Yolande (Belair) Séguin
One day in Sept. 1957 something went wrong with the telephone at my father’s place so my mother phoned to have someone to repair it. John Joe McCormick came over the same day and while repairing the phone he mentioned that he would need an operator at the central because Marjorie McCaskill was moving to Lachute and could no longer work. So I told Mr. McCormick I could apply for the job. I started my training the week after.
At that time there was only one switchboard with about 60 lines. On the day shift I was working with Georgette Paiment and Mary Kennedy. Mrs. Charlotte MacKinnon was working the night shift from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. On the first day shift the rotating hours were: 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.; 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.; 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.; 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.. On the second shift the rotating hours were 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.; 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.; 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. We were working three weeks including weekends and then had one week off. During the hours we were off we were preparing the bills for the customers.
My salary was $43.40 a week and it included the board and lodging charges, which I thought at that time was good.
Sometime in the year 1958, if my memory is good, the company added a second switchboard. On that year Mrs. MacKinnon left for retirement so we needed another operator. Miss Agathe St. Denis was hired and from then on we were working the night shift on rotation.
I remember when we had to pass a long distance call to St. Eugene, Ont., which was not far in miles but very long to get in touch by telephone lines. We had to dial Vankleek Hill and had to ask for Hawkesbury and then ask for St. Eugene. Sometimes we were cut off before getting to St. Eugene or we would get a noisy line and had to put the call through again from Vankleek Hill.
For the long distance calls for Montreal, Ottawa or further we had to pass the call to Alexandria central to proceed with the call. After the call Alexandria would call us back to tell us the minutes of the call and the price.
Every Tuesday night was a cattle sale at Omer Poirier’s Auction on the Eigg Road.
It was a busy night for us.
One summer day around noon a barn caught fire not far from Lochiel. I cannot remember the name of the owner but we could see the smoke very well. Mary Kennedy phoned someone in the neighbourhood and found out that it was a barn burning and who was the owner. Some people were ringing at the central asking for information about this fire and we were able to inform them.
I also have an anecdote that I will always remember. One night during a winter there was a snow storm and around midnight I answered a phone call and I stopped the night bell to pass the long distance call. After the call I finished the timing for the ticket, the cost, and put the ticket in the file, but forgot to put the night bell back on before I went back to bed. At 6:00 a.m. a knock on the front door woke me up and at that time I could hear rings on the switchboard. So I ran to the door and guess who was at the door ? the boss, Mr. McCormick. He asked me what was wrong that I did not answer any calls. He was trying to call me from his house because M. Denis Lefebvre who owned the snow plows to open the county roads was at his place reporting that he was not able to get in touch with is employees and the company for the school buses. I explained to him what had happened and he told me never to forget that bell again. I never forgot ever after that.
I also remember seeing Mr. McCormick after his day’s work driving the Glengarry Telephone Co.’s truck into the garage and walking quietly to his home. I also remember Mr. Rhéal Fournier working with Mr. McCormick on the lines.
I have a few photos and copies of T4′s for the years 1958 and 1959 which I am pleased to loan to the project. I think it is good to remember all those years because for me it was a nice time working for the Glengarry Telephone Co. and Mr. McCormick.