2024-01-07 19:53:48
The electric telegraph, invented in the 1830s and perfected by Samuel Morse, was the first means of overcoming distance. The first lines essentially followed railway tracks and were installed by railway companies, initially with the aim of facilitating the maintenance of railway equipment. In our region, the first line was installed on the Richmond-Lévis line of the Grand Trunk in 1855, before extending to other regional centers. In 1863, a resident of Arthabaska wrote that news took less time to arrive from France than from Montreal fifteen years earlier!
The system is not, however, flawless: there are numerous service breakdowns, particularly during high winds, destruction of wires or instruments by lightning and even, in 1859, major breakdowns occurred following a solar storm and spectacular northern lights that blew up the electrical circuits!
The cost of sending a private message was prohibitive for most citizens anyway. We paid by the word (hence the so-called “telegraphic” style) and we therefore stuck to the essentials for messages reserved for serious matters: business messages, death notices, etc.
The telephone was created by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 (in fact an Italian-American named Antonio Meuci had developed the concept before him but did not have the 10 dollars necessary to file a patent…) and he created the company Bell Telephone the next year. The company’s Canadian subsidiary established itself as the main supplier around 1880 and the Grand Trunk company undertook to connect its railway stations and offices by this new means of communication. The system is entirely manual: all calls go through a central and an operator establishes communication between users. The new technology is especially of interest to business people because the annual subscription costs $15, which is out of reach for the vast majority of residents.
However, to expand the network beyond railway stations, businessmen often had to invest their time and money. In 1884, in Victoriaville, Achille Gagnon had the first telephone poles installed at his own expense. Two merchants, Paul Tourigny and WC Houle, installed a line between Victoriaville and Warwick. Gradually, the Bell company bought most of the local telephone companies in the 1890s. These scattered efforts were not without drawbacks: Durham-sud obtained its line in 1894 but one might not telephone Arthabaska there because, there, the network belongs to Bell while the Durham network still belongs to an independent! Private networks are not integrated into a larger network. Telephone devices are still mainly found in train stations, shops, post offices and other places of business. Only an elite has a device at home, especially in cities because the countryside is often not served. Calls still have to go through a central: it is impossible to call someone directly. The devices are equipped with a crank. By turning it, a ringtone is triggered which alerts an operator who answers. We then give him the name and address of the person to contact and he establishes contact. In addition, you have to call during the center’s working hours: they often do not have night staff. It is therefore impossible to make an urgent call at midnight or one in the morning if the local center is closed.
Telephone numbers marked with a roller dial did not become widespread until the 1930s. To use them you needed an automated center. In Drummondville, there will be one in 1937, the first in the region. In the decade that follows, telephone companies will gradually upgrade their technology. It will take longer in the countryside. The township of Warwick would not be joined by this new equipment until 1958.
It then becomes possible for everyone to call a parent or friend to get news…or give some!
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#communications #revolution #Drummond #region #story #André #Pelchat #Vingt55
