﻿IDEALS 
  OF 
  THE 
  TELEPHONE 
  SERVICE. 
  1 
  

  

  A 
  TRIBUTE 
  TO 
  THE 
  MEMORY 
  OF 
  ALEXANDER 
  GRAHAM 
  BELL. 
  

  

  By 
  John 
  J. 
  Cakty, 
  

  

  Vice 
  president, 
  American 
  Telephone 
  & 
  Telegraph 
  Co. 
  and 
  retiring 
  president, 
  

  

  Telephone 
  Pioneers 
  of 
  America. 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  the 
  ninth 
  annual 
  meeting 
  of 
  the 
  Telephone 
  Pioneers 
  of 
  

   America, 
  although 
  our 
  association 
  is 
  now 
  entering 
  its 
  twelfth 
  year. 
  

   On 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  war, 
  during 
  three 
  years 
  no 
  annual 
  meetings 
  were 
  

   held. 
  The 
  Pioneers 
  were 
  then 
  engaged 
  in 
  the 
  great 
  struggle 
  to 
  save 
  

   civilization. 
  

  

  The 
  membership 
  of 
  our 
  association 
  is 
  made 
  up 
  not 
  only 
  from 
  

   those 
  who 
  took 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  telephone 
  but 
  

   also 
  from 
  those 
  who 
  have 
  been 
  in 
  the 
  telephone 
  service 
  for 
  a 
  period 
  

   of 
  21 
  years. 
  We 
  have 
  in 
  the 
  service 
  tens 
  of 
  thousands 
  of 
  zealous 
  

   men 
  and 
  women 
  doing 
  pioneer 
  work 
  now, 
  but 
  because 
  they 
  lack 
  in 
  

   years, 
  though 
  not 
  in 
  achievement, 
  they 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  enrolled. 
  We 
  

   and 
  they 
  are 
  looking 
  forward 
  to 
  the 
  day 
  of 
  their 
  formal 
  admission. 
  

   To 
  these 
  our 
  fellow 
  workers 
  we 
  extend 
  our 
  greetings 
  and 
  our 
  appre- 
  

   ciations. 
  In 
  their 
  hands 
  lies 
  not 
  only 
  the 
  future 
  of 
  our 
  society 
  but 
  

   the 
  future 
  of 
  our 
  art. 
  

  

  Our 
  first 
  meeting 
  took 
  place 
  11 
  years 
  ago 
  at 
  Boston, 
  the 
  birth- 
  

   place 
  of 
  the 
  telephone. 
  At 
  that 
  meeting 
  the 
  inventor 
  of 
  the 
  tele- 
  

   phone, 
  Alexander 
  Graham 
  Bell, 
  was 
  present 
  and 
  delivered 
  to 
  us 
  an 
  

   address 
  which 
  must 
  always 
  be 
  memorable 
  in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  our 
  

   society. 
  To-day 
  we 
  recall 
  with 
  peculiar 
  sadness 
  these 
  words 
  which 
  

   he 
  then 
  spoke 
  to 
  us 
  : 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  a 
  great 
  day 
  for 
  me, 
  the 
  first 
  meeting 
  of 
  the 
  Telephone 
  Pioneers 
  of 
  

   America 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  world. 
  It 
  gives 
  me 
  great 
  pleasure 
  to 
  meet 
  with 
  you 
  all 
  

   to-day, 
  and 
  yet 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  feeling 
  of 
  sadness 
  about 
  it. 
  I 
  am 
  the 
  first 
  telephone 
  

   pioneer, 
  and 
  my 
  memory 
  goes 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  very 
  beginning, 
  and 
  I 
  miss 
  the 
  faces 
  

   I 
  remember 
  so 
  well, 
  the 
  faces 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  pioneers, 
  who 
  I 
  wish 
  were 
  here 
  to-day. 
  

   * 
  * 
  * 
  I 
  feel 
  it 
  a 
  little 
  presumptuous 
  on 
  my 
  part 
  to 
  try 
  to 
  speak 
  of 
  the 
  tele- 
  

   phone 
  to 
  telephone 
  men. 
  You 
  have 
  all 
  gone 
  so 
  far 
  beyond 
  me. 
  Why, 
  the 
  little 
  

  

  1 
  Presidential 
  address 
  delivered 
  at 
  the 
  Ninth 
  Annual 
  Meeting 
  of 
  the 
  Telephone 
  Pioneers 
  

   of 
  America 
  at 
  Cleveland. 
  Ohio, 
  September 
  29, 
  1922. 
  Reprinted 
  by 
  permission. 
  

  

  55379—24 
  35 
  533 
  

  

  