Then again the man holding the cups of a telephone and receiving a message has his hands fully employed. Then the constant ringing of the bell is a decided nuisance. You could not have telephone operators at work within two or three feet of clerks engaged in their ordinary work of writing or calculating - in the same way as you have telegraph operators in our present Hd Qrs office. It would worry everyone to death. A special room would be required.
Telephones are largely used in America between private houses and shops, cab stands etc.
I should doubt if it would not be more likely to get out of order than the telegraph. As far as the saving of orderlies goes I do not see that they would be saved by the telephonic more than the telegraphic system. To sum up - I should not like to supersede our present system of telegraph by telephone until I was more convinced of its being an advantage than I am now. It might be tried between brigade offices and regiments perhaps where now no communication telegraphic or telephone exist.