Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-22
TELEPHONE DIRECTORY
PRINTING SEPARATE LISTS OF
WASHINGTON AND BALTIMORE.
This Will Permit the Restoration Of the
Convenient Classified Business
List of Subscribers.

For several years there has been COM
plant on the part of the telephone sub
scribers of this city-and perhaps those of
Baltimore-that the quarterly directory OF
names of subscribers issued by the Chesa-
peake and Potomac Telephone Company
had become too bulky This was because
the company had undertaken to issue in a
single volume the joint list of subscribers
in both the cities, together with the names
of subscribers in number of the towns
and cities supplied by this corporation, and
also lists of the suburban exchanges served
through the Washington and Baltimore
main Offices.
Not long ago The Star printed a commu-
nication from local telephone subscriber,
calling attention TO the fact that the classi-
fled business list had been omitted from
the latest issue of the telephone directory,
thereby causing considerable inconvenience
to those phone users who found this list OF
use in making quick connections. The rea-
son cited by the company to The Stars cor
respondent, when he complained of THE
omission, was that it was due to the neces-
sity of reducing the bulk of the directory.
The Star at that time, commenting on the
matter, suggested that If this were the rea-
son it could be obviated by emitting the
Baltimore and suburban lists from the local
directory, and that in any case the public
omission.
This view of the case has appealed to the
officials of the company, and today Mr..
Frank H. Bethel, the general manager of
the c. and P. Co., announces that, begin
ming with the September issue, the director
les of the two cities will be printed sepa-
rately. thus materially reducing the awk-
ward bulk of the book and giving space for
the restoration of the classified business
list Mr.. Bethel said to Star reporter:
An Important Feature.
THE preparation and distribution of the
telephone directory is by no means the
least important feature of the telephone
business. The changes that are constantly
taking place-new subscribers coming in,
old subscribers going out, changes in ad-
dresses, changes in fir mnames. etc.-ren-
der 1t necessary to keep a good-size clerical
force employed on the directory at all
times.
Constant changes make 1t necessary to
publish a new directory every three months,
and as the number of subscribers constantly
increases so does the number of directories
Issued. Not only that. but because of the
greater number of names the book grows
thicker and heavier with each issue.
Realizing that our directory is becoming
too bulky to be handled conveniently, we
have carefully considered the question of
what changes should be made to render 1t
smaller and thereby more satisfactory to
handle.
The Business List.
1.-The classified business list-which, by
the way. is not published in telephone direc-
tories as a general thing-was dropped out
of the last Issue. The work of keeping this
list up to date was not discontinued. how
ever, as It was our intention to restore 1t If
there appeared to be any demand for it on
the part of the public.
''Our own records seem to indicate that
the proper way to reduce the size of the
directory is to issue separate directories for
Washington and Baltimore, the Washington
book to contain the names of all subscribers
in the District of Columbia, together with
the classified business list and the names
of subscribers in places near Washington
Subscribers in Washington who desire Bal
timore directories in addition to their own
directory, can have them for the asking.
This plan will be put into effect with the
September issue, at which time the Wash
ington directory will contain about %. 900
names. an increase of over $1,000 in the
past five years.