Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-02-13

| Il hate to see The winter coming on.
said one lineman recently. 1T isn't
any fun to sit on The top of a pole out
in the country somewhere, with tho
| wind blowing a gale and the Their
| mCmct"r down to zero, waiting for
| somebody to answer your test They
always seem to be busiest too, when
it's coolest"
| Few people would care to sit on ton
Of pole in any kind OF weather. for
the harmless telephone wires, carrying
a current which IS not dangerous, are
frequently surrounded by labyrinth
of other lines far less irCcuous. The
| third rail has had an extraordinary
amount % attention bestowed upon il
and no ono cares to walk within a few
| inches of it e he can find some Other
| place in which to exercise. 1t is not
generally realised, however. that thu
| electric light wire carries twice as
| strong current as either the deadly
| third rail or the overhead trolley wire
Of an electric car. Around and ove..
| and through these electric light wires
the trouble shooter must often climb In
order to reach his own lines. but he
knows hoW to do it and serious acct
| dents are rare.
| Nevertheless there are occurrences
| which add a Shirt Of adventure to the
| work If the trOubieman. There is a
| story current among the trouble shoot
crs Of suburban district near Boston,
| OF one lineman who net with an extra
ordinary experience which might we'll
have proved more serious than il did.
| Swimming Let NNncr1 tyTo nnIac ~, a on,,
| trivancc known technically as the
| "bo'Sun's chan"-a piece Of p1a?k
swung by iron hooks from an overhead
| Wirc--this man was hard a. work when
his chair came III contact with an cleo
trio light wire. The wire just touched
| the bolts on the under side Of the
plank, but the man could do nothing
but sit on his avcrhtated chair, calling
| for help. Fortunately the men on the
ground below saw what vas the mat
tcr and pulled the chair away from the
wire. 50 strong was the shock, dead
| "ncd though il was by the plank
through which j; mad to pass. that the
| lincman was unable 10 do anything to
| extlicatc himself from his uncomfort-
| able position.
On another occasion a trouble shoot
er standing on Il ladder outside house
accidentally touched an electric light
| line. This time the man could not
even CRY out but simply chung TO the
ladder. his knees shaking so violently
that the attention of the other men be-
low him Was attracted. Grabbing the
bottom Of the ladder they raised it from
the ground. breaking the circuit and
allowing the trouble shooter to de-
scend
Much OF the trouble shooters work.
however. is done inside buildings and
away from the dangerous proximity Of
lines charged with heavy currents. In
spite Of as thorough a system of in
spection us may well be maintained.
The instruments and lines within a
house are subject to occasional acct
dents which necessitate a visit from
The trouble man. The existence of any
trouble is readily apparent to the ex-
change operator and is reported at
once to the wire chief. Even simple
Don't Answer" case. known in the abb
brevittcd language of telephone men
as Il ID. A. is duly investigated
though in the great ma jority of cases
the difficulty simply means that the
subscriber and all his family have
temporarily betaken themselves else
where and the bell was ringing in an
empty house. Among the unacademic
surroundings of the Wire chief there is
a strange reminder of great library,
in the form of a card catalogue. con-
tanning the name of every subscriber |
i'll his district. On this card is noted |
every case of trouble, its cause and the |
remedy-in short the whole trouble |
story
At times trouble seems to become al |
most epidemic and then the wire chief |
leaves his station in the exchange |
building and starts on a tour of per-
sonal investigation. Recently. for ex- |
ample. the operators in one district |
found so many cases in which the sub |
ScrlbcrS voices We're not as distinct as |
they ought to be. that he decided there |
must be an epidemic of battery trouble. |
Starting out one cold afternoon in Il |
runabout he Travelled over his district |
visiting remote houses where the poles |
carried only a single line. asking Cen |
tral in low whisper how she heard |
him and making personal tests Of the |
batteries with the aid of various myS-
FERROUS appliances As the result of his |
Investigations he declares that several |
of the tranSmittcrS were "caked;" that |
is. the little button hidden in the in |
side of the machine refused to work |
except when compelled to do so by an |
undue exercise of the subscribers lung
power. This trouble was not difficult |
to remedy and the lines were soon re- |
stored to perfect order
Most telephone users welcome the |
trouble man when lie comes to the |
house though in the majority Of cases |
ii is the first intimation they have that |
their lines are not working as they |
should. Few stop to realize. however,
what an important branch of the ser |
vice maintenance is. The machinery
Of telephone plant is as delicate as |
its results are obvious and only the
most careful supervision can keen |
every little detail in order. The wire |
chief is busy man, for the one who |
should wait for subscribers com |
plant before he bcStirred himself |
would not last long in the employ of |