Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-08
AT THE ''HELLO'' PLANT
Watching the Wheels 90 Round
In a Telephone Exchange.
SIXTY WOMEN IN ONE ROOM
All Talking at Once and Yet There is
No Riot.
HOW MISS CENTRAL WORKS
Little Light winks at Her, She labs
at It With Plug, Then
You Talk-Maybe.
SIXTY WOMEN IN ONE ROOM
low MISS CENTRAL WORKS

phone first came into use it was looked
upon almost as a piece of necromancy; peo-
/ pie paid for the privilege Of using it lust
! for the fun of the thing" and went around
/ telling their friends how they had been
able to hear over It. Common usage has,
| however. altered the publics attitude, and
| while 1t is even more remarkable in many
| ways today than 1t was then, 1t Is generally
| accepted as matter of course and petu-
lantly complained OF IL occasionally 1t
| fails in mechanical cleverness. The whole
process of taking down the earpiece. giving
a number and getting a desired connection
is so exceedingly simple that When there
is hitch one naturally feels aggrieved
| What Is more irritating than to be told
that "the line is busy or that they
| won't answer" What more trying than to
hold receiver up to your ear for fifteen
seconds without hearing the customary
query What number. please?" It Is then
that In utter desperation you begin wildly
'agftating the enunciator.''
| But II you would restore the old-time
wonder. lay up patience for future teIe-
phonfc use, and gain perpetual respect for
| the voice that morning and night responds
to your call. visit the central office of a
large city exchange and ask to be initiated
| into the way the thing is done.
1t Is always interesting to get behind the
scenes-to watch the. wheels go round-to
| observe the mechanism of great working
you feel yourself part not merely of the
audience. but of the giant enterprise, and
no less. indeed, Is every subscriber. The
telephone system is like huge living
running out In every direction. 1t deals
not with the masses, but with the individ-
ual-it comes in direct contact with thou
sands who reckon themselves units.
At the Main Exchange.
Can you imagine sixty women in one room
all talking at once and yet no hubbub or
confusion? Such a condition prevails in
the local telephone company's. main ex-
change, which is situated on the top floor
of their large Office building ON 18th street
There, running almost the entire length Of
the wall, forming great u. are the switch
boards by the means of which not only this
city but Baltimore and the rural districts
are brought into direct communication.
They are curious affairs like honey-combed
blackboards, rising three or four feet above
narrow shelf. Before these on HIGH re-
volying stools, cane-seated and with backs,
are the telephone gfrls-sixty or more in
number-each with her allotted section, all
endlessly busy and constantly On the alert
1t is no joke being a telephone girl, for to
make success of 1t one must be quick,
accurate and uncommonly patient. Original
ly the company coached its noyie es in the
office and let them get their experience
at the expense of the subscribers, but now
| 1t provides regular school for beginners
i Is. taught by an ex-chief operator. and con-
sists of practice work of every description
So thorough is the training and so difficult
comparatively, the operation. that two.
thirds OF the applicants drop out or are
dropped before The conclusion Of the reg
ular four weeks course.
Graduated from this school the girl be-
comes full-fedged operator and Joins the
little army of workers that comes and goes
with military exactitude. At stated inter-
walls her salary Is advanced, and eventually
she may become a supervisor, a chief Oper-
atOr or branch manager. The pay is fair
though not perhaps, munifcent. but the
conditions are agreeable. One shift comes
on at In the morning. one at and one at
8. These work. respectively, until 4. 5 and
o'clock in the afternoon, with one-half
hour for lunch and another for rest allowed
them. fourth shift comes on at noon and
works until 9 in the evening. when it is
| relieved by the night shift, which Is on
duty. with two-hour sleep allowance, I'M
til the next morning.
Every third week the day girls have to
work on Sunday. but then they are given.
holiday. and in the same way the night
workers are allowed similar rest for like
| duty.
Provision for Rest.
Without special permission an operator
cannot leave the telephone building during
her hours Of service. The company, how
ever provides not only a rest room, but a
dining hall. where coffee and tea are gratu-
itously served and home luncheons may be
eaten. This is quite an interesting feature
The tables, which accommodate six or
eight. are of polished wood and bare. The
room Is undecorated, but airy and scrupu-
lousy neat. There is soup to be had at 3
cents cup, stew and baked beans at the
same price and pie per slice for two pen
MES extra. That would in the aggregate
amount to IA cents a day, but when sup
plemented by home lunch box. costs al
most nothing.
The rest room provided for the operators
Is beyond the lunch room and Is Of good
proportions, comfortably furnished and
cheerful. On the tables are found the best
current magazines, and among themselves
the operators are planning the collection of
small permanent library. To the right
of these rooms are the tiled toilet rooms,
the locker corridor and the so-called "hos-
pital," where emergency remedies are kept
and cases of sudden illness treated.
If you chance to visit the exchange at
midday you will probably. before you leave,
hear the tramp of feet and. turning about,
observe two lines of girls marching in from
the hallway, each with her Office equip
ment. AS they enter they separate, one
line going to the right and the other to the
left, keeping step and perfect order. No
word is said, but suddenly the lines pause,
positions are taken by the sides of work
ing operators. one plug is pressed in. an
other slipped out, the lines have changed,
the new shift is installed. and not for an
instant has the business Of the exchange
been interrupted. Back to the door march
the girls who have been relieved, and at
the signal of a bell out they go.
Careful Discipline.
The whole force is, indeed. under military
discipline. No one girl is counted as a sin
gle unit: they work in teams. and as such
have their efficiency reckoned. Each team
has a supervisor, one whose business 1t Is
to see that nothing goes amiss or Is neg
lected; to relieve any single operator who
has more business than she can handle and
to see that none falls below the average.
These have risen from the ranks" and en-
Ter with each other Into stimulating rivalry.
Sometimes the calls come in very rapidly
and the switch board becomes tangle of
wires; then but for the supervisors help the
operator would be swamped and the COM
plant bureau kept busy. There Is some
thing exciting II not exhiliarating In the
work; 1t is like q great game, and every
one wants to win out with high record.
Each girl keeps her hand supplied with a
connecting wire and the instant q little
light winks she jabs at 1t with a plug. The
faster they come the more exciting the
game, and the more vigorously she jabs her
plugs In One girl has received and answer
ed, without error, 275 subscribers calls In
an hour; while another. handling branch
operators only. has made a record Of be-