Date: Thu, 8 Feb 1996 11:07:18 -0500 (EST) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (Patrick A. Townson) Subject: 1965 Richmond Phone Fire Report Thirty-one years ago this week, on February 4, 1965 a major fire ripped through the telephone building in the small town of Richmond, Indiana. In the Digest on Wednesday, a Web page was announced where you can review the microfilm copies of the local newspaper all that month as the story was reported and efforts were made to restore service. Now, James Bellaire has gone to the trouble and effort to produce the main stories in the Richmond newspaper the day of the fire in a format useable here. I hope you will enjoy reading them and I want to thank Jim very much for his efforts. Richmond is in central Indiana, near Indianapolis. The fire which destroyed phone service there was thirty years ago; long before the Internet and long before TELECOM Digest were ever thought of. We do have reports of the Illinois Bell fire in Hinsdale in the Telecom Archives from 1988, but this report prepared by James Bellaire using the old newspaper microfilms as produced on the Web site will be a valuable addition to the archives. PAT Date: Thu, 08 Feb 1996 00:49:36 -0500 To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest) From: James E. Bellaire Subject: Text Version of Richmond Ind. Files for the Archives I have managed to convert the first day's coverage (February 4th, 1965) of Richmond, Ind. Telephone company fire to text. I also have HTML versions and separated photos that may be archived upon request. -- Snip here -- Full page .gifs at http://ghg.ecn.purdue.edu/richfire From Feb4-1.gif; Feb4-2.gif and Feb4-15.gif All text and photos Copyright 1965 Palladium-Item --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This file was transcribed from .gif copies of microfilms. The text is taken from the images refered to below. All of these images were scanned in from microfilm of circa Feb 1965 issues of the Palladium-Item Newspaper, Richmond, IN, USA. The Palladium-Item has given copyright permission to display (for non profit use) of these images and articles on the World Wide Web and for use in the TELECOM Digest/Telecom Archives. During the fire, the Palladium-Item was located across the street from the phone company. Copyright 1965, the Palladium-Item. This copyright statment must be included with the images. Contact at Palladium-Item: Mary Beth, phone: (317) 962-1575 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Palladium-Item Vol. 185, No. 30 / Richmond, Ind., Thursday, February 4, 1965 / City Edition / Single Copy 10 Cents --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phone Company Fire Loss Over $1 Million --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] Smoke pours from an opening at the back side of the main building, closest to the area of the fire. Firemen wear masks as they attempt to locate the smoldering blaze. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] Captain Walter Stout, Richmond Police officer, back to camera, and Jimmy Cain, right, operate emergency Civil Defense radio equipment in the Civil Defense Headquarters at the City Building Thursday morning. Paul Smith, Civil Defense Chief is shown standing, watching and directing the emergency operations. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 70 Percent Of Service Cut Off; Emergency Equipment On Way Radio Communications Provide Only Link; Two Firemen Overcome; Towns Send Help --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emergency Contacts --------------------------------------------------------------------------- By late tonight, telephone users with numbers starting with 935 may make emergency contacts by dialing 935-1161, 935-1171, or 935-1181. Operators on duty at sub-stations will relay the message to a police radio unit standing by. Those with telephones starting with 973 can make emergency contacts through 973-1162, 973-1163, or 973-1164. Telephones starting 935 are serviced by Substation No. 3, in the alley between South Eighth and Ninth, south of South G. Those with 973 are served through Substation No.2, on South East Ninth between Main and A. Similar service is being planned for Substation No. 1, a block south of Richmond Ave., on North West First St., with a 957-prefix. So far, no emergency service has been arranged for other phones, representing about 70 percent, but equipment is being rushed from other Indiana cities, and from General Telephone utilities in Michigan an Pennsylvania. As temporary units arrive, more numbers will be added to those able to make calls. A list of critical phones will be taken care of first. Meanwhile, starting late tonight, emergency long distance calls may be made by anyone coming to the business office, 31 North Ninth St., which will be open 24 hours a day until further notice. Phone officials stress that only emergency calls can be handled. The office will be open for business Friday as usual. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fire of an undetermined origin Thursday morning caused damage estimated at more that $1 million to the General Telephone Co. of Indiana, 31 North Ninth St. Except for radio communication, Richmond was isolated from the outside world. Seventy percent of Richmond's 26,000 telephones were knocked out, and the rest serviced out of substations could be in contact only with each other. Two Firemen Overcome Two firemen were overcome by dense smoke. Ervine Perkins, 36 years old, of No. 2 Company, was taken to Reid Memorial Hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. He was overcome by the dense, acrid smoke. His condition was good later in the day. Elwood Richardson, also of No. 2 Company, was taken to his home. Telephones with these prefixes have been knocked out of service: 962, 966 and 969. Telephones served out of substations, with prefixes 973 (west side) 935 (south side), and 957 (northwest side) can call any other number with the same prefix or any other unaffected prefixes. Fire Out At 10 A.M. William P. Rigdon, Richmond manager, said that the fire which started at 6:45 a.m., was not put out until 10 a.m. "and we are now mopping up." Emergency telephone equipment units were being rushed to Richmond from Fort Wayne, Kokomo and Indianapolis. They were expected momentarily. They will be set up in trailers on the phone company's parking lot at the rear of the main building. How long it will be before they can be put into use was not known immediately, but Rigdon says "emergency numbers" will be taken care of first. An exchange this large will require heavy-duty emergency equiptment. It is possible some extra use may be made of substations, which were not affected. Dorothera Logan, employed as a housekeeper, first noticed the fire at 6:45 a.m. when she opened the switchroom door, on the second floor of the old building. "She saw the flames on the main frame in the switch room," Rigdon said. The main frame is the equiptment linked to an underground connection for every line coming in. From it, the calls go in and out of switching equiptment. It is the lifeblood of the utility. When fire hit the main frame, it was only a matter of a few minutes before telephone communications were cut off. Only two calls went out. One was to the Fire Department. The other was to the chief operator. A call to Rigdon was cut off before it could be completed. 15 In Building Approximately 15 persons were in the building but none was hurt. Most of them were long distance operators in an immediately adjoining area. Because of the potential spread of the blaze, and the difficulty in fighting it, all available fire companies were summoned. Firemen's off days were cancelled. Radio communication became the only way available and it was not long before emergency hookups were being established by Civil Defense, city, county and state police, Citizen Bands and amateur operators. Separate stories appear elsewhere. Richmond's commercial radio stations, WKBV, WGLM, and WHON were a valuable help. State police cars and squad cars roamed the streets. Radio equipment was set up at the city building, at Reid Memorial Hospital, at fire stations. Industries pitched in. Those with two way radio communications set up trucks at spots over the city. Firefighters came from Cambridge City, Williamsburg, Greensfork, Centerville, Liberty, Fountain City, Milton, Dublin and Hagerstown. Some were at the scene of the blaze. Others stood by at local fire stations. Boston sent a truck that was not needed. All told, eight pieces of equipment and 60 men came to help. Firemen fighting the blaze first used chemicals because of the electrical equipment involved, but its effectiveness and the supply were inadequate. Although electrical equipment is vulnerable to water, firemen had to pour tons of it to put out the stubborn blaze. The fire itself was confined to the second floor of the old telephone company building, but smoke and water spread not only to that structure but to the comparitively new building adjoining it to the north. Water was standing everywhere. With the temperatures near zero, ice formed on the street, sidewalk, and homes. Telephone company office girls served hot coffee to firemen. It came from the nearby First Federal building. The toxic smoke was a stubborn handicap and firemen who finally got to the second floor had to wear gas masks to do it. The flames spread to a false ceiling and firemen had to chop through the roof and through the side of the building. An air compressor was used to knock through the brick, as well as a fire department battering ram. Repairs on that part of the building have already started. Most of the damage was to the expensive equipment. How much was done by smoke or water in the Direct Distance Dialing facilities in the adjoining building so far was not known. The second floor, scene of the blaze, covers an area of about 10,000 square feet. Local and toll switching equiptment was located there. Damaged Undetermined How much damage, if any, to utility records so far has not been determined. Rigdon said until investigators can make a thorough check, the company has "no idea whatsoever" what caused the fire. There is someone in the building at all times. A temporary management co-ordinating center has been set up by the telephone company in the YMCA building and will continue to operate from there during the emergency. A hurriedly called meeting about mid-morning was attended by Robert Rogosch, division manager; William P. Rigdon, Richmond manager; G. A. Richwine, division plant manager; Larry Bricker, division traffic manager; G. A. Shick, division equipment supervisor; Willis Noll, district plant supervisor. Louis Pells of Fort Wayne, safety director, happened to be in Richmond overnight and sat in on the meeting. A news center has been set up by the telephone company in one of the radio station buildings. How much of the damage is covered by insurance so far was not known, Rigdon said. Telephone officials went to Centerville to make some phone calls and made use of police radio for others. The telephone utility was purchased by General Telephone Co., from Richmond Home Telephone Co,, in December of 1960. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Street Boxes Only Means Of Fire Call Radio Units Over City To Help Spread Word Of Emergencies --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plans to co-ordinate emergency facilities made necessary by the loss of telephone service were made by police, fire, sheriff's, Indiana State Police and civilian defense departments Thursday noon at the City Hall. All residents are urged to abide by emergency conditions until full phone service is restored. The plan is in effect until the emergency ends. Chief Ernest Fredricks said the Fire Department's only means of communication now is by the fire alarm box system. A list of fire box locations is elsewhere on this page. Fredricks added that crusing police cars can be stopped and a fire can be reported to a fire station by radio. Chief William Stultz said there are approximately 30 citizen band radio operators at work as well as 12 mobile units of the police department. Any of these can be contacted if necessary and the aid of a doctor or hospitalization can be handled by radio. He said special guards have been placed in banks and other places. Commenting on the possible problem of crime, vandalism and "Foolishness," mayor Edward L. Cordell said: "We are in a state of emergency. There will be no foolishness tolerated. There is sufficient coverage to assure protection. Violators will be punished as stiffly as the law permits." Indiana State Police Lieutenant James Sheets, commander of the Connersville post, said 15 of his units have been brought into the city for assistance to local police, both by radios in their autos and other help if needed. More Co-ordination Due These units are stationed throughout the city. A base radio station is being sent here from Indianapolis by the State Police. This will enable more co-ordinated communications. Sheriff H. D. McCann, in reminding that the phones at the county jail are also out, said persons are urged to contact Centerville, Cambridge City and Hagerstown police stations according to their area. He said a radio sub-station is set up in his residence for the northeastern section of the county giving service to residents in Fountain City, Bethel, Whitewater, Williamsburg, Greensfork and Economy. The phones are working and the number to call is 2541. Radio contact can be made to the jail by contacting one of the sub-stations or a citizen band operator. Paul Smith, civilian defense director, said the citizens band radio base station in the city building is serving as the center for most emergency dispatches. The Amateur radio group also is in service. A list of the location of such operators is carried on Page 4. It should be clipped for use during the emergency. Dayton and Montgomery county offered mobile police radio units to help, but it was decided that they are not needed presently. Several Red Cross Disaster units from nearby cities also offered aid. Avco officials have offered to try to get mobile telephone equiptment brought to Righmond as might be available at military locations nearby. The local plant, defense manufacturer, cited the important need of telephones. County Firemen Praised Chief Fredricks joined with other city officials in praising the Wayne County Firemen's association for its help. Men and equipment stood by at each local station during the fire. Communication was possible between stations as a result of the county group's radio connections. Richmond departments being on the same radio band. He sited the need of local departments also having more equiptment to fight fires where there are fire gasses such as developed in the Thursday morning blaze. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Page 1 Fire Stories ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stay At Alarm Box In case you need the fire department you can go to the nearest fire alarm box in your neighborhood. If this becomes necessary stay at the alarm box until firemen arrive so that you can take them to the fire. Residents are asked to check the list. Circuit 6 Boxes are "out of order." Residents of this area must report fires to the closest fire station. All fire stations are in contact with each other via radio. The Wayne County Firemen's Association also is manning local stations with trucks and personnel. [Fire Box Locations] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phone Fire Most Serious in 6 Years Thursday's fire at the General Telephone Co. has caused the third, and by far the most serious, major outage of local service in the past six years. Most recent occurred Nov. 16, 1965, when water soaked into two large underground cables near North Tenth and F Streets. About half of the city's 26,000 telephones were out of service, many of them for almost 15 hours. Most emergency phones, on the 962* lines, were restored about three and one-half hours after the trouble was noted, but some were not in back in service until late that night. A bulldozer was blamed for a slashed cable whick cut off most long distance service on Sept. 9, 1959. The machine was working at the corner of U.S. 27 and Farlow Beelor Road, south of the city, when it slashed a 207-wire long-distance cable. The cut cable virtually isolated the city from incoming and outgoing telephone service, as it provided the only circuits for long distance service. It linked the lines of the then Richmond Home Telephone Co. with cross country circuits of the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. The broken cable was not located for more than four hours after the accident occurred, and service was out another eight hours while repairmen spliced each wire back together. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- City-County Fire Link Emphasized The main theme of meetings between firemen of Wayne county and Richmond Fire Department were born out during the Thursday morning emergency. For several months, Chief Ernest Fredricks of Richmond has preached the need of a close tie between county and city departments. His words did not fall on deaf ears as this cooperation became a reality in the General Telephone Co. Fire. Critics of the combined efforts have said that Richmond's Fire Department was adequate to handle any city emergency. Therefore, the tie-up between county and city would result in use of city equiptment to battle a county fire. Chief Fredricks has debated this idea continually by saying that the major demand for help could come from an emergency in Richmond. Again his words have proven true. Mal Price, educational officer of the Wayne County Firemen, and Don McCullough, public relations officer, have urged the need for a centrally located dispatching system that would tie all Wayne County, including Richmond with one dispatcher. The reason for their encouragement for such a setup was based on, "What should happen if the telephone system broke down." They received their answer at 7:24 a.m. Thursday. In the Thursday emergency word was received throughout the county by other methods. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Newspaper Is Assisted By Amateur Radio Hookup=7F Emergency short wave radio receivers were set up in the newsroom of The Palladium-Item Thursday to assure publication of afternoon and morning editions of the newspaper. When telephones went out of service, Richmond lost practically all contact with the nation's news centers. Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI) services haulted abruptly. Teletypes and photo machines stopped. Through Western Union, an emergency line was opened to link The Palladium-Item with the Indianapolis office of the AP. While firemen were still battling the fire at General Telephone Co., the first story was transmitted from Indianapolis to the newspaper. Two-meter, amateur radio equipment soon was set up in the News Department. Issues Call Floyd Russell, an amateur radio operator and an engraver for the newspaper, issued a call for volunteers to report to City Hall. Civil defense officials were among the first to report. James Cain was in charge at City Hall. Russell and Jerry Clackum set up sending and receiving equiptment to keep the newspaper in touch with the outside world. Throughout the Indiana Phone network, Richmond was soon in touch with Connersville, Indianapolis, Hagerstown, Lynn and Lafayette. Charles Sperling served as "net control" for the amateurs. Phil Wilson, 2520 North West A St., helped relay messages out of the city to other parts of Indiana and Ohio. About 10 amateur radio operators were on duty Thursday before noon. About 20 operators, including 10 in mobile units, will be on duty Thursday night. Sperling is manager of the Amateur Radio Emergency Corps. He said several operators wew located in various sections of the city. Some were in autos and station wagons. Word was received at 12:15 p.m. that a mobile unit was being dispatched from Indianapolis. It will report to the civil defense office at the City Hall. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fire Run Made To North Eighth; Damage Is Slight One company of Richmond firemen fought a blaze in the basement of a double house at 319-321 North Eighth St. Thursday Morning at the height of the General Telephone blaze. A man passing the scene of the fire drove to Central fire headquarters in the City building and reported the fire. Firemen said an overheated furnace set fire to joints under the floor of the building on both sides of the house. The amount of damage was not reported, but it was not believed to be severe. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- District Towns Get Emergency Phone Orders Civil Defense officials said Williamsburg, Whitewater, Webster and Fountain City were to call Phone 2541 in Economy in case of fire or any other emergency. Centerville residents were to call 4022 for emergencies involving use of Richmond telephones. Cambridge City residents were told to call the city building for a relay of messages. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 2 Fire Stories ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Damage In Phone Company Fire Is Highest In City's History] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50 Volunteers Go On Air To Aid In Emergency Within an hour after Thursday morning's fire at the General Telephone Co., was reported, the Wayne County Civil Defense emergency network was in operation from the City Building. Operators of Citizens' Band radio outfits quickly volunteered to help in the emergency, covering key points in the city with base and mobile units, including local schools, factories, and the radio station. The locations of these units were broadcast by a local radio station, telling persons who needed emergency aid of any type to contact the nearest "ham" operator for help. By 11:30 a.m., more than 50 operators had volunteered to help, according to Capt. Walter Stiut of the Police Department. Only one emergency message was transmitted Thursday morning and that was a report of a fire. Capt. Stout said the Wayne county unit will remain operational 24 hours a day until the emergency is over. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Radio Operator In Front Of Hospital Bob Pelfrey, of 207 National Road West, a member of the Citizens Band radio operators, was stationed in front of Reid Memorial Hospital to receive calls. Pelfrey said he could receive calls from local as well as distance operators for emergency use. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Civil Defense Men Use Walkie Talkies All kinds of Equipment, photographic, radio, television, and so on was noted at the scene of the fire. Civil Defense workers had walkie-talkie sets in use to communicate back and forth between themselves and the center set up in the City Hall. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 15 Fire Stories ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mercury At Zero As Firemen Battle Smoke; Emergency Communications Rigged --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] Firemen are on roof of building. Note oxygen tank strapped to back of fireman second from left. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] This group of Civil Defense workers prepared a county map in the City Courtroom Thursday morning pinpointing the locations of Citizen Band radio stations throughout the county. The Citizen Band groups will operate throughout the telephone emergency. Standing from the left, are Phil Thornburg, a member of the Civil Defense organization and county surveyor; Fred Thornburg; Henry Blankenship, Assistant City Engineer; Mike Chambers; Rick McGuire and Denny White. Fred Thornburg, Chambers, McGuire and White are members of the Avco Explorer Boy Scout unit which is familiar with Citizen Band and Amateur radio operations. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] The city's aerial truck and another pumper stand in front of the Ninth street old enterance to the telephone company building. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] East side of addition to telephone company's main building. This structure is located east of the alley between Ninth and Tenth Sts. A passageway connects the main building and addition. There was no fire in the addition but acrid smoke poured through this adjoining structure. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] Firemen were forced to smash hole in the south side of the main building. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] Two firemen are on ladders between the north side of The Palladium-Item building and the telephone company building. A narrow passageway separates the two structures. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] The "cherry picker" of the Richmond Municipal Light Plant was used to lift persons, including a Palladium-Item photographer to the top of the building. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] A fireman with a roll of hose strapped to his back, ascends a ladder to the roof of the main building. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] Fire-fighting equipment from departments of various surrounding communities responded to Richmond's call for assistance. They were parked on North Fifth St. near the central fire station or in a private parking lot directly across the street from the central station. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] A radio-equipped Indiana State Police cruiser was stationed near the admitting office of the Reid Memorial Hospital to permit use of its two-way radio in handling emergency messages. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citizen Band Operators Quick To Give Assistance Citizen Band Radio went on the air shortly after the fire broke out at General Telephone Co. Thursday morning, gathering news for The Palladium-Item. Kenneth Ary and Jerome Roser in a mobile unit parked near The Palladium-Item office made contact with news sources in the Richmond area. The unit was parked at the curb just south of Sailor Street on North Ninth Street. Both are licensed operators. At the time of contact Centerville had sent one firefighting unit. Some towns farther away sent emergency equipment, but were protected by standby pumpers and men. When contacted, Liberty reported emergency equipment on the way, and the Liberty fire chief came here. One unit and about six volunteer firemen from Hagerstown came here. It was reported by radio that Hagerstown was protected by two units of fire fighting equipment and men. Also Send Truck Cambridge City sent one unit, but was reported back there by 11:15 a.m. Charles Currens, captain of auxillary police, and William Hittle, auxillary police major, stood by a mobile unit in front of The Palladium-Item, in event of an emergency. Ary said this was done in case something went wrong or failed in the equipment being used by Ary and Roser. Ary said he first heard of the fire by Citizen Band radio; and was notified at work to report to the City building for emergency duty. He works at the Richmond Power and Light plant and lives at 1313 South Sixth St. Roser, who lives at 1519 National Road West, reported to The Palladium-Item early Thursday that the mobile unit was ready to transmit and receive. This was the only contact the newspaper had with its correspondents in the eight-county circulation area. Roser works for S&S Garage and is an amateur radio operator. The two men made contact quickly with towns in the reader area, and for the most part the operators were women. Ary said in most instances the wives of Citizens Band operators are licensed, too, and it was those women who were at their posts in the emergency Thursday morning when Richmond was completely without telephone service. Ary said licenses issued by the Federal Communications commission (FCC) are good for five years. He said there would be roughly 2,000 to 2,500 licensed operators to Wayne county. Roser and Ary explained that Walter Stiut, who is captain of the traffic division of Richmond city police, is also head of auxillary police, and added, "He is the one who assigned us today." Ary explained that Stout is a licensed amateur radio operator, and that he was at the amateur radio unit in the City building with the zone unit, relaying messages. Other Citizen Band operators are at 429 South Twelfth St., 1117 Berry Lane, 714 South Sixth St., 818 South Eighth St., 812 North West Fifth St., Roy's Pure Oil, 510 South Twentythird St., 807 South Twelfth St., 1333 South Fourth St., 303 North West Sixteenth St., 1601 South Fourth St., 417 Gardner. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- American Aggregates Supplies Radio Trucks The American Aggregates Gravel Co., which also has radio-equipped trucks, has stationed them at South West First and Main, at Sixteenth and Main, at Thirteenth and East Main, and at the First National Bank branch at the Gateway Shopping Center. All are available to dispatch emergency messages. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- State Police Cars Are Cruising City Ten Indiana State Police cars are cruising the city. They are radio equipped. Citizens needing help are to contact them for emergency. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Transcribed by James E. Bellaire - Copyright 1965 Palladium-Item ------------------- And that was the news, thirty-one years ago this week. Within a day or two of the fire, it was big news in newspapers around the immediate region including the papers here in Chicago. In addition, wire service reports were also seen in newspapers across the country. It would take a long time before phone service was restored in Richmond, Indiana ... months in fact ... Note in the newspaper reports the reliance upon Citizen Band radio operators for their help in the emergency. CB Radio was, in the 1960-70 era considered an extremely valuable tool used by citizens to communicate with one another. At the time of the fire, CB was just starting to gain in popularity. I dare say by the middle 1970's, CB was as common in American households as Internet is today; that is, several million people used it with regularity as a way to have informal communications on a regular basis with friends and neighbors. CB Radio finally became almost useless for any serious communications by about 1980 when the number of users increased to the point that the noise level was impossible to overcome. ------------------------------- Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 00:27:42 -0500 (EST) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (Patrick A. Townson) Subject: Richmond Fire News Continued - February, 1965 Last week in this space, a special mailing went out discussing the fire at the Richmond, Indiana telephone office in February, 1965. Stories from old microfilms at the local newspaper were transcribed and placed on a web page for everyone to read, and James Bellaire prepared the text for use in the Digest. Now part two in this special report: news about the fire as reported throughout the month of February, 1965 as emergency service became available in Richmond. Again, thank Jim Bellaire -- not me -- for the work involved in this. When I logged in Sunday night and found this newest bunch of excerpts I decided to send them out right away. PAT From: bellaire@tk.com Date: Fri, 9 Feb 96 20:36 EST Subject: More Richmond Telephone Newspaper Stories To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest) From: James E. Bellaire Subject: Text Version of Richmond Ind. Files for the Archives Here are the next few days coverage (February 5th to 8th, 1965) of the Richmond, Indiana telephone company fire to text. This contains the details of the recovery efforts including the delivery and installation of the board from Illinois. There is also a lot more detail about the corded phone system (non dial). Enjoy! -- Snip here -- Full page .gifs at http://ghg.ecn.purdue.edu/richfire >From Feb5-1.gif, Feb7-2.gif, Feb8-12.gif and Feb8-1.gif - All text and photos Copyright 1965 Palladium-Item --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This file was transcribed from .gif copies of microfilms. The text is taken from the images referred to below. All of these images were scanned in from microfilm of circa Feb 1965 issues of the Palladium-Item Newspaper, Richmond, IN, USA. The Palladium-Item has given copyright permission to display (for non profit use) of these images and articles on the World Wide Web and for use in the TELECOM Digest/Telecom Archives. During the fire, the Palladium-Item was located across the street from the phone company. Copyright 1965, the Palladium-Item. This copyright statment must be included with the images. Contact at Palladium-Item: Mary Beth, phone: (317) 962-1575 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Palladium-Item Vol. 185, No. 31 / Richmond, Ind., Friday, February 5, 1965 / City Edition / Single Copy 10 Cents --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some Phones In Use; Repair Work Slow --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] The job of splicing telephone wires is under way in the vault room. The two men seated here, left to right, are professional contract splicers Lynn Atchison, 314 North Ninth St., and Alva Gore, Longer Trailer Court. A third splicer, Bill Hargrove, also of Richmond, is almost lost in the maze of wires. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] Little remains in the main switch room except charred debris and blackened wires. More than four inches of water, laden with debris, covered the second story in the old section. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- More Than 200 Men Work Around Clock Emergency Long Distance Service Available; Origin Of Fire Unknown Bulletin Firemen were sent to the rear of the telephone company building about 1:30 p.m. Friday when smoke began to come from the top of an elevator shaft above the garage where repair work is under way. The building is just North of the one hit by fire on Thursday. Smoke could be seen and the odor on the floor below was very strong. Firemen said they could find no fire but theorized that smoke may have been trapped in basement elevator shafts, moving upward when second floor doors were opened. They left the scene at 2:15 p.m. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crippled by a disastrous blaze Thursday, most costly in telephone history in Indiana, the General Telephone Company Friday continued its round-the clock job of trying to provide some semblance of telephone service for Richmond. The progress is tortureously slow, but at least it is progress. How long it will be before normal service can be restored is something on which Telephone men would not venture a guess. Some service is being restored now. That which will be restored in the immediate future will be manual,a process of lifting a receiver and getting an operator. Renewal of automatic equipment such as has been in use must wait. By noon, this was the picture: 25 Numbers In Service More than 25 emergency and critical user numbers were in service. These include fire, police, sheriff and hospital. Critical number holders can call each other and can make long distance calls. They also are connected with the substations which remained in use. New numbers for critical users are being assigned and will be published by the telephone company. The first list is expected to be mailed over the weekend. Others will be added and mailed daily. Work was being speeded on making pay stations over the city available for use. The first goal is 80 but the work is tediously slow. Directions will be posted on those in use. Emergency local calls will be handled through pay phones as well as emergency long distance calls on a collect or charge basis. The pay stations will be operated without the usual dime. Pay telephone stations in use at 2 p.m. were at: Greyhound Bus Station (2) Rathskeller, 1311 South Eighth St. North West Fifth and Richmond Ave. Wake-up Oil, U.S. 40 East. South Eighth and E Sts. Coin Laundry, North West L and Sheridan Sts. Kutter's, Sixteenth and Main Sts. North West Fifth and L Sts. Heavy use was reported being made of a battery of 25 telephones set up in the company's downtown office, 31 North Ninth St., where emergency long distance calls can be placed. The office is open day and night. Some Calls Received Some emergency long distance calls in the city were received at the office but because of the destruction of switching equipment, could not be relayed to the intended receivers. Word was gotten to them by police. Telephone patrons with numbers beginning with 962, 966, and 969 are still completely out of service. Those with numbers beginning with 935 may call 935-1161, 935-1171 and 935-1181 to get an operator who will relay emergency calls. Those with numbers beginning with 973 may call 973-1162, 973-1163 or 973-1164 for the same service. Those with telephones beginning with 957 may call 957-2055, 957-2065 or 957-2075. These numbers are linked with substations and each can call the other. The only service available to all other phone users is the emergency long distance set-up at the phone company office, and the service being put in at pay stations, although by no means have all of the more than 200 been so equipped. W. P. Rigdon, Richmond manager for General Telephone, said he believes that utility "can handle all the incoming and outgoing emergency calls that must, (and he stressed 'must') be placed from the business office Several emergency calls were placed and received during the night both at the business office and at the three substations. Close cooperation of police and other volunteer emergency radio units made it possible. More Equipment Arrives Meanwhile repair equipment continues to pour into the city, not only from Indiana but from surrounding states. Telephone companies help each other out in emergencies. This one is no exception. Michigan Bell sent a 1200-line manual emergency central office which is in a huge semi-trailer. Best way to make use of it is being studied. More than 200 men make up the force at work in and around the telephone company office. Trucks are everywhere. So is equipment. But one look at the (MORE THAN) (Continued on Page Two) [Page two is not part of the ghg archive or this archive.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Emergency Fire Plans Announced Be Sure You Know Fire Station Location; Some Alarm Boxes Out New emergency Fire Department plans went into effect Friday as a result of the General Telephone Co. fire that silenced the city's fire alarm box system except those of the West side of the Whitewater River. No alarm boxes are operating East of the river, but efforts are being made to restore service. The East side boxes operate through a hookup with the telephone company. Chief Ernest Fredricks urged all residents to acquaint themselves with fire station locations; emergency communication centers and the public pay telephone stations in their immediate areas which so far have been made available for use. All will be as soon as possible. Men are on duty at the six fire stations all the time as they are at Citizen Band radio locations. The latter locations are listed in another part of The Palladium-Item. "Clip out the list of stations and alarm boxes carried below; the radio operators; and public telephone locations so you can readily get to one or the other in event of fire," the chief urged. The widespread failure of fire alarm circuits has caused concern in systems which operate over telephone lines in factories and stores. Guards Needed Most plants served by the automatic (ADT) systems have been requested to keep night guards on duty in case a fire should break out. City and Civil Defense Police units are stationed near industrial and business areas to be on hand in case an emergency develops. Chief Fredricks reminded again that anyone using a West side alarm box should stay at the box until firemen arrive so they can tell them where the fire is located. Fire stations are located as follows: No. 1, in the City Building. No. 2, near North Eighth Street and the Pennsylvania Railroad. No. 3, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth on North A Street. No. 4, at the corner of South Eighth and L Streets. No. 5, near North West Fifth and Peacock Road. No. 6, on North West Fifth Street near the Belden and Avco plants. Radio communication is operative between the stations. The same is true between the stations and Citizens Band radio operators. The Fire Chief said whenever residents in the following areas see a department vehicle parked in front, a fire can be reported because they are radio equipped. Chief Fredericks' residence, 22 South Fourteenth St. Inspector Fred Klotz's residence, 2203 North E St. Maintenance man Harry Hengstler residence, 317 South Fifth St. (EMERGENCY FIRE) (Continued on Page Two) [Page two is not part of the ghg archive or this archive.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Advert to phone in stories to Palladium-Item via collect call to a New Paris, Ohio Citizen Band Radio Operator] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Page 1 Fire Stories ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Girls Work In Chill, Smoky Atmosphere By Sharon Little Stalwart is the word that best describes General Telephone Operators. Working on a switchboard set up in a garage at the North Ninth Street firm, there were smiling faces despite the chill, smoky smell, and men working up, over and around them. Slacks, warm jackets and boots replaced the usual apparel of blouses, skirts and heels! Four operators were manning the board at 8:45 a.m. Friday, according to Larry Bricker, division traffic manager. Operators had worked throughout the night Thursday. These women are handling the calls for users considered "critical": Reid Memorial Hospital, Wayne County Sheriff's Department, police and fire departments. These users can contact one another, Bricker said, but their calls to other locations are still impossible. Emergency calls coming into the board for persons still without telephone service will be given to a feminine "runner," who will deliver the message by car or see that it is delivered to the called party. To Man Substations Some operators will be located in three telephone substations in Richmond when service into these sites is established and will also dispatch messages, Bricker said. Some 80 pay stations located in strategic sections of the city will be put into service as soon as possible. This will enable residents without service to use a pay station phone for contact into the telephone switchboard. Bricker emphasized announcement will be made when this phase of temporary emergency service is completed and in operation. A setup in which some operators will assist in placing calls on a manual basis rather than through a switchboard will be functioning also, Bricker said. He said a large number of operators will be need for this type of service. To Use Mobile Units In addition to the four positions being manned at the firm's garage switchboard, mobile units, each having positions for five operators, will swing into action as soon as possible. Private Branch Exchange (PBX) operators who operate switchboards in places such as industries and schools have been or shortly will be contacted by a General Telephone representative as to what they can expect service-wise in the days ahead Richmond residents, Anxious to assure out-of-town relatives that things are under control here, were driving to pay telephones in nearby communities to make calls. Many who needed to make long distance calls of a family nature that they felt did not classify as emergency were seeking out phones in these nearby towns where telephone systems are not connected with the Richmond tie-up. Some went to New Paris, Ohio; others to towns north of here, where phones are connected with the Winchester exchange, and some to Cambridge and Milton and west of the city. What is happening if yours is one of the telephones with the still operable 973, 935 or 957 prefixes? Mrs. Lewis Glover, 206 Cartwright Drive, who has a 973 prefix, says she can easily phone any numbers with the same prefix. These are located mostly in her immediate neighborhood. However, she keeps getting busy signals when she dials numbers with either of the other two prefixes. On a try for a 935 prefix number in a home south of the city Thursday night, she cut in on a jumble of sounds and conversations. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Telegrams Keep Extra Staff Busy Extra operators were busy Friday as the Western Union office, 14 North Ninth St., kept communication lines open between Richmond and other parts of the nation. Telegrams delivered to the office took a big jump before noon as factories and businesses without telephone service used Western Union facilities. As of 3 p.m., the office had been open 36 hours. A taxicab was used to deliver telegrams, in addition to the regular bicycle messenger. An additional auto was being sought. P.M. Shields of Indianapolis, district manager, said the office would remain open if business warranted. All outgoing telegrams were being routed through Detroit, Mich. Trunk lines were kept open to Perfect Circle Corporation, Nettle Creek Industries, Richmond Fireproof Door and to Cambridge City. The grain ticker remained in service, but no New York stock quotations were received Thursday or Friday. Service to several industries was hampered because Western Union went through the office of General Telephone, damaged by the fire. To provide extra personnel to keep the local Western Union office open, workers were moved here from Muncie, Bloomington and Connersville. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Phoning By Foot" Becomes Common Like many others, O.M. Kendall, Richmond businessman, was hot footing it down Main street Friday. "Doing my telephoning by foot," he explained. "Our grandparents didn't have it any better but then they were used to it." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From page 2 of the Sunday, February 7, 1965 Palladium-Item, a partial story. [The first part of this story most likely was a recap of the previous coverage.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moving On Highway From Illinois Town Civil Defense officials, operating an emergency radio network based at City Hall, also urged persons to limit their use of the radio system to calls for medical aid, an ambulance, fire or police. Paralleling installation of emergency work, according to William P. Rigdon, company manager, was preparation of facilities to receive new, permanent equipment. Rigdon said that all new equipment will be installed on the second floor of the company's newer building, north of the area which burned. The old switchroom, almost entirely consumed by fire, will be sealed off and no efforts will be made to clear it until all new facilities are installed. Space Available Rigdon said adequate space is available in the newer area to make this possible. Previous plans for expansion, now postponed indefinitely, will be carried out after the fire-gutted area is cleared and rebuilt. Exact fire loss will be determined at this time also, when total damage can be assessed. Companies of the Richmond Fire Department were called back to the phone office twice in two days following the fire. Both times, Friday afternoon and, Sunday, smoke was observed coming out of ventilators. In each case, it was believed smoke was escaping from pockets formed in the basement of the building. No additional fire was noted. Arrival of the Illinois switchboard will bring to more than 9,000 the potential number of phone lines which can be hooked into emergency manual equipment. However, according to Rigdon, it may be weeks, if ever, before this number is even approached. Other lines scheduled to be tied into the emergency system at an early date are those serving industrial and other private switchboards. Restoration of service to home phones will not begin until business lines are back in operation on the temporary system. Exactly how many lines will be hooked into manual facilities will depend on speed with which new automatic dialing equipment can be obtained and installed. It is hoped these units will be in operation within a few weeks, although telephone officials declined to give any estimate of time. "Ahead Of Schedule" Although most repair work is slow and painfully tedious, Rigdon said restoration efforts were running "well ahead of schedule." Identification of individual phone lines, as they enter the telephone building, was coming along well. A total of 24 cables,each carrying 300 sets of wires, was run from the basement area where phone lines come in, into the garage where temporary equipment is set up. As each phone line is identified it is spliced into wires in one of the new cables and connected into circuit frames in the garage. These lines eventually will be hooked into switchboard facilities. For the present, however, only emergency-circuit phones are being so handled. Workmen were also busy cleaning switching equipment, located in the newer building, which was only smoke stained and not physically touched by fire. Although the cleaning job was a painstaking, slow one, it was hoped eventually several hundred dial telephones would be put back into operation. Rigdon stressed that all phases of the rehabilitation are, and will continue to be very slow, and urged the public to bear with the phone company. He said that, work which has been completed in the past 60 hours would have taken "at least 10 to 12 weeks." Officials from General Telephone of Indiana, Inc., parent company to the local firm, announced Saturday that phone customers will be billed only for long distance calls made as long as service is out. No local service charge will be accessed. Those whose phone are put back into service later torturously be billed only for the period and to the extent their phone was in operation. This itself will be a big bookkeeping job. Other Equipment Arrives During emergency conditions, other shipments of heavy equipment also have been arriving in the city. Largest of these was 46,000 pounds of lead-covered cable, shipped by air freight from San Fransisco to Chicago, and trucked the remainder of the way. Ordinarily, phone officials said, such a load might have taken a week to arrive. Under emergency conditions, however, the trip required less than 12 hours. The cable arrived here Saturday morning. Long distance service, partially established only 12 hours after the fire was brought under control Thursday, has expanded steadily since that time. A total of 25 telephones for long distance dialing are on hand for emergency use at telephone headquarters. All phones on the emergency network may be tied into long distance lines. Trunk lines to other cities have been opened. Most recent of these was the circuit to Chicago, put back in service Saturday by the Indiana Bell system. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [The Palladium-Item] Vol. 185, No. 33 / Richmond, Ind., Monday, February 8, 1965 / City Edition / Single Copy 10 Cents --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phone Service Seen in Two Weeks --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo] Here is the huge switchboard rushed here from Antioch, Ill., over the weekend. It has been pushed into position at the north end of the General Telephone Company building. A wall at the far end, which separated a conference room from this area, was ripped out to make room for the board. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Big Board To Play An Important Role Party Lines For Residences But Private For Doctors, Businesses Restoration of telephone service in the form of four-party lines and private lines for doctors, businesses, and PBX boards in industries and other busnesses was promised her Monday within two weeks. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arrival late Sunday Night of a 3,500-line, 28-operator switchboard from Illinois Bell in Antioch, Ill., to go with a 1,200-line board rushed here by Michigan Bell, and an 800-line unused board from Wakarusa, Ind., will make the service possible, W.P. Rigdon, Richmond manager for the fire-wracked General Telephone of Indiana, said Monday. All restored services will be manual. Lifting of a receiver will being the voice of an operator. About 13,000 customers, involving more than 20,000 phones, will be given manual service. Some 3,000 customers with about 6,000 phones, now served out of substations, and who have at least restricted service even after last Thursday's fire, will be able to make connection with other phones in the city. Will Be Two Systems In effect, there will be two systems. One will be a manual operation involving numbers which formerly started with 962, 966 and 969. These numbers will be changed to 5 and 6 digit numbers. New directories are in the process of being published. The second system, which will remain automatic, will involve those phones in the substation areas. Their numbers will continue to start with 935, 973, or 957 and will be unchanged. A person in the manual system will get an operator by simply lifting a receiver. A person in the substation area will have to dial zero to get an operator. But the two systems will be interlinked. It is hoped to have the restoration of service, on the basis outlined, by no later than the weekend of Feb. 20-22. How long it will be before the automatic system, as Richmond has known it for the past half century, is restored remains to be seen, but Rigdon said that it will not take a year, as some has said, or feared. "Just how many months I can't say," he added. Meanwhile, service was being restored to more critical users. Substation patrons still have contact with each other and with an operator. Those in the completely knocked out areas still have nothing. But the Civil Defense radio center remains in operation at City Hall and Citizens Band operators are still standing by and delivering messages. This problem has cropped up. Too many messages minor in nature, or involving tasks which can be handled by persons themselves, are being pushed off onto the radio hookup, which Mayor Edward L. Cordell said should be stopped "because there just aren't enough people to go around to become ordinary messenger boys." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Service is still being set up at additional stations over the city, formerly pay stations. There are more than 200 of them and eventually all will be in the manual service. At present about 75 have been so equipped. Each has had a large sign with "Emergency Telephone" in red letters. New signs will say "Working Telephone." The phones can be operated without charge unless a long distance call is involved. Main Street Space Used The telephone company also is moving its long distance calling center, which up to now has been maintained in the lobby of its building at 31 North Ninth St., to a vacant room at 712 Main St., on the North side of the street, arranged through the help of Ken Grover, local realtors president. It will be called the Main Street Telephone Center. That will alleviate the situation at the main office. The new center will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When it is in complete operation, the telephone office will restrict its hours from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Rigdon said the firm is working around the clock to get "the most service the fastest." He said that when the manual service goes into operation, it will be necessary for the public to remember that calls should be no longer nor more frequent than necessary because of the added number of party lines which will be in effect. Rigdon said that the cause of the fire still remains unknown. No other damage figure has been given other than it will be in excess of $1 million. The switching room, where the crippling blaze broke out last week, has been sealed off temporarily. There is sufficient space in the building to care for the equipment needed to put the manual operation in effect. Rigdon said the 10-ton switchboard from Illinois arrived here "in good shape" and trunk line cables are being strung to it. Glen Lauher, traffic engineer for General Telephone Company, knows more about the new 3,500-line switchboard than most people here. He was an employee for Illinois Bell and was assigned to the job of removing the board from service in Antioch, Ill., in 1961. He said Sunday night he never expected to see that equipment again. Now he will be helping to wire it into the local setup. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- City Councilmen Are Asked To Assist In Radio Work Charles Yount, president of the Richmond Common Council, and Mayor Edward Cordell Monday called on councilmen to lend a hand with the Citizen Band Radio and Amateur Operations this week during the telephone emergency. The councilmen are asked to meet in the mayor's office at 7 p.m. Monday night to work out a schedule of hours. The Monday night meeting will be a briefing on duties, hours of work and how the Citizens Band and Amateur Radio operators are handling emergency calls. In a message distributed Monday morning Yount said: "Many of our volunteer workers have been extended to the limit of their physical capacity and some must return to work for economic reasons. I am asking each of you to help during the telephone emergency. "We need to have a representative of the city work at headquarters in the City Building from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. to help coordinate activities." Mayor Cordell said members of the council had volunteered earlier to help out in any way they could be of assistance but up to the present time the have not had to be called upon. However, since many of the volunteers who have been working will not be available now, we need their assistance. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 12 Fire Stories ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Photos Tell Story As 10-Ton Switchboard Is Rushed Here From Illinois Town [Photo] The huge switchboard is shown as it is backed across the Masonic Lodge parking lot, toward the garage door of General Telephone Company. Concrete in parking spaces first had to be removed. [Photo] This photo shows the switchboard moving along the Tri-State tollway near Chicago. [Photo] Mayor Edward L. Cordell and Robert A. Rogosch, division manager of General Telephone, discuss plans for operation of the 28-operator switchboard. [Photo] This sign, on the side of the well-wrapped switchboard, made it clear to who saw the ponderous device go by where the unit was going and the nature of the mission. By Jim Fleming It was a big job but, like other big jobs in the past couple days, it was handled. As a result, provision of more temporary service here drew closer late Sunday night with the arrival here of a 3,500 mile, 28-operator switchboard from Antioch, Ill. An 80-foot house moving rig arrived here at 10:30 p.m., completing the 310-mile trip in 15 hours. A large crowd began to assemble about 10 p.m. Sunday, near North Ninth and A Streets, when word was spread the Illinois Bell Co, switchboard was nearing the city. A light rain which fell all night failed to keep interested spectators away. Palladium-Item newsmen were kept in contact with progress of the switchboard's movement through amateur radio operator relays from Fowler Macy of Converse, Ind., and Donald D. Dodson, of Antioch. A message from a police squad car told newsmen, too, when the equipment reached Cambridge City. At 10:25 a murmur went through the crowd as the huge rig transporting the unit was spotted, moving ponderously South on North Ninth Street. One-way street designations were forgotten as an escort of three state and local police cars led the enormous equipment toward its destination. The truck swung east onto North A Street. Immediately apparent were two signs, fastened on each side of the switchboard, reading: "Emergency switchboard for fire stricken Richmond, Ind., from Illinois Bell Telephone Co." A spokesman for the company which handled the unprecedented hauling job, J.C. Muehdelt & Sons, Wheaton, Ill., said the rig had pulled out of Antioch at 7:30 a.m. EST. At an average speed of 22 miles per hour, escorted by police all the way, it moved south on the Tri-State Tollway, into Indiana. The truck was given right-of-way over all traffic as it lumbered along. By 7 p.m. it was reported coming around Indianapolis, as state police running an escort kept local officials notified by radio. Crowds remained at the scene as the switchboard was pulled into Masonic Hall parking lot at the rear of the phone company. Slowly, almost inperceptibly at times, crews prepared the unit to be pushed into the company's garage. Inside By 2:30 A.M. By 2:30 a.m. Monday, the switchboard was completely inside the garage. Several hours later, men removed it from the frame which had comprised the "trailer" on which it had rolled, two 60-foot timbers nearly 18 inches square and dozens of smaller, cross-braces. Most persons on hand for the arrival of the equipment, although informed of its size, were visibly impressed when they saw how big it was. Thousands of wires crisscross the back, and hundreds of plugs stand ready on the front for the day when it is put into service. Glen Lauher, traffic engineer for General, but an employee of Illinois Bell Co. who helped take the board out of service when Antioch converted to dial phones in 1961, is one of many who will help hook the board here. He explained that the unit at one time consisted of relatively few operator "stations," when it was first built 40 years ago. From time to time, especially after World War II, new stations were added. The newest were put in only five years ago, just eight months before the board was taken out of service in favor of automatic equipment. He said the board not only served Antioch, a community of 2,300, but also several neighboring towns and resort areas. Signs at each station still carry names of norther Illinois towns. Lauher added that the board because so huge because of the vast numbers of people who moved to the area immediately after the war. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Phone Center Downtown [Photo] Telephone workers put the finishing touches on a new emergency long distance phone center, located at 712 East Main Street, as several take advantage of available phones. The center was transferred from the phone firm's business office on North Ninth street to give phone repair crews more room. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Red Cross Ends Emergency Service; Volunteers Praised Late Sunday night the Wayne County chapter of the American Red Cross here concluded four days and three nights of around-the-clock aid during the telephone company emergency. Although an emergency still exists as far as the phone company and phone service is concerned the crisis created by the fire itself is considered over. "It would be difficult to estimate the number of volunteers participating," says Mrs. Thelma Koon, executive director of the local Red Cross chapter. Many Offered Aid "In addition to those volunteers assigned to specific duties others kept appearing, on the scene asking what they could do and where the Red Cross could use them," she related. "Offers of assistance also came form Indianapolis area and Fayette County Red Cross Chapters." Beginning early Thursday morning volunteers served coffee and doughnuts to firemen followed by a warm lunch at noon. Also served at noon were the amateur operators at the chapter house and at the Richmond city building. Plans were then made to supply sandwiches and coffee to the four six-hour shifts of workers at the city building. Thursday evening the need for canteen service at the General Telephone company garage became apparent. Large numbers of telephone workers who had been called into Richmond as well as the local workers were not taking time off to eat regular meals. This canteen service was continued on a 24-hour basis and at 6 p.m. Friday the Food Committee of the chapter's regular disaster preparedness set-up took over the responsibility for delivering food to the telephone company garage. Harold C. Cope of Earlham college, as chairman of this committee, was then in charge of the operation and the food was prepared and brought form the college. Clem Zwissler is disaster chairman of the local chapter and Mrs. Ross Harrington is chairman in charge of all volunteers. Jack Bryan of Hagerstown is the chapter's canteen chairman for all of Wayne county. There are four patterns of Red Cross organization for disaster preparedness, tells the executive director. "Our Chapter has been classified under Pattern "B," which is for chapters that historically has not been confronted with major disasters. "Last week we were confronted with a disaster during which time there was much evidence of our being a voluntary organization through which all people may serve in the American tradition of neighbor helping neighbor. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Transcribed by James E. Bellaire - Copyright 1965 Palladium-Item