Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1892-03-21

Hthtt nasst fot'f Dbbhfs
Week to Guard the Operators Manners
and the subscribers' secrecy.
The peg with which tho now telephone
girl Ind been playing cribbagc on tho
big perforated switchboard ON tho top
floor Of the Cortlandt street exchange
dropped from her hand and u wave Of
cdmson spread from beneath the ruch-
ing about her slender neck upward over
her checks until II lost itself In tho roots
OF her fluffy yellow hair.
Then the transmittor swinging in front
Of tho new telephone girls pickering
lips received aud forwarded sob.
Tho conscionce-the still small voice
of tho tclephone-had spoken to tho new
girl. It had said,
"Your manner Is n trino pert"
Then the new telephone girl succeed
ed Ia connecting tho subscriber whose
irascibility had provoked the roprimand-
ed portncss. and went on with her crib
bagc game.
That night at tho IL station she
asked tho old telephone girl who sat
next 10 her whose voice II was that had
cut In 30 abruptly upon hor conversation
with the irnsciblo subscriber. ~ thought
at first he'd changed his voice to torment
me-" she said, "but no, 1t was another
person. and q woman"
"Gracious, gooscyl" said tho old tele-
phone girl, "thats tho monitor. You
know who she Is. don't youi-tho girl
who sits ut dask In tho middle OF tho
floor bchind Us. She watches you every
minute. and II she soos by your manner
that anything unusual Is going on. n
somo crank gets you stirred up, IA you
were, or II abe thinks you're listening to
messages or having private talks or do
ing anything against tho rules, she just
connects with you and listens 10 all
you've got TO say. Thon she lectures
you or advises you. or II you arc very
bad report you
"Morcy," gaspcd tho new telephone
girl. its as bad as having a mind
reader about"
"oh. no." mid her experienced sister;
''she won't bother you much after you
get into the harncsa She keeps close
eye on you now because you're new"
Tho telephone pays Its conscience
twelve dollars a week, which. ~ women's
pay COOS, shows tho high value tho tcle-
phone puts upon its conscience, and Its
duties arc Of the delicate and important
kind. II keeps watch over tho manners
OF tho girls, seeing that thoy return tho
soft answer which turneth away tho
wrath of the impatient subscriber who
thinks that fourteen seconds-the aver
ago time for making eonnection--is a
minute and hnlf. II keeps watch
over their affections lest they DO led
astray unto tho making Of matinee
dates by tho susceptible Young men who
fall In love with tho telephone voice,
which IA gentle and low. an excellent
thing in woman. II keeps watch over
tho Metropolitan oompany's invaluable
time, seeing that tho fourteen seconds b'
not unduly spread ont. and it guards tn
secrecy OF the subscribers.
For tho secrecy Is undoubtedly guard
ed. Not like telegraph office, wher'
tho idle operator can read by tho ca
every word that comes clicking In owe
his busy noighbors' instruments, Is
telephone exchange. There Is something
fascinating about tho secrecy, in fact
There SIT 100 presumably NATURAL.
curious women before tho pcrforate,
board which lines the pothook shape,
room. The board itsolf is throbbinI
with tho secrets OF 4,eoO people. Cory
don IA setting tryst with some one else
Phyllis. Taurus Ia ordering his broke
to buy in tho block Of stock which h
dumped and thereby broke tho marke
last week. 1t may DO tho voice O
Rachel for her children crying whie
the telephone girl pours into symp1
thetic car when sho puts the peg in tn
cribbage board. or 1t may DO an orde
for coal. She cannot know and In
very short time she ceases to care. TIL
switchboard separates her, in fact, froI
prodigious babblo.
Prodigious Is almost mild word 70
1t, in fact Sixty thousand voices pou
their wants and woes and hopes IN
fears ~ 20 the daily concerns Of III
through that switchboard every twenty
four hours. That ia TO say, the 1900 sui
Ecribers make something like fifteen d,
mands each for talk" with some 9th,
subscriber who may be on tho Cortlant
street circuit or on that OF any one {
the eight other exchanges In tho city,
The average duration OF a talk Is tw
minutes. suppose the talk goes ON
tho moderate rate OF fifty words pil