The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1903-12-18

that branch office and he even went sc
far rs to stroll into 4 picture gallery Il
see if there WAS anything there that
would add to the strength Of his private
collection. Il take these trips to New
York occasionally" he said, lust 10 get
away from business Although i 200
miles from home he never was away
from his active participation in business
more than half an hour. lie called It :;
play spell ana il was one to hiai. iIc
never could have had his breathing time
he took away without the modern
mechanical helps tlIat cntcr into tic
everyday life of "A great business man.
In the old days. responsibilities SUCH a.;
he carried would have crushed man III
few months, and left him a wreck or
dead.
The part the telephone plays in Tic
business world is little comprellendrd Ivy
the average man. He regards the III
| vcntion as wonderful in its development,
but more or less of nuisance when he
must answer calls dozcn times day.
Ii is when the management of the tcic-
phone is syStcmatiZcd that It's value
stands out as ali Indispensable help to
modern business. Go into Il Stock EN-
change gallery in Ncw York and watch
its work. Several hundred little bones,
each containing atclepl!one stand ovcrin
the western end ri the great hall. Some
| firms have more than one telephone, and
| again more than one firm use Il certain
wire. These boxes are ALWAYS busy.
| Every change in the market is tclcphoncd
instantly to brokers Offices. Inatwink-
/ ling every office can reach It's man on Tie
| floor.
When broker is called from his office
! to execute some order the man at lie
telephone presses number, and on each
of the two great bulletin boards, i'll iull
sight of every one i'll the room, the mans
| number appears. In addition, a mcsScr-
ger, of whom there are scores, dasiies
through the crowd 10 find the broker. 1t
takes only a few seconds for him To- get
in communication with his office In
structions are given so quickly that tire
course ofthc market is frequently changed
entirely i'll Il minute or so. These NUM-
bcrs that flash out on the bulletin "r
calling boards are manipulated by titc-
trical devices. Pneumatic power also
comes into .play as Il broker puts his
message into one of scores of tubes and
sends it to the telegraph room or mcsScn-
gcs service room below.
1t is a place. this Stock Exchange, of
mechanical contrivances of Il complex
order, adding to the vale of the mental
alertness of the members. Great is tie
contrast to the procedure of thirty Years
ago, when there was more deliberation
on the floor Oftle Stock Exchange. There
are many members today who can recall
when they made the rounds of various
offices in Wall Street with slip of paper
displaying quotations, and asking bank
crs and investors or spectators to buy
WI SCll. 10 llIS II ilStli'il
to the present system, and the greatest
part PLAYED in it has been by the telc-
phone.
No longer is there a single telephone,
or two or three Of them, in every large
business house. Such I, place is now a
central office OF its own, and every man
of Importance in it has his own telephone
on his desk If he wishes to speak TO
another man on the same floor. perhaps
in the same room, to say nothing of
talking with a man in another part nf
the building he leans over to his tele-
phone, and the time is saved that it
would take to send 4 message in the old
way by an office boy. Hanging by this
same mans desk is little continuance
with lot of push buttons. When he
wishes subordinate he lifts the button
holder, pushes one of the buttons, ana
fnrwith the subordinate is at his desk.
The reporting on the great newspapers
is done largely by telephone. especially
in the rush hours. In other days, not
ten years ago. the reporter might Use the
telephone to notify his office what he had
found out He would then either come
to the office to write out his article, or
would dictate it to the man in the office,
if there was not sufficient time to write it
out after he had reached the office. Nova
DAYS, the routine reporter, the man who
has certain rounds to make, rings up the
office and tells man what he has
learned. The man in the office writes it
out, or rather. dashes it off on type
writer. The reporter is largely Il scout
in such work. The newspaper reporting
business, however, is fast reaching a
point where no man will be employed rs
writer unless he uses the typewritirg
machine. 1t is necessary, because every
moment of time must he saved in that
cxacting work.
AS to the use of the typewriter, it may
be said that modern business could not
be done without it 1t has increased
efficiency so that it has made more
business. Imagine one copying letters
in Il long hand these DAYS, and yet there
are thousands of men in active business
who. carly in life, never knew any other
way of preserving records than in that
way. Then there are other contrivanccs
fox speed and accuracy. Adding ma
chimes that never lie and never make a
mistake, if the proper keys are struck
are in use in thousands upon thousands of
places, and as an improvement on that,
the latest idea is to combine the adding
machine with the typewriter, so that one
can write his letters, include a great
mass of figures i'll tabular form, and
know that the additions at the end are
absolutely correct. A vast amount of
time and energy is saved thereby i'll foot
ing up totals on bill or i'll a letter.
And then there is the device to dictate
letters when the stenographer is busy, or
when there is no stenographcr at hard.
The photograph is turned on. The
business man talks talks intoit. Just as
he would to Il stcnographer. He makes
changes here and there, and SAYS: 'No,
don't put it that way. Make it this
way" And so he continues to talk to
the end. The typcwriterp the roll i'll a
machine, listens to it clear through, notes
the changes and corrections and then