The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1882-10-12
tScientifc Americana
National Telephone Association.

The fourth convention of the Ma
tlonal Telephone Association of the
United States met at the Hotel Ven
dome, Boston, Sept 5. The attend
ance was large. The American Bell
Telephone Company, of Boston, made
every provision for the comfort and
entertainment of delegates. Hon.
Marshall Jewell, Ex-Governor of
Connecticut, was chosen president of
the association.
At Nantasket Beach dinner, Pres
ident Forbes, Of the American Bell
Company, expressed, in a brief address,
the kindly feeling Of the parent COM
pany toward the various exchanges
throughout the country. Gov. Jew
ell responded for the association, pay
ing handsome and deserved compli-
ments to President Forbes and Gener-
al Manager Vale.
Mr.. Gardiner Ct. Hubbard, of the
original Bell Telephone Company, and
who is the father-in-law Of Prof. Gra-
ham Bell, the inventor of the tele-
phone, followed in an address, review
ing the history Of the development of
the telephone. He divided the history
of the telephone into epochs. The
first was eight years ago, when Prof.
Bell, rising from piano where he was
seated, declared himself convinced that
the sound of the human voice could be
carried in tone waves upon electrical
wires. Another epoch was later, when
one day the professor entered his room
and handed him piece of iron at
tached to wire. Placing it to his
ear he was amused at hearing articu-
late sounds. The next was when he
stood among others, with the Emperor
of Brazil, at the Centennial Exhibi-
tion, in Philadelphia. The telephone
had been mounted, and was on exhi-
bition. The Emperor, placing the
instrument to his ear, started back,
exclaiming, MY God, it speaks!"
Another epoch was the establishment
Of the first telephone exchange. Still
later and marked periods were when
the present management of the Amer
lean Bell Telephone Company took
the control of affairs, and when the
Western Union Telegraph Company
UGCdIIlG lu0uGlllcu WILL ltS luGCItSU.
Out of about 800 exchanges, the
whole number Of exchanges reporting
was only 81, covering about 10000
telephone subscribers.
OF exchanges having more than
1000 subscribers, the Metropolitan
Telephone and Telegraph Company,
Of New York City, comes first, with
2,S73; the Law Company, Of the same
city, has 578; Chicago has 1886; Gin
cinnati, 2,056; Providence, 1905; San
Francisco, 1924; Boston, 1,186; De-
troit, LILO; Albany, 1,l00; Buffalo,
Loaf; Louisville, 1,024; Baltimore,
1,017. The smallest number of sub
scribers in any exchange reporting is
ten.
During the year there has been a
general increase in the number of sub
scribers.
Mr.. Babcock, of Evansville, Ind,
reported that his exchange had 700
miles Of No. IA wire, and that in
building one of the lines, As miles
long, the lineman got drunk and neg
lected to put on any insulators, mere
ly tying the wire to the poles. After
the wire was up, he could see no diff
ference between its working and that
of others that were insulated, and they
had built some of their other lines also
without insulators, and they had
worked well. The exchange now has
400 miles of lines which have been
working for year without insulators.
He was not an electrician himself, but
those who claimed to be electricians
had told him that, although the lines
might work in dry weather, he would
be unable to do anything with them
in wet weather; he had not, however,
found that this prediction had come
true. On an S1-mile line he has often
whispered over it of an evening, and
the whisper has been heard distinctly
at the other end, although on twenty
miles of it there are no insulators
The exchange has two 40-mile lines
running parallel, the one insulated
and the other not, and no one car
tell by the working which one he is
on.