The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-07-12
The new TELEPHONE
People Are Beginning
to Inquire Into
It's Merits.
POLITICS and SPECULATION.
What Would Life be With
out the Hello
Girl?
POLITICS AND SPECULATION.

The public is beginning to give some
thought to the petition Of the Worces-
ter Telephone Company for franchise
in this city. AS people look into it,
they find that politics and speculation
go hand in hand like Reuben and Gym
thia at the cattle show.
Worcester seems to have very little
If any financial interest in the matter.
The Worcester men on the petition APP
pear to be the agents of the Eastern
Automatic Telephone Company of Mas
sachusetts and Rhode Island, with Of
fees in the John Hancock building in
Boston. The promoters Of the matter
are Messrs. Slocomb of Brookline and
a gentleman named Sears.
They have interested in the project
several gentlemen who are supposed to
be able to pull stroke oars in Worcester
politics, and the Heart of the Com
monWealth seemed so true to Pol, that
1t is reported that they assured the peo-
pie OF Salem and Concord that they
were absolutely sure of getting fran
chise in Worcester.
And 1t did look so last week, till mem
oers of the board of aldermen and bust
ness men began to look into the scheme
and learn what it meant. 1t is now
probable that the project cannot be
rushed through the board.
What the Eastern Automatic Tele-
phone Company of Massachusetts and
Rhode Island wants is a franchise in
worcester. If rumor be we'll founded
the company does not much care
whether it puts in many telephones in
this city or not, if it should be grant
ed the franchise.
There is supposed to be an element of
speculation Behind the movement. If
1t secures the franchise it has some
thing to trade with, and it is said to be
worth $4,000 to the company to go into
other sections of the country and say
we have been granted a franchise in
the great city of Worcester, in the very
heart of the New England telephone
district, where there is a large amount
OF New England Telephone stock own
ed" 1t is good advertising capital.
This speculative basis of the project
seems to be apparent in the state.
ments of one of the gentlemen in this
city most interested in securing a
franchise for the new company, as will
pc seen by reference to his remarks
which are given below.
When the matter came before the
board of aldermen last week, the petit
TONERS claimed that they had not de-
cided upon the Stronger system, but
before the hearing ended one of the
gentlemen passed around among the
members of the board and left upon
the desk of each alderman a document
OF many printed pages entitled "Evid-
ence in answer to statements deroga-
tory to the automatic telephone sys-
tenn" issued by the Eastern Auto
matte Telephone Company of Massa-
chusetts and Rhode Island, John Han
cock building, Boston," the company
which is promoting the Stronger sys-
tenn in New England.
The promoters of this system have
much to say about the desirability of
eliminating the Hello girl" from the
telephone proposition. 1t is to be
hoped that the Eastern Automatic
Telephone Company Of Massachusetts
and Rhode Island is not composed of
men who have tried to get gay with
central" and have been turned down.
IL is good wager, however, that
any one of these enemies of the "HelIo
girl" with Gle sweet voice and the
deft touch upon the switchboard, after
valnly wrestling with the Stronger
hooks, which are supposed to place him
an touch with 411-44, only to find that
some one has hung his hat and over
coat on the hooks at the other end, will
exclaim with Tennyson,
But oh, for the touch of a vanished hand
And the sound of a voice that is still.
But there are worse things than the
Hello girl, who is always expected
to be sweet tempered and blithe when
all the rest of the world is off it's troll
ley, who is supposed to know what the
score is when Worcester is playing the
Rochester Brewers, where the fire is.
and who was elected
There is an apparent saving in ex-
pense In maintaining a telephone sys-
tenn without central office, but those
who are familiar with telephone affairs
say that 1t is only apparent, as it
means that in place of telephone girls,
capable men must be employed to care
for the system at much larger salaries.
Ihe switch board of the present sys-
tenn is a complicated affair, but this Is
under the care and direction of trained
people who know how to manipulate
the changes for the patrons, and If
anything is out of order, the board is
under the eye of men who can remedy
the trouble Immediately.
With the Stronger system each sui
scriber must have his own switch board
and he must operate the complicated
mechanism nlmSelf. Can he fix it him
self if it gets out of order, or must he
hunt up some ore who can fix it? In
stead Of one switch board, as in the
present system, the Stronger system
seems to mean many, with the conlnli-
cations and the troubles multiplied.
Business men would like cheaper teIe-
phone rates as well as everybody else,
If they can be had, but they are begin
ming to wonder if the Stronger system
means cheaper rates Some who were
seen yesterday fancied that what at
first seemed to promise lower rates,
meant in reality increased telephone
bills. The Stronger system is sup
posed to be applicable chiefly. in the
residential section, and grocers, provi-
sion men and merchants who receive
orders for their goods by telephone, are
beginning to wonder IL they would not
be obliged Ia maintain two telephones
instead of one, IL the system should be
introduced and subscribers obtained.
The best telephone system is the
cheapest, after all, and If men who use
a telephone to a considerable extent re-
ceive good service, they do not care
what the cost is, provided 1t is not ex-
crhitant.
The value Of telephonefto the sub
scriber, whatever the cost, is measured
by the number of people one can call
nm A oystern with 0hO0 suhscrihars