in the Beattie Furniture store with a Bell employee demon- strating how to use it properly. Mayor W. J. Miller cut the ribbon on the building and placed the first call using a dial phone in Clinton. When the phone system "cut over" to dial phones at 2 a.m. on Sunday, April 15,1956, Clin- ton was on the cutting edge of communications tech- nology. Bell Telephone executives and town offi- cials celebrated with a gala dinner at the Hotel Clinton later that day. Yet, even with dial phone, switch board operators were still necessary to connect long distance calls (especially when Goderich to Bayfield and Auburn were considered long distance calls) but callers still had the convenience of only dialling the last four dig- its in a local number. However, as Bell intro- duced "direct dial" and expanded long distance calling areas, the need for operator assisted calls diminished. On December 15, 1984, just one month short of its 100th anniver- sary, the 10 switchboards at the Clinton Bell Exchange were shut down thereby ending the era of the local Blue Belle. NWMO Learn More Centre (Central Huron) 38 Albert Street, Clinton ON 519.386.6711 Tuesday Wednesday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.