The Savannah morning news., 1900-08-13
RAILWAY AND THE TELEPHONE.
fhe Phone Versus the Telegraph in
Railway Operation.

fhe Phone Versus the Telegraph in
Railway Operation.
F'rom an address by Henry w. Pore 10
Association or Railway Telegraph Su-
perlntendents)
1t is frequently asserted and g,n4ralv
believed that the telephone is ill-adapted
as substitute for Morse in the mauipu-
lation OF railway traffic. As an old tele.
giaphtr, had strongly held to thi, opn-
ION, cut with the knowledge of what has
been done and more thorough consid-
Grafton OF the subject, l am a firm be-
never in the superiority of the tele phone.
Railway people are too apt to Judge the
possibilities Of the telephone by the crude
systems they install and operate. rather
than by the standard OF the system famil-
lar to the telephone exp TT. As one of the
superintendents frankly stated In his re-
marks before this association at a pre-
vlous meeting, referring to certain exper-
imen's with regard TO simultaneous teleg-
raphy ana telephony which he had been
making In desire to furnish satisfac-
tory telephone service to his company Il
don't suppose inductiv% noises to them
railway employes) was any objection. l
know our people would not for moment
Tolerate any such noise as that on a tele-
phepe circuit, because they were accus-
toned to the lopg-dstsnce service, and
you know what that is"
Assuming that a railroad is equipped
with standard system, 1t is pretty safe
TO say that there is no part of the service
but what can be handled more economi-
cally, more rapidly and with g; eater safe
" by telephone. A large percentage, IL
not me entire transmission of service,
would he performed by the practical rail-
way operat ives. men more familiar and
more experienced in the operation of a
railway than telegraph operators, many of
Wnom are mere boys, prefer ably employ
ed because of the small compen> i'm The
position lustifies In the use of the tele-
phone every operative becomes to all in
tents and purposes a qualified operator.
the switchman equally with the track
foreman
If you install a system in the manner
that obtains on the New York, New Ha-
ven and Hartford road, your regard and
opinion for the Morse system will dispel
itself like the morning dew. The rapid
Introduction by railway companies of pri-
vate branch exchanges is bringing you
nearer and nearer TO the very scheme of
railway operation just alluded to. AS
these exchanges are established at one
more forcible to hitch them up tandem
from one end Of the line 10 the other and
the first thing you realize you are operat-
ing your system by telephone and II be-
comes an indispensable feature. At the
same time you are woven into the great
accommodating system and are like
the states of the Union, One and insep-
arabic" The obstacle to the installation
and expansion of this service is primarily
httt In
should ooncede there is factor of expense
In the maintenace of wires and stations.
established by long experience, below
which telephone organizations in the bust
ness to stay cannot go. A railway COM
pany knows to a mill what ID costs to
haul ton of freight a mile, and below
that figure the mana cement draws the
line. 1t costs more to ride than to walk,
more to telephone than TO telegraph, more
TO telegraph than to write. but weigh the
difference. II your general manager sit
ting in his sanctum sanctorum had the
peculiar and exclusive ability of making
every official or employe subject to his
control, hear his voice and command
without the interposition of third parties
and without the detail of correspondence
and red tape. what would his services COM
mand in the railway market? M
The private branch exchange and its con-
Meeting links provide him with this quail
fication and is ii not rea soma BILE to assert
that the employment of these acquired tall
ents moves the wheels of commerce with
Infinitely greater rapdity, less friction
and with wonderful economy of time?
There is no red tape involved in telephone
transmission; greater privacy and secrecy
is assured, but above all, elasticity of OPP
Grafton is the predominating advantage in
the railway service.
Ian Maclaren, in expressing himself re-
garding America. exploits line of reas-
oning worthy of your sober considera lion
mo one, unless he leaves the country. or
becomes a crank, can escape from this
despotism of activity; he is part of the
regiment, and must march with his fell
lows No man goes slow II he has a chance
OF going fast, no man stops to talk IL he
can talk walking, no man goes in a trolly
car If he can get a convenient steam car
and by and by no one will go In steam
car is he can be shot through a pneumatic
tube. No one writes with his own hand IL
he can dictate to a stenogra pher. no one
dictates IL he can telegraph, no one tele-
graphs IL he can telephone, and by and by,
when the spirit of American invention has
brought wireless teIegraphy into condition.
a man will simply sit with his mouth at
one hole and his ear at another, and do
business with the end of the earth in
few seconds. which the same machine will
copy and preserve in letter books. 1t is
the Americans regret that at present he
can do nothing with his feet while he is
listening a the telephone"