Arizona republican., 1904-07-01
Some New Uses of the Telephone.

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 York Tribune specifies some of the new
 but practical uses of the telephone.
 It is related, for instance, that clearly
 and sweet;y the words of the famous
 old hymn, How firm foundation"
 came to the ears of the patients in the Samaritan hospital in Philadelphia on a recent Sunday. Dr. Russell Conwel had caused the hospital to be con- nected with the Baptist Temple by meacs Of telephones, and, with mega phones strung in front Of the pulpit ard receivers in the hospital wards, the singing and the words of the ser mon were distinctly heard by the pa, tients
 The telephone company undertook the contract to rl1ce telephones in all the wards of the Samaritan hospital, of which Dr. Conwell is the president, and to hang a string of ,negaphones in front of the platform at the church. For those patients who were too weak to hold the receiver to the ear head attachments were provided so that without the slightest exertion on their part the services at the Temple could be heard almost as plainly as though they occupied seats in the church. The voice of the preacher came strongly and clearly over the wire, every word caught by the megaphcnes and carried to the delighted patients at the hos pitaL The singing to the accompani- ment of the great organ was so real istically close to the ears of the hospital inmates that many joined involuntar- fly in the exercises. scarcely realizing that they were long distance from the scene of the services.
 Another innovation ia te;ephonic usage is the communication between conductor and engineer on nov ing trains and the connection of the train with business houses in places where a temporary stop is made, so that passengers may talk to friends or customers without the necessity of leaving the train at all. This idea, tried as an experiment on a western road and successfully carried out in the course of a recent trip of officials of the Pennsylvania railroad. promises to come into general use on the rail- roads Of the country.
 The advantage of telephcnic means of conversing with the engineer in his cab, instead of reaching him by a slow and ponderous. system of signals, is too obvious to need comment. The great advantage that will appeal to the general public is the possibility of saving time by telephoning from the train to business CT private houses when the cars are at a standstill in stations along the line. Thus a com mercial traveller who has only few connections in small town a-d thinks he can do better by going straight on to the next, but still desires t5. give his customers a chance to know of his presence, can do so by having the car telephone switched on to the office tel ! ephones. While the engineer is using his oil cans in the front Of the train, the passengers may be talking to their ! business friends in the town. If it | seems best to alight and stop over night the commercial men may then do 1 so. If it appears to be only a waste of time the trip may be continued to the next town.
 Still another new idea in telephone business is the calling of early toilers and those who wish U catch trains in the small hours. There is no alarm clock to beat the telephone, for it con- tinues ringing until the sleepy one gets out of bed and stills it's voice by re- moving the receiver from the hook Then the operator knows that his duty is done and stops ringing. One of the telephone companies has found this branch of the business so profitable ! that a regular department has been or ganized for the express purpose of call l ing customers in the morning tel ! ephone of the ordinary kind is placed at the bedside, and the simple process ! of ceiling" is to keep ringing at the hour agreed until the resp cnse shows | that the alarm has served it's purpose.