The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-02-07

a pay station or elsewhere. Only the other
soire through the regular operating work here
and securing n fine position In n paw station.
body who went TO the station by her gentle;
modest ways. aud n rich young Wesferner fell
IL love win mer; ssa .nsy Tr .ni. Oe Sye seeaured
anIti er one Of our efficient girls a place az the
Broadwsy Central .nI a., Hotel; ~; ;or gt ,a Sr9 Sjn.. liy He
died not long aRo. leaving nn envelope TO the
telephone girl. and when.she opened Il she
found stocks and bonds enough to give her q
fine income. 80 she retired from business;
giving her place 20 one who needed It, vi
Isn't Il ,vainst the rules, lCt men TO sHszr
over tho wircsf' asked the old lady.
but il ISN'T a breach OF contract for them TO
swear. replied the MANAGER, Some OF them
viii the kris. and a qirl al mosi ne ger reports
n subscriber Tor 'cussing h,r out as they rall
pI ,inis. and tRev generally give themselves
away. We had one AMUSING case recently. a
rich old mans wire conneeted In sore way
day about lunch time when he'i ring up Zen,
trail these laundry girls would catch him and
guy him nearly TO death. pretending 70 10 our
Central Exchange girls. An Investigation
proved this. AID lao apolosized 70 our girls."
why. there's one Young man at the switch,
boarl and he LOOKS like n bull in a china shop"
exclaimed the old Tady. -
at night at the " ,hbosrd for a while. but
they were not neariy 80 sa:tsf"ctory, as the
iris w,llins to do The nIvht WORK. Girls arc
more attentive and deft with their hands. and
their SOFT voices smooth OUT many a To nni
be made rOugher by mans gruh voice IN
the Central exchanges. II REQUIRES much ski
ielligcnt ard quick. She must lie. as patient
us the managing editor of a great daily news.
paper. must think as unerrinGly and as rapidly
asa successful football player. and make her
moves us accurately as n master, plano player.
during the busiest hours o; the day. from 10
To II. and again from = To . o'clock. Between
the former hours there II an average OF H.
900 calls an hour. and the rush Is even greater
during the hour Just before Wall street winds
up business for tie day.
Each operator can tell In les than a sec
ond whether any one of the 1000 s~ubscrib-
ers In New York is busy or not. and she does
this without nudging an inch; IN o eacn sec;
jaces that look like peg holes. These are
arranged In sets. and n girl can Instantly tell
the number OF each spring-iack hy Us posi-
ton viii reference TO II guide on the side. 1t
would I've just. as easy for her TO touch a bill
quick motion. as 1t is to touch seven. The
spring-iacks are ~ close TO each other thnt by
easily touch any one OF them with the tip OF
one OF the little Mugs In front o. her, mus
OF the plug touches the edges OF the peg hole a
little sound follows which tells the girl that
the wire Is engaged"
do hey have 20 sit there all day without SPEAK.
ingS" asked the old lady with a sympathetic
"rhe girls wro come at : in the morning
get away at ): those who report ut $ leave &C
u, and so on. day and night. Ii is now nearly
noon. At that hour you will zee every, other
girl leave her place and go down to the dining
tSSes charge OF her work in her ab:snec. The
work Is not apt TO he heavy. as all Sew YORK
,unSnc1 Sg inii IN h N. ana II, S gIi. can Mee x
to each other, though regular chats are for.
o dden. You see now they are beginning TO
exchange greetings. aud the switchboard Is
idle. comp ratively speaking"
The visitors neg, made their WY TO The
selves hugely. They furnish, their own cdib. es.
but the ,ompany supplies them with hot tea.
coffee. chocolate, and milk. Rcyond Is a re-.
ccption room. provided with periodicals and
papers. and here merry groups, chatted over
one 1.-THE latest serials or over the news o! tho
day. while others seated themselves In auiet
corners and became absorbed in reading. a
room. She has the title OF assistant manager.
3 bat the girls call her Our mother" That's
her bushes" t" be mother 70 the 'sIenhnne
and. u necessary; she carries them TO- ,he
s nnSGynr n6Is.s 80 tr a%ss,ioI Is in MeSa TO ,Se
termination NJ n subscribers contract. some
times this has to be done. Only a few days
ago the manager terminated n mans contract
A and refused him further service because no
. had talked TO a girl so outraceously over the
a wire. Fortunately the girl could report this
. 10 n :: mpathetic woman instead OF TO n man.
-; a sick room; dainty In all It's appointment,
a ton. and eash girl has a locker.
y 1t takes fully six months, and often a year.
for a bright Young woman ,,d 10 s hsc"me a pro,
until her SALARY is raised TO sloa week. the
! s ,ians' paid new ' ieid Is Be ssin lGo oScn M i' for women p%si,
in this work; In ~speaeing OF this To his visit
: ors. Mr.. Bethel said. =,
Although the telephone system 3 still al.
most an infant, being In its twenty first year,
it long ago passed beyond the stage when IL Was
considered merely "A convenience In business
and an extensive luxury In the household. To,
day 1t Is universally recognized ms an impor'
tant part OF the general machinery OF business
OF all kinds. and its effectiveness in easing the
daily friction IN household and social affair,
few weeks ago a subscriber. whose wife had
scarlet fever and was quarantine in the unpcl
story OF the house ma teIephohs pnt D.
they communicated with each other In th!,
way. The phone that she used was burned
This state Of affairs hasled to a demand fol
the supply OF telephone sersicc at moderat,
dences. Asa result, a great many big bust
ness establishments and public offices have be
nected with n general exchange. In every In
stance these exchanges are ope 'ated by a younl
mere'e enlc Tim% '1 imam that "G' Of girl t!fi in the Cen
trail exchange. She Is the firm. II the heat
OF q depar,ment VI shes to salS to one OF al; sui
change without moving from lis desk. and sh
tolls him instantly whether tho person Is bus
or not, Suppose somebody III another ofic
wants % make n complaint abont some'hin
or somebody. he doesn'; k4ow who., He tell
the girl. and Instantly size knows who to cor
meet him with. She i the concern, for she mus
know cvcryhody's business. liriely exI lainel
the private cN 'hangc system consists or a nun
her of clci hone systems situated In diiteren
parts Of u building. all connected With n smal
switchboard oucrlisd by n girl. From I'll
switchboard trunk lines are led To the nearc-
telephone central office, and n%rethere.c onnectc
to the main switchboard. forming part or III
general telcpaUnc system Of tlc city. IN
" girls operating these private EXCHANGES con
~ mand good salaries"
TO By this time the visitors had returned to III
e, rInom where TIE girls "cre nj work. II was
IN o'clock and business was AT the top motel
Is- Every girl was all eyes aud ears for the intere:
"a
or
y. GSAMA ,