Your Great-Grandfather was a Telephone Man - Stories for my grandchildren

I came across this article the other day, clipped from a 1937 issue of the Southwestern Bell Newsletter. A "Combinationman" is exactly that - a telephone company jack-of-all-trades, and a "Toll Circuit" is a long-distance telephone line. Open wires used to be strung from pole to pole between telephone company offices, or "Plants," and the combinationmen followed the lines through the open country to repair problems.

Plant Man Who "Rides Herd" on Big Bend Toll Circuits Carries Bed Roll and Chuck Box

Once Entertained Large Group of Stranded Motorist Near Brim of Swollen Arroyo

-----------------

By B. B. Ward

Combinationman J. L. Anderson of Fort Stockton, Texas, who, expressing it in the language of the cowboys of that section "rides herd" on part of the Bell plant in the Big Bend, has adopted a custom of the native punchers. When out on long patrol trips, or in clearing trouble on the toll lines that stretch for endless miles across that part of Texas known as the land "West of the Pecos," he carries a roll of blankets and a box of grub.

Andy says he does not follow this practice because he enjoys camping out in the great open spaces, but as he has to spend a night out on the road occasionally due to high water or breakdowns, he finds it more comfortable if prepared for such emergencies.

The grub box contains a frying pan, tin cups, plates and the other usual items of a picnic box in addition to a small supply of bacon, potatoes and staple foods that make a feast when cooked outdoors on an open fire. At mealtime a repairman, in that vast section of semi-desert country where one man covers a district larger than some of the New England States, often finds that he is fifty miles from a cafe.

If he doesn't bring food with him he goes hungry, and no one forgets the water canteen but once. The experience is such that they learn the lesson well. The same is true of those who fail to take an adequate supply of gas and oil, as the filling stations are not just around the corner or the next corner either.

On one occasion Anderson had the pleasure of acting as host to a group of automobile travelers who, with himself, were forced to spend a night on the road miles from town. A heavy rain had caused high water in the un-bridged arroyos making the road impassable. One of the party of stranded motorists was distressed because he could not fill a speaking appointment that night. Andy connected his test set to the nearby toll line and the man put in a long distance call explaining his absence.

From the tools on the telephone company truck, Anderson produced an ax with which fire wood was cut. He then prepared an appetizing meal for the party from his chuck box. As the night grew chilly, he spread his bed roll around the camp fire and made everyone comfortable. The emergency lantern supplied light for tire repair on one of the cars. The following morning rope from the truck was used to pull a car that had slipped into the ditch back on to the road.

Everyone of the party heartily agreed that had it not been for the telephone company representative and his equipment a pleasant night spent under the stars would have been a most unpleasant experience.