Телефонизация как начальный шаг Департамента уделов по развитию имений Массандра и Ай-Даниль

Abstract

The article, based on archival materials, refers to one of the episodes of the initial period of the existence of Massandra and Ai-Danil as the possessions of the Department of Provinces. The author notes that the mentioned estates, acquired in 1889 from the heirs of His Serene Highness Prince S.M.Vorontsov, were considered as an opportunity to develop and increase the wine-making and wine-trading activities of the Department. The article notes that one of the measures in this direction was the telephone line installation to provide communication both within the estates between the administration, the vineyards, the wine cellar and the winemaker's apartment, and between Massandra and the wine warehouse in Yalta. The author notes that the initiative to install telephones came from officials of the local province administration, who secured the consent of the chief of the Yalta Post and Telegraph Office to carry out all the necessary work and take on a new communication line. The chief of the Department of Provinces, for his part, supported this idea, in principle coordinating its implementation with the Main Directorate of Posts and Telegraphs. However, upon receipt of a detailed project and an estimate of its cost, the Department of Provinces was at a loss, since the calculated amount was one and a half times higher than that indicated in the preliminary justification. This required additional verification of the correctness and validity of the calculations on the spot. In the end, the telephone line project was nevertheless completed by the autumn of 1891 for an amount that was only slightly higher than the originally announced figures.