The log cabin Democrat., 1913-12-18
GIVES HISTORY OF
 LOCAL TELEPHONE
NEAT BOOKLET PUBL ISnED
SOUTHWESTERN COMPANY DE- ..s SCRIBES GROWTH OF PHONE .sse '' SERVICE HERE.

.tfluutcu. tO loSdl SupSSIloeIo tOudy, the Southwestern Telegraph and Tele- ., phone Co. relates the history of the A telephone in Conway, As. much of the r matter is of interest to citizens both :. in this city and elsewhere, the. Log Cabin Democrat reproduces the text of. the booklet below, after correction of a few obvious typographical er- TOTS: -~.ss-sSt.,.
 "The first practical telephone eS- change installed in Conway was es- tablished in 1899 by Profs, G.. H. Burr and c. c. Millar. This exchange started with 28 subscribers. The fol- lowing 15 of these subscribers are still receiving telephone service from the Conway exchange and have retained their original telephone numbers: ].
 Dr. G.. D. Dickerson, No. 1; l.. B. Atkeison, No. 4; s. G. Smith, No. 5; Dr. J. S. Westerfeld, No. 6; Dr. w. R. Greeson, No. z; Cole & Co.,, No. 9; Bank of Conway, No. 10; Frauenthal & Schwarz, No. II; w. B. Wilson, No. 12; Central College, No. IA; Col. G. w. Bruce, No. 15; Martin & Harton, No. IS; Log Cabin Democrat, No. 21; Electric Light Co.,, No. 22; J. A. Pence, No. 23.
 "Prof. Alexander Graham Bell announced his invention of the tele- phone in 1876-37 years ago. AL though Prof. Bells invention fully demonstrated the power of electricity to carry the human voice, it's scope was restricted to the few telephones which could be connected to single line.
 ''It was not until the introduction of the telephone switchboard several years later, which made possible un- limited inter-communication between telephone users, that the telephone be- came commercially practicable.
 "The history of the telephone in Conway follows similar lines. From make-shift telephone line to one of the most modern telephone exchanges, represents the development of the tel -> ephone in few short years in Con- Way.
 "Conway's first telephone was in- stalled in ;;So; ;So; Sy. Sy Col: A, P. Robin son, who at that time was mayor. It Was a simple form of telephone, and although crudely constructed, answer ed Mayor Robinson's purpose quite satisfactorily. @Ez
 "This telephone line consisted of a thin wire with a tin cup at each end. 1t connected the mayors residence with the quarters of his servant, locat7 ed about 200 yards away.
 "When Mayor Robinson desired to call Uncle Ned, his servant, he would go to the tin cup talking and hearing device and give it a whack with pair of scissors. If Uncle Ned happened to be near his cabin, he would hastily scramble to the instrument in answer to the, signal. Mayor Robinson's tin can telephone soon became the talk of Conway and adjoining towns. It created so much interest that people came from many miles around to see it in operation.
 "The next step in the development of the telephone in Conway was taken :, in 1891 by Prof. G. H. Burr, a science instructor at Hendrix College. Prof. Burr installed private line from his residence to Hendrix College, and equipped it with instruments of the Blake type, which combined the re- ], >ceiver and transmitter This line was ;. operated by electricity.
 ~- "In 1896, the Southwestern Tele- graph and Telephone Go. installed an automatic telephone exchange in Con way as an experiment. Ten wires connected each telephone with the ex- change, and by means of key, the tscombination of list of figures and a series of different rings, one subscrib- CT could call any other subscriber. That was the theory of the automatic exchange.
 "Col. Robinson, always alert to promote the civic interests of Conway became the first subscriber to the au- tomatic exchange.
 "Soon after the exchange was in stalled, it became evident that its stay in Conway would be short-lived. Aft CT operating the switching device at his telephone to make a connection, 3 subscriber would frequently receive responses from five or 10 other sub.