The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-03-16
Although the blizzard season

Although the blizzard season" as established by the March 12 date of the blizzard of 1888 has passed, officials and employees of the Southern New England Tele- phone company will be very thank full if they never witness another storm like that of February 20, 1884 which the "old timers" insist was a mild affair" as compared with that of 46 years ago.
 Telephone service, except in iso- lated instances, was maintained at high standard throughout the 1884 deluge of snow, but to accomplish this required heroic performances on the part of operators and plant men, as is evidenced by the reports from the company's exchanges which have been amassed in the past two weeks.
 Long before sunrise, when the severity of the 1894 blizzard made it apparent that transportation tie ups would bring a flood of tele- phone calls during the day, night chief operators in exchanges where snowfall was heavy called traffic officials and advised them that ad- ditional operators would soon be necessary. Plant men on night duty called their supervisors, warn ing them on conditions.
 Operators Defy Storim
 Accordingly, from 5:30 a. m. on- ward, calls went out from all cen- tral offices that were snowbound for additional operating assistance at switchboards. Regular opera tors, former operators employed in other departments, and even operators who had left the service, some of whom were married, vol untarily left home early in the morning to report at central of fices. Many regular operators who were on later shifts during the day started for work hours ahead of their schedule.
 All made their way through the b1inding snow, occasionally wading through drifts waist deep and plodding on with heads bent against icy blasts that took the breath away. Many operators, liv- ing in suburbs, had to walk three and four miles to report for duty. They trudged on snowshoes and skis or plodded knee-deep, dressed in snow suits, in dads or brothers s trousers tucked into artics, in any warm apparel that protected them against the storm. Employees of other departments also reporetd at operating rooms to lend a hnd during the emergency.
 As the day operators started coming in, night operators were re- lieved from duty and sent to ho- tels to rest for the day. saving them a long and difficult trek home ward through the storm. Forty three were thus placed in New Haven hotels and thirty in Hart ford. Operators in Bridgeport, Waterbury and other communities were also quartered in hotels.
 Calls Are Doubled
 Traffic officials explain that when the blizzard isolated every home, people turned first of all to the te1ephone-their only means of contact with the outside. En- p1oyes called office and factory, parents called the school board and housewives called grocery stores and dairies. The telephone stirred community life; things were set in motion once more. Local calls in most exchanges ran from 100 to 200 per cent and toll calls from 40 to 60 per cent above the previous days volume.
 In many central offices, in or ! der to fill all operating positions so the increasing volume of calls could be handled with least delay, men and women from other de- partments stood tricks at switch boards, under the supervision of regular operators. During most of the day, 68 men and women from other departments. 43 of them men and 25 women, assisted regular op- eratorsr at New Haven's switch- boards. At one time there were more men than women at Bridge