The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-07-30

ton N progress through Mia 49,
blank. blank. and say scgaeshI.r lss. 49,
her~ you men viii have 10 aus, 49,.
business. 80 lady wants % talk "a 49,
body down there
"oh. dear. ne; am rot more .han -.
safoage, SAID the telephone s4rs .sy..
zee. It's 80 seldom ~e get a ehanrs ~ 80
back or the time - do &, ina. ,As. $50.
Sulisy Is too good 70 !osa
Another fruitful source Il eornn,.s,..
sne continued, comes from ssscsss-s
which are absolutely beyossi human 49,
TO avoid hat for watch ninety out az -
hundred OF the dear public nsau.c -
- taking away ever ne 'uhon. ..
AsteaisaS. and suddenly IS cut 81 rixh, !.
TIE aii1iie Q. a sentence. Here You. 60.
trial. he yesls. wratAfalty, 'wha. "a -
ca. me or fcre Central. .i:a you hear -
Nest eerTsinsy net. Tor the wire sn.n...
and tho telephone was for Few .nsnns~
useless until the break ccaIa De rsY.as-ss
but central came II for q GUESSING 80
the same. because A didn't knew VIVA, -
trouble was. and hence ceatra sm,sv
must be 10 blame.
. g Il
10 nee more, and how often have "a.
heard iss A is talking. s,Asas,,,
shotaer voice breaks in ami \ yesls, sgsrs
you central. get cat % tasga Gre, OF y.
line. I'm not through Say. look here. ssf
on that Eae VIII yoa?' But central saa
nothing 70 DO with il, The wind or Fan.
ing limb or tree or anyone of a ,hsssaaa
causes has crossed tive wires ard unt,l th.,
are Strengthened out. which is never lon.
central can do nothing in the pregnses
Safe4eSs subscribers often cause q lar a.
trouble and complaint See that uttla ,fssk
over there? Well. there is where TIA qu,..
Fer and the bowler are worked Tnsv
bear the same relation 20 each o,he- -
Tar as noise is concerned that the wnlssla
and the siren OF steamboat do. Yor srs
telephoning ard are called away slaiaerlv.
but fai! 10 hang up your 'paone We ,ry
90 rs~~a you with the buxxer and than wi.A
the hoSler 50 as 10 attract your attention
TO your carelessness. but you are out In
the yard or over at neigabor's and ~
oaxc and howl In vain. Meanwhile aad /,
always happens in such cases. everyone Of
your dear five hundred friends wants van
over the phone and b saving nice th.nxa
ABOUT the telephone girl who can only an
swer, Number blank does MOI answer.
Pshaw.' comes the reply. i know bette.
than that. They're at home and know Il.
You just don't try to get sheni'
And then you come In and nnding IL
receiver down. where It has been for an
hour or two, You exeitedly grab 1t up ara
call for central.
:" Has there been anybody ringing for
me?' you ask and ara told that abou, assy
wanted YOU but central could get no An.
swer. your receiver was down ANA thsa
you say:
We'll. why didn't you buns mo up,
What? No YOU didn't know you tilanY
IL you had l would have heard YOU ana
once more central gets a verbal and mental
blessing of the other sort. you know.
All the talk about telephone girls chat.
tering over The phone. or chewing gum
while AT work, or failing to answer a can.
Is absolute nonsense. unless. perhaps. IN
the long watches OF the early morning.
when the lines are quiet an operator may
talk to some one over the line. but never
in daytime. See that deske Well Il has
more than the buzzer and howIer There
Is where the monitor sits. and she Is held
responsible for the conduct OF every gisl
at work. Those keys on her desk connect
with everv board in the room. and tho
monitor can at any time ascertain exactly
what a girl Is saying. The girls are not
allowed TO argue over the phone or svsa
to answer back. but sometimes forb<ar-
ance ceases to be a virtue and they viii
answer back. Who can blame thems RS
very hard TO be abused for something you
know You are not 10 blame for. or cen.
sured because you do not perform impoa-
sibiltties. but nearly always, and always
with old operators the rules are ebeyed
and no answer made TO criticism, however
harsh.
StTT1 o explain our system understandings
~, one must como to the exchange
and see It. In addition 10 the monitor On
watch. the chief operator is always on tho
floor. Tho operators are divided into two
classes. A and Il. There Is an A operator
for each section In the city, and, two Or
four operators work with her. All calls
In a certain section come to the A operator
OF that section, which Is suhdiytdcd b.
tween the b operators. When cali comes
in the A operator switches II TO one Ok
the b operators who answers the ca!l..
"You notice those tiny electric lishtss
red and white, In front of the desksy
When a call comes In the red light burss
and continues to burn until the call II sn-
swered. so you see no one could be over
looked, for IL the light burned for more
than three TO five seconds the mentor
and chief operator would want 70 know
what the trouble was.
.sThen there is the overflow dssk over
there, SO that In case any operator -
more calls than she can handle pSompuy
she simply switches on the extra opefsr
tors who sit there 10 help her out Inen
can be no ueiay, TOT 10 thtie af.s. -
"There, now. the telephone girl has ns0
her say. and ! only hope some OF NJ
chronic kickers will do little more TIM
ing and less swearing In the future
The long distance telephone work y sn-
tirely separate from the local. there pesns
in addition 10 the main ofIire q ulaHen
Office in the Poss-fnteIligencer euidinG
and while the Iong-distanee operators nav
their troubles their grievances are nos :.
many or SO great as those OF the iosa
ssheilo girls" One trouble the long-as
tance girls have. and that - win men
who come IN and telephone. but hasc q
money 10 pay Nowadays. unless .ns
Young lady In charge knows you. sn
chances are that you viii he askeu
make a deposit i'm advance. Inc gig -
ing. Talk is cheap doesn't hoid svss
with The long-distanee phone operator.