The Automatic Age Comes to Colfax
The Inland Telephone Company upgrades its infrastructure, replacing the need for operator assistance.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Colfax office of the Inland Telephone & Telegraph Company was removed this week to the annex to the First National Bank. From a small beginning in 1884 started by Chas. B. Hopkins at the Colfax Gazette office, the lines have grown to reach throughout Washington and eastern Oregon. With the move, the 'express system' has been inaugurated, an important improvement doing away with the old manner of calling central. No ring is now necessary; simply take the receiver from its holder and the wires do the rest.
“No ring is now necessary for this. Simply take the receiver from its holder and the wires do the rest.”
This transition to a seamless 'express' connection mirrors the rapid technological pivots of the early 20th century, where manual labor was replaced by automated switching, a precursor to our modern digital connectivity.
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