If a horse falls sick or a valuable cow is in danger, a veterinarian is called and is at the farm in half the time needed before the days of the telephone. If a farm machine breaks down, by the aid of the telephone and the trolley express, or, in case of small parts, the rural free delivery, the broken part can be obtained in a few hours and work go on as before. In some parts of the country where horse stealing has been more or less prevalent, the rural telephone has come very near to putting an end to this form of theft, because a man who has lost his horse immediately telephones to the central exchange, which notifies all of the farmers in the district to look out for such a horse.

On the social side of life the telephone on the farm plays an important part. In many parts of the country at a certain prearranged signal, such as two long rings, everyone on the farm lines goes to the telephones, and when central is assured that practically everybody is on the line it reads out any important matters of general news which may have come in during the day, and also gives out the weather report. It is, indeed, very common for the weather report, as soon as received, perhaps about 10 in the morning, to be repeated to all the subscribers on farm lines.

From a social standpoint this practice, by which the farmers, many of them separated by considerable distances from their neighbors and from the nearest towns, are kept in touch with the everyday happenings of the world, is of incalculable benefit. In this way throughout large stretches of the country the farmer is better informed as to the events of the day than the busy city resident whose reading of the morning paper consists of a glance at the headlines over his coffee.

Labels: Alternate universe

¶ 8:49 PM