San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-07-06
TELEPHONE GIRLS.
SOMETHING ABOUT THEIR DUTIES,
THEIR WORK AND THEIR PAY.

49,
Maid Was Tried, but the Young w ON
an UAder Twenty five Fills the Bill.
The telephone girl may not be educated,
but she must be nice, as they say in the
south, and must be possessed of a medium
grade of intelligence. She must be able to
write a letter, make a clear statement in
good English, hold her tongue, keep her
temper under every provocation and give
her undivided attention to the business of
the Office. Any defect in speech or hearing
would necessarily disqualify her for the
work.
Tact and Judgment are Indispensable,
and lacking one or the other she will
break down in a very short time, for moth
ing so quickly develops a pugnacious
tendency as service at a public telephone.
Fifteen years ago, when the instrument
was introduced for general service, the
telephone companies employed boys be
tween the ages of sixteen and nineteen,
with results that were first disturbing,
then discouraging, and finally threatened
to be destructive to the interests of the
company. incessant and emphatic stress
was laid npan the necessity for absolute
civility of speech, on the part of the boys
Terms of expression were reduced to the
soul of breyity, so that the language of the
office was humorously monosyllabic and
all conversation over the wires was pro
hibited. Rules in letters of belligerent
hue and formidable size were posted in
conspicuous places, forbiddihg the operator
to add a syllable more than was necessary
to answer the subscribers question. As a
further means of preserving harmony and
protecting business interests, monitor OPP
orators were stationed in every section TO
lend ear to the sayings and doinGs of the
boys.
Everything that could be done by the
company to inculcate spirit of forbear-
ance was DONE but boys will be boys, and
unable to knock down the man at the
other end who gave them any sass" they
gleef1lly blew him up and took the con-
sequences. To employ the services of men
of mature judgment and business sagacity
would have entailed greater expense than
the corporation cared to stand, and as a
last resort what was deemed a risky eX
pertinent was tried-the telephone girl was
introduced.
At first she was an old girl quiet, sedate
and thoughtful, with a knowledge Of
human nature acquired through lost youth
and the scars of experience. She came in
modest gray and melancholy black. HeI
ways were kittenish and also mOtherly
She brought a piece of soap, piece OF
comb and piece of looking glass done up
in a paper box. Under the influence of her
gentle presence at the switchboard, her
fingers at the plugs and cords, her lips at
the transmitter and her ear at the tele-
phone, discord dropped TO minimum.
There was no more swearing or blowing
up, no "back talk" and serious complaints
or threats on the part Of subscribers %
withdraw patronage; but the service was
still but a mediocre success The girls
We're stiff. They lacked malleabili1y and
fiexibility. They did not seem able 70
adapt themselves to the requirements. By
degrees sprightly, girlish girls were taken
on the force also as an experiment. and
they Caught on" so readily and swung
into line so naturally that all unconscious
ly they solved the problem Of efficient tele-
phone service. From that time tbe de-
cline of telephone widows and Old maids
began, and decided preference Wa shown
for girls less than twenty-five and DOre
than sixteen years Of age.
In an Office where 40 girl operators are
required eight boys are also employed
green young fellows as a class, who's work
making connections between the trunk
wires running to different exchanges.
These boys receive their orders by teIe-
phone from the operators, and have no
communication with the subscribers. No
girls are employed on the night force The
exposure to such uncanny hours is consd-
cred undesirable by the company, and
wisely so, although many girls apply for
night work.
AS now existing the girls schedule Of
work is from to Z, with three forces
working nine hours each. The first goes
on duty at 7O'clock in the morning and
leaves at 5 o'clock in the evening; the sec
ond, or full force, works from TO 6, and
the small force from Q to Z. There is half
an hour for lunch, and each operator Is al.
lowed a relief or recess of fifteen minutes
in the morning and again in the afternoon
Salaries vary from thirty dollars to fifty
dollars a month, beginning the very day
the girl is engaged, although she may not
be useful as an operator for a month OF
more. The girls who are able to take
charge without assistance and attend tC
fifty wires receive thirty-fve dollars. Moni
tors are master hands and earn twelve
dollars a week There is besides the regu
lar staff a relay force, getting one dollar &
day, always on hand to facilitate matter.
when disasters, public excitement or un
usual events increase the business of tn,
Office to an extent that overtaxes tn,
capacity of the regular force.
At all times the operator is in clos
touch with the world, but a rush on
bank, a corner on Change, the progress o
3 political campaign or big fire will Sc
the electrical machinery pulsating with al
increased nervousness When, however,
railway accident occurs or news of ship
wreck is received the people become freI
zied and the instrument throbs with eN
citement. Railway and steamship CON
r,anies q re in CONSTANT demand and cans