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The NEW BERN
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Newsmen who handle
coverages in their area for the
larger State dailies make
countless long distance calls. In
our case, during a spance of 40
years, we’ve found that almost
without exception telephone
operators are courteous, spi^y
and efficient.
Occasionally, there have been
humorous slips and unexplained
crossing of wires. Once, for
example, we heard an operator
turn to a fellow operator and
say, "I just had THAT WOMAN
on the line again, and she
burped like she always does."
For the heck of it, we in
terrupted and expressed
sympathy. One of the
operators—probably the young
lady who made the remark-
gasped audibly and b^ of
them snickered. If their
supervisor was nearby, she
may have snickered too.
llien there was the time when
this writer was in the midst of
dictating an important story to
a desk man at the Ralei^ News
and Observer. AU of a sudden, a
woman’s voice broke in. "Spot
has had puppies,’’ she
proclaimed excitedly to anothw
woman at the other end of
the line."
For several minuteg th«
MeBsea"in>wn
detail. Although we didn’t know
Spot, toe course of the con
versation revealed that there
were seven pif>pies in all—five
girls and two boys—and
every single one of them looked
just like Spot.
The voices finally faded, and
we Ciiftim^d dictating our own
grim newp about an automobile
accident that had snuffed out
three lives. Not however before
the desk man in Raleigh asked,
"Who in toe hdl was that on the
line?" TO which we replied, "A
couide of folks who love Spot."
Back in Coastal Plain League
days, when we served as
statistation of the loop, we had a
plug-in telephone in the
pressbox at Kafer Park. It had
an unlisted number to keep a
constant stream of calls from
coming in to ask what the score
was' at that point in toe game.
As a courted, for emergency
reasons, the number was fur
nished hospitals, physicians and
law enforcement postmnel.
One night the phone rang
during a rally by the New Bern
Bears in a red hot game with
Kinston. Picking up the
receiver, we immediately
became the target of a torrent
of bitter words from a very
angry wonuui.
"I wish you would hang up,"
she screamed. "Every time I
try to use the phone you’re
always listening in. I can’t open
my mouth without having yw
eaves^op. You make me sick,
you old snooper. Just you wait.
I’m going to report you to the
company." ^
Very foolishly, bung on
until the woman ran out of
breath. By that tone the Nw
Bern rally had been nipped in
the bud, and the Kinston Eagles
went on to win the ball game. As
things turned out, a lot of fans at
Kafer Park were Just as
mihappy as the woman who
spared no words in giving us
(Continued on page 8).
Euclid Duval Armstrong, m, Awaits His First Christmas.
—Hioto by Wray Studio.