Customers of the Eldon exchange had the pleasure of dialing their own numbers for both local and Direct Distance Dialing in the early morning hours of September 28th, 1977. They no longer had to crank their telephones for service.18

It was not until January 4, 1957 that the people of Orwell Cove encountered a great change in their lifestyles. This was the day that the first electricity ran through the wires to the homes of the OnNell Cove residents. Today, reflections of the past can still be found when the kerosene and naphtha gas lamps are brought out to give light, when the electricity fails due to a winter storm.

Another important link to the outside world is the radio. On August 10th, 1925, Mr. Keith Rogers received the first Commercial License in Eastern Canada. On that day CFCY— Charlottetown, was first broadcasted on the air. Manufacturers supplied programs to make people buy home receivers sets. Music and other entertainment, news, weather, and sports were advertised. Some popular programs were "The Green Hornet", "The Shadow Knows", "Ma Perkins", "Fibber MacGee & Molly", "Amos & Andy", and "The Lone Ranger". The weekday noon broadcasts featured the "Gillan Farm Family" and reports on stock markets, grain, and potato prices. These radios were powered by dry cell or storage batteries. Anyone who had a radio at this time usually had lots of company at night.

The first radio in Orwell Cove was made by Elmer MacPherson in the early 1920's. He received a prize from a station in

Montana that was interested in knowing how far away their programs could be heard.

1 8 Taken from Voices of the Island, History of the Telephone on PEI, by Walter C. Auld.

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