Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-11-04
SHE LOSES HER JOB
Stowage Automatic Telephone
Dooms the Hello Girl.
EVERY MAN HIS OWN OPERATOR
A Wonderful Invention Which VIII Les
sen the Cost of Phones TO
Sz4 Per Year.

CHICAGO, Nov. 3.-The "hello" CIR
10 in danger. AS \ matter OF fact, II D.
lar more than probable that she VII
pass into history with coal oil lamps
and other uses OF the unsclenutic age
A new invention which has been thor
oughly tested and proved successful j
al the bottom OF ali the trouble and II
Is an invention, by the way. that will
reduce the price of telephones 20 sboul
one-fourth the cost OF the present ar
ticle. The invention is called the
Stowager automatic telephone exchange
and enables every subscriber 10 DO hss
own telephone girl.
With Il the hxrrassing "hello" be-
comes a phantom OF the dismal past.
But this is detail Of the genius. The
real value Of the invention lice IN the
exceedingly cheap price at which better
telephones can be put IN operation. A
large party of Chicago business men
and electrical professors left this morn
ing on . special train for La Porte,
Ind, TO see the practical working OF
the new scheme on large scale, but
many OF There gentlemen had already
become acquainted with It's significance
and went mainly 70 observe the results
when applied to . large number of IN
struments.
Phones for s2a = Year.
"The interesting feature Of the new
invention" said one OF the party to-
day, lis readily eeen when it becomes
u hos ha Of Of ha D.n
ents expire next spring, and then tele-
phone service will become matter for
competition. The owners of the
Stowager exchange system will be en-
abled to put their telephones into use
after that time, and at the very low
rate OF $24 for the year, and these
gentlemen are catholic enough to
claim tuat at tins figure they can
furnish far better and more satisfactory
service than is now given and still make
good money profits ont of their busi-
ness.
The old telephone company IN Chi
cago makes its old objection, and that
10 that TINS system Is not applicable to
q large system like Chicago. where the
number Of telephones 10 very great.
But this objection know to be ground
less, inaemuch as have known the au-
tomato exchange TO work as perfectly
with thousand instruments as with
two.
IL Works tomaticalIy.
'But there 10 another reason why the
local telephone people are not inclined
to enthuse over the invention. They
have recently put in new switchboard
that has cost $250,000. At the same
time they made an offer of 500, to
the Stowager people for the exclusive
right to use the exchange IN this city.
This offer was refused, 80 that it is
natural that the old company is averse
to shoveling $l25,000 ont of the
back window especially when by so
doing the people who use telephones
would be greatly benefited thereby.
PROFESSIONALLY the new system is
bound to work reforms IN the tele-
phone service all along the line. In
the fact that it works automatically all
the bother used to telephone connect
ions is made away with absolutely. and
in addition to that pleasing fact the
price of the service will be made SO low
that it will be almost as cheap as lake
Water."