The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1910-03-23
RURAL TELEPHONES.
They Are Necessary TO a Sue
cessfuI Country Community.
GOOD FOR MANY PURPOSES.

and For Planning lmpromptu Social
Affairs-How to Establish a Sub
urban System.
This is the time when. the ruralite
snugs close to the hearth and thinks
Of ways and means whereby he can
help TO beautify and improve his home
town. One thing that should by all
means come into the suburbanite's
first consideration is the construction
Of a telephone system. 1t is greater
necessity and convenience to the man
living in the small town than to the
big business man in a large city. In
the city distances are short and help
easy to get, while in the small town
the distances are great and help of
every kind grows scarcer every year.
A telephone In the suburban home Is a
servant Of great value and is ava liable
for many purposes. 1t may be used
to summon help in emergencies, TO call
the doctor in sudden sickness and per-
haps save a priceless life and to call
the neighbors in case Of fire or acct
dent. a telephone system also brings
the subscribers into cloSS social union,
regardless Of the distances which sep
arate their homes. Ii enables the wo-
men and young folks to plan many i'm
promptu little affairs, which help to
relieve the monotony Of rural life.
The idea of having telephone service
naturally occurs sooner or later to
some one in the community. He talks
the matter over with his neighbors
and after the idea Of uniting to build
a telephone line has spread around
meeting is held and II possible some
one familiar with the advantages Of
telephones makes an address. 1t may
be possible TO have some men from
nearby places. supplied with telephone
service, tell Of experiences with tele-
phone service and Of the many uses
they find for It, The next step depends
upon the number Of telephones which
will be used whether Il two wire line
or one wire line shall be used and
how the expense shall be divided
among the users. If many parties de-
eide 70 have telephones it may be de-
sirabe to form company. In which
case the next step at the meeting Of
the organization is to draw up some
kind Of an agreement which will state
the obligations imposed upon each
subscriber or telephone owner. After
organizing get permission from the
owners of the adjoining lands to set
poles near their property. There are
certain rules and regulations in every
town governing the setting up Of poles.
Ascertain and follow these. Great
care should be taken not TO use more
poles than necessary, as there is moth
ing that does SO much to dlsfgure a
town more than to see Il great mum.
Der Ct stripped poles carelessly paint.
ed strewn about in inconvenient places.
Then comes tho wire stringing. II
you put up these poles do not leave
them 20 to waste and string the wires
to the trees Trees are a valuable as
set to the beauty of town. and IL
they are used for the purpose Of run
ming wires through and around them
they viii soon become dilapidated and
an eyesore All poles should he firmly
set, and lightning rods should be placed
on every fourth pole Well seasoned
white or bur oak poles will last nearly
as long as cedar No pole should be
set that is smaller than six inches in
diameter al the surface after being
set three feet in the ground.
The apparatus and supplies usually
provided for rural lines are simple and
readily installed. The best system
available is the metallic system.
This system consists Of two line
wires, having connected between them
the telephones by the wires, and az
fords comparatively high grade of
ringing and talking. even in the neigh
borhood of electric light and power
wires. The disadvantage of the metal
lie system is the necessity of string
ing two wires for each line, thus in
volving the cost Of the extra wire and
labor.
When it comes TO purchasing phones
get the hest on the market. A cheap
one may do where only two or three
wish to use the line, but for rural
circuit, with twenty on the line, the
best Is none too good, Then, too. IL
you have connection with an adjoining
toll line you should have phone
strong enough to carry YOU thirty miles
with ease.
With a single wire good ground con-
nectlons are of the first importance.
Ground wires must be got down to
damp earth, down so deep that they
will not dry out in summer or freeze
dry IN winter. Gravel or sand makes
poor ground connections.
The cost Of installing system varies
considerably, depending upon whether
the lumber for poles is at hand or
whether 1t has to be shipped in. The
subuihanite will find that the cost,
when the line is completed, viii be
surprisingly low.