Gunnison news-champion., 1910-02-18
TAe velephene the Fsrerunaer Of
Sw.lizsiion

NnsiizstiQn
Senator Clarke Al wyoming We
Gently made lluO-mfi3 "trip over
bis state in a vag0n. o. was away
from the railroads al of the tine.
and a great deal Of the lime was
miles from che nearest telegraph
But there was never an evening on
the whole Journey that he did not
call up his home at Evanston by
telephone
Speaking of this personal experi-
ence with the progress of the tele-
phone IN a new country, due IN a
large measure to the pioneer work Of
the telephone companies, the senator
said.
1T shows that this western coun-
try is growing at an astonishing rate
Ii used to be that the railroad was
the forerunper Of civilization, but
now IT is the telephone Every
where in my state telephone lines
run and in most Of the branch houses
Que can step in aud call any part oi
the state, as also Utah The best
there is can ALWAYS be found IN this
western empire of ours and there is
no convenience that we do not have
the moment that u comes upon the
market. The east, Of course, is mp
to-date and its people brag Of what
thay have, but this wild west where
we live is always at the front.
There are many other interesting
examples Of the Importance OF the
telephone in the west Ia the pio-
Beer days the greatest drawb back
settlers in the new country had to
face were the tremendous distances
frst came the railroads TO reduce
this handicap, then telegraph lines,
which made possible quick commu-
nieation among the more important
centers, and, lastly, the network of
telephone lines the senator found So
convenient in his trip around
Wyoming.
Because it is actually means Of
instant communication, because
everybody can use it and because IL
reaches into places inaccessible 10
railroad or telegraph lines, the tele-
phone will readily be classed as the
most important of the three ID has
played a part In building up the new
sections of the country second 10 that
OF no other agency. II is difficult 10
imagine what the ranch sections al
the west would be without their tele-
phone systems today The helpless
ness Of any farm or town whose ser-
vice is seriously crippled by storm
or hre gives one an idea Of the de
pendence of the entire country upon
its connections bv wire.
And this is most especially true
in the west A group of western
cities which includes Denver, Dallas.
! Spokane. Los Angeles, Portland and
Omaha stands supreme in telephone
development. That is, more tele-
phones IN proportion To the pOpula-
tion are found in these centers than
in any OF the big capitals of the east.
In the matter of farm aud ranch tele-
phones the west is making great
strides The statement is made bv
the Western Electric Company.
manufacturer of the BELL" tele-
1 phones, that more than loo, 600 of its
rural telephones were sold last wear
A great proportion Of these went in
( 10 the west
Along the Pacific coast and in the
northwest the telephone has been
used with great snccess to fight the
spread of forest fires. The govern
ment's telephone lines in the nation
al forests have opened up tracts of
land that had never before seen a
settler. In Utah and Colorado the
fruit growers use their telephone ser
vice to ward of the ravages Of frost
Its usefulness to all the western
states has often been demonstrated