The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-18


 pers in distant cities the details of the progress of the big game. Again, when ever a great convention is held-such as that of one of the political parties O. religious denomination--there is always an immediate upward jump in the curve of the exchanges near which the gathering Is in session.
 Certain fluctuations at stated inter- vals can always be predicted by the trafic engineers. On Sundays through out the year there is necessarily a great dropping off and on most holi- days. On the other hand. on the day before any holiday there Is regularly a marked increase. Thus just before Me- morial Day people are ordering their flags and bunting and holiday dinners Again, the third of July invariably pre- sents the highest point of the summer months.
 In various ways the telephone curves are an index of the customs of the people in different communities. The daily routine of business men in dif- ferent cities is revealed by telephone charts. The period of maximum load" as engineers call 1t. varies con- siderablv throughout the country. In the West it Is ordinarily between nine and ten. Tn such an eastern city as Bos- ton. perhaps from half-past nine to half-past ten would best express it. wihIe in New York it is between ten and eleven.
 In fact examination of the plotted curves of a number of characteristic cities yields material for interesting comparisons. The East differs broadly from the West in that business men arrive at their offices later. take less time for lunch at noon and get away | An r1t tn he oT nf average daily curve of the Broad Street once. New York. in the centre of the banking district. proves that business begins to grow about eight o'clock, but increases very slowly and does not reach its maximum until little after ten. It says up at a high peak until shortly after twelve, when it drops to its lowest midway point at exactly one Then 1t rises again very rapidly to another point. though not nearly so high as the former. shortly after three o'clock in the afternoon. The curve signifies that New Workers do the larR- CT part of their business in the morning hours and that a great many men do not come back to their offices at all in the afternoon.
 The curve of Boston almost exactly follows that of New York with the sim gle exception that the line in its up- ward trend begins to mount at least an hour earlier and stays longer at its maximum in the forenoon. The lunch hour is apparently a little later in Boston than in New York, men finish ing their monday meal about two o'clock. The afternoon highest point occurs at almost exactly the same tln,A as in New York. Though the load he- gins to drop off a little later, 1t drops with greater rapidity so that the down. ward line almost exactly coincides with that of the metropolis.
 Turning to Chicago, one finds very different story. The business men of the Western metropolis arrive much earlier at their offices and transact more of their business In the afternoon than do the New Workers. The maxi mum, load at the Chicago central office in the heart of the banking and shop ping district rises rapidly after eight o'clock and reaches is maximum at exactly nine a full hour earlier than in New York. The pressure continues high through the forenoon, dropping to its lowest point at one. Apparently the Chicago men take rather longer for their luhch. for the curve rises to the three o'clock maximum in a concave instead of a convex curve. as Is the case in New York and Boston. The afternoon peak Is nearly as high as the morning, and it appears in two distinct summits. the latter coinciding with five o'clock demonstrating that a great vol ume of business In Chicago is trans- acted just before men go away for the afternoon. The load in Chicago also sinkA6aore gradually in the early even ing.
 In Cleveland a somewhat similar con- dition prevails, with an even longer lunch hour, showing probably that Cleveland business men Tn large num- bers go home to noon dinner. Denver presents the same general features, with two high peaks in the morning, one at nine o'clock and one at twelve. Denver has an exceedingly long after noon, the highest load occurring at four o'clock and continuing with less of a drop than in the other cities until near ly nine. Pittsburg, on. the dividing line between the East and West in the matter of business customs. resembles New York in that the maximum load does not apear until ten o'clock. and that the lunch hour is much shorter than in the Western ci-ies. Washing tonians. according to the evidence of the curves. begin to get busy rather earlier than New Workers. and at about the same time win Bostonians. They seem to leave their offices at four o'clock for the afternoon load drops steadily after that hour.