The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-01-22
DON'T SWEAR AT PHONES
1t VIII Do no Good, and Perhaps
the Instrument Is Blame
less.
Reasons Why a Good Many Peo-
Pile Have Much Trouble
With Them.
Ordinary Conversational Tone, ~ II Ad.
dressing Some One not More Than
Four Feet Distant,

Ordinary Conversational Tone, ~ II Adj
dressing Some One not More Than
Four Feet Distant,
tNot very long ago" said : lawyer in tho
Commercial building to a Glob6-D emocrat
reporter yesterday. "a woman came mar
dying in my Office simply beoauae l didn't
know how to use the telephone. had been
trying hor case in the court all that day.
She was on the stand three or four hours,
and the lawyers on tho other side put her
under a severe fire. Sho stood it we'll
enough there; but whom tho day was over
and she oamo up to my office she broke
down. 6ho turned pale, and the first thing
] knew she Topped over on the floor in q
dead faint. i didn't know what to do. lii
pulled her mp on the lounge, and then !
jumped to the telsphons.to call . dostor. ]
yelled out, Observation-Disclosures!
two or, three times. Then tho hello-girl
said 'What?'
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS" said I.
Cant you hear? Hurry up!' Well, It
didn't do any good. couldn't maks her
understand to save my, life. Meanwhile
the woman laid there limp and pallid and I
thought she was dead. / tried to act the
doctor fer four or five minutes. Thsn I
got desperate and ran ont barshended for
help. As luck would have It'll met doctor
whom I knew in the building, and no camo
in and restored her after I hard struggle.
He said she wouldn't have lived five min
utes longer. / made up my mind right
there to have that telephone taken out. l
had always had trouble with it and I
thought / could bettor got along without it
than keep the Angel Gabriel busy recording
the sxpletives it inspired. l cent word to
the COMPANY and they sen q man up. He
asked me what was wrong and I told him a
little heatsdly. q
EDO you always talk that loud?' he
asked, because if you do that what's the
matter with your phone
II didn't believe il, but before he got
through that fellow had showed me that I
had been using a telephone ten years with
out knowing how to work it. l had been
talking too loud and too fast. Now I talk
quietly and distinctly. and don't have a bit
of trouble"
sit il a singular fact" said Manager John
F. Casey, OF the Bell Telephone oompany's
exchange. that people have to BE- educated
to use a telephone properly. Not one perSon
in ten goes at II correctly. Some people
think they have to scream and baWl Others
voices almost to a whisper. Some stand too
far from the tranrmittor, and others speak
too rapidly or indistinGtly. Then they get
mad md blame tho girls or the telephones.
In nins cases out Of ten the fault lies with
the person speaking"
'tWhat is the best way of talking through
y 'phone?" asked the reporter.
why, just in an ordinary conversational
tone. as il you were speaking to somebody
three or tour feet from you. Telephones
are carefully constructed and adjusted for
that ann of-4spcaking- and for no other.
7 can talk from Washington City TO Port
land. Mo-, in that way and make myself
plainly heard. The best position In to stand
with the mouth about three inches from the
transmitter. Most people stand father
back, but it is better to stand even nearer.
It is almost impossible to get too near the
instrument, provided a distinct converse
tional tons 10 maintained. There arc forty
two girls ut that switch board. Watch
them a moment" The girls were az busy
as hello girls always are. Forty-two of
asking them. Yet tho room was ccmpara-
lively quiet and conversation could be easily
carried on. s.Tho ~secret,' continued the
manager, "is that they talk distinctly, and
you see most of Thorn put their noses against
the instruments when they speak. They
AOn y udv0 ally tIOuOloS NA0 AObOAy Uln0
would if he would adopt similar methods"
DO you pay any attention to = girls
voice when you employ herr"
Not 4 bit. OF course, We don't take any
one whose speech is defective. But any one
who can talk plainly il fit to do the work,
go far at that part Of it il concerned. Peo-
pie with weak voices sometimes make then-
selves heard easily, where strong-lunged
and deep-chested men can't do it. The
reason is found in the difference of the
manner of speaking. AS n rule, however,
people who talk from tho chest arc heard
or through the nosc.' Bass voices are bot
ter than those pitched in a higher key, and
an even, quiet tone is better than d shrill
one. Men. az u rule, speak better than
women, not only because they have more
practice, but because they usually talk
more from the chest.
"Of all the races in the world the Chi
nese are most uniformly good telephone
takers" continued Mr.. Casey. 'That SUR
priseS you, doesn't it? But it il true. Moro
than that. they are very fond Of using the
MISUNDERSTANDING in the west. where
distances are long and Chinese are numer-
Gus. 1t is very common in Denver to sac
them holding communion by wire with
their brethren in Pueblo. Colorado Springs,
Georgetown ana towns in the mountains.
Telephone lines have been in operation in
China for several years, and they have been
remarkably profitable Investments. This
Celentials never have any trouble in max
ing themselves heard. think the reason
is that their language is cultural and to a
great extent monosyllabic. 1t ahounds in
vowels and vowel combinations like the
long, o. ah, 90 and j, and it is very reso-
nant."
''Then is q desirable quality?''
Very desirable. It is not Indispensable,
IA is d%istinotness of enunoiation, but it is a
particularly valuable adjunct. The reason
is apparent to any one who has ever taken
tho pains to investigate tho human voice
and the telephone. l haven't time to give
you a scientific explanation, but, roughly
speaking, the membrane of a telephone
transmitter works on precisely tho same
principle as that upon which the human
VOCAL chords operate. Therefore, chest and
throat tones, which arc always resonant arc
the best. That ia tho reason why it is hard
to hear the explosive consonants like G, b,
p, :, d, k and z. and the sibilnnts like 8. z
and tn, which are all made in the
forward part of the mouth and with
the teeth or lips. and have no resonance
A resonant quality can be easily Guilt
waited. Its conditions precedent are, first,
the use of throat tones. which induce a
strong vibrating motion of the vocal chords
and send the sound waves evenly and regu-
larly uuon the transmitter. md. second.