The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1915-02-05

great canal OH human speech w zone.
Others have played big parts in this
drama of human endeavorl and achieve
ment, md thousands have given their
share of thought and labor, but, whoever
IL forgotten or remembered, the names OF
Vail and Carly viii be linked with this
new triumph of science AT long a. man
talks to man.
There has been no greater achieve
ment ia the history of the Bell Company,
none in the history of telephony, few in
Tho history OF the world The gain to
science u great Tmmeasurably more
precious, however. il that to the nation.
and incidentally greater are TIN benefits
to commerce and society. What the
Transcontinental means to the future of
the country, what it will bring about BY
drawing the East and West closer to-
gether, how much vi increased prosperity
and happiness these thousands of miles
Of wire will insure, no man can gauge
What 1t Means to the Country
One Of the. most prominent OF the
guests who talked over the longest of
long distance telephones at the celebra-
ton said.
81 thought had gotten over wonder
ing at the miracle Of the telephone, but
what have just done amazes me as much
a. the first words heard over the wires
many years ago. Even now I can hardly
conceive that it Is possible. 7 have
talked over long distances many a time
before, but this is far beyond the limit.
Chicago 4 am used to. even Denver; but
this talking from the Atlantic to the Pa
~ e. Lx.n L. - h.
imagination-it II a theme for poets.
what it means to the country, it is
impossible to estimate For one thing, ii
il a final blow to sectionalism-it has
put a seal on the fact there is no longer
East and West, North and South. Not
even the railroads or the new canal have
done or can do 70 much toward bringing
the States closer together and uniting
them more firmly, not only in commerce,
but in thought and language. Provin-
cialism will become rarer and rarer, To-
calisms, dialects-all such things that
depend on isolation-are getting to be
an impossibility in the United States,
and the telephone has been the greatest
agent in bringing about this desirable
condition. III il hard for people to get
very far apart when they are in such con
slant touch with each other, and know
of nothing which j. doing more to
strengthen the bonds between individuals
and communities than the network of
wires THE American Telephone Y Tele-
graph Company is spreading over the
country. 70 much Importance do n att
tach to this idea, that, extreme as the
statement may seem. believe quite firm
" that. had the telephone system reached
its present perfection previous to 1851,
the Civil War would not have occurred.
The wires would not have let the North
and South drift 50 far apart
Universal Service
The new Transcontinental Line il "
concrete complication Of the possibil
ties of universal service and justifica
ton of the arguments for single sys-
tenn Unde~ no other plan would such q
line be possible. This line, 3,400 miles
long, and joining the Atlantic and Pa
cific, il part of the great Bell System q
2l 900. 900 miles of wire, connecting 81.
O00, 00G telephone stations located every
where throughout the United States
Comprising this system are the American
Telephone & Telegraph Company and it,
associated ana connecting companies.
thousands of them, giving instant and
perfect communication among 100000
900 people.
The opening Of this line il the culmina
ton of the Bell idea Of universal service
in presenting it for the use and con-
venience of the public, the American
Telephone & Telegraph Company rem
ders an account of it, stewardship It
has fulfilled its promise and, not only In
itself, but as an earnest of what is to
follow i'll future development, this nation
wide line proves that it is the intention
of the American Telephone & Telegraph
Company to make it possible for every
man who can talk. to talk over the tele-
phone to every man who can hear.
The telephone was born here and it has
reached its greatest perfection here; I'M
der no other conditions, except such AZ
exist in the United States, could it have
come to it, highest development. Witt
its dozens Of telephone systems, Europe
has no long-distance line to compare wit
this. The Transcontinental Line il cul-
mination of an art that was born in the
United States, the high water mark of
science that was created and has beer
developed entirely by American gesrrf
ana enterprise. 1t II the highest achieve
nent of practical science up to TO-DAY
w other nation has produced anythi-
IKE it. nor could any other nation. II
.-i cnrcris- it il gigantic-and it is ~
' s-'nri~ar-