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History Does Repeat Itself
The Impact of a New
Technology
It was in about 1897 that the telephone came to Wayne to bind the community
closer together and to speed up business. Some independently owned and
operated telephones were then in use in Wayne. These were the Blake type,
very crude concerns, that consisted of wooden boxes and battery mounted on
wall boards about three and a half feet long. The receivers were eight to
ten inches long and the mouthpiece was only a hole in the box. W. F.
Perdue, telephone linesman in Wayne for many years, remembers that the
battery of the early model consisted of a tall glass jar containing a
powder dissolved in water, a piece of carbon and stick of zinc, all stirred
together. One cranked this machine and always something happened. One night
get his party or he might hear a howl or feel a shock of electricity. The
prospect was always uncertain.
In July 1897, the first town system was installed, and within a few days
Wayne was connected to Winside... A newspaper report of October 5, 1897,
says "Citizens are wondering how they ever got along without the
telephone." The company had 25 subscribers.
So the telephone came to link together the people of Wayne and also this
city with the outside world. No longer did the boy of the family need to
put a bridle on old Nelly and gallop over to the neighbor's with a message.
By a vigorous crank of the impressive wall-box one could communicate with
neighbors.
The Way To Go
The countryside was
struck with terror when the horseless carriages began to replace the
faithful horse and buggy. Dr. H. G. Leisenring was the first to buy one of
the "monsters." This little bright red one-seated car was steered with a
lever and when it was working at its best it could make a speed of 15 miles
an hour. Many called the machine "one lunger" because it had but one
cylinder... Horses were adversely affected by the strange buggy and many
run-a-ways were the result... A law evolved requiring car drivers to stop
and shut off their engines when seeing a horse, and lead the horse past the
object if necessary...
Charles Riese relates that Dr, Leisenring took a lady out to the country to
visit her relatives and after the trip was over the lady said: "We went so
fast I was afraid to open my mouth." ... Soon all those who objected to the
first car had automobiles of their own...
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