Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-11-16
HALLOO, BOSTON I!
TUE CITY or READING CAN TALK FAR, WIZ
NOT LANCASTER
Easton. Bethlehem. Allentown, wilkes.
barre, scranton and Reading I'm tho
Long Distant Telephone system.


'IIalloor 1t was uttered up in the SKY
scraping building in New York. But that
"HalloO =, took advantage Of opportunities
and travelled. 1t went into the basement
of the building, then out into an under
ground conduit, under all the turmoil OF
New York city, then TO Hartford, Provi-
dence, and Boston.
As the long distance telephone service Is
about TO he introduced into Reading Her
aid man had gone to New York to investi-
gate its workings, and he held converse
lions with people Of his acquaintance In
Boston and Philadelphia.
The headquarters of the long distance
company are located in the big S-story
building of the Metropolitan Telephone
company, ut Is Cortland street. This IL
the electrical coDtre of New York. 1t Is
the headquarters Of the second largest tele-
phone exchange in the world.
This building Is crammed full OF elec-
trlcity. and the hundreds of Offices are oc-
cupied by people who deal In tame light
ming.
The investigator was first taken to the
cellar. Here are located tho dynamos
which furnish light and power. The cur
rent Is not taken directly from the dyna-
mos, but through the medium Of storage
battery plant which Is tho largest In the
world, and which stores enough electricity
to light the building for several days II
necessary. But the most interesting thing
come in in great sheaves from the subways
in all directions. There seem 10 be enough
wires here to swing the great Brooklyn
bridge, but every one of them has an in
dividuality, since 1t goes to subscriber.
aud the OK pers who are looking after them
can at once locate any particular wire In
the mass While looking at them it seems
| imposs sible to believe that through them
are all the time pulsng the voices of per-
haps thousand people from one end OF
| Manhattan Island to the other.
The operating room of the Long Distance
| company is on the 9Th floor. Here was Il
switch board, by means of which in con-
nection with another to be mentioned later
| the people in region of country with
Buffalo, Albany, Portland, Me-, Scranton,
Pa, and Washington, ID. c., can talk with
one another. There are some twelve oper-
ators, and they are constantly answering
| calls from all parts of the territory en-
braced within the radius given above. All
| the manufacturers of the towns of New
England are constantly talking to their
agents and correspondents in New
York; Philadelphia call up Boston.
You can call up Newport, or Buf.
falo, or any one OF half hundred
towns In tho Eastern or Middle states.
There are seventeen thousand telephone
subscribers within n radius of 30 miles OF
New York and any one OF these can
through the mechanism in this room, have
his wire connected with one of the long
wires and then let her go for half 1
thousand miles, and II won't take hin
more than minute or two either to FIND
the man he is after IL he Is near the phone
The switch board upon which such won
ders are worked communicates with th'
5000 New York subscribers through th'
great board In the operating room in th
seventh floor, which is marvel to all tele
phone men, as well as laymen. 1t Is fou
hundred feet long and extends arount
| Al. IL .~f sl,<~ l,,.Il A II
on the board in front of the operators look
like the lid of pepper box. 1t is pierced
with over 100000 holes, into which tn
plugs are put to make the connection
between subscribers. From ninety TO on
hundred girls sit in front of this chinninl
more people in day than the presiden
shakes hands with at reception.
. After leaving this room and its long row
of pleasant faced busy girls, the long dis
tance phones were tested and Boston an
Philadelphia We're talked with, with NOR
satisfaction than in speaking between an,
two points in Reading.
AS is known, the company hasnow com
| pleted its long distance line as far as Read
ing, and will establish an Office as soon a
the necessary permission is given to erec
its lines through the city. There is also
line building to Easton and thence through
Bethlehem, Allentown, Hazleton, Wilkes
barre, Pittston and Scranton. The lin
from Reading Is to connect with the latter
The company makes connections wit
all the local exchanges in the cities throug
which it passes and also opens n pay static
where people, whether telephone sub
scribars or not, can have the use of tn
wires. When this Office is opened an
one in Reading may call up and talk wit
people at their homes and In their office
In no less than twelve states, and whe
the line to Chicago is complete half
, | dozen more will be added to the list.
is altogether possible that in less than tw
years nearly all the states east of the Mi,
sissippi may converse with each other. /
erecting the long distance lines complet
metallic circuit is used. That is, there ar
two wires and no ground connection. Th
best No. II copper wire is used and tn
absence of ground connection and til
superior manner of construction prevent
all extraneous noises and the cross talk an
other annoyances, which are SO troublesom
on ordinary lines.