The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-02-07
The TELEPHONE.
HELLO! THERE.
An Inside View Of an Institution Where
Girls Are EMPLOYED.
The Hours That the Telephone Girl Is Required
to Work-The Home That Is Fitted Up
for Her-Answering Calls.

The telephone girl may not be educated,
but she must be nice. as they say in the
South, and must be possessed of medium
grade Of Intelligence. She must be able to
write letter, make 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 indispensa-
bic, and lacking one or the other, she will
break down in a very short time. for 10th
Ing SO quickly develops a pugnacious ten
dency as service at public telephone Fiji
teen years ago, when the instrument was
introduced for general service, the telephone
companies employed boys between tho ages
Of 16 and 49, with results that were first
disturbing, then discouraging and finally
threatened 10 be destructive TO the interests
of the company. InCessaDt and emphatic
stress was laid upon the necessity Tor abSo-
lutte clYlllty OF spec h on the part OF the
boys. Terms OF expression were reduced TO
the soul OF brevity, so that the language OF
the o1lce was humOTOusly m0noSyllaDc,
aud all conversation over the wires was
prohibited. Rules in letters OF bellIgeTent
hue and formidable size were posted in con-
spcuOus places, fOrbiddlng the operator to
add syllable more than was necessary 10
answer the subscribers question. As fur-
ther means Of preserving harmony and pro-
tectlng business interests, mOnltOr-oper-
RtOrs were stationed in every section to
lend ear to the sayings and d0ings OF the
boys.
But the average boy is no respecter of
persons, and when an irritable money-bag
or a cTnsty old bank President, impatient of
delay, and wholly ignorant Of the war
"a fnTEntfIIl TfRhHSSH
ODlge as to dllate on "infeTnaP things,
lazy puppy and the like, the impulsiva
youth quietly but distinctly told the ODu-
lent old party to take himself to the place
Colonel lngerSOll says lis not" Such
fragrant violations OF the rules resulted in
immediate dismissal; but. notwithstanding,
similar otlenses were Of daily occurrence,
and necessitated the employment OF relay
force as large as the original stan OF opera
tors.
Everything that could be done by the
company TO inculate a spirit Of f0Tbearance
was done; but, boys will be boys, and uD
able TO knock down the man at the otner
end who gave them any sass" they giee-
fully blew him up and took the consequences.
To employ the services OF men OF mature
judgment and business sagacity would have
entalled greater expense than the corpora
tion cared to stand, and as last resort.w bat
was deemed a risky experiment was tried;
the telephone girl was introduced.
SHE WAS AN OLD GIRL
At first she was an old girl, quiet, sedate
and thoughtful, with knO Wedge OF human
nature acquired through lost youth and the
sears of experience. She came in modest
gray and melancholy black. Her 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.
I5uder the influence OF her gentle presence
al the switch board, her fingers at the plugs
and cords, her lips at the transmitter
and her ear at the telephone, diScord
/ dropped TO minimum. There was
no more swearing or blowing up.
no back talk" and no serious complaints
or threats on the part of subscribers to
( withdraw patronage; but the service was
still but a mediocre success. The girls were
stiff. They lacked maleabllity and fleXi-
| biity. They did not seem able 10 adapt
themselves to the requirements. BY degrees
spTlghtiy, gIrllsh girls were taken on the
force, also as an experiment, aud they
/ caught on" so readily and swung into line
so naturally that all unConscl0uSly they
solved the problem of efficient telephone
service. From that time the decline Of tele-
phone widows and old maids began, and a
decided preference was shown for girls less
than % and more than is years Of age.
In an Office y here l20 girl operators are
required eight boys are also employed,
green young fellows as class, whose work
CONSISTS OF Lle NeCNdihcdl operation OIL
making connections between the trunk
wires running to different exchanges. These
boys receive their orders by telephone from
the operators and have no communication
with the subscribers. No girls are en-
ployed on the night force, The exposure
TO such uncanny hours is considered IN
desirable by the company, aud wisely sc,
although many girls apply for night work.
As now existing the girls schedule of
work is from TO 7, with three forces work
ing nine hours each. The first goes on duty
att o'clock in the morning and leaves at 3
O'Clock in the evening; the second, or full
force, works from till 6, and the small
force from till 7. There is half an hour
for lunch, and each operator is allowed a
relief or recess Of 10 minutes in the morn
ing and again in the afternoon. A vacation
Of one week is granted with pay; every sec
ond Saturday is a half-hOliday. and the girls
are in every respect as well treated as col
lege students.
No fines of any sort are imposed. The
management is directed on the principle
that accidents are unavoidable, but that
Willful neglect of duty or abuse OF privileges
should not be turned to gain or tolerated.
If a girl is i'll she is relieved from work, and
if sickness causes her absence II is excused.
The company provides for the exclusive use
of the operators a suite Of five large rooms
entirely apart from the exchange. One is
the toilet section, lined with marble basins
ana mirrors, ana provided with all toilet
requisites; adjoining is the dressing room
filled with lockers. which are numbered to
correspond with the sections in the office.
Each girl has her own key to n depository
for her wraps and rainy weather outfit. The
dining is large, airy ana cheerful, tiled
in red and white, and furnished in oak,
with accommodations for sixty diners,
TEA AND COFFEE.
In one corner is an improved range
that works like an electric lamp sur
mounted by two mammoth urns of German
silver that run streams of tea ana coffee the
entire day. A cook, who knows how to
prepare these beverages as they should be
prepared, is in charge, and her duty is to
serve the girls all they care to drink at any
hour of the day and without as much as a
penny tip. Beyond is the reading-ro0m
finished in hard wood, furnished with
comfortable chairs and provided with
fashion papers, weekly publications
ana magazines. Notwithstanding this
intellectual pabulum, the majority OF
the girls, wOman-like. prefer 10 crochet.
rickrack, featheT-sttch and gossip. The
TUp IAPpQT