The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-01-01
TELEPHONE
BUILDING
Ground Purchased Yesterday
on North Market.
WILL BE TN0 STORIES
Switchboard to Cost twenty
Five thousand.
LOCATION OF C0NDUlTS
System When Complete to
Cost 100000.

Yesterday the new telephone company
purchased two lots on North Market
street and will Immediately begin to
throw dirt for a two-story brick building
twenty-five by one hundred feet. The
lots adjoin Fire House No. 1 on the
south. The front of the building will
be beauty from an architectural stand
point. The second story is intended and
will be equipped exclusively for the ex-
change and orders have been placed for
a switchboard that is to cost $780, The
front part of the first floor viii be used
for an Office, while the rear end, seventy
five feet, viii be used for workshop,
storage room, dynamo and batteries. The
building will be begun at once, but the
conduits viii not all be placed inside Of
four weeks and not later than February
10th.
The conduit system will be an intri-
cate affair. 1t viii be built of vitrified
brick, lime and cement and the top OF
it viii be twenty inches under the ground
This conduit viii contain in some places
as nigh as eight separate vitrified thing
pipes and through each of them will
run a cable of from one TO two hundred
pairs of wires. Each single wire will
be insulated with paper and the entire
sets for each pipe will be completely
covered with an overcoat of lead, max
ing them practically one solid cable.
There will be at least 1900 pairs Of these
wires, for the company is building
system that can be used for city Of at
least $1,000 people.
The conduits will cover all the streets
OF the following described territory:
Commencing at the corner of Main and
Elm streets, thence south to Third and
west to Water. thence south to English
and east to fremont street. thence north
to Douglas and on St. Francis TO First,
swest on First to Market and north 10
Elm Spurs win be built from the Carey
hotel east, running under the Santa Fe
and Rock Island tracks. also a spur on
West Douglas TO Waco and spur from
Market street to>St Francis on Central
avenue.
The system will cost 100000. all the
wires being made of copper. which costs
dearly at this time.
The phone instrument will consist
only of a receiver and transmitter. All
the man IS required 10 W " Ndl Up
central is TO take the receiver off the
hook and place ii in his ear He does
not have to ring. This action Immediately
lights a tiny incandescent lamp on the
switchboard before the operators eyes.
Back of this lamp are two smaller lamps
and as long as they are lighted everything
goes well. II one Of them goes out it
indicates that somebody else wants you
and central tells him TO wait minute.
keeping him there until you are ready
TO talk with him. The receiving and
transmitting instrument is very simple.
1t has no batteries connected with it.
The system is what is called fun central
energy and viii be supplied from a dyna-
mo. which, in turn, will be supplied from
the electric light or street railway plant.
the force being reduced and kept steadily
at twenty volts. In connection viii be a
storage of electricity for forty-eight
hours. so that if the electric light plant
should fail the telephone system would
still be supplied All telephones. under
the uniform voltage system. will have
the same sound and there Will be nothing
like being unable to hear one, as is the
case under old systems of separate bat
teries.
Little monitors always inform the oper-
ator when the patron is through talk
ing
There viii be twelve operators in the
new system and each of them viii work
Independently of the other.