America's Day, Ignatius Phayre, 1919, page 79:
But the telephone service is seen at its best in country districts, far from any railway--perhaps in a region where no roads exist, and the trails are impassable through bad weather and furious storms. Here the farmer is "neighbourized" by the friendly wire. These rural lines have a regular news service supplied by a general call after supper at night. Widely-scattered subscribers gather round in their own homes, whilst the far-off Central first of all gives out the correct time--a greater boon to these lonely folk than the city dweller might imagine. Next comes a condensed report of the day's home and foreign news; then the current quotations for wheat and cotton and corn, oats and eggs, butter and all sorts of live stock, from the Jersey cow to the laying hen. Country teachers give lessons over the 'phone to pupils who are blizzard-bound in their own homes for days together. The deaf have telephones in their church pews; even the marriage ceremony has been conducted over sympathetic wires, with a lady reporter as bridesmaid and the press photographer as best man.