Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-02-26
CHATS ovER THE WIRES.
People Who Use the Telephone and How
They Use 1t.


"Of course we recognize them. We can
tell subscriber the moment he speaks,
whether he is at his own telephone or not.
Just wait a second till l answer this
CALL" And the chief operator held the
phone to her ear and listened a moment
to something somebody was saying. She
smiled just a little, aud then, without
word, hung the 'phones back on the
nook. the NEWS man stood by walt
ing 10 hear what was said, but the
pretty operator for once apparently didn't
nave anything to say. "You know we
keep black list OF all the people who
borrow their neighbours telephone" she
remarked, turning away from her desk.
''As soon as we suspect that the man next
door, who isn't a subscriber, Is using his
neighbours 'phone we listen for him, and
when we find out for sure VINO he Is we
wait I'LL he calls up, and then without
saying word cut him of. He usually
calls up again and gets mad about II, but
we cut him of as soon az he gets to talk
ing, and he very soon finds out what 1t
MEANS"
suppose it is subscriber talking
through his neighbours 'phoneW
"Oh! we would recognize him very
quick il it was''
docs it take long to get acquainted
with new subscriber
"No, not very long. You see we know
all the regulars, aud when new sub
scrlber comes in we listen for few days
until we find out how many there are
VINO talk from his station. Then we re-
member their voices, and in week we
know them all. Generally there are one
or Two who do all the talking for one sta
ton, excepting, of course, the pay sta
tiOns.N
'Do many people patronize the pay
stations?"
"Well, no; not many. You see people
don't like to pay for anything If they can
help 1t, and II they can use friends tele-
phone, they will do it every time instead
OF going to pay station
81 should think the company would get
up some plan to stop that sort of thing"
THAT'S just what we keep black list
for. The manager looks it over every day
or two, and we know almost every man in
the city who makes business of borrow
ing the telephone. OF course subscriber
has right TO use any telephone in the
exchange, with the permission OF the
party at whose place it is, and we would
recognize his voice at once. Strangers
frequently drop IN and use the phone,
but that is all right. The only people we
object to are those who make a business
OF borrowing the telephone, just as you
ACWSPHRGA lGu alt dtNd bdlhAuk dUOub
people who borrow their neighbours paper
and won't subscribe for it,"
"Are many kilograms sent to the Ex-
changeP
you mean for the Western Union
office? Yes, great many. Some days
we are kept busy. You see we have TO
write the message out and repeat it to the
sender so as to be sure it is all right.
While we are doing this Western Union
nos onva erraTsf o hn- ,,1
sage is off before the sender is hardly
through talking"
What time of the day is the telephone
used most.O
''Well, we are busy about all the time,
but between 10 and 2 O'Clock in the morn
ing, and between 6 and in the afternoon
we get the most calls.
speaking about voices said the chief
operator, ''you can't imagine how diffe-
rently people talk over the telephone from
what they do in ordinary conversation.
Some people just stand aud shout at the
transmitter as though 1t was deaf. They
seem to think because they are talking 10
somebody good ways off they must yell
at the top Of their lungs to make them hear,
and then, because they can't make them
hear, they get madsand blame the tele-
phone. That is one great trouble we
have; people get too near the transmitter
stand with the lips three or four inches
from the transmitter and speak in mod
crate, clear tone-not loud, for that makes
the sound confused, but just as though
talking to somebody close by. Then there
are people who put on airs, and talk as
though they owned the whole earth"
"Do many ladies use the telephone?
Eyes, quite number. Business men
down town who have telephones in their
residences frequently call up their fami-
lies to talk about one thing and another;
and then good many ladies use the tele-
phone 10 order goods. AS soon as the
residence lines are established a good
many more ladies will use the telephone
than now. They always learn how to
talk quicker than the men and can be
heard good deal palmer. The big ugly
InOustaches that the men wear make their
voices sound thick. You can always I'M
der stand gentleman without NOUS
tache better than if he has one."
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