Hopkins CO. TX - History of Dike Exchange

From:  June E. Tuck <jparks@neto.com>

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From the historical files of June E. Tuck, who does not validate or
dispute any historical facts in the article.

HISTORY OF DIKE EXCHANGE

By Frank Bell

March 7, 1931

Mr. Bagwell, will you please print the following in your valuable Echo
and News-Telegram

The Dike Telephone Company was organized about the year 1906, with 15
stockholders, as fine a citizenship as Hopkins County had. I and just a
few others are still living, most of them gone to their reward. What few
are left are scattered everywhere, nearly. I have been a director in this
company for approximately 18 years, serving the last four years as
president. We now have a rural telephone company second to none in
Hopkins County, with 107 paid-up members, and just a few delinquents, and
went through one of the hardest years we have ever had since organized.
With the assistance of Curtis Hamby, Lige Bartley and Jesse Rasure of
Dike and Jim Porter of Mahoney, one of the best through lines to Sulphur
Springs was built, and we get very fine service over it. I feel very
grateful to the operators who have been under my jurisdiction, who have
cooperated with me in every way they could to help build this wonderful
system. I appreciated their kindness, and I have done my best to return
same as much as possible. I also feel very grateful to the 98 percent of
the stockholders who stood by me and helped in every way possible. I have
done everything in my power to give service. I have stood by the by-laws
and constitution and showed no special favors to any one, they all looked
alike to me in the telephone business. During the four years I was your
chairman, I was called on to make many decisions and I always looked at
the situation just fairly as I could. I hope if any of theT original
fifteen organizers of this company see this, they will let me hears from
them in some way. I feel like I have served my time as director of the
Dike Telephone Company and will never be a director again in same. And on
retiring as director, my successor and the company have my hearty
cooperation and I shall always remain as a private member so long as I am
here. Yours, J. F. Bell