The herald., 1898-01-23
THE TREADMILL OF THE TELEPHONE
AN EPTON1E TROUBLES AND TRIALS OF THE
MYSTERIOUS central"
ForSx Girls and thousand PheBy
sof the FIaveo 10 Put Up With

lated to the best people in the city, and
even as the company exacts scrupulous
obedience to it's rules, so does it protect
and shield it's employees from unjust
criticism or harsh treatment from the
outside. If a subscriber swears at an
operator, the manager Immediately
warns him that second offense will
deprive him of his telephone-and when
the second offense comes his telephone
is taken out forthwith.
THE CHIEF OPERATOR
An irate subscriber is Immediately
switched over to the assistant chief
operator, and what she doesn't learn
or human nature isn't worth the know
ing, while the vocabulary Of ingenious,
picturesque and unique expletives which
she has literally poured into her ears
in a day would make very choice read
ing If she had time to jot it down.
Then there are the questions that come
to her. They cover every known sub
ject and would require an expert clair
voyant to answer.
Walking about the floor all the time
are the chief operator and the manager
of the southern division. None of the
operators know at what moment one or
the other may be standing directly be-
hind her particular chair, and the conse-
quence Is that if there were any tend
ency to shirk either work or rules i'm
mediate discovery would follow, and
that means real trouble, because no girl
is employed there simply because she
wants pin money, but because she needs
the salary to live on, and delinquency of
any kind means to be sent away-to
stay.
NO BED OF ROSES
So, you see, there are extenuating cir
cumstances even in the case of the tele-
phone girl. She, too, has her troubles,
and her worst enemy could hardly con-
slider that hers is a bed of roses. For
nine hours day she is on duty, and the
exactions of her position must be liter
ally seen to be appreciated. Every one
of her faculties is ever on the alert and
she is under a continual nervous strain,
not the least part Of which must be to
keep civil tongue and tone for the
thoughtless ones who do her such grave
injustice. Through ignorance, for the
most part, is that injustice done, but it
is none the less injustice, than which
nothing is harder to bear gracefully
or with humble spirit.
CONVERTED
Prior to last week 1 was one of the
thoughtless, ignorant ones. 1 used to
shake the hook, and shake it hard, when
central didn't respond Immediately
l used to assume politely sarcastic
drawl and express my relief that she
wasn't dead, when finally the reply
came; 1 used to be filled with what I
thought was righteous wrath when she
mistook blue for black; l used to emit
my little commands in highly peremp-
tory Shrek; 1 used to show pretty
lady-like scorn when central" said
Waiting" and reply, "No, excuse me-
I'm the one that's waiting;" and all the
old gags-you know how many chances
one has to be funny at "central's" ex-
pense.
But all that has changed now. MY
head was carefully clamped into one of
the main office receivers the other day,
the plug was attached to one of the
boards and was showed up against the
shelf in a high chair. There 1 sat and
listened to the calls coming from all
quarters, and it seemed to me every Sec
ond. I hardened to the varying tones
from the, supercilious drawl of the
naughty grand dame calling for butcher
or grocer; the cheerful chirp of the
young person calling for another of the
same, presumably, to talk over last
nights party; to the short, crisp, jerky
orders of the business man who wanted
his call attended to then and there or
he would know the reason why.
I watched the girls hands flying from
one set of plugs to another as fast as the
circuits could be made-and when at
last got down and was able to go out into
the sunshine again, and move about as
willed, my spirit was chastened, my
reformation had set in. Now when I
use the telephone my manner is obse-
quious; l do not demand, l request
my patience is exemplary, and my voice
resembles nothing so much as the dulcet
tones of the Aeolian harp. If can only
remember to keep it up.
EVA MITCHELL COOK.
TN1>a WY NJ