The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-12-13
THE new RICHMOND PHONE.
Superintendent DuVal Talks Fully and
Frankly Concerning 1t.
THE CAUSE OF EXISTING DEFECTS
And che Steps That Are Being Taken to
Remedy Them-some of the Disadvan-
tages Under which tho Richmond
Telephone Co.., Has Labored.

The Richmond Telephone Company
during its short lie in this city. has
made wonderful progress toward giving
its subscribers a complete service. and
every day improvements are being made
and deficits remedled. The company, in
stead of importing force or trained
operators from the North, which would
have at once resulted IN an almost per
feet service, has shown that 1t Is IN
every respect "a home company -
employing AS operators mere, ana Sfau-
ually teaching them the business.
These young ladies have shown them
selves apt scholars. but an expert Ope-
rator cannot bs mace ga oay nor a
month, and there viii be little delays
and Interruptions in the service until
tho operators become proficient
There are also other causes which oc-
casioually make the subscribers OF tAc
Richmond Telephone Company swear
for which they are themselves response
BILE through ignorance or hcedlessness.
in order that tAe subscribers may be
enlightened and thus assist the sorely-
harraased operators to give the excellent
service OK which the system Is undoubt-
odly capable, L yesterday visited super
intendent s. A. Duyal, and proaounded
70 him a number Of queries.
UNDER DISADVANTAGE.
Have you any complaints about your
servicc?" l first asked.
"Ycs." he replied. since the exchange
passed the LOO mark We have had some
complaints and some trouble. but mar
veilously little everything considered
You must bear In mind that while we
have been giving full and complete
service We have also been doing con-
siderable work both in the exchange and
on the lines that are in use. which. OF
course, is q manifest disadvantage"
In what have your troubles chiefly
consistei2' asked.
Il think ! may say without being un-
fair 10 the public replied Mr.. Duval,
"that one OF our disadvantages arises
from the fact that our patrons are not
accustomed 90 our system, which by tho
way, is used in all the large cities Of
America. and therefore they sometimes
fail 20 ring Off after having completed
q conversation. They show, too. some
times q lttlo not unnatural imuauonce.
In the Law system. 20 which they are
accustomed. when the exchange is very
busy they hear a perfect beldam OF
sounds when they put the receiver 20
their ear preparatory TO asking for
connection. and observing how busy the
operators are, they are more willing
generally to obey tho instructions given
% await their turn
In our SYSTEM" he continued. they
herr none of this confusion and when
the operator answers their call they hear
no one else and do not know that very
probably "a large number OF others are
clamoriug for connection ass anxiously
as they. In other words. our operators
are not apt 90 receive as much sympathy
as under the old tenn.
MUST BE CONSCIENTIOUS
"Another disadvantage we have IS that
our system compeis 1893 10 De conscicn-
tious and our operators are not allowed
under amy circumstances 20 rcDort
phone .n use until lt has been proved
10 bo true hy an actual verbal test
Whereas if tle operators are crowded
in tho 0il $50 tenn thcy can relieve the
pressure hy giving lntruly tie two-tap
signal"
81 have occasionally noticed. Mr. Du-
val" said ]. "that the phone will not
1ing. What i5 the reason OF thatY"
THAT i5 duo 90 the incXpcricnce or
the operators he replied. "hut is being
rapidly remeiled by their increasing ex-
rorionce It viii 10 entirely overcome
and rendered impossible by device We
arc having mace. which viii reach us IN
a few weeks.
while / am on the subject of diff
cuitlcs." continued the Supernte 'ndent. II
would IKE 90 Aplain ID you at the board
tho causes of two other troubles which
wo have been experiencing. and cur plans
Cor remeiyns them
Mr puvli here conducted mo into the
oporar.ns-r0om where in front OF the
long. handsome switchboard were seated
ton hrism-faced girls. juggling with 90
perfect wilderness OF cards. tho uses o.
which were unku>wn Quantities % me. !
had becn under the impression that the
operators called OUT o. each other the
numbers wanted from ono end Of the
h0arc 20 tho other. and expected % De
greeted 10y sounds resembling those which
arose when the tongues w8ro confused al
the Tower on Babel Such was not the
case however. The silence was only
broken By the murmur Of softly moduil,-
cG voices. as each operator informed tho
others of tire numbers wanted thrsIgh
tho instrument I'm front Of her.
AN INTERNAL MACHINE.
| put on ny head the apparatus worn
hv operators, and Immediately got the
full benefit Of an requests for c0nn9c-
ton received Some were polite requests,
others iarsh demand. and impatient OK
carnations ] very soon made up my
mlud that TO wear such an instrument for
seven and lalf hours on stretch would
make ne eligible for the Williamsburg
Asylum. and az tho same time resolved
never to he impatient with the operators
again.
After 7 had made close Inspection
Of the beard Mr Duval resumed his ex-
PLANTATION. Pointing - several cards which
he held in his hand be called my attention
TO the fact that they Were all different
c0lors
This marks" he said. "our three e.
forts 30 far 90 procure an entirely satls-
factory card. The demands upon them
are unusually severe. and rs in the same
space we must provide Tor complete
metallic circuit. consisting Of two IN
dependent lines from one instrument 70
another az an times. the difficulty OF
construction Is greatly increased. The oc-
casional fading away OF the voice, which
yoa may have observed is due 20 the
gradual breaking OF the delicate fabric
Of the card As soon as this Is observed
by the operator tho card is Immediately
replaced and is not used again. This Cifi-
Guilty is not peculiar TO this locality, and
the replacing OF the cards I'm tho
Philadelphia exchange. for instance. costs
as much as so a day. Wo have sue
ceeded az considerable cost In obtaining
cards which will almost, II not entirely.
overcome this difficulty. They Will be
here very shortly