Stages Will Have Portable Phones
November 28, 1925
The stages of the Mt. Lassen Transit company will be equipped with portable phones in the immediate future. The value of this device was illustrated last Monday during the storm.
When traffic was blocked across the Ferdonia summit by a truck going into the ditch and swinging across the road in such a way that no traffic could pass, Ted Walker happened to be at the point of trouble.
He had a portable phone set in his car and was able to hook onto the N. C. O. wire and call both Susanville and Westwood. Each station was informed of the nature of the trouble.
The big stages could not turn around on the narrow mountain grade and lighter cars were dispatched from both the Susanville and Westwood ends. These cars picked up the stranded passengers and forwarded them to their destination.
Much of the road between Westwood and Red Bluff and Westwood and Reno is paralleled by the telephone lines. In case of accident or urgent necessity the stages can call for help by making a connection with the portable set.
