Geneva Hine

[John Iacoletti]

Because John's question is built around the assumption that there would be a constant stream of incoming calls.

If your assumption about the "lights going out" are the lights on the telephone buttons then it would require that the motorcade somehow caused the telephone calls to stop at that moment.

[Richard Smith]

No one can honestly suggest that Hine believed that the motorcade itself was causing power and phone outages in Dallas.  What basis would anyone have to believe that the approach of a motorcade down the street would cause the power and lights to go out in the TSBD?  That is a ridiculous interpretation of her statement.  The reasonable interpretation is that she is making reference to the motorcade in relation to "no one calling" because it caused many people to not be using the phone because they were watching the motorcade.   

Does her assessment of the situation mean that no one in the world might choose that exact moment to call the TSBD?  Maybe not but that is not what she said and it is reasonable to assume that many calls to the TSBD came from the Dallas area and therefore would be fewer calls.  In other words, it is perfectly reasonable for her to suggest that no incoming calls at that moment was influenced by the motorcade activities in the local area.  That is exactly what she said.  She is not saying that no one could call as a result of the motorcade, but only that "no one was calling" and the motorcade was a factor.  The phrase "no one was calling" relates to the activities of the caller.  Not the recipient of the call.  How would Hine know "no one was calling" if her phones were not working?   She would only know that no calls were coming through. 

Miss HINE. Yes, sir: I was alone until the lights all went out and the phones became dead because the motorcade was coming near us and no one was calling so I got up and thought I could see it from the east window in our office.

[Mitch Todd]

So, there was power until Mooney got on the elevator and had ascended from the ground floor to the second. And he said that power cut only for the elevator. He didn't say it was building-wide.

He didn't say it wasn't either.

He just mentioned the elevator. He doesn't mention the lights going out, which would have been an obvious sign that the electrical failure extended beyond the elevator's lack of enthusiasm for elevating. It's hard to believe that he wouldn't have said that the power had generally failed, only focusing on the elevator power. 

By that time there were many people in the building. Many of the employees who worked in the building. Supervisors, like Shelley and Truly. Police and Sherriffs officers who had entered the building after the assassination. How many of them reported the building power going out?

As for "She said nothing about lights ON THE PHONE," it's worth pointing out that she also said nothing about THE BUILDING LIGHTING going out, or about ELECTRICAL POWER BEING CUT OFF, or any number of other things expressed in ALL CAPS. Nor is there any good reason to think that she wasn't referring to lights on the phone.

There's no good reason to think that she was.

Oh yes there is. She directly associates the "lights going out" with "the phones going dead" because "no one was calling." And the same sentence implies that the lights going out was expected. You lost the ability to read, kid?

By the way, there were a number of others within the Depository at the time of the assassination: Williams, Jarman, Norman, Eddie Piper, the Scott-Foresman girls on the fourth floor, etc. How many of them reported experiencing the building power being cut or lights in the building going out?

[Mitch Todd]

If your assumption about the "lights going out" are the lights on the telephone buttons then it would require that the motorcade somehow caused the telephone calls to stop at that moment.

That's exactly what Hine said: "the phones became dead because the motorcade was coming near us and no one was calling." And when the calls trailed off and disconnected, the line busy indicator on the phones would go out.

[John Mytton]

That's exactly what Hine said: "the phones became dead because the motorcade was coming near us and no one was calling." And when the calls trailed off and disconnected, the line busy indicator on the phones would go out.

And then she goes on to say that the telephones were beginning to wink, which puts the whole debate to bed.

Mr. BALL. Of your office, the second floor office?
Miss HINE. Yes; and I went straight up to the desk because the telephones were beginning to wink; outside calls were beginning to come in.

Now I believe it's fairly obvious she meant calls going out of the building and as the last employees in the building heard the cheers getting louder they either went outside or to the windows. But what stopped the external incoming calls, because customers who weren't in the area have no way of knowing where the Motorcade was at any given minute and probably wouldn't care? Maybe being lunchtime was a factor or perhaps she did what the receptionist used to do at a place I worked and when she wanted a quick smoko she opened the lines, so incoming calls all got the engaged signal. She also would answer a phone by picking it about an inch and put it down again, we lost so much business. -sigh-

JohnM

[Richard Smith]

And then she goes on to say that the telephones were beginning to wink, which puts the whole debate to bed.

Mr. BALL. Of your office, the second floor office?
Miss HINE. Yes; and I went straight up to the desk because the telephones were beginning to wink; outside calls were beginning to come in.

Now I believe it's fairly obvious she meant calls going out of the building and as the last employees in the building heard the cheers getting louder they either went outside or to the windows. But what stopped the external incoming calls, because customers who weren't in the area have no way of knowing where the Motorcade was at any given minute and probably wouldn't care? Maybe being lunchtime was a factor or perhaps she did what the receptionist used to do at a place I worked and when she wanted a quick smoko she opened the lines, so incoming calls all got the engaged signal. She also would answer a phone by picking it about an inch and put it down again, we lost so much business. -sigh-

JohnM

In the context of her WC testimony, I think she is explaining why she could walk away from the phone to look out the window.  Her job at that moment was to answer the phone. As a result, I believe she is referencing incoming calls (even though it would certainly impact outgoing calls as you suggest). Outgoing calls, however, would not have made any difference to her ability to leave her desk.  Hine attribute the fact that "no one was calling" to the motorcade.  That can mean either:  1) she thought the motorcade was causing power and phone outages for some inexplicable reason; or 2) that she believed the motorcade was affecting the behavior of callers (i.e. people who might normally be calling the TSBD were out watching the motorcade).  Many incoming calls likely came from the local area.  The fact that she says that "no one was calling" supports the latter as she would have no idea if "no one was calling" if her phone wasn't working. 

Miss HINE. Yes: I knew it and the girls were discussing it in the office that
morning. Many of them, probably six, had not seen the President close. You
see, I had seen him on two different occasions and I had been very close to him
and so they were lamenting thst they couldn’t go out so I spoke up and said
“I will he glad to answer the telephone so you girls may go out and see the
motorcade” and I had previously answered the telephone when we were in the
other building before we moved in this building, so they were delighted and I
thought nothing about it.

[John Iacoletti]

Oh yes there is. She directly associates the "lights going out" with "the phones going dead" because "no one was calling." And the same sentence implies that the lights going out was expected. You lost the ability to read, kid?

The "association" is all in your mind.  "The lights went out AND the phones became dead".  Two different clauses.

By the way, there were a number of others within the Depository at the time of the assassination: Williams, Jarman, Norman, Eddie Piper, the Scott-Foresman girls on the fourth floor, etc. How many of them reported experiencing the building power being cut or lights in the building going out?

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

[John Iacoletti]

That's exactly what Hine said: "the phones became dead because the motorcade was coming near us and no one was calling." And when the calls trailed off and disconnected, the line busy indicator on the phones would go out.

How do you even know there was a "line busy indicator" on Hine's phone?