Prime Minister Lester Pearson extended congratulations to Chapleau telephone operators, 'unsung heroes' of 1965 forest fire

Prime Minister Lester B Pearson sent a telegram of congratulations to Chapleau telephone operators on their efforts during the forest fire that threatened the community in 1965.

Mr. Pearson, who also served as Member of Parliament for Algoma East which included Chapleau, wrote in the telegram to Mrs. Mary Bowes, acting chief operator, "I shared in the relief I know all of you must have felt when the winds shifted and the rains finally came averting the destruction of Chapleau.

"May I congratulate you personally and the members of your staff for your coolness and bravery.

"You have every reason to be proud of your role in a situation which proved the fortitude of the citizens of Chapleau."

While many Chapleau citizens were being evacuated, the telephone operators remained and were working 24/7 handling a record number of calls on the system which had been in use since 1951 when operator assisted calls replaced the dial system.

The Chapleau Sentinel reported that the telephone operators were "unsung heroes" throughout the fire that ravaged the area and seriously threatened the town.

Operators busy during fire

In turns they "took an hour off here and an hour off there and grabbed something to eat whenever they could" and then rushed back to work.

Mrs. Bowes, who was replacing chief operator Mrs Myrtle Delaney who happened to be out of town on business commented  that the operators "seemed to realize there was a crisis and it must be met".

The newspaper reported statistics for the weekend showing that ordinarily the system would handle about 3000 local calls --- they rose to a "staggering 32159" within the community.

Outgoing  long distance calls would usually be less than 500 on a weekend but rose to 3695 with almost the same number incoming during the forest fire threat.

However, the days of the operator assisted system were numbered as construction was being completed on a new facility at the corner of Pine and Young streets and the community would be returning to a dial system, although long distance operators would still be on duty. The operators worked out of a building on Pine Street at one time the Orange Hall and later the by-law office.

Marcel Bourgeault on left Bonnie (Babin) Desbois shows new equipment

After midnight on December 4, 1965 a switch was thrown and the new system went into effect.

At the official opening Councillor Marcel Bourgeault, the acting reeve, brought greetings and extended congratulations to Bell on the new system and facility.

I have been receiving messages since my column  last week from folks sharing their telephone numbers, and from operators and family members who worked in Chapleau during the 1950s and 1960s. Thank you all so much.

The telegram from Prime Minister Pearson pointed out the importance of the telephone operators during a major crisis in Chapleau. In fact, on a personal basis, their efforts to keep lines of communication open, affected me too. I was working as a newspaper reporter In Toronto, but my mother Muriel E (Hunt) Morris and my grandmothers Edythe Hunt and Lil Morris were in Chapleau. I was able to get through to Mom, and even though they did not evacuate, I was able to stay in touch by phone.

All these years later, I am able to share the story of the "unsung heroes" -- the telephone operators in Chapleau! HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!!  My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Remember the cheery voice of the telephone operator, 'Number please'

Remember those days in Chapleau when you picked up the telephone and you would hear a voice say, "Operator" or "Number please" or "That line is busy" or maybe even your name if it was late at night, and the operator was working alone, and calls were slow.

When I was away at school in the Sixties, and even after I started in the newspaper business as a reporter, on occasion I would call home late at night to catch up on the local news from the operator. Our home number was 188 as I recall. Do you remember yours?

Michael and Alison (McMillan) McMullen brought those memories back to me when I received a copy of a brief history of Chapleau written by the late Wilf Simpson in the Seventies from them recently.

Wilf, who was the deputy township clerk for 23 years, wrote the history in the Seventies and I wrote the foreword to an updated version of it in 1977 when I was reeve but had lost my copy somewhere along the way.

Back to telephones in Chapleau. Wilf noted that Chapleau "was the first location in Ontario, if not in whole of Canada, to have an automatic (dial) telephone system."

It was completed and in operation in 1924 under the name Chapleau Telephone System. Wilf wrote that it was a P.A.X. System and had a capacity of 400 telephones. The equipment was housed in the basement of the old Town Hall in a room later was used by the Cubs and Scouts.

T.R. "Ron" Serre, the township clerk, was the secretary treasurer of the company and G.L. White, a local druggist was in charge of maintenance. Ross Kemp took over the maintenance around 1930-31 and was on the job for a number of years until he left to work for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Jim Mclean took over until the system was dismantled in 1951.

Wilf points out that Chapleau went back to manual (operator assisted) at that time with Bell Telephone taking over. For some reason automatic equipment was not available. The exchange was located in a building on Pine Street between Chapleau Public School and the home of Herb Doig. It later became the by-law officer's office.


In 1965, Chapleau again became automatic with the completion of the new Bell building at Young and Pine Street, but operators were still on duty for long distance calls.

In 1976 Chapleau got direct distance dialing and the day of the telephone operator pretty well disappeared.

Wilf commented on this move: "In 1976 'Mother Bell' gave Chapleau direct distance dialing. This may have been an improvement generally, but I still preferred the cheery voice of the operator saying, 'I'm sorry sir, all the circuits are busy' to a three minute session of clicks, bangs and bleeps akin to a chorus by the Bachman-Turner Overdrive -- only to terminate with a 'busy' signal."

For those readers who do not remember Wilf, I wrote in my foreword to his booklet that he had always been a keen observer of the municipal scene over the 23 years he spent as deputy clerk, and his previous experience with the Chapleau Post, our weekly newspaper, which was founded by his father Arthur Simpson. In congratulating Wilf on the revised publication of his history, I expressed the hope that he would continue to share his knowledge of Chapleau history with us in years to come.

Just a touch of irony that I am sharing part of Wilf's history with you more than 43 years later in the Chapleau Express, a successor to the Chapleau Post where he was at one time the editor, and on the Internet, using new media communications. Wow!

For many years Wilf also had a very popular orchestra that was a mainstay at local dances throughout the year in the old Town Hall basement or Legion Hall.

His brief history is a very valuable resource on the history of Chapleau, and I look forward to sharing more from it with you in future columns.

But let me finish by bringing you news about a very important development in the history of Chapleau that occurred in 1950. The first diesel locomotive arrived at the Chapleau CPR station, powering westbound transcontinental passenger train Number 7 (the Dominion) from Montreal/Toronto at 12:30 p.m. on Monday January 9, 1950. It was such an historic occasion that school was adjourned early. I remember it like it was yesterday. Thanks to David McMillan, Ian Macdonald and their friends for this one.

Again thanks for all your notes. My email is mj.morris@live.ca This article appears in the February 20, 2010 edition of the Chapleau Express as my Chapleau Moments column.