Upon completion of the construction work I was transferred from the San Francisco office to Portland and performed all the work of the office with the aid of one man who did delivery and line repair service during the first eight months.
Business was very satisfactory and Portland grew and prospered, and in the late fall, Albert Strong, of Salem, son of the line promoters, was employed as my assistant, but was soon succeeded by a young fellow named Ward, who came from California, operated for over a year and returned, locating at Visalia.
W. W. Skinner was transferred from Yreka to Portland office in the fall of 1865 to serve as delivery man and line repairer. He was a good operator as well and an all around valuable assistant. Later he served as railroad station agent and operator at Salem for many years, and was honored by election to the office of mayor of that city. He passed away in April, 1909.
The line as first built lacked much of being first class. The insulators were poor indeed. The amount of escape especially during damp weather was so great that messages often had to be repeated at points between Portland and Yreka, which was the south end of the Oregon circuit, where all telegrams were transmitted either through "repeaters" or by copying and so forwarding when the line happened to be down, which often occurred, or when working badly.
The insulators used at first and for the first few years, were composed of a block of wood of size about four by four by three inches, with a hole bored into the center in which was inserted an iron bar or core coated with gutta percha, the coating in many instances being imperfect or cracked so that frequently the sap from trees to which they were nailed formed a means of communication from the line wire to the ground. These insulators were attached to trees where the expense of poles could possibly be saved, and western and southern Oregon was then well wooded.
The main line batteries at Portland and Yreka were known as Grove batteries in which nitric acid was used and the three dozen or more cells in Portland office had to be cleaned and replenished daily. The local batteries then used were known as Daniels or gravity bluestone batteries.
Offices were far apart at first and compensations of operators at small places were very low, being one-half of the moneys collected for telegrams. Such towns as Oregon City, Salem, Albany, Corvallis, Eugene and Roseburg paying the munificent returns from ten to twenty dollars per month for their care. Registers with the strip of paper were used in nearly every office in the state. The operators were either business men in the way towns or their clerks, or both, and there was such a fascination about having the offices in places of business that there was little trouble in finding parties who were glad to have the charge for the small compensation.
I smile when I recall one case as an example: Adolph Levy, who was operator at Oregon City succeeded Fred Charman, devoted a lot of time to the telegraph even to the neglect of his buisness, for which he only realized fifteen or sixteen dollars a month, complained to me about the meager pay; I referred him to the general superintendent, Colonel James Gamble; Gamble advised him to resign; he again called on me saying he should have more pay but did not want to give up the office, and several other operators like situated felt as my dear good friend Adolph did, but delayed with the job.
Portland office did a good business. Merchants and others soon took advantage of the comparatively rapid means of communication. The tariff to San Francisco was three dollars for the first ten words, and one dollar and a quarter for each additional five words or portion thereof.
I many times received four dollars and a quarter for eleven word messages. Now the ratio is fifty cents and three cents for each additional word. Like rates ruled to other points and similar lower rates are established now.
