SEGMENT: COMMUNICATIONS & ELECTRIFICATION
Bert Aikman>UIS Collection A's>UIS Collection, Segment 15
| <-Previous Segment | Next Segment-> |
- COMMUNICATIONS
- First telephone was done by running barbed wire with insulators. Could listen into everyone's conversations. Telephone was great help in getting doctors to rural areas. Describes how calls went into towns to an operator who would connect them to person needed. Big towns had central telephone office where operators worked. Mentions how Doctors travelled to country in horse & buggy. Bert mentions a Dr. who had a really fast, but scary horse. Central office was in Waggoner when Bert got his phone. Mentions election of directors for phone company who hired people to run central offices with operators. Phone company was owned by farmers. Story of Dave Grisham who bought farmers stock ($25-30 per share) in phone co-op.
- ELECTRIFICATION
- Bert describes how he used batteries before electrification. Bought Delco battery (cost $300-400) from Albert Nieman to run cream separator. Batteries ran lights & 1 electrical outlet in house. Then wired all farm buildings to run off batteries. He used batteries for 15 years until power lines put in. Bert describes writing CIPS asking for electricity, but CIPS said he would have to build line at his expense. This made Bert a bit mad & waited for electricity lines to be installed. When electrification arrived inspector ok'd Bert's wiring.
