Proto-Blower (C)
CAMPBELL TOWN, TAS – Alfred Barrett Biggs’ made the first long-distance telephone call Australia. In 1876, having cribbed Bell’s design from the English Mechanic magazine, Biggs rigged his wooden receiver onto the railway’s telegraph line.
He next rubbed a pencil over the receiver. ‘Did you hear that?’ he asked the stationmaster far off in Launceston, about 70 kilometres away. The reply was unforgettable: ‘Like a locomotive moving on a bridge!’
[Both receivers stored in Heritage Highway Museum, 9-4.30 Mon-Fri, 9.30-3 Sat. Gold coin donation. 03-6381-1353]