68 A Bridge To The Past

horses were put out to pasture at night. When they finished in one area they would move on to the next.

By 1920 many phones had been installed but a decade later a decline in subscribers was noted. This was partly due to the hard times of the 1930’s and also because some lines were overcrowded resulting in poor service and a lack of privacy.

Today nearly every home has a telephone and free calls can be made to Bedeque, Borden, Kensington, New London, Summerside, Tyne Valley and Wellington. The underground cable is protected against the destruction wrought by ice storms and the dial system is proving very satisfactory.

This efficient communication system is accepted as an every day con- venience but its contribution to modern living has never equalled the wonder of that other public utility rural electrification. It was well under- way in 1955 and before long the people in the homes and barns of Wilmot Valley were enjoying this convenient source of power and light.

Many homes in Wilmot Valley are today equipped with several modern means of keeping in touch with the outside world. The farmers can catch news reports as they travel in their air-conditioned and radio equipped tractors or listen to the “Top Ten in the Hit Parade” as they tend their livestock; the busy housewife can keep up with the controversial subjects of the day by tuning in on “Contact” as she mixes a batch of fresh biscuits; and the children, with their own room and their own television set, often have little supervision in the choice of programs they watch. If the news is missed in the course of a busy day, one can always tune in before going to bed and the events of the past twenty-four hours are presented in story and

pictures from every part of the globe,

NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES

Long ago the earth wag $156 $33”; (8; .28 ii §€Em§ ) éllld lilt’ IIL‘WS— paper was the treasured link with the outside world. How eagerly it was re— ceived and read and then saved for someone else to enjoy. Church publicat- ions for Sunday study, and the Family Herald and Weekly Star were shared by the Wh01€ family, Other monthly magazines contained helpful advice for the farmers and dismayed the latest fashions and patterns for the home dressmaker. These magazines also provided material such as songs and poems that Were preserved in scrapbooks and still make interesting reading.

The newspapers were usually printed in black ink on low quality newsprint, and the Island dailies of the present day have not changed very much except to be brightened by an occasional splash of color and made more interesting with photographs. Publishing has taken giant steps forward and it can be a real treat to settle comfortably in an easy chair and