The morning call., 1893-05-17
TELEPHONE EARS.
One of the Many Curious
Ills of Man.
HELLO GIRLS Bette NoIR.
A Disease That Affects Only a Small
Portion of the Inhabitants
of Great City.

DlCfditHt III lBc CITY VI WHICH very IllLlc Is
known by the outside worlu.
1t is called. tor want of a better name,
the telephone ear" and only attacks The
operators il the ''centras." the ones who
answer you when you give two rings TO
your telephone-bell and ask to be con-
nected with your butcher OF baker.
These long suffering mortals, who do
nothing but strain their ears for eight or
nine and sometimes ten hours day, are
beginning to feel the effects of the con-
slant application to their work, which they
are compelled to give to satisfy their en-
plOyers and the public.
This disease first makes its approach felt
by severe headaches. Nearly all the opera
tors have these when they first enter tho
service. but those with a strong eonstitu-
tion soon overcome this and do not feel any
evil effects from their work.
These. however. who are not as strong
as they might be, especially the girls. who
form large force OF operators. soon find
their headaches followed by a peculiar
buzziDg sound in their head when they go
home at night. 1t steadily becomes worse,
aud at last the operator is obliged TO take
day or two off work to recover.
But this day or two seems of no perma-
nent benefit to the sufferer, and at last the
'heli0-girp' gives in TO the inevitable and
gees steadily on with her work, until at
last an abscess forms in the ear and amost
painful and sometimes dangerous opera
ti0n has TO be performed,
This latter has been the case win sew
eral of the young ladies who are at pres
ent operators in this city. Several of
them were seen yesterday by a CALL re-
porter, aud gave their opinions as TO what
caused their trouble.
Miss Mamie McCoskY. who has been an
operator for the Pacific Telephone Com
pany for some years. and is now chief
operator at the central Office on Bush
street, said:
~ have been an operator for good
many years, and numbers of cases of
telephone ears have come under my no.
tice. You see, the operator has to sit for
eight hours Il day with the rubber ear
trumpet strapped to the head by steel
band, and at first the unnatural pressure
makes one very nervous and subject 10
headaches. When this first nervousness
wears or as of course it does when one
becomes accustomed to The work, the
headaches do not seem to wear off with it.
whether it is the almost constant talk
ing and bell-Tinging that goes on in our
ears, or whether the fact of the steady
pressure on The outer ear causes II, 1t is
fact that nine enths OF our girl operators
are affected with some kind of ear trouble.
Usually an almost constant earache and
extent OF the injury, but frequently it is
more serious matter. l myself, a short
time ago, found that my ear was giving
me constant trouble, and consulted an
aurist The consequence was that l
found an abscess had formed in the inner
ear, and it was only removed nfter most
painful course Of treatment. OF course, |
had to take vacation for a time, as my
ear was so sore that could not stand the
pressure OF the ear-trumpei."
Julia Valentine is another snfferer from
this most peculiar disease. She has only
been doing telephone work for year and
a half, aud already the evil effects of her
employment are making themselves felt.
so you call II telephone ear, do you?"
said she. Il am glad to hear what it is,
for I've had 1t several months now and
didn't know whatit was.
"Oi course when | first started TO work
l had The usual headaches n first, and have
them yet butthey have become so common
now tEat pay no more attention to them.
In fact, l am more worried when my head
does not ache than when it does, for il has
become my normal condition now.
s. But this telephone ear is another mat
ter ] have never had any serious tronble
with II, such as an abscess forming, but It
constantly annoys me, and at times my
left ear over which we operators usually
wear our cap, as the ear-trumpet Is called,
becomes so sore. both inside and out, that
l have 10 change and use my right ear for
time.
The only effect that this has is to make
the right ear a sore as the other. aud then
it is case Of taking week or SO to re-
cover.
1--WE also find that after a few years
service we are gradually becoming deaf
Why this is | can't imagine, but it is so.
II have known ever so many girls who
have had TO take several days off to allow
their ears TO regain their former condition.
| have not been without peculiar buZZing
sound In my ears, such as one has when
one takes too much quinine, for a longer
time than | care 10 remember, and time
and again l have decided to consult
physician. But suppose | won't ttliI get
so sick | can't work al all"
The above Is the condition of great
majority Of the 'halo-girls." Not one in
twenty escapes the disease, if such it can
be called, and no wonder, with the hard
work they are called on to perform.
One of the most prominent aurists was
spoken TO on the subject, and said he had
seen and treated several cases Of It,
I'VE have no special name for The dis
ease at present" said he, Except that of
the telephone ear, which seems very ap-
prnprate.
Its cause is rather hard to state. 1t
may be brought on by the pressure of the
ear-trumpet on the outer ear, causing a
corresponding pressure on the tympanum.
or the constant and intense straining of
tUe nerves 10 carcu every SOuQu that DasEeS
over the wires.
'The ear, as every one knows, is one of
the most delicate organs of The body.
Next TO the eye. there is probably no part
SO easily affected and deranged. Indeed, |
think can safely say that it is more
sensitive than the eye and more likely TO
damage.
being so sensitive. you can readily see
that 1t does not take much to put it out OF
its usual working order. When this oc-
ours, even in the slightest degree, serious
effects are almost sure to follow.
Il had one case a few months ago of
Young man, who was an operator for the
Pacific Telephone Company. He had been
steadily at work for eight years, and had
paid no attention to the fact that his ears
were giving him almost constant trouble.
The consequence was that when at last he
WAS compelled TO consult an aurist found
that largo abscess had formed In the
drum OF his ear.
.'He tod me that for three years he had
not missed day at his table, except the
regular day off. In all that time there had
been constant buzzing in his head.
of set of cock-works which bad
been mislaid there, had got out of
order and were steadily running down.
OF course, in time this became worse,
with the result that lie was house
bound for ten weeks. He is now at his
ting another case of the telephone ear
'As for the fact Of the constantuse OF the
telephone causing deafness. think that
1t is a most purely imaginary. II persons
have been accustomed to hearing well for
years and suddenly find that they do not
hear as well as formerly, II is not because
they are becoming deaf. but usually that
they are finding out that they did n OF hear
as well as they thought they did. This
may sound strange, but l will try to ex-
plain 1t to you.
Our senses are given us to perform
their natural duties only. IL we strain
them, or abuse them in any way, they soon
lose their natural acuteness. Take the In
dian, for example. You will never find
one near-sighted, for they do not strain
their eyes by reading at close quarters, as
their Caucasian brothers do.
so it is with this telephone deafness.
The ear Is under a constant strain, trying
to catch sounds at long range, and when,
after year of such work, an operator
finds that he has trouble in distinguishing
other sounds it is not because of deafness,
but that The ear has been used for mr.