Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-02-12
some Te,cphonic Novelties.

Perhaps the most striking deficiency
in the telephone service OF the metropolis,
as compared with that OF the provinces.
is in branch OF the telephone bust
ness which specially appears TO tho large
class of people who either cannot afford
or have no need to become regular sub
scribers In all the districts served by
the National and the Lancashire and
Cheshire Comprehensive is 10 say, over
the greater part OF provincial England
and ScOtlaud-there are telephone offices
into which any man may walk from the
street and be put in communi-
cation With any subscriber on the system,
or with any person whom he may have
previously arranged TO speak with at
particular time. The telephones in these
call.offces connect with the trunk lines
between town and town, as well rs with
the local subscribers non subscribers
have to pay Sd. for a conversation on
the local exchange, and Cd. for connec-
ton with any other town. AS all the
towns of the west of Scotland, and Stir
ling. Falkirk, Edinburgh, Kirkcaldy.
etc, in the centre and east, are on the
Glasgow trunk-lines, this means of en-
abling the general public TO avail them-
selves of the telephone Is much valued
and greatly used.
The arrangement in the Glasgow dis
trict is 80 ingenious and 80 far in adj
vance of any developments OF telephony
in London that it may be worth some
what full description. There are seventy
six call-boxes, and every subscriber is
provided with a key with which TO enter
them. 4 non subscriber has first 20 ring
up the exchange and ascertain whether
the connection he desires can be made (;
and not until he receives the affirmative
answer is no required to pay his money.
The whole business is automatic. If q
three penny or local connection is want
ed. the operator at the exchange JOINS
battery on 10 the wire with a bell in
circuit. The pennies are then dropped
into box, and in falling they momen-
tarily disconnect the line and the bell
sounds ouce-once, that is, for each
penny dropped in. Fora six-penny con
nection by trunk line 10 any other town,
the coin In falling disconnects the local
circuit OF the telephone in the call
box. and the operator at the ex-
change hears a smart click. Thereupon
the connection is made-the whole
operation having taken but second or
two, and at the end OF three minutes the
connection is broken and the csll-box
restored to its normal condition. Now
we have nothing OF this sort in London.
These automatic call-boXes would be OF
immense service III our vast city, and,
after they are once established the cost
of maintaining them is very small in
deed. As regards the time neces-
sary to put two persons IN
telephone communication, It may
be instructive 10 note that in
Birmingham it is 40 seconds; Glasgow,
95 Liverpool, 81, and Dundee 20. This
average is given to us as the result Of an
actual experiment, made by ringing up
ten times from an Office in each town.
In London it takes several minutes. Be
sides, in three cases out OF ten In Lon
don the connection asked for could not
be made at all in Liverpool and elias.
gov this happened in one case out of
ten, while in Dundee and Birmingham
none went wrong.
The bearing of these things on the
popularity of the telephone Is obvious.
! But there is another matter even more
important. The comparatively high
charge made for the telephone in Lon
don is explained by the heavy cost Of
running wires for long distances over an
area Astounding IN separate private
rights. If one wire could be made
to serve for a dozen houses in
the same neghborhood 1t would
would make all the difference in
the cost. Now an arrangement OF the
kind is at work in Manchester and in
| Scotland. The main wire runs out from
the exchange TO one Of the group OF
houses and there terminates in a small
automatic exchange, from which branch
lines run 10 the other houses. When
any one OF the subscribers desires TO
use the telephone he rings in the ordi-
nary way, and this automatically discon-
meets all the rest OF the group. Upon
this plan half dozen residents In the
same neighborhood might easily club
together and be provided with tele-
phonic communication at a much cheaper
rate. 70 ell appearances this arrange
ment goes far to settle the problem of
cheapening the telephone for use in the
household, but of course no invention or
arrangement will do this unless adopted
in liberal spirit by the telephone com
panies.