The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-12-02

| AS 20 the employees, in Salt LAX,
alone there is small army, an army
numbering 400 persons.
Operators ..,.-... "a
Clerks .....,.,... ... ia
Repnirmen, linemen and instalIcrs. 20. II!
| Engineering department .............. q
Heads OF the several departments and
their Immediate officers. 81
Iotal .,.,ss-. ........,............46 46O
You did not know that many persons
were necessary, nor did you have ar
idea that this number was employed
10 tins army is paid annually the sun
of S3l3,9O6.92, or $26, 1881 per month
or $1,000 a day for every working day
IN the year. OF course this sum rep
resents many thousands of dollars more
paid out than the local receipts in Salt
Lake, and demonstrates what the big
| corporation does for Salt Lake.
Now this corporation, this trust. if
you will, that invaded this great Inland
Empire and put into it hundreds of
| thousands of dollars, serves 10000 peo.
| pie In their homes, their business places
| and In mines, with phones, that being
| the number of telephones furnished
subscribers in the four States on YES
| terday.
On the same date II 900 persons in
Salt AXE had Bell phones in their
homes, business houses and Offices one
,phone Tor every seven persons in Salt
Lake. Marvellous did you say2 Yes.
but not so marvellous as the fact that
you can talk over the copper wire.
ana over this copper wire. if YOU were
IN Denver, You could talk with Spo-
kane, distance of 1926 miles.
suppose you had a relative or friend
working in one of the mines at Bing-
ham, 1000 feet under the ground, Y6n
want TO speak with him. Take down
your phone. cali long distance, ask for
the mine, "ll003 Red IN moment
the answer comes from the end OF the
molsture-proof mine set, and Your
relative or friend is called. You hold
your conversation, In n moment or more
you have finished, You have saved .
day time and worry and the cost has
been % cents. Marvellous. isn't IL?
III might be said in this connection This
moisture proof mine wire is lead.cov.
cred and weighs 80 pounds to the ward
III might also be said that when ii
comes TO up-to-date telephone apparatus
the Rocky Mountain Bell company has
put forward more up-to.date methods
than any other company in the coun.
try. Any improvement in phones is
taken up at once. II might be men
toned here that ''iacksp 10 Garry
phones were used by the Rocky Moun
tam Bell company before it was thought
of East
Some day when you have had n row
with the girl at the switchboard. when
You nave fretted and fumed and cursed
ana old everything you should not have
done because You failed to get a con.
nection, just hang up your receiver and
Walk over to the Telephone building
and ask TO see the operating-room. s
peasant and courteous employee will
escort you TO the room. Over there is
the young woman with whom YOU have
mad the row. On her head is a metal
band, and attached 10 this ia re.
celver, which is fastened to her ear.
IN In front OF her is the switchboard
Every second not only one but a dozen
miniature lights flash in front of her
-FOUR hundred calls an hour is the num-
Der she answers; 2S00 in n day of seven
hours. You are not the only cross
grained party she has to deal with.
There are many others. She gets tired
and weary, and when her days work
is ended she leaves her station worn
out with the terrific nervous strain
winch she has been under during the
day, She is almost ready to throttle
you and she would if she was not so
tired. Poor girl, she has her troubles.
and when she is called before the chief
operator upon the carpet, as IL were,
Tor some lnfractlon of the rules which
your cross disposition has caused her
to break-well one wonders why she
does not take a club and 90 after
you, and the writer, whom every one
about the operating-room knows never
gets cross or cranky with the operators.
is ready 10 help her
In this operating room are twelve SUI
pervlsors, who look after 1875 operators
at the main switchboard, as also FIVE
information operators. Here is also A
school for operators, where the new op-
orators are taught the mysteries con
nected with the great switchboard.
And about this switchboard When the
present one was installed several wears
ago it was thought to be adequate for
many years to come, but so rapid has
been the growth of the system that an
other new switchboard will soon be
placed in position. These switchboards
by the way, cost money. The new one,
soon to be installed, cost quarter mil
hon of dollars. Three months will be
required TO place it in position after
it arrives and in the new building pro
visions have been made for two such
boards. Each board will have q capa- |
city for $500 lines and each board will |
seat htty-seven operators. Each Of |
hese $500 lines appear in twenty diff |
ferent places on the board, nineteen of
them arranged along the board so that
7dcn operator can nave practically all |
the lines on the board before her. Won. |
| erful piece Of work, this switchboard.
Marvellous as the telephone itself.
Now, these lines which come into
5h1s switchboard are enclosed in cables |
and II they were In n continuous wire |
would almost girdle the earth, for they !
represent 20,065 miles of copper wire |
n cables; 400 pairs of wires in the
cable. Marvellous thing this telephone !
IS.
Speaking about cables and wire, the
Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone com
2any during the present year, from
January to October /, bought 739,379
bounds of copper wire, and all OF this
goes into building lines in order that
your convenience may be looked after.
AT the present time a line is being
to Ely, and will be extend
ed from there to Goldfeld and Tono-
Dah.
= Patrons Of the Rocky Mountain Bell
Telephone company outside of Zion