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How A Woman Stopped Spread Of Telephones Near Her Home By Using Just A Garden Hose And Her Kids
Progress in society is not always swift. It can often be painful and laborious, meeting with strong resistance of such force that it can be surprising. Consider the case of one Pittsburgh woman, who was so opposed to telephone wires and poles being installed on her property that she stopped the project in its tracks by turning a hose on the workers and filling each of the pre-dug holes with her children.
According to the June 16, 1905 issue of the Chicago Tribune, the Central District and Printing Telegraph company met an unexpectedly strong foe when they attempted to install telephone poles and lines in the vicinity of the home of Mrs. Patrick J. Donohoe at Hermitage Street and Murtland Avenue in Pittsburgh. Unhappy with the prospect of her house being surrounded by this communication equipment and also placed on her lawn, she vigorously protested their installation to no avail. However, she and her seven children weren’t about to give up.
On June 15th, when workers showed up to do the work, they began preparing the holes in which to set the large wooden poles. To their surprise, they found that Mrs. Donohoe, who appears to have been a single mother, stationed one of her children in each of the six trenches as soon as they completed the digging. The…
