TELECOM Digest     Wed, 1 Jun 94 15:35:00 CDT    Volume 14 : Issue 264

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Geographical Boundaries of COE's Reference Needed (semnet@gate.net)
    CALTEL Membership Questions (Russell Bunge)
    Box to Add Digits When Dialing (Marco A. Pinones)
    British Call Forwarding in 1960s (Randy Gellens)
    Re: Itemized Billing in UK (Richard Barry)
    Re: Itemized Billing in UK (Carl Moore)
    Recommendation For AlphaNumeric Paging Software (David Dodell)
    Re: Frame Relay SVC Specs Wanted (Dick Rawson)
    Re: How Smart is Call-Forwarding? (John Lundgren)
    Re: Performance of L.A. Cellular System (Steven H. Lichter)
    Re: Performance of L.A. Cellular System (John Nagle)
    Correction: Re: VIVE Caller ID Device Problems (Evan Gamblin)
    Re: SMS Messages on ORANGE (Sam Spens Clason)
    Re: Nice Job, if You Can Get it! (Rich Greenberg)
    Re: RBOCS & Video Remote learning in Schools? (Michael Chui)
    Re: Lower Domestic Telephone Rates (Chris Barr)
    Re: Leased Line Internet Access (Joseph J. Gerber)
    Re: Help: Bad Phone Lines in San Jose (Rob Levandowski)
    Re: No 911 Available as Tot Drowns (Ry Jones)
    Re: What's a 1A3B? (Alan Leon Varney)
    Re: What Did You Have For Dinner Today? (Dave Thompson)

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: semnet@inca.gate.net (Seminar Network)
Subject: Geographical Boundaries of COE's Reference Needed
Date: 1 Jun 1994 11:29:07 -0400


Is there a book or set of maps that contain the Central Office Exchanges 
corresponding with geographical boundaries?  For example, if I would
like to know what physical boundary belongs to 617-753-0000, where 753
is the COE, is there a resource for that type of information.  That
is, I'm looking to know where all the subscribers who are in the 753
exchange are located.

An analogy to this is the zip code maps where a certain zip code has a
defined physical boundary.  The bounday may overlap a couple of cities
however.

Just to re-iterate, a MAP is what I'm looking for, not a criss-cross
directory that has street names or anything like that.  Perhaps
Bellcore has a set of publications for each LATA or NPA, I don't know.


Thank you,

semnet@gate.net


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suggest you begin by speaking with Carl
Moore (cmoore@brl.mil). He maintains those things in great detail.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: rbunge@callamer.com (Russell Bunge)
Subject: CALTEL Membership Questions
Organization: SLONET Community Access System
Date: Wed, 01 Jun 1994 18:00:16 GMT


I'm looking for membership information on an association called
CALTEL.  I understand that CALTEL is an organization of Independent
Long Distance providers in California, but I can't seem to find out
where they are headquartered nor which companies belong.  I've checked
the Encyclopedia of Associations, no luck.  I'd appreciate any
information on this organization readers of this newsgroup can
provide.  


Thanks,

Russell Bunge  rbunge@slonet.org

------------------------------

From: mpinones@netmon.mty.itesm.mx (Marco A. Pinones I.)
Subject: Box to Add Digits When Dialing
Date: 1 Jun 1994 18:14:16 GMT
Organization: ITESM, Campus Monterrey


I am looking for a box that could detect when digits are being dialed
and add some digits at the very beginning. This is because we have a
Vsats arrangement and the NEC equipment can only identify the links
with two to four digits. To be compatible with our actual numbering,
we need the vsat stations to be able to dial between them and to the
rest of the net (with four digit extensions).  The equipment at the vsat
nodes is a Panasonic 1232. There is a link group on the NEC box that
handles 16 channels to the voice net, asigned to a number that my vsat
stations need to dial. 

I want this to be transparent to the user at each end, so I am
thinking about a box that could read the digits when being dialed from
vsat stations and can add the digits for the NEC equipment to select
the 16 channels and the pass the other digits.  Does such equipment
exist?  

Greetings and thanks for any help.

------------------------------

From: RANDY@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM
Date: 01 JUN 94 00:55:00 GMT   
Subject: British Call Forwarding in 1960s


On an episode of _The_Avengers_ shown the other day (this British
series from, I think, the 1960s is probably always in re-runs
somewhere -- I see it on the A&E Network), the central character is
about to go on holiday.

He puts his luggage down, and runs through a checklist (plants,
lights, windows, etc.)  On reaching 'phone,' he pick up his phone
(black, rotary desk set of course) and dials three digits.  He says
"Operator?  This is WHitehall xxxx.  My name is John Steed.  I will be
away for the next three weeks.  Please forward my calls to the usual
number."  (He might have used 'direct' or a similar word instead of
'forward.')

What sort of call-forwarding was offered by British Telecom in the 1960s?


Randall Gellens       randy@mv-oc.unisys.com
(714) 380-6350        fax (714) 380-5912
Mail Stop MV 237      Net**2 656-6350


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think they had the same kind of 'call
forwarding' that we had here in the USA in the 1930's:  (pick up the
receiver and wait for operator) ... "Beulah?  This is Mr. Smith. I am
going down to my office for a few hours so if any calls come in put
them on that line instead" ... And how did Caller-ID work here in the
USA back in the same era?  (pick up the receiver and wait for operator) ...
"Gertrude, is that you? Hi Gert ... listen the phone was ringing when I
was coming in the door with my three bags of groceries (unspoken: which
I got from Safeway for five dollars) ... who was calling me? Would you
get them back on the line please?"   PAT]

------------------------------

From: Richard Barry <rbarry@iol.ie>
Subject: Re: Itemized Billing in UK
Date: 01 Jun 1994 09:42:20 +0100
Organization: Ireland On-Line


In article telecom14.250.3@eecs.nwu.edu, John Slater (johns@scroff.
uk) wrote:


> First of all, East End and West End are areas of London, so it's a
> local call.  (I believe Greater London is the largest geographic
> calling area in the world).
               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
While Greater London might have the largest population of any local
calling area, it is not geographically the largest.  The longest
distance local call in London would be about 50km.  In many parts of
Ireland you can call up to 100kms away at the local call rate.  And at
weekends the entire country is a 1p/min "local call" area (including
calls *from* IRL to Northern Ireland.  Using the weekend tariff you
can call points up to 400kms distant between 0h SAT - 24h SUN for the
equivalent of 1.4 US c/min.  One suspects that there are even larger
local calling areas in Australia, Greenland, etc?


Richard Barry     rbarry@iol.ie

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 01 Jun 94 12:07:45 EDT
From: Carl Moore <cmoore@ARL.MIL>
Subject:  Re: Itemized Billing in UK


So in summary:

In the UK, over a certain cost gets itemized (and this can include a
very long local call on measured service).

In the U.S., all calls beyond my local calling area are itemized.  In
my case, I opted for no local-call allowance, so any local calls I
make are lumped into local-message-unit charge item on my phone bill.

------------------------------

Subject: Recommendation For AlphaNumeric Paging Software
From: david@stat.com (David Dodell)
Reply-To: david@stat.com (David Dodell)
Date: Wed, 01 Jun 94 06:38:47 MST
Organization: Stat Gateway Service, WB7TPY


I'm always seeing inquiries about alpha numeric paging software for
PC's and would like to recommend a company that I have no connection
with.  The software is called PopPage and sells for $19.95

The software is DOS based, will run under Window.  It handles IXO/TAP,
and will load high as a TSR if desired.

Statistical Control Systems can be reached at 1-813-954-8816 voice,
1-813-954-8624 fax.

They also make something called Interceptor - Digital Paging System
Analyzer but I do not know anything about this product.  I'm just a
happy user of PopPage.


David Dodell    Editor, HICNet Medical Newsletter
Internet: david@stat.com  FAX: +1 (602) 451-1165
Bitnet: ATW1H@ASUACAD

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 31 May 94 15:22:31 PDT
From: drawson@Tymnet.COM (Dick Rawson)
Subject: Re: Frame Relay SVC Specs Wanted


Recently?  You want ANSI T1.617-1991, with the Supplement
T1.617a-1993.  Maybe it was the supplement that was "recent".


Dick

------------------------------

From: jlundgre@ohlone.kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren)
Subject: Re: How Smart is Call-Forwarding?
Date: 31 May 94 18:18:54 GMT
Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network


Maybe something in the carrier plant is causing the trouble. Something 
like a ADPCM or whatever circuit that doesn't recognize the modem and
tries to compress what it thinks is voice.


jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com \ jlundgr@eis.calstate.edu 

------------------------------

From: co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter)
Subject: Re: Performance of L.A. Cellular System
Date: 01 Jun 1994 13:22:23 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)


Right after the earthquake I was able to reach my father on his
cellular phone which is on LA Cellular. I have PacBell (Air Touch) and
used it to call him since all wire lines were blocked. Since his is A
and mine was B it seemed to work fine. Also arn't most cellular phones
switchable, I know mine witll go A or B or both.


Sysop: Apple Elite II -=- an Ogg-Net Hub BBS 
(909) 359-5338 12/24/96/14.4 V32/V42bis 

------------------------------

From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle)
Subject: Re: Performance of L.A. Cellular System
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Wed, 01 Jun 1994 16:41:47 GMT


Reon_Can@mindlink.bc.ca (Dan Matte) writes:

> I am working on a proposal for an email system that will operate
> exclusively over cellular in case of disaster resulting in land line
> failure.  Essentially, remote offices will dial-up over cellular to
> the central office and retrieve messages in case of emergency.  The
> system will operate independently of land lines.

      Er, cell sites are typically linked by land line to a central
site that controls the system.  Only the last hop to the mobile phone
is radio.  If you lose the link to the central site, even two phones
in the same cell can't talk.  It's not a distributed system at all.


John Nagle

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 01 Jun 1994 06:29:59 -0400
From: egamblin@ott.hookup.net (Evan Gamblin)
Subject: Correction Re: VIVE Caller ID Device Problems


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Carl Moore wrote to inquire about an
error in a previous posting, and Evan Gamblin responded.   PAT]

> I notice there are inconsistencies in the spelling of the
> following Carl's last name, and there is also an inconsistency
> in the fax number.

> Carl K.S. Too
> President
> VIVE Synergies Inc. 30 West Beaver Creek Rd, Unit 2, Richmond Hill, Ont
> L4B 3K1. Tel 905 882-8107, ext 11. Fax: 905 882-8238

> Carl K.S. Teo
> President,VIVE Synergies Inc., 30 West Beaver Creek Road, Unit 2,
> Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 3K1.
> Tel:  905-882-6107 Ext.11,  Fax: 905-882-6238

Thanks for pointing those out, Carl.

I don't know what type of fax VIVE uses, but it compresses characters
vertically.  Makes it tricky to decide whether a letter is a, o, or e,
and whether nos.  are 0, 6, or 8.


Cheers,

Evan Gamblin   The Halifax Group
903-275 Sparks St   Ottawa, Ont K1R 7X9 Canada

------------------------------

From: d92-sam@nada.kth.se (Sam Spens Clason)
Subject: Re: SMS Messages on ORANGE
Date: 01 Jun 1994 13:48:44 GMT
Organization: Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden


In article <telecom14.257.12@eecs.nwu.edu>, richard@mandarin.com writes:

> d92-sam@nada.kth.se (Sam Spens Clason) wrote:

Richard:
>> It will become possible to send text messages from the handset (or
>> computer) to any other GSM/PCN system, to any of the old analogue
>> paging networks, or as an X400 message or a facsimile document.

Me:
>> I am pretty sure that what you are talking about is
>> ordinary datatransfer that occupies a 9600 bit voice
>> channel.  Actually the rate of transfer is sligtly
>> higher but I've never heard of a 11.4kbit modem

Oops, since no one else has either corrected nor flamed me I guess
I'll have to do it myself :-)

It should say 13kbit (22.8 including overhead), I was sligtly ahead of
my time as 11.4kbit is the data-transfer in future halfrate encoding
systems.


Related question:

When can we expect halfrate encoding being in use?!


Sam Spens Clason, <A HREF="http://www.nada.kth.se/~d92-sam/">Web</A>

------------------------------

From: richgr@netcom.com (Rich Greenberg)
Subject: Re: Nice Job, if You Can Get it!
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login:
guest)
Date: Tue, 31 May 1994 23:50:21 GMT


In article <telecom14.257.11@eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Editor noted
in response to Anthony_Pelliccio@brown.edu:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But see Rich Greenberg's response earlier
> in this issue. Apparently all that is changing is they are cracking down
> on charging for visits made by technicians; if a technician is dispatched
> to your premises you will pay for it whether the tech does the work or
> you do the work.    PAT]

That is only partly correct Pat.  It would be correct if you add:

 ... you do the work if the trouble is found to be on the customer
side of the demark.


Rich Greenberg            Work: ETi Solutions, Oceanside & L.A. CA
310-348-7677
N6LRT   TinselTown, USA   Play: richgr@netcom.com                 
310-649-0238

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 31 May 1994 21:34:38 -0500
From: Michael Chui <mchui@cs.indiana.edu>
Subject: Re: RBOCS & Video Remote learning in Schools?
Organization: Computer Science, Indiana University


In article <telecom14.248.6@eecs.nwu.edu>, Gerry Moersdorf
<gerry@aiinet.com> wrote:

> Does anyone have an opinion on what the RBOCS are trying to do by
> pushing TV remote learning grants and equipment to school systems?
> The schools in our district don't even have telephones in classrooms
> let alone a LAN for a client server teaching tool.  To me the priorities 
> are all turned around.  What possible business could RBOCS build with the 
> "poor" school districts?

 Ameritech has installed their Genius Theater distance learning
system in some of the local schools here gratis, but with a commitment
only for two years.  I'm sure they wouldn't complain if the schools
found it an *indispensable* tool (even if only as a symbol of
commitment to using technology in the school), and were willing to
start paying for it when the two years is up.  Others might suggest
that some cheap local bitpipe would be a much more effective
contribution to learning.


Michael Chui   mchui@cs.indiana.edu

------------------------------

From: cbarr@world.std.com (Chris Barr)
Subject: Re: Lower Domestic Telephone Rates
Organization: Entrepreneur's Source
Date: Tue, 31 May 1994 15:36:18 GMT


> Does anyone know of a company that shops for low telephone rates for
> you?

> We use the telephones for tele-sales and heavy outgoing FAXes.  I've
> heard there are small, independent telephone consultants that can mix
> and match the best rates into a coherent package deal.  We're looking
> for something customized to us.

At least a few long distance providers read this newsgroup regularly --
why don't you post your current rates and usage and ask for responses?


Chris

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 01 Jun 1994 05:05:01 PDT
From: Joseph_J._Gerber.Henr801e@xerox.com
Subject: Re: Leased Line Internet Access


Very interesting and informative article.  Would like to obtain FAQ on
modems.  Is this available?

We have a Help Desk at Xerox and we are running into every strange and
wonderful modem man ever built.  Having an FAQ might strengthen our
training program on subject.


Thanks, 

Joe Gerber


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well you might also try subscribing to the 
Usenet newsgroup 'comp.dcom.modems'. A lot of readers there will be able
to assist you from time to time with questions and answers also.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Rob Levandowski)
Subject: Re: Help: Bad Phone Lines in San Jose
Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York
Date: Wed, 01 Jun 94 15:55:14 GMT


In <telecom14.260.3@eecs.nwu.edu> terry@hh.sbay.org (Terry Greenlee)
writes:

> The third line will only connect at 7200 bd at best and usually 4800
> bd. I tested them at the box beside the house to make sure it was not
> my inside wires. The phone company tested it from the main office and
> found no problem. Monday a Bell tech will come out to test.

I have had similar problems with phone companies out here. Often, their 
test equipment says "perfect" when that is not the case. I had a phone line 
in Geneseo, New York, that tested perfect but had audible crosstalk
from a ringer in the CO. Because of that, my modem was very unhappy.

Finally, I called the unresolved-complaints line, and spoke to a very
pleasant person there. I kindly asked if they could swap the line from
my apartment to the CO with a new pair, and she said it would be no
problem. They came and swapped the line, and everything was fine. My
modem was happy.

So, I guess that telco "perfect" isn't always modem "perfect" :)


Rob Levandowski    macwhiz@cif.rochester.edu
Computer Interest Floor associate / University of Rochester

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 01 Jun 1994 09:39:09 -0700
From: Ry Jones <rjones@usin.com>
Subject: Re: No 911 Available as Tot Drowns - comp.dcom.telecom #1701


In article <telecom14.250.12@eecs.nwu.edu>, Andrew C. Green <ACG@dlogics.
com> wrote:

> Dave.Leibold@f730.n250.z1.fidonet.org (Dave Leibold) writes:

>> {The Toronto Star} reports of a 14-month-old boy in Barrie, Ontario
>> who drowned while his mother attempted to dial 911. Unlike many
>> centres in Canada, Barrie does not have a 911 service, thus calls to
>> 911 are usually completed to a not-in-service recording.

> I have encountered this myself occasionally in the past when I had to
> call 911 from some unfamiliar location, and precious seconds would be
> wasted slamming down the phone and redialing for the Operator. This
> sort of begs the question, naive though this may be: Instead of
> routing the call to an intercept, can't it be routed to an operator
> instead? Any operator anywhere would probably be better than a
> recorded intercept telling the caller to hang up and guess again.

In Terre Haute, IN, before we got 911 (the tariff was passed but the
service wasn't turned up), dialing 911 generated a GTE intercept.  The
operators would forward your call to the local police.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This goes back a number of years, but here
in Chicago in the month or so prior to 911 starting (when we were still
dialing 'POlice 5-1313' and 'FIre 7-1313' there was a special intercept in
place. Someone called 'Chicago Special Operator' answered by asking what
was the number you were calling from, then dialed into the proper number.
Under the old arrangement, every CO took calls to PO-5-1313 or FI-7-1313
and translated them into 'other.things-1313' so that the police and fire 
dispatchers could see the *general location* from which the call was orig-
inating. For example, where I lived, calls to PO-5-1313 were actually
translated in the central office to HAymarket 1-1313. When the HAymarket
phone rang at police headquarters, they knew it was a call from my area
of the city. It speeded up dispatching even if they did not know the 
exact address until the caller told them. Then, when 911 was turned on,
for about two months after that the PO-5 and FI-7 numbers were routed into
911 with a very quick recorded intercept message tossed in as the call
was being forwarded: "In the future please dial 911 for emergencies."  PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 01 Jun 1994 11:39:29 +0600
From: varney@uscbu.ih.att.com (Alan Leon Varney)
Subject: Re: What's a 1A3B?
Organization: AT&T Network Systems


In article <telecom14.252.8@eecs.nwu.edu> stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) 
writes:

> Here in downstate NYNEXland if an exchange has not been "taken over"
> by a pager or cellular company, you can dial the NNX and 9901 to find
> out what kind of switch is in that C/O.  For example, dialing
> (516)694-9901 will tell you that you have reached the Farmingdale 5ESS
> test number, serving the following prefixes ... (you get the idea).

> When dialing (516) 352-9901, however, I am told that I have reached
> the Floral Park 1A3B, the only one of it's kind in Nassau County.  Now
> I have heard of 5ESS's and DMS-100's, but what is a 1A3B, and why is
> it such a distinction to have one?

   It's no distinction, except in areas quickly going to digital COs.
The "1A3B" is really a 1A ESS(tm) switch with an Attached Processor
System (APS) controlled by a 3B20 Duplex(tm) processor.  The 3B20D
supplies the switch with backup disk storage, and possibily other
services such as SS7.

   There are several hundred such analog COs deployed across the USA.


Al Varney

------------------------------

From: Thompson, Dave <davet@fpg.logica.com>
Subject: RE: What Did You Have For Dinner Today?
Date: Wed, 01 Jun 94 11:58:00 PDT


In TELECOM Digest 14.256, Thu, 26 May 94 16:25:56 EDT Carl Moore
<cmoore@ARL.MIL> wrote: 

> <chuckle> How could you write about cannibalism and forget Alfred E.
> Packer? 

[explanation by PAT deleted that we might still have an appetite for
dinner tonight ...]

Coincidentally, CNN sometime late this past Memorial weekend had a
filler item (sorry!), which I only caught part of while surfing, about
some city (I *think* they said in CO) which has an annual "manburger"
coooking contest in memory of Packer.  The (female) anchors were, or
acted, stumped for innocuous patter on this one.


Dave Thompson, davet@fpg.logica.com   Logica North America, +1 617-890-7730


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, every year or so the folks there have
a 'memorial service' to honor Mr. Packer. 'Manburgers' are served as
part of the occassion. Not content to let this thread die peacefully, a
regular Digest contributor (who must remain unnamed since his comments
were sent to me not for publication under his name) had an additional 
query:

> Regarding the Alfred Packer thread you were reminiscing about, isn't
> there another old celebrity a bit closer to home? I am referring here
> to Ed Gein -- if memory serves, didn't he do much the same thing in
> Wisconsin back around 1957? I don't recall the details myself ...

Ah yes, Ed Gein. When Ed made the cover of {Time Magazine} back in 1957
I was a sophomore in high school.  The news reports were certain to 
point out that his name was pronounced 'Gein, as in fiend, not Gyne as
in fine.'  Why the two most recent well-known cannibals in the USA both
came from Wisconsin -- within fifty miles or so of each other -- I do not
know. Maybe it is something in the atomosphere. Dahmer was from Milwaukee
and Gein was from a little rural village maybe fifty miles from there.
Of course we had John Gacy and Larry Eyler both here in Chicago and they
lived only five miles apart but never knew each other.  

Alfred Hitchcock was so inspired by Ed Gein that he produced his most
famous movie ever ("Psycho") based on Ed's true story. Ed was a bachelor
farmer about fifty years of age living in rural Wisconsin. He had this
hangup about his mother who had died a few years earlier. He missed her
so much one night he went out to the old cemetery and dug her up and
brought her back home with him. He sat her in her favorite rocking chair
in the living room and left her there for a couple more years. But that's
not all!  Two children in the nearby village disappeared and no one ever
knew what happened to them; except Ed, that is ... he ate them. He killed
another woman and kept only her hair and her skin, tossing out the 
remainder. He would wear the skin on himself along with the hair. There
were other disturbances at the old cemetery outside the village but the
townspeople always attributed the problem to animals. 

Then one day Ed killed Mrs. Wharton, the proprietor of Wharton's Hardware
Store in the village. He slipped up; he was seen by her son in the store
a few minutes before she disappeared. Knowing his mom would never leave
the store in the middle of the day, abandoned and unlocked, he notified the
police. The country bumpkins they were, it took them a couple days to get
around to deciding maybe Ed had something to do with it (everyone in town
knew him; they knew he was mentally retarded but never suspected anything
of this magnitude). When the police went to his house they found Mrs. Wharton
in the barn, completely disemboweled and hung upside down from a rafter;
the way one would go about slaughtering and preparing a deer or a cow. Her
intestines and the rest of her organs were in a large galvanized tub
nearby, still steaming in the chilly fall air in Wisconsin. The police on
the scene told Ed they wanted to go look inside his house, and he had no
objections to that at all; he proudly let the way. Inside they found the
preserved skin and hair of the other victim; they found evidence of the
two children Ed had kidnapped (he preserved some body parts in jars) and
a few other things. But the best was yet to come: the police walked into
the living room and there sat Mrs. Gein -- Eddie's mother -- right in
the rocking chair where he had left her all this time. 

Over the next two months, Ed Gein was questioned at length (when the 
police were able to make any sense out of what he was talking about at
all) about other unsolved crimes in recent years. Of particular interest
to the authorities were the mutilation murders of three young boys in
Chicago in September, 1955. Anton and Robert Schuessler, brothers aged
11 and 13,and their friend Robert Peterson, age 12 had been murdered with
their nude and mutilated bodies left in a wooded area on the northwest
side of Chicago. Ed Gein had been in Chicago that day. He would not confess
to that crime despite having knowledge known otherwise only to the police.
That crime has never been solved or closed off the books. 

After a mental examination, Ed Gein was found to be totally insane.
When the results of his mental examination were entered in evidence at
his trial, the state of Wisconsin dismissed the charges against him
(in this country we do not prosecute or punish persons who are incompetent 
or unable to understand that what they did was wrong) and he was placed in 
the protective custody of the state hospital for criminally insane people.
About ten years later he attempted to be granted parole from the hospital 
but it was not given to him. He died in the maximum security unit of the 
state hospital after twenty years there in the middle 1970's.

Poor Ed Gein ... {Time Magazine} called him a hideous monster. Alfred
Hitchcock called him 'my biggest money maker ever' ... you do remember
Norman Bates' mother in the rocking chair in the cellar in 'Psycho' don't
you?  <grin>  And it was Ed who spoke the words said later by Norman Bates
as he was in jail awaiting trial: "My son is a good boy! Why, he would
not even harm a fly ..."  PAT]

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End of TELECOM Digest V14 #264
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