Historical Clippings Book (HC-11) (314 pages)

@ Se Western Union, worked to perfect theirs. The Supreme Court gave the Bell Company the exclusive rights to the telephone, although Edi. son’s invention of the carbon transmitter made Bell’s instruments commercially practicable. And the instruments installed on the pioneer Ridge Telephone Company line were ‘Edison phones,’ as they were popularly called, although the name ‘American Speaking Telephone Company’ was stamped on each box. In the years that have passed since this court decision, Edison’s part in the development of the telephone has been quite forgotten: According to the records of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, the first long-distance line was 45 miles in length, and ran between Boston and’ Providence. It was built in 1880. The Ridge Company’s line was 60 miles in length, and extended from French Corral, in Nevada County, to Milton in Sierra County. It was built in 1878. Original letters and documents still extant prove this date. Furthermore, the New England line was unsuccessful, and was immediately torn down; the Ridge line was not only successful, but operated until after the begin-ning of the present century. This is not saying that the California system was always ‘profitable. The first annual statement of the Ridge Telephone Company showed expenses for the period from December 1, 1878, to De_cember 1, 1879, to be $2993.08, and the total _ receipts from tolls to be $464.03, after paying _ Sages. Later returns were probably better, but — $201.51 to the Western Union for interline mesprofit or no profit from operating the line, the convenience of this system was what counted with its builders. gold mining business. The famous San Juan idge of northern Nevada County—now in the Grass Valley distributing field of this company —was the center of operation for three mammoth hydraulic gold-mining companies: the Milton Mining and Water Company, of French Corral; the Eureka Lakes and Yuba Canal Companies, of North San Juan, and the North . Bloomfield Blue Gravel Mining Company, of North Bloomfield. All three were, in the late "70s, huge corporations; they controlled the mining operations on the tremendously rich ridge, ae cae . FRENCH CORRAL REBUILT TWICE IN EARLY DAYS French Corral was first settled in 1849, and the first mining was started in a rich ravine early in 1852, when the town also was first built. There were 70 houses in the town on July 8, 1853, when 50 of , them were destroyed by fire. Rebuilt in 1854, a second fire de1 stroyed the part of the town that . . was spared by the first flames. They were in the Then—the End . “Some of their mines were as much as 60 miles from the mountain reservoirs high in the ‘Sierra, and toward the end of each summer, when water was scarce, quick communication became vital. When news of the invention of _the telephone reached these miners they were . Struck with the apparent ability of this new . device to annihilate space. It was just what _ they wanted—if it would work. Instant control . from the mines over the various ditch systems that carried veritable rivers of water down the Ridge meant the elimination of immense water losses, which would prolong the mining season —and that meant more gold. So these companies formed the Ridge Telephone Company and commissioned the California Electrical . Works, then at 134 Sutter Street, and later at 35 _ Market Street, San Francisco, to build a 60-mile _line—and to make it work! The contractors built it and it worked. It worked for more than 20 years. The lion’s share of credit for the success of this historic pioneer in telephony belongs to Paul Seiler, who later became a San Francisco distributor of telephone equipment. Some of his original telephone boxes, with their square-cornered bells, are still to be found in use far back in the mountains. There were 30 instruments on the line when it was opened for service, and approximately 20 of these were in toll offices; usually the latter were located in post offices in the towns the line traversed, These formed the nerve center of the San Juan Ridge, which lies between the canyons of the Middle Fork and the South Fork of the Yuba River. The Western Union Telegraph Company had a direct line from Nevada City to North San Juan, where interline arrangements were made with the Ridge Telephone Company. . This placed the mostremote tommimity on iho . Ridge line in prompt communication with the . rest of the United States. News flew swiftly, : and business transactions were speeded wonderfully by the ‘speaking telephone.’ The three . giant mining corporations of San Juan Ridge . are dead—killed by a decision of the US. . Circuit Court in 1884, which put an end to unrestricted hydraulic mining. That decision meant the beginning of the end for the pioneer . long-distance telephone line; while it survived for years afterward, the real purpose for which /it was built was gone. Monitors and sluices were drv.” F-3.

@ Se Western Union, worked to perfect theirs. The Supreme Court gave the Bell Company the exclusive rights to the telephone, although Edi. son’s invention of the carbon transmitter made Bell’s instruments commercially practicable. And the instruments installed on the pioneer Ridge Telephone Company line were ‘Edison phones,’ as they were popularly called, although the name ‘American Speaking Telephone Company’ was stamped on each box. In the years that have passed since this court decision, Edison’s part in the development of the telephone has been quite forgotten: According to the records of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, the first long-distance line was 45 miles in length, and ran between Boston and’ Providence. It was built in 1880. The Ridge Company’s line was 60 miles in length, and extended from French Corral, in Nevada County, to Milton in Sierra County. It was built in 1878. Original letters and documents still extant prove this date. Furthermore, the New England line was unsuccessful, and was immediately torn down; the Ridge line was not only successful, but operated until after the begin-ning of the present century. This is not saying that the California system was always ‘profitable. The first annual statement of the Ridge Telephone Company showed expenses for the period from December 1, 1878, to De_cember 1, 1879, to be $2993.08, and the total _ receipts from tolls to be $464.03, after paying _ Sages. Later returns were probably better, but — $201.51 to the Western Union for interline mesprofit or no profit from operating the line, the convenience of this system was what counted with its builders. gold mining business. The famous San Juan idge of northern Nevada County—now in the Grass Valley distributing field of this company —was the center of operation for three mammoth hydraulic gold-mining companies: the Milton Mining and Water Company, of French Corral; the Eureka Lakes and Yuba Canal Companies, of North San Juan, and the North . Bloomfield Blue Gravel Mining Company, of North Bloomfield. All three were, in the late "70s, huge corporations; they controlled the mining operations on the tremendously rich ridge, ae cae . FRENCH CORRAL REBUILT TWICE IN EARLY DAYS French Corral was first settled in 1849, and the first mining was started in a rich ravine early in 1852, when the town also was first built. There were 70 houses in the town on July 8, 1853, when 50 of , them were destroyed by fire. Rebuilt in 1854, a second fire de1 stroyed the part of the town that . . was spared by the first flames. They were in the Then—the End

. “Some of their mines were as much as 60 miles from the mountain reservoirs high in the ‘Sierra, and toward the end of each summer, when water was scarce, quick communication became vital. When news of the invention of _the telephone reached these miners they were . Struck with the apparent ability of this new . device to annihilate space. It was just what _ they wanted—if it would work. Instant control . from the mines over the various ditch systems that carried veritable rivers of water down the Ridge meant the elimination of immense water losses, which would prolong the mining season —and that meant more gold. So these companies formed the Ridge Telephone Company and commissioned the California Electrical . Works, then at 134 Sutter Street, and later at 35 _ Market Street, San Francisco, to build a 60-mile _line—and to make it work! The contractors built it and it worked. It worked for more than 20 years. The lion’s share of credit for the success of this historic pioneer in telephony belongs to Paul Seiler, who later became a San Francisco distributor of telephone equipment. Some of his original telephone boxes, with their square-cornered bells, are still to be found in use far back in the mountains. There were 30 instruments on the line when it was opened for service, and approximately 20 of these were in toll offices; usually the latter were located in post offices in the towns the line traversed, These formed the nerve center of the San Juan Ridge, which lies between the canyons of the Middle Fork and the South Fork of the Yuba River. The Western Union Telegraph Company had a direct line from Nevada City to North San Juan, where interline arrangements were made with the Ridge Telephone Company. . This placed the mostremote tommimity on iho . Ridge line in prompt communication with the . rest of the United States. News flew swiftly, : and business transactions were speeded wonderfully by the ‘speaking telephone.’ The three . giant mining corporations of San Juan Ridge . are dead—killed by a decision of the US. . Circuit Court in 1884, which put an end to unrestricted hydraulic mining. That decision meant the beginning of the end for the pioneer . long-distance telephone line; while it survived for years afterward, the real purpose for which /it was built was gone. Monitors and sluices were drv.” F-3.