Yesteryear: Cable television on its way in 1970 | lifestyle – Bend Bulletin

Compiled by the Deschutes County Historical Society from the archived copies of The Bulletin at the Deschutes Historical Museum

100 years ago

For the week ending

Sept. 26, 1920

That the forest fire in the yellow pine belt near Fox Butte burned over 2500 acres and killed approximately 1,500,000 feet of high grade timber was the statement of Forest Supervisor H.L. Plumb, who returned last night with Deputy Supervisor W.O. Harriman from the scene of the conflagration. A cruise will be made shortly to determine the exact amount of the loss.

The greater part of the damage was done on the first day of the fire, Mr. Plumb said, when a high wind spread the flames rapidly. Practically all reproduction in the tract was killed and much in the way of valuable forage plants destroyed. The fire did not "crown," as had been feared, the destruction of mature timber coming as a result of the flames catching in pitch spots near the ground.

Redmond will not be a contender for the county seat of Deschutes county, it was formally made known in Bend this morning, when a letter to this effect from R.H. Murrow, secretary of the Redmond Commercial club was received by D.G. McPherson, president of the Bend Commercial club.

"We think the joke has gone far enough about moving the permanent county seat to Redmond," Mr. Murrow wrote. "If you need any help, we will jump in and do anything we can to help you get it. Call on us.

"This idea of putting up $50,000 as an inducement to make Redmond the county seat was started a week or two ago, when there were very few members present at the Redmond Commercial club meeting. It has been discussed since, with very little approval from most of the members, who considered it as a joke, so a motion was passed at the last meeting granting all our rights to Bend for the permanent county seat."

Soft, wet snow from four to five feet deep on the summit of the divide 15 miles north of Sisters, turned back the party which set out yesterday morning from Sisters in search of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Tuck of Redmond, believed to be in Grizzly Basin at the foot of Mt. Jefferson, cut off from return by recent storms and the loss of their horses. John Tuck, father of the missing man, was notified of the failure, and phoned from Redmond to the ranger station at Detroit, 20 miles from the flat from the other side. He was assured that every effort would be made to locate the campers.

75 years ago

For the week ending

Sept. 26, 1945

Bend eventually will be headquarters for one of the largest novelty manufacturing plants in the United States, it was indicated today, when officials of the Oregon Trail Furniture shops here revealed plans for extensive expansion, not only of facilities but of its business.

And when the shops, which now employ 20 persons, are expanded to proposed capacity, between 50 and 60 persons will be employed, according to J.S. Simmons, president of the organization. Present plans call for doubling the present size of the plant, with the building eventually covering a floor space of approximately 100 by 400 feet. As soon as materials and machinery are available, a 200-foot extension will be made on the south end of the present building, it was said.

The Oregon Trail Furniture shops recently concluded a contract for the manufacture of ammunition boxes, and immediately started into the production of toy wooden rifles. At present, according to Ed F. Vogt, general superintendent, the plant is producing 2,000 of these daily.

Bend has an important spot on the weather map of the North American continent, and is part of a vast network of stations that supplies data for meteorologists who chart information for airmen, it can now be revealed, with the removal of weather censorship. Reporting day and night on a three-hour schedule, the Bend station has an international number, is manned by a staff of five and is completely equipped with weather instruments that range from an automatic rain measuring device to mercurial and aneroid barometers.

Known as an airway reporting point, the Bend station has been in operation just short of 15 years, but it was in the war period that it played its most important role, as work was intensified and new equipment was added. The Bend station was the first of the off-route airway offices set up in Central Oregon, on Dec. 30, 1930, and provided the first readings from the huge "blacked out" area of the interior country. About the same time, stations were established at Burns and Lakeview, and from this vast triangle was obtained information of vast importance to the makers of weather maps.

Deschutes county's 26th annual fair, held here over the weekend, was history today, as committees worked on their records and announced that the two-say show attracted a record attendance, with 4,000 spectators on hand for the Saturday rodeo and with an even greater crowd present for the Sunday show.

Some 1,700 persons attended the buckaroo breakfast Sunday morning. This, it is believed, is the largest group ever to attend a similar breakfast in the northwest. Present for the Warm Spring Indian pageant Saturday night was a crowd that filled the grandstand to capacity.

Present for the final day of the rodeo Sunday afternoon was a crowd believed to be the greatest ever to attend a one-day show at the county fair. All seating capacity was filled and there was standing room only along the rails. The western show went off smoothly and, spectators agreed, it was a top notch affair, with broncs winning over riders in many instances.

The fair was dedicated to victory, and to the Deschutes county men who died on foreign battlefields, or on the high seas.

At 6 o'clock Sunday evening, an 18-mile caravan of cars reached from Redmond to Bend, as motorists headed home from the rodeo.

50 years ago

For the week ending

Sept. 26, 1970

"There were buttons and switches everywhere buttons to call for food, for music, for clothing...There was the button that produced literature. And there were of course the buttons by which she communicated with her friends. The room was in touch with all that she cared for in the world."

Thus did the late E.M. Forster imagine the future in his story "The Machine Stops." The machine he described more than half a century ago bears a remarkable resemblance to the communications system that many experts believe will emerge in the United States. In the next two decades or so.

Through the medium of cable television, it is asserted, this country will become a "wired nation." It is envisioned that the viewer will be able to scan the morning headlines on a special channel and, by pressing a button, order a printout of the stories he wants to read at breakfast. Through a similar arrangement by cable the same babble that brings him conventional TV fare he will send and receive mail and telegrams, read his utility bills, order his groceries and do his banking. Cable television also known as community antenna television (CATV)- has been operative in numerous communities for years. It differs outwardly from conventional telecasting only in that signals are transmitted via coaxial cable rather than through the air.

The difference is an important one. Whereas over-the-air television can provide only seven signals at most from channels 2 through 13, CATV can provide up to 80 different signals via cable. To put it another way, as many as nine CATV signals can be transmitted in that part of the electromagnetic spectrum between channels 6 and 7.

Modern cable television systems are simply more sophisticated versions of the country's first CATV operation, established in 1950 at Langford, PA.

The National Cable Television Association reports that the average installation fee is $20.54 and the average monthly service fee is $5.01. The association estimates that around 2,400 CATV systems are now in operation, and that they serve approximately 4.5 million television sets- about 5 per cent of the nations total.

Looking to the future, William B. Gross of General Electric Co. told the National Cable Television Association convention last June that CATV might eventually enter into a multi- billion-dollar business of transmitting mail. Other speakers envisioned cable-TV techniques to provide meter reading, merchandising, shopping, property-protection services and stock market information. Only a few services like those are now available on cable television.

25 years ago

For the week ending

Sept. 26, 1995

Even for young folks, change doesn't always come easy. Still, a handful of students interviewed on Day 9 of Bend High School's new block schedule last week thought some good may come of the change. "Everybody is to class on time," said Addie Rehberg, a 17-year-old senior at the school.

That's partly because with four 90-minute periods through the day, there are 15 minutes between classes. Enough time, in fact, that "everybody is there five minutes early," said Mike Wyant, 17, a senior.

Rehberg added another benefit of the slower pace between classes: "You don't get pushed around and yelled at."

"It's not as much of a rush anymore," said Justin Ward, an 18-year old senior. Lunch hour is even better at twice as long as last year with 20 minutes of tutorial time and another 40 minutes to eat. That's up to an hour for the open-campus days when students can run out to a fast-food joint, eat in a leisurely manner, come back to campus and still have time to talk with friends before trekking back to the classroom.

The mellowed pace of four periods per day instead of seven or more may be nice, but that doesn't mean students are all immediately welcoming the change with open arms.

"At first, a lot of people were angry for one thing, we were not asked or even consulted," said 17-year-old senior Cadi Pfaff. "But I think as we're getting into the swing of things...I think people will get used to it."

Sixteen-year-old junior Sarah LaChapelle said teachers have been "really understanding" as both they and students adjust.

One thing students believe they're having to get used to is more work. "I think, like in history, you're doing double the reading you have to do on your own," said LaChapelle.

"I think teachers are trying to prepare us for college," said Ryan Fracker, 15, a sophomore.

Two of the four class periods offer subjects on alternate days, so students get a "good break between classes" said Ward.

It also puts a greater premium on attendance. "I was gone the first half hour of a class last week and I was lost," said Rehberg.

View post:

Yesteryear: Cable television on its way in 1970 | lifestyle - Bend Bulletin