The year was 1968. I was working the 4 to 12 at the NY #2 office of AT&T, which
was located at 32 Avenue of the Americas, just south of Canal St. near NY's
China Town. It was just about 11:30 PM when I received a system alarm on a NY to
Kingston NY "ON" Carrier Ssytem.
Believe me, they don't make those anymore.
Anyway, the clanger alarm got my attention, so I began investigating its source.
To make a long story short, the system was knocked down on purposes by a NY
Telephone transmissionman who was stuck atop a pole is sub-freezing weather,
with a large, persistent bear at its base. He'd been there for about an hour,
he said, and wouldn't leave. So I alerted the local town constable who came to
the rescue ...
... at 'round 2AM.
The bear stayed there for the entire time, and the guy on the pole was near
frost-bitten when all was said and done. Anyway, I got a couple hours of overtime
out of the deal, if memory serves me right.