The Washington times., 1932-05-30


Importance to the newborn Fe
The Chesapeake and Ohio
Canal, behind which Washington
was the moving spirit, was to
connect the Atlantic tidewater on
the Potomac at Georgetown with
the great river system of the un-
developed West, spanning in its
course the Appalachian mountain
range and providing a speedy and
certain means of communication
between the heart of the nation
and its distant outpostS.
Only q Memory Now
One hundred and forty-seven
years have passed since the first
spade full of earth was turned
in the construction of the CheSa-
peake and Ohio Canal and like
so many other Of the works of
human hands, it has lived its
span Of usefulness and remains
only a memory pridefully recall
ing the courage and aggressive
ness of our pioneer forefathers.
But while with the passage of
time, the old has yielded place
to the new and the frontiers have
moved westward until the last
frontier has disappeared forever,
the, Importance of washington as
the heart of the nations COM
munication system has increased
steadily and the developments of
the art have provided for Wash
angton a service second to none
In the world.
First Telephone in 1877
This condition has been brought
about largely by the development
Of the telephone as a means of
transmission of the spoken word.
The first telephone installed in
washington was put in service in
October, 1877, and connected the
office of the chief signal officer
Of the Army with the office of
the commanding officer at Fort
Whipple, better known to us to-
day under its new name of Fort
Myer, Va.
This was purely military ex-
pertinent but it was rapidly fol-
lowed up by a more general ex-
tension of this new service under
commercial operation. The first
switchboard was installed by the
late George c. Maynard at 1923
q st. N. w. There were only "a
lines connected to this first
switchboard and the operator was
Bennett L. Nevious, whose brother
is now vice president of Riggs
National Bank. It can truly be
said that Mr.. Nevious grew up
with the telephone service, rising
to chief operator and finally to
superintendent of operators be-
fore he resigned in 1908 to enter
business for himself.
Great Development
It is a far cry from that crude
switchboard of the late 70's oper-
ated by a boy operator to the
present system of IA central of.
ficeS equipped with millions of
dollars worth of delicate appar.
atus and backed up by an organi-
zation Of more than 5000 trained
employees ready to serve the needs
OF washington. In 1883 the
Chesapeake and Potomac Tele-
phone Company came into exist.
ence and took over the operation
of telephone service in the District
Of Columbia. It has now been fur
nishing service in Washington for
almost half century.
The system at the time of the
creation of the Chesapeake and
Potomac Telephone Company con-
sisted Of 900 telephones. It's early
growth was slow but steady, the
usefulness Of the service increasing
as the number of telephones in
creased. At the commencement
of our active participation on the
battlefields of the world war in
April. 1918, there were 75,161 tele-
phones in his city and long dis
tance facilities had been provided
two years before which permitted
the continent to be Spanned by
the spoken word.
Phones on Ocean Liners
Then commenced a period Of
rapid expansion in the telephone
business, a period which for scien.
tific developments and romantic
achievement almost StaggerS the
imagination. Innovation followed
innovation until by the middle of
1881, the far.flung, long-distance
service of the Bell System, Of
which Washington's telephone
company is a part, included prac-
tically all the countries of conti-
mental Europe, Great Britain,
North Africa, Canada, Mexico,
certain countries of South Amer
lea, and even far-flung Australia,
10000 miles away.
1850 Phones Here
While all these developments
'uave been reducing distance and
natural barriers to insignificance,
telephone service in Washington
has been increasing in leaps and
bounds. Where 300 telephones
had met the requirements of the
city in 1888, there are now in
1882 181, $40. The novelty of yes
terday is the necessity of today.
No home or office is complete
without the ever-useful telephone
nor is one telephone now enough.
The presentday home is equipped
SO that telephones are provided
as adequately and conveniently
as are the other household con-
venienceS.
TO make this great expansion
possible, constant refinementS and
iSsaSarar,aV,oaVafc in fho oYt hova