Toll Call
John R. Searles Jr. 1930
The telephone was used by students to call home or girlfriends, depending on their need and the amount of loose change in their pockets. One night, however, the mechanism failed and you could call anywhere without depositing any money. The word spread and a line soon formed outside the booth. Calls were made until the wee hours of the morning to all parts of United States and perhaps elsewhere as far as I know. But the next morning came the reckoning. The telephone company discovered the problem and was able to furnish a list of the calls made during the night to a very angry Dr. Olmsted, who challenged the assembled student body to sign for the calls they had made. As I remember, the honor system prevailed, but it was a sad day after a joyous night.
