File:Bell telephone magazine (1922) (14753725344).jpg

Identifier: belltelephonemag4344amerrich (find matches)
Title: Bell telephone magazine
Year: 1922 (1920s)
Authors: American Telephone and Telegraph Company American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Information Dept
Subjects: Telephone
Publisher: (New York, American Telephone and Telegraph Co., etc.)
Contributing Library: Prelinger Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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Alexander Graham Bell, and his formerassistant, Thomas A. Watson, officiallyinaugurate the opening of the first trans-continental telephone line 50 years ago.Bell talked from A.T.&T. headquartersin New York and Watson from theoffices of the Pacific Telephone and Tele-graph Company in San Francisco—adistance of 3,400 miles. The date: Janu-ary 25, 1915—39 years after Bell, stand-ing in an attic in Boston, had spoken tohis associate over a crude telephone, Moment of triumph: on June 17, 1914, thelast pole was raised at Wendover, Utah andtopped with the American flag. Champagnewas served in glass insulators. Mr. Watson, come here, I want you! For Bell, the transcontinental achieve-ment was a young mans prophecy cometrue. As he recalled in 1916 at ceremoniesin Boston commemorating his first lab-oratory: ... it was my belief that, withthese crude instruments that appearedhere in 1875, by and by, any man in anyone part of the United States could talkto a man in any other part . . . .
Text Appearing After Image:
fftki a singular, astounding accomplishment ■; The remarkable communicationsservices of today—with informationtraveling via space satellites and cablesunder the sea — tend to crowd theachievement of 1915 into the forgottenpages of history. But for the world ofthat time, the bridging of a continentwas a tremendous event, and many sawit as ending provincialism and drawingthe country closer together. To the menwho worked on it, the first transcon-tinental line remains as a singular,astounding accomplishment. One such retired employee, who re-calls sleeping in a deserted bunkhousewith no fire to keep warm, says, Wewere dedicated to this job and went on tofinish it and took a great deal of pride inour work. And another says, Nothing the BellSystem has done since has surprised me... I could see that with this accomplish-ment, anything was possible.

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