To Harry C. Scott, of the Southern California Telephone Co. [Letter 140]

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10000 Tampa Avenue
Chatsworth, California

September 4, 1944

Mr. Harry C. Scott
Southern California Telephone Company
5955 Van Nuys Boulevard
Van Nuys, California

Dear Mr. Scott:

This is to explain my urgent need of telephone service.

I am a writer employed by Hal Wallis Productions, Inc. at the Paramount Studios, 5451 Marathon Street, Hollywood, California. Writers are expected to report at the studio every day, and my employer can demand that I do so. However, in view of the great distance and the gas shortage, he has permitted me to work at my home, provided he can reach me by telephone for any instructions he has to give me or for notice to come to the studio within an hour, when my presence is required.

The Paramount Studios are located twenty-one miles from my home. Under present regulations, I can not obtain sufficient gas to drive forty-two miles a day, six days a week, if my employer demands that I work at the studio, which he would have to do if I have no telephone in my home and he has no means of reaching me when he needs me. To make the situation worse, I am not able to drive a car—so my husband would have to drive me to the studio and call for me each day, which would mean eighty-four miles (four trips of 21 miles each) to drive every day—an impossible undertaking for which no gas could be obtained.

My husband is engaged in farming on our property. We have 13½  acres—10 acres in alfalfa, the rest occupied by the house, an orchard and livestock (chickens and rabbits). My husband has recently undergone an operation and is still under a doctor’s care. (Dr. S. A. Thompson, 6715 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, California.) Should anything happen to my husband so that immediate medical help is required, I would have no way to call for help, since I cannot drive a car. The nearest house of neighbors is about 1,000 feet away. These neighbors occupy their house only on week-ends, so that I could not count on the use of their telephone in an emergency.

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Our house being isolated, we would have no way, without a telephone, to call for the police in case of personal danger—and we are not within hearing distance of neighbors, should we attempt to call for help.

In view of this situation, I hope you will find it possible to give me the telephone service which I do need desperately.

Sincerely yours,

(Mrs. Frank O’Connor —
Ayn Rand)

A phone line was not extended to the O’Connor’s ranch until February 1947.