Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1904-08-13
A Plea for the eHello" Girl.

ouSy Of LOO Woll-CfalnoQ TO sass Ddch
that this uncalled for and discount
eous practice is sometimes INDUCED
IN by persons who would be thorough
ly ashamed of their conduct, if only
they realized how grave is the dis
courtesy that they are guilty of, says
the New York Commercial.
Bad habits are not easily eradicated.
But this habit of unjustly "sassing CEN
trail is one that any reasonable per-
son can readily cure with the simple
remedy of observing the second hands
on watch or clock and counting the
number of seconds that elapse from
the time the receiver is lifted off the
hook until central" answers the
signal. This remedy is an old and we'll
tried one, familiar to all telephone
officials, but the record will prove
surprising to many who experiment
for the first time.
Occasionally the telephone receiver
is scarcely placed to the ear before the
query comes: Number?" On the
other hand, now and then sdelay
of 80 or even 40 seconds may occur
before central" answers. But if the
seconds are carefully registered each
time the telephone is used during one
week it will soon be seen that seen
trail answers all calls within an aver
age person of from seven to ten
seconds each.
And once she or he learns the callers
needs the trained central" supplies
the desired local connection in less
than three seconds. That is. central
connects the circuit of the calling sub
scriber through the switchboard to
the circuit of the called subscriber and
rings the bell on the latter's telephone,
all in from two to three seconds. Of
course if the called subscriber is slow
in answering the ring at his telephone
door the consequent delay should not
be charged to central.
Are customers waited on more
promptly in any other line of business?
Count the number of minutes not
seconds that the watch records
while waiting to be served in restaur-
ant or in store, or standing on the cor
ner waiting for the street car, or at
the station possessing your soul in
patience while awaiting the delayed
suburban express. And what about
the time lost in big department stores,
so often referred to by the jokesmiths?
Certainly, rapid service may justly be
expected in an establishment where
complete segregation of each line of
goods to it's own section is system
atically followed out as in the modern
store. Still, how rarely
these expectations are realized!
Even the butcher and the baker, the
grocer and the clothier keep customers
minutes rather than seconds
before asking: "What can do for
your" Yet how rarely a customer
thinks of "sassing" a store clerk for
being dilatory or negligent Or stupid,
even though the Indifference or the
or the arrogance shown is
Why this distinction?
Is it because the clerk is living entity
whose resentment will be emphatic
and visible, while central" is unseen,
in sense intangible, and because her
or his repro0f can be cut off by hang
ing up the receiver?
Central" easily takes care Of five or
six or seven customers minute. Did
butcher or baker or grocer ever equal
so good a record. During
the rush hour central" has easily
$50 connections in 60 min
utes, and under stress of intense pub
lie excitement central has a record
of answering Is calls per minute for
several minutes in succession, or at
the rate of 900 an hour.
And central" facing a complex
functional machine must serve Gus
toners with alacrity over copper
threads that are often swayed hither
and thitber in the passing breeze, or
robbed of current by the wet trees; and
must select out theproper switch or jack
from among thousands in a multiple
board, and each Of these thousands of
exits measure only a half-inch in
diameter. In one board where more
THAI 5000 exits face each operator,
the diameter is reduced to three
eighths of an inch. Yet out of those
5000 switches central must quickly
select the one desired by the calling
subscriber, while the butcher and the
grocer have the solid counter the
reliable scales, the neatly-wrapped
can or box to shorten and simplify the
serving Of customers.
Again, the snow and the sleet. the
lashing of the driven rain and the
flash all serve to hinder
and handicap "central's" efforts to
expedite the service. Then the store
keeper can utilize the stormy day to
his advantage by wrapping and pack
ing the goods sure to be called for
when the sun shines. But there is no.
thing that central" can store up,
save it be the bitter memory of brutal
remarks. Neither connections nor
conversations can be wrapped up or
side-tracked and handed out in NOM
ents OF leisure. Whatever is called