The Herald-Palladium from Benton Harbor, Michigan • 7

AnriM? 1 QQ 1 This HoraMPaltarlii im Ronlnn Uariw.Qi Inmnh TTA It's the trying to abolish them for two de ww.ere chatting on their party lines By JANET CAPPIELLO Associated Press Writer while a third listened in. "One-said, 'I wonder when the mailman is coming?" And the one who "was- listening-in answered, 'Soon, because, he just went by Parry lines were once standard telephone fare because there wasn't enough equipment to provide private lines, Mitchell said. Some party lines accommodated up to 10 customers, usually all in one neighborhood. Woodbury Telephone has provided telephone service in the towns of Woodbury, Southbury and Bethlehem and parts of Roxbury and Oxford since 1899. SNET serves the rest of the state, except for a small corner served by New York Telephone.

Woodbury Telephone is being allowed to eliminate the service now because of a $1.8 million equipment upgrade, Mitchell said. Eliminating party lines also became imperative because of computerized 911-emer-gency response systems. When a caller dials 911, the caller's address appears on a computer screen at the dispatch center. With party lines, there's a risk that the address could be that of the other customer, Mitchell said. Freida Gauthier, '78, who has had a party line "ever since I had the phone over 40 years," says she's willing to pay a little extra for the sense of security she will get having the emergency 911 service.

"I live alone," she said. in f. AP Lasarphoto PRIVATE NOW: Robert Keating, a 61 -year-old architect in Woodbury. is one of 100 telephone customers who will have private lines now ihat the Woodbury Telephone Cqh is giving up the last of 1 its party lines. She too-has kept the party- line- phonerShe JalkrTonddf the days what was going on.

That was fun," because the service is less expen- when people got much of their she said. She quickly added that sive, and she rarely uses her tele- news through party lines. she had never eavesdropped her- "Other people would listen in to Americans dream of luxuries WOODBURY, Conn In the bucolic towns of western Connecti cut, wnere larmnouses and antiques shops dot the rolling hills, "about inn nfnrlf Tire hanointt Antn I 1 UlAJlUi WUW a piece of the past: the telephone party line. But as the Woodbury Telephone Co. starts to upgrade its equipment this spring, the holdouts will all be switched to private lines, forced into the age of computerized telecommunications.

Woodbury Telephone, itself a relic from the days of small, independent phone companies, has received permission from state regulators to replace the last of its two- and four-party lines with private lines. Southern New England Telephone which serves 1J million customers to Woodbury's 16,000 customers, eliminated its last party line in January. Around the nation, the number of party lines has been steadily decreasing but one study in 1987 by the United States Telephone Association said there were still 2.8 million people on party lines. In 1985, there were 4.6 million party lines, it said. Although the party line is going the way of hand-cranked telephones, J.

Garry Mitchell, Woodbury Telephone's president, sees no reason to mourn. He calls party lines old-fashioned, and has -been 7 I turn 1 1 1 mmiwy-- n- i I -i i r. ,5 11 11 TBi.ii i. i. mil, would be to open a can of white al- bacore tuna packed, in water and share it with no one.

It never oc- curred to her that she could buy her own tuna fleet The problem is that most 'of us ERMA BOMBECK -m i -iyfftmuw .1 A I rarely miss a story about a lottery winner. You learn a lot about people by reading what they have to say. Take the man in Ohio who won $50 million, the biggest lottery jackpot in the state's history. When asked what" he was going to do with all that money, he was quoted as saying, "I've always wanted one of them eight-slice toasters." Is that the American dream or what? Of all the luxuries that torment people but elude them, a toaster doesnt seem to be one of. them.

But what do I know? Maybe there are dreamers who lie in a hammock, stare at the sky, and plan for the day when they can make toast for an entire Marine base. The irony is that most lottery winners lust after some small thing that has probably been in their grasp all along, and they didn't realize it So they wish for something they've been putting off a new sofa for Mama, a trip to the Smokies with the kids, or, as the man from Ohio added, "fill in the dents in my Pinto." "Party lines (are) nothing to be proud of," Mitchell said. Party lines were popular from 1910 until the early 1960s, he said, Customers share a phone wire but have separate telephonejiumbers. Even the people with party lines, mostly older customers, say they've put up with the occasional inconvenience of finding someone else already on the line more for economy than out of a sense of nostalgia. In 1961, Woodbury Telephone charged $6 a month for a two-party line, $4.95 for a four-parry line, and $7.25 for a private line.

Today, those costs haven't risen more than 50 cents per month. Robert Keating, a 61-year-old Woodbury architect who grew up with a party One, says he has one now because it's the cheapest way to have separate telephone num- bers for his home and the business he operates out of his house. Still, having parry lines is "sort of nice, in a way," he said. "It sort of keeps the town rural, if you want to "call it that" Telephone lore has it that party lines were a great source of gossip for busybodies bold enough to eavesdrop on their neighbor's conversations. Norma Bennett, 72, a retired Woodbury operator, remembers the story about two women who dispenses diapers, moistened wipes and (mercifully) a plastic bag to dispose of the old one.

"They get all of this for 50 cents," Nicklin says. The mall, located in this upper-crust suburb of Washington, D.C., is being renovated In the someone got the idea of sparing, parents the occasional awkward moment of a dad taking a little daughter into the men's room or a little boy going in there alone while his mom waits in the hallway biting her nails. "Look at that Isnt that cue?" said Norma Goodman of Rockville, who was taking her 5-year-old granddaughter, Alyssa, into the kiddie potty. "I it's marvelous," said Mrs. Goodman, who at first was shocked to ee a reporter and a handful of mall executives standing aroundiiithe bathroom as she -came through the door.

Some' people were suspicious of people who hang around in res-trooms. "What do you want to know?" said Tracy Barrett of Rockville, swung open the door to a room full of grinning adults. The adults asked how she. and her children, 8-year-old John, and 5-year-old Kelly, liked the restroom. fine.

She, in fact had worried about sending her son alone into the men's room. "I'm not ready to let him go wiuiuui you guys are walking in with suits, trial nne, out 1 aon 1 Know wnere he's Nicklin says May Centers, which i "-f i It nus in restaurants from right tj left, look at the price tag before we even check the size, and have been conditioned to discern real needs from what we can live without I always tell my husband if I won the lottery, I'd buy us an extra door key. We have only two and are forever losing one, burying it under a rock for someone, mailing it, or leaving it with a neighbor. I know of one couple who have a drawer full of them, but they're rich. My husband's ultimate fantasy is a pair of salt and pepper shakers for the kitchen table so he wouldn't have to get up at every meal and walk to the stove.

Hey, as long as you're dreaming, you might as well reach for the stars. UNIVERSAL. PRESS SYNDICATE school In part, this reflects a recent trend in which enrollment at U.S. graduate schools has risen about 2 percent annually for the past several years, Syverson said. But it's also a result of the troubled economy, he said.

"If you're worried, you might say, 'Gee, how do I differentiate myself; from other folks? Maybe I should get a graduate degree, so I would, be less likely be laid off in a bad, economy and maybe be quicker to get a new job, he said (Si MGDRE I 4 owns the mall, has been pleased with the response to the family bathroom and is looking at the idea of doing it in some of the other malls the company has elsewhere in the country. "I think a lot of people view it as a pleasurable experience," he says. Shoe i I Jobless going back to We all do it. I've been part of a two-income family for a lot of and I have a cookie sheet that looks like a drip pan under a 1947 tractor. I could probably pick one up for $3.99, but instead I open a window to get rid of the smoke every time I slide a few frozen biscuits in the oven." How many people sit around wearing reading glasses held together with paper clips, promising themselves they'll get a small screw for it when they win the lottery? I heard a talk-show hostess admit one day-that her idea of luxury terested in higher education.

But usually when the economy is sluggish and people cannot get jobs, education is a sort of haven," said Sari Halasz, assistant dean of grad-, uate admissions at the University of California at Los Angeles, which has seen about a 10 percent increase in applications this year. Peter Syverson, spokesman for the Council of Graduate Schools, a national association of graduate school deans, said many schools have similar increases. HANCOCK FINE A AP Lasrptioto KIDDIE ROOM: Tara Kocher helps her daughter, Britti, 3, in the child's toilet in the family restroom at Montgomery. Mall, Bethseda, Md. At left, is an adult's stall.

The restroom is a success with the families who use the mall. Men, Women, Family Mall shoppers love new restroom facility Leather Chair Sale Sensational Values Sale Ends April 14th By JONATHAN YEN KIN Associated Press Writer BOSTON Kate Rubin dreams of being a graphic designer. But with jobs hard to End and competition fierce, she is among a growing number of people taking refuge from the recession by returning to college. "There's not as much opportunity out there," said Rubin, 30. vIt's not as easy to get work as it once was.

It's a better time to go back to school." Graduate schools around the country report a surge in, appuV cants, a trend that many school officials attribute to tough economic times. "We hope to think people are in Salon Underfoot of Handbags OFF Cypress Marco Avane' And More Weekdays Thursdays Saturdays 9-0-50 Spring Handbag Sale Ely RICHARD VERNACI Associated Press Writer BETHESDA, Md. The Mont- gomery. Mall looks like any other in America. Department stores.

Victoria's Secret. Cute little gadget shops. A music store where the guy plays "On A Clear Day" on the organ. But back behind the food court, here known as the Boulevard Cafes, at the end of a freshly tiled corridor is something they're proud of. Customers gush with enthusiasm over it A couple have even written letters to the editors of the local papers to praise it It's the toilet Down the hall from the doorways marked "Men" and "Women" there's a third choice: "Family Restroom." Not since Thomas Crapper put one in Queen Vkria'sandring-.

ham Castle (Victoria's ther secret), has porcelain and plumbing attracted such "This type of comprehensive facility hasn't been done anywhere in the country," explains Steven Nicklin, assistant general manager for marketing at the malL "We've actually done some pretty good research on that Inside is a softly lit three-room culfo" nrith nirmUn cheerv framed illustrations from children's stories and a park-style wooden bench for the weary to sit and pass the time. In one room is an itty bitty toilet with a little sink and mirror. Every thing is close to the floor. The room next door nas grownup-size stuff. Both have big doors that lock In the'anteroom, where the bench is, there is also a changing -table, a sink and a machine that Ssy.

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