Edmund Bringer Memoir - Brookens Library

Edmund A. Bringer 10
that was thirteen days, rn ent together thirteen days and WE =re mrried
on the thirteenth--fourteenth day. And then-kt I kept on wrking for
the telephone corrrpany and she kept on aut there. I didn't dare show my
face out there the next tmming, they muldn't--they =re going to kick
IIE out of the place the next mrning so I crawled in and out of the
window out at kader Iron krks because the old mn that she mrked for
was so mad at mi!.
Q: What was he mad at you for?
A: ell. . . . I don't bow, he just had a bull in his neck and he was
mad at n~ because I mrried her I guess. But everybody-they just got to
kidding me and everything, just kidding the hell out of me after that
see. But he ms an Irish and he ws kind of hot-headed. Ik ms going
to tell me off. But, then, I mrked on switchboards and, oh everything.
And then I finally got the teletypewriter equipnt departmnt. I vent
to schools on those and mchines, t h
I went to maintaining them. I was
in that for quite a while, installing and repairing teletypewriters and
I 'd go from here over to (hampaign or over to Darnrille. The Shell Oil
Co. at that tb had teletypewriters in all their lnanping stations and I
maintained those and everyplace else; radio stations and businesses
domtom. A lot of than had teletypewriters. And I maintained those and
installed them, mr2ced on special equipnt, PBXs . . .
Q: ht's a PBX?
A: That's a private branch ahange. kse =re switchboards that they
used to have in hotels and big tusitwsses that had to have an operator to
run them. And then they kept those for quite a while and they finally
made-started to putting in autamatic equi~t, you know *re werybdy
did their awn dialing and didn't need an operator, jut had one girl
answz the incaning telephones and I put those in too, special lines like
that. I 've had--and then during brld War 11 I worked on special equipnent.
Q: Uke what?
A: &11 it ws--it ws actually cryptograph equipment was &at I worked
on and special mmitoring equiprent and things like that that were secret
equipnent, see. They were government's equiptent and they ere classified.
Q: LLke phone taps?
A: k11. . . . not phone taps exactly kt it was classified KO&. And
the cryptographs =re coding machines see and I'd mrked on those. I
wnt to Chicago and wnt to sch.001 on a special and after the war why,
that ms Over with. And then I got into teaching, they wanted me to go
into teaching. b11, all the tine--I'd started out teaching first aid
when I ms mrking for the plant departnmt in the repair deparmnt
repairing special equipnt I also taught first aid. They sent= to
Chicago for a mnth and I became an Anmican Red Cross first aid teacher.
I had to go to school a mnth. And I taught everybody in this town that
mrked for the telephone company first aid, and I had to teach all of
than. And I taught a few classes other places also. And then during
bbrld Mx I1 why, I mt onto this other e quipt and everything and
Edmund Bringer Memoir - Archives/Special Collections - Norris L Brookens Library - University of Illinois at Springfield - UIS