The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-05-31
THE FARM TELEPHONE
Its Influence on Rural Life In
Many Sections.
FARMERS ARE MADE INDEPENDENT

FARMERS ARE MADE INDEPENDENT
Country Districts No Longer Isolat-
ed-stock Quotations Get Their
Fast, and There IL Hope Of a Tele-
phone Letter System and Evening
Concerts by Wire..
The telephone has ceased to be q
purely urban convenience, says the
New York Times. 1t has become an
important factor in the rural life of
many sections. A talk by wire with
the farmer of New England is an every
day occurrence. Calling up. a planta-
ton owner in the blue grass region
Of Kentucky has ceased to be a novel
ty and perhaps before very long the
farmers Of the far south will be say
ing "Hello" to New York.
In Connecticut alone the telephone
companies have established about 5000
farm stations and the number is rapid
~ increasing. At a cost of $1lS a year
the farmer can place himself in con-
slant and immediate touch with the
town and city, receiving market quota
tons and advice every day.. and sell
ing or ordering goods without moving
outside Of his own home.
The farm telephone is the outgrowth
of a crude system, which had its in
ception in the discovery that the ordi-
nary wire fence could be utilized for
telephone wires. By insulating the
top wire Of the fence messages could
be sent from one part of the farm to
another. Crude transmitters and re-
ceivers were connected, and in a short
time farmers co-operated in extending
their private wires. In the west, where
many miles of barbed wire fences were
used, contiguous farms were connect
ed by telephone ait comparatively little
expense. By running wires over the
highways, stringing them from trees,
a pretty effective system could be OBJ
tanned. Hundreds of thousands Of
farms were connected by telephone
through the cooperation of the owners,
and the fence suddenly became an inn
proving factor that the manufacturers
never anticipated.
The telephone companies have now
entered into partnership with the farm
ers, and the rural service of many Of
the companies is D extensive and
valuable than the town service. Bet
ter wires are used, superior instru-
ments employed, and better general
service is maintained all around. The
whole country is in a fair way to be
gridironed with wires.
1t is estimated that nearly a million
farms have telephone Service supplied
to them, either by companies or pri-
vate wires. In parts Of the west
where the telephone systems were first
installed by the farmers it is not I'M
usual to have a complete service sup
piled for So, 81 or IS a year. The in
dependent telephone systems operated
by the mutual process range in diff
ferent parts Of the country from IS to
SIS a month, and those operated by
companies do not cost much more.
The farmers telephone makes him
Independent of the rural free mail de-
livery and the railroad and telegraph
companies. Market quotations are re-
ceived in tens Of thousands of country
homes only a few minutes after they
are sent over the ticker to the offices
Of commission men,. No bull or Dear
move on the market can be made by
operators in grain, provisions or dairy
products without instantly being com
municated to the producers. The farm
service attempts to spread the news
of the market each day so that the
farmers a draw their w conclu-
sions respecting any violent break or
advance in prices.
To make the service more complete
the rural companies have arranged
for sending a complete gist of the
days new happenings to their Gus
toners. Thus a farmer after the days
work can sit in his own home and
listen to IN intelligent description Of
the chief events in the world.
A further step in bringing the farms
into closer communication with the
town has been agitated by congress.
This is facetiously called the telephone
mail and is intended to make rural
free delivery Anticipated and slow in
comparison. When a farmer expects
q telephone letter he directs the post
master at the nearest Office to open it
Immediately upon receiving it and
telephone the contents to him. Tele-
phone letters can be sent with a spe-
cial delivery stamp attached. This in
dicates that the postmaster is to open
the otter and telephone it's news to
the farmer, situated anywhere from a
mile to fifteen or twenty miles away.
If the telephone letter system is
established by the government, thou
sands of miles of farmers telephone
wires will be available Immediately
for the purpose. There Will be no eX-
pense on the part of the postoffice de-
partment in building wires or estab-
fishing costly rural free delivery routes.
The lines are already in ayiStenca sn6