The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-08-23
Unusual Acts or Services
Rendered by Seven
Rewarded
Services
Rewarded

Seven employees of the New England
Telephone & Telegraph Co. have been
awarded Theodore y. Vail bronze med
ais and citations, which recognize I'M
usual acts or services illustrating Mr..
Wallis policy as to public service and
loyalty and devotion to telephone serv-
ice.
The persons thus honored are: Mary
A. Abely, supervisor, Winthrop, Mass.
Albert C. Archer, central office repair
man. Randolph, Mass; Fred J. l..
Bayha, combination man, East Provi-
dence. r. l.; Bessie G. Blodgett, toll
operator, Palmer, Mass; Elizabeth e.
Carlisle, supervisor. main exchange
Boston Margaret l.. Casey, operator,
Fort Hill exchange, Boston Mary A.
Duffy. toll operator, Pittsfeld, Mass. .
The Theodore n. Vail memorial fund
was established by Mrs. Vail and the d.
rectors of the American Telephone N
Telegraph Co. Instead of p~erpetuatIng
his memory in a mausOleum or a statue,
they decided to have this memorial take
a more intimate form, and make 1t an
annual incentive and reward for acts
representative of the ideals for which
Mr.. Vail so definitely stood during his
lifetime.
Each of the associated companies in
the Bell system is entitled to a limited
number of these Vail memorial medals
in bronze, which it is privileged to pre-
sent each year to its employees who are
selected by a local committee of award;
These cases are then reported to the
American Telephone & Telegraph Co.
which reviews them through a commit
tee of award. and. if it finds some worthy
of recognition from Il national. as well
as local. point of view. it will issue sup
Elementary awards. These supplement-
airy awards consist of eight silver med
ais. similar in design to the bronze med
ais awarded by the associated cOmpan-
les. With each of the eight silver med
ais there is a cash award of 500. There
is also at the disposition of this national
committee two gold medals with whlch
there are associated cash awards OF
$500. Provision is also made for a Spe-
cial distinguished service medal of gold,
accompanied by a cash award of Sl,ooO
which NAV be presented for a very eX-
ceptional act of service. These national
awards will be announced later, after
all the associated companies nave re-
The committee of award for the New
England Telephone & Telegraph CO.
consisted of Vice Presidents f.. W.
Longley and C. T. Howard, Chief En-
gineer G. X. Manson, Mary E.. Har-
school for operators, and Thomas j.
Feeney. assistant to the president.
The seven awards for special acts or
services during the year 1870 are an
nOunced as follows:
Mary A. Abely, supervisor: winthrop
central office, Winthrop, Mass, for
prompt and ~resourceful action in helping
effect the rescue. on June IL. 1920. of a
man being blown to sea in an open boat
during a high wind. The information
operator reported the mans predicament
to Miss Abely. explaining that n sub
scriber had Just notified her of it. After
vainly trying to get assistance IN VIM
throp. Miss Abely called the Nahant life
saving station, which sent out a boat
and crew and effected a rescue.
Albert c. Archer. central Office renair-
man. Randolph. Mass, for faithfulneSs
to the service on Feb. 5-S, 1920, when
he saved Randolph from complete isOla-
ton by his resOurcefulneSs and energy
in supplying temporary storage battery.
A heavy storm had broken the power
circuit connecting the central office bat
ferries with the electric light station at
Weymouth. Archer located. hauled by
storage batteries. and for three days and
nights remained almost constantly on
duty. BY his forethought. energy and
watchfulness Randolph was enabled to
have continuous service and to main
tain Uninterrupted communication with
the outside world.
Fred J.. l.. Bayha. combination man.
Fast Providence. r. L., for brave and
intelligent action on Jan. 2S. 1920. while
ont testing for trouble on a subscribers
line. in reScuing Il child from suffOcatiOn
at 300 Fall River avenue, East Provl-
dence. He not only entered a burning
house and saved Il helpless child from a
room already ablaze. but bv directing
first-aid treatment by neighbors helped
10 relieve a woman's sufferings, although
unable to prevent her death from burns.
Incidentally, he extinguished the fire.
Bessie G. Blodgett, toll operator,
Palmer. Mass. for devotion to the rub
lie service on Feb. 10, 1920. Miss Blod-
gett was at her home in MonSon, hve1
miles from the central office. There had
been a very heavy snowfall all that day
Sunday and Miss BlOdgett realized
that she would not be able to be present
for duty at the required hour. Z a. m.
Monday, unless she started before dusk.
She set out shortly after ) o'clock to
get a street car. due at 5.45. When she
reached the street car line. she found
that the storm had stopped all trans
- portation. Realizing that these condi-
tons would cause an unusual pressure
of telephone calls, and a probable short
age of operators at the switchboard, she
resolutely continued her journey on foot.
consuming FIVE hours in reaching the
central Office and spending the night
there i'm order to be in readiness to an
. swer calls when her regular tour of duty
began the following morning.
Elizabeth Carlisle, supervisor, main
central office, Boston, for resourceful ac-
ton and intelligent persistence, on the
night of Dec. a. 1920. in summOning
aid for a Waterman in the storeroom of
Waldo Brothers & Bond, 202 Southamp-
ton street, thereby relieving his suffer
ing and perhaps saving him from death.
The Waterman fell down stairs and the
fall caused the accidental discharge OF
his revolver which severely wounde him
in the leg. Stunned by the fall and
weakened by the wound from his revol-