Now we will return to the story of Montague. I have been trying to find out the origin of its name. I was convinced that it was named Montague after a man in the Old Country by that name; in fact, I remember reading that years ago. But I have forgotten his title. You see, he was a man of "nobility"; whether he was a Lord or an Earl, I have forgotten. I called my school pal, C. B. Shaw , on the telephone yes¬ terday, and we came to the conclusion that the gentleman was Lord Montague . It might have been that Lord Montague 's rank was that of "Lord of The Lands." This is merely conjecture on my part. But history substantiates that there was a member of the nobility of England who was the first Earl of Salisbury. His surname was Montagu (no "e">. There were several generations of that name. Some had the letter "e" at the end of the name, others didn't. We believe that is where the name of our town came from. COMMUNICATION The story of Montague's communication with places near and far have followed the pattern of other communities, large and small. The first made was that of letter correspondence; then the telegraph fol¬ lowed by the telephone. Before the branch railway line was built into Montague, the mails were carried between Montague and Cardigan by team. If you wanted to send a telegram it would be necessary to go to Cardigan or Georgetown . When the telephone system was established, I presume you could telephone your message to either place and the station agent would forward it by telegraph. Long distance telephoning has largely done away with that method. But we are thinking of the earlier days. Very often a telegram would cause a feeling of apprehension on the part of the recipient; per¬ haps a loved one has passed away. There are few of us who have not received such a message. In the days that are gone how familiar we were with the term ( Johnny Operator ). He was the first telegraph operator in Georgetown . There were several John MacDonaids in Georgetown and vicinity, and to distinguish the operator from the others, he was called " Johnny Oper ¬ ator." If the writer is not mistaken. John MacDonald was married to a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Poole , Roseneath, P.E.I. Edward Poole operated a grist mill, which later was operated by his son-in-law Dougald Munn . The first telephone in Montague was in the hotel conducted by Mr. and Mrs. John J. MacDonald . The hotel was located on , north side of the river. After a time an exchange was established on the south side, and it was located in D. L. MacKinon 's furniture store. Mrs. D. L. MacKinnon was the operator. Mr. MacKinnon was the founder of The Montague Furnishing Co . Ltd. The story of this company will be related later. Later on, the telephone exchange was located in The Montague Furnishing Co ., building on , on the north side of the river. It was there until it was shifted back again to the south side and located in Mrs. Nellie Fraser 's building; and from there it was moved to the Clinic Bldg. Now in 1963, the "dial" system is to be inaugurated with the central office situated on the east side of on property that was originally owned by Pierce Gaul , now owned by Charles Fraser , son of the late John E. Fraser . This move constitutes the fourth move, and it looks as though it is to be its permanent home. There was a time when the operators were referred to as the "Hello girls". When you took the receiver down to call Central you would hear the familiar words, "Hello, number please." That was abbreviated to, "Number please." In the run of a year, the elimination of that one word saved millions of seconds of time. One very exasperating sentence to which many of us are familiar, especially on a party line, are the words, "The line is busy." Some party line users never think of the other party. —42—