WOODBURY COUNTY

The Sioux City Journal, Saturday, July 9, 1921 (Photos included)

 

MEDALS AWARDED TELEPHONE MAN and WOMEN FOR HEROIC SERVICE DURING FLOOD.

Two telephone women and one telephone man in the vicinity of Sioux City have been awarded medals for acts of exceptional service or heroism during the year 1920.  They are Mrs. Millie Lothrop, chief operator at Homer, Neb.; Frank Forrest, manager at Dakota City, Neb.; and Mrs. Nora Newman, night operator at Merrill, Ia.

The medals are provided under a plan of the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company for recognizing exceptional service of any telephone man or woman in its territory.  Awards were made by a committee of sixteen employees who met in Omaha in March.  The plan is financed by the Theodore N. Vail Memorial fund, which was established following the death of Mr. Vail, who was President the American Telephone and Telegraph Company.

Out of several cases considered four awards were made.  The other employee whose heroism was thus recognized is Miss Julia Dickinson, a chief operator at Minneapolis.

Mrs. Lothrop’s act, which won a medal, was on the night of May 31, 1920, when she stayed at the switchboard without thought of her personal safety, calling the people and telling them that a cloudburst had flooded Omaha creek and that their lives and homes were in danger.  The flood, which did widespread damage in the vicinity of Homer, still is remembered vividly by the people in that part of the state as the worst catastrophe that ever struck that little town.

On the same night Mr. Forrest, hearing of the flood while at his home in Dakota City, risked his life in getting through the raging waters to Homer, where he established communication with the outside world and brought relief to the devastated village.

Mrs. Newman, of Merrill, Iowa, won a medal because of her action late in the night of November 15, 1920, when she volunteered, purely in the spirit of service, to convey the message that a bridge on the Chicago and Northwestern railway near her town had been burned.  Leaving the switchboard in care of an assistant, she went alone at night down through the town to the railroad and warned the crew of a freight train not to cross the bridge until the report had been investigated.  It was learned later that the report was without renunciation.

“Because I stayed at the switchboard during that terrible time does not signify that I was not scared, for I surely was,” says Mrs. Lothrop.

Mr. Forrest has received statements from fifty-seven different Homer people who declared that they were saved from drowning the heroism of Mrs. Lothrop.  Besides this, she saved hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property and live stock that would have been swept down the valley had she not remained at her post of duty.

Mr. Forrest started his telephone career at Ida Grove, Ia., in 1899.  He served in Sioux City as toll lineman until 1904, when he was transferred to the Black Hills territory.

Mrs. Newman started as a telephone operator on March 1, 1915.  She became chief operator at Merrill on July 1, 1916.

This is the first annual award of the medals to be made.  A noted sculptor in New York designed the medals, which are now being manufactured.  They will be presented, it is believed, some time this fall.  They will be accompanied by a citation, setting forth the performance of the employee who is thus recognized.

The medals are of bronze and on the obverse is a face of Theodore N. Vail. On the reverse side is a picturization of three striking figures.  A woman representing “Service,” holds in her hands the wires over which speeds a winged message, a youth upholds her arm, symbolizing, “Loyalty for Service,” and another youth stands in an attitude of “devotion.”  Around the rim are the words, “The Vail Medal for Noteworthy Public Service.”

Each year here after acts of exceptional service on the part of telephone men and women throughout the United States will be recognized in this manner.

The Sioux City Journal, Saturday, December 17, 1921

HONOR HEROES ON SUNDAY.

MEDALS WILL BE PRESENTED AT HOMER, NEB.

NEBRASKA GOVERNOR TO TALK.

Mrs. Mildred Lothrop, Telephone Operator, to Receive Gold Medal and $1,000 Award, and Frank Forrest, Lineman, Silver Medal. 

The heroic service which Frank Forrest and Mrs. Mildred Lothrop performed a year ago last spring at Homer, Neb., in warning residents of that vicinity of an impending flood from Omaha creek, will be revived in a special program Sunday afternoon in the Farmers Exchange Hall at Homer.

The feature of the ceremonies will be the presentation of medals to Mr. Forrest and Mrs. Lothrop.  Mr. Forrest will receive the Theodore N. Vail silver medal and Mrs. Lothrop will be presented with a gold medal.  The former will receive $250 in cash and the latter $1,000. 

The presentation will be made in behalf of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company by W. B. T. Belt, president of the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, and personal representative of H. B. Thayer, President of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, of New York. 

Kept Wires Working.

Mr. Forrest and Mrs. Lothrop were employees of the Bell Telephone Company, May 31, 1920, when Homer became endangered by a flood from Omaha creek.  Mrs. Lothrop, who was the telephone operator at Homer, remained at her post until she warned all telephone subscribers in that vicinity of the flood, thus enabling them to prepare for it.  Mr. Forrest, who was a lineman, hastened from Dakota City to Homer and kept the telephone wires working until Mrs. Lothrop completed her task.

Another feature of the ceremonies Sunday will be an address by Gov. Samuel R. McKelvie, of Nebraska, on the subject, “Nebraska’s Heroic Citizenship.”  Other speeches also are announced.

The program will be open at 1:30 o’clock with music by the Brown family orchestra and the invocation pronounced by Rev. O. L. Lowe, pastor of the English Lutheran Church.  Mayor Thomas Ashford will give the address of welcome, and the Homer male quartet, consisting of Frank M. Church, Fred E. Brassfield, Dr. S.J. Daily and Judge S.W. McKinley, will sing.

Reception After Ceremony.

H.G. Taylor, chairman of the Nebraska State railway commission, will give the first address on “The Human Element in Public Utility Service.”

Gov. McKelvie will follow with his address.  Mrs. I.J. Davis will sing a solo. Guy H. Pratt, vice president of the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, will give an address on “The Significance of the Theodore N. Vail Memorial Fund and Awards,” after which the presentation of money and medals will take place.

The program will close with the singing of “America” by the audience, after which an informal reception will be held.

Thirty telephone officials will arrive in Sioux City Sunday morning from Omaha in a special car.  They will motor to Homer for the ceremonies.

A game dinner will be given by James Rae, of Sioux City, to visiting officials, at the Martin Hotel, at 6 o’clock Sunday evening.