The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-07-22

luIt Slll iiiOlt NOiiQCi ANis
Looking Twenty Years Ahead.
Each subsidiary company has its own
engineering force which handles all or
binary matters ION the spot" But things
come up in the days work everywhere
which can best be dealt with by the train
ed investigator who has specialized for
years, and these matters are referred to
the skyscraper laboratory. 1t may be
some difficulty in transmission for which
no cause can be found. 1t may be a de-
mand for a new kind of telephone service,
requiring a modification of the ordinary
instrument 1t may be the laying out
of an intricate underground SYSTEM, or
planning group of central offices in some
distant city to provide for the growth OF
years to come, for in making their plans
today the Bell engineers look twenty
years ahead. Perhaps it is new scheme
of operation which promises to Top OIL
a second or two from the time It takes
to get Subscribers into communication.
One specialist studies methods OF TIM
Der preservation--a matter of great I'M
nortance. since the demand for poles by
the various Industries using electrician cur
rent is devouring trees of the proper size
at least five times as fast as nature can
replace them. Another devotes hiihseil
to underground conduits, weighing by
laboratory tests and by actual use the
different surroundings, considering such
questions as where creasoted wood is best,
where tiles are preferable, whether man.
hole In a given kind Of soil should De
concerted or bricked, what kind OF con-
struction is best for city and what 1or
country, what difference should be mace
where the frost comes early and SINKS
deep and where frost Is unknown. third
is making his life work the study OF IN
sulation-most important OF all to good
transmission, which means good service,
since II perfect insulation could DE de-
ysed tremendous loss of current would
Be saved Still others are seeking means
of overcoming the loss In TRANSMISSION .,',
now inevitable by finding ways OF build
ing UP the current or maintaining It's
strength in spite of all obstacles.
An Important Work.
An important work is done, too, in keep
ing every item added to the telephone
nlant "up to standard" Cable, wire.
instruments. switchboards, everything In
fact that goes Into the system, must pass
muster before Il can be delivered to the
constructor or equipment men, the man.
ufacturers make their own tests and are
expected to deliver their product in per-
feet condition. of course, but 1t Is all re-
examined by the telephone company
inspectors.
Each of the 100000 Bell telephones dis
trIbuted last year was tested out twice
once by the maker and once by the en-
gineers-before it was sent along to take
it's place in a busy metropolis or on q
far distant, isolated farm. Every inch OF
wire in the Bell system-and there are
G. 600, 600 miles of 1t already in use, over
head and underground, and thousands Oh
miles are added each day-passes under
the hand of an expert who feels 1t for
hicks and flaws that might weaken its
tensile strength, and samples from every
lot made are tested for both strength ana
conductivity As much as 1000 miles OF
wire are tested in a single day, the work
involving six distinct operations IN the
handling of each of the $50 sample COILS