The Tableland Rural Telephone Company Limited
by Leo Seipp
The Tableland Rural Telephone Company Limited sering the rural area lying southwest of the City of Estevan, west of the Long Creek, south boundry of the international border with the United States.
On the north, is the Minton C. P. R. rail line with Tableland siding from which the telephone company took its name.
Hugh Pye was the president of the board and E. G. Eggleston the first secretary treasurer. The first entry in the cash book dated Janurary 19, 1916 were the receipts for the first twenty-one shareholders, the charter shareholders, each shareholder was to purchase two to five dollar shares in order to qualify for service.
The first debenture issue for $7,424.50 was sold on June 11, 1916 and construction of the rural telephone system was launched. Being involved in this rural telephone company for many years, my observation was that the two main spark plugs of any rural telephone company were the lineman and the secretary treasurer. The following persons served as secretary treasurer O. C. Fagan, J. M. Hoover and L. C. Hall from 1919-20 to 1941 who served the longest.
George Cundall was secretary treasurer 1942 to 1947 at which time I, Leo Seipp, took over this position and remained secretary treasurer until 1964 at which time Matt Yoner assumed this position and served until 1977, when the sharegolders voted to become part of the Saskatchewan Telecommunication System and the rural telephone company ceased to operate.
Various local persons served as lineman of which I'll name a few. Ted Wallace, Bill Block, myself and Leo Seipp, worked as lineman for over twenty years followed by Loyd Shanner and Matt Yoner.
In 1928, a heavy sleet, snow and wind storm took most of the lines down and serveral later storms did the same. Coming into the depression years of the 1930's didn't help matters either, when financing became a real problem. There were a few years during the 1930's when our system was hooked up to the Estevan switchboard but only operated locally in the area it served.
Our company had only four circuits and when it reached its peak with fifty-one or fifty-two subscribers, there was quite a large number of them on each circuit.
In 1972 the company laid its first underground cable in order to upgrade it's system in addition to the above ground rebuilding of the pole line in the late 1940's, 1950's and 1960's.
In 1977 the Tableland Rural Telephone Company Limited ceased to operate as a rural telephone company when the shareholders voted to join the Saskatchewan Telecommunication Systen in Estevan.