On This Day in Telephone History March 4TH 1909 a complete shut-off of communication to and from Washington DC was caused by a sleet storm As this happened during the inauguration of President William Howard Taft, it pointed up the vulnerability of overhead wire lines in a striking way. Therefore, it resulted in a memorandum from Theodore N Vail. to J. J. Carty, chief engineer to get the wire underground as soon as possible. This inspired renewed efforts to develop underground long distance cables. City underground systems by this time were working well.

On This Day in Telephone History March 4TH 1909

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On This Day in Telephone History March 4TH 1909 a Complete Shut-off of Communication to and from Washington DC caused by a sleet storm. As this happened during the inauguration of President William Howard Taft, it pointed up the vulnerability of overhead wire lines in a striking way. Therefore, it resulted in a memorandum from Theodore N Vail. to J. J. Carty, chief engineer to get the wire underground as soon as possible. This inspired renewed efforts to develop underground long distance cables. City underground systems by this time were working well.