Traverse, R 3 to Albany , R 4 to Borden, and R5 to Searletown , connect¬ ing eighty-nine phones. Tryon and Augustine Cove were still connected to the Crapaud exchange. The Directory for January 1926 lists the same agent, the same hours of service, the same pay station, and the same number of lines now servicing ninety-eight customers. The following seven were the North Tryon subscribers: Chisholm, H.M. , Store and Undertaker Rl- 3 Dairying Co ., E. Gamble Mgr. Rl- 2 Dawson, Arthur Rl- 14 Dawson , W.E. R 1-2S Keough, Martin Rl- 5 Lefurgey, Max Rl- 210 Pooley, Wm. A, Garage R1T The telephones of this era were a Standard Magneto System with a hand crank and battery on each phone. The hand crank generated the power to ring the bells for signalling and the battery supplied the power for talking. The hand crank was briskly turned to ring up another party on the line or to connect with Central, the telephone office. Each party line telephone subscriber was assigned a number consist¬ ing of a single digit indicating which of the party lines the phone was on, followed by a dash, followed by a one, two, or three digit number to indicate the combination of long and short rings to which the subscriber would answer. A single digit number represented the num¬ ber of short rings. A two digit number represented a sequence of long rings and short rings, while a three digit number represented a se¬ quence of short rings, long rings, and short rings. Some party lines had thirty or forty subscribers so everyone on the line had to listen carefully to the rings to identify their incoming calls or to know which neighbours were being called if they wanted to listen in. After ringing up the receiver was removed and the conversation started. It was good manners to ring off when the call was completed. This short ring indicated that the line was clear. Calls placed between parties on the same line did not go through Central. To place a call to a party on another line, four short rings were answered by Central who responded with number please. Central not only knew everyone's telephone number, address, whereabouts, and daily habits, but was a crucial element in times of crises, celebration, and grief. Central provided weather reports, sports scores, election results, medical reports, and also helped to relieve the isolation of country life. Party lines were always a source of information, especially if a new baby was expected in the community. On one occasion the parents decided they did not want everyone on the line to know about the birth of their child so they developed a code to relay the message of the arrival and the sex of the child. When the baby arrived, the telephone conversation went like so: "The parcel has arrived, tassels and all!" 100