1

An early line crew working on telephone lines.
Circa 1921
Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada


Credits:
The Eganville Leader Newspaper

2

Techinical explanation of cross arms and producing more telephones with one set of wires
15 September 2005
Eganville, Ontario, Canada

3

In 1910, the Village of Rankin, located between Pembroke and Eganville in Renfew County, boasted a sawmill, a general store, a cheese factory and a blacksmith shop, but no telephone. Joseph Davis, the proprietor of the sawmill, tried on several occasions to enlist the help of his neighbours in organizing a telephone company but met with little support. Finally, he and Sylvester Green, the storekeeper, decided to build a line of their own to Pembroke. This they did with the help of Mr. Davis' three sons and, by the time the line was finished, 10 customers had signed up for service.

4

The job of the early operators was long and boring because of low number of telephones.
1902
Bell Canada Switchboard, J. Chanonhouse, Bonnechere Street, Eganville, Ontario, Canada


Credits:
The Eganville Leader
Bell Canada

5

Before long, the number of subscribers had increased to the point where additional circuits had to be built and a 10-line switchboard was installed in Mr. Davis' home. The switchboard was shipped in by freight in several boxes, but the man who was supposed to install it failed to arrive. Leslie Davis, one of Joseph's sons, became impatient waiting for him. Although he had never seen a telephone switchboard before, he manged to get it assembled, installed and working by the time the expert finally appeared.

In 1912, Joseph Davis took Leslie into the firm as a partner; and in 1915, Sylvester Green withdrew from the partnership leaving the company wholly owned by the Davis family. The system continued to grow and by the early 1920's was operating more than 200 phones.