The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-12-30
TELEPHONES ON
BOARD VESSELS
Warships at Boston Navy Yard
Connected With Long Dis
lance Shore Lines.
CONVENIENT FOR THE MEN
HOLIDAY MESSAGES SENT HOME
WITH EASE.

Boston, Dec 29.-It has been possible
for officers of the warships at present
under repair at the navy yard here to
send holiday greetings home without
even so much as bothering to secure
shore leave to go TO a telegraph Office,
for the arrangements made by the navy
department to provide the squadron
now at Charlestown with long distance
telephone facilities have been completed
and each of the big men-of-war has it's
own public pay station for the use of
the captain and the members of his
staff.
The pay station is located aft. near
the officers quarters. and all the lieu
tenant or ensign need do is drop in to
the booth and call up central-which in
this case is the New England Telephone
& Telegraph companys- exchange in
CharIestown-and ask for New York,
Chicago or St. Louis, or any other OF
the thousands of points in the Bell sys-
TEN east of the Mississippi.
This arrangement is purely for the
convenience of the visiting officers. as
they may be called. the officers attached
to the ships stationed temporarily at
the yard, and it goes TO show how in
dispensable the telephone has become
even to men accustomed to spend a
Scene Is Picturesque.
In a way, this arrangement is the re-
suit of the increasing business of the
yard. The scene at the mouth of the
Charles is particularly picturesque at
the present time. In addition to the i'm
DTessive display of towering white bat
| Elements and buff -colored crows nests
\ huilt to carry rapid-fire guns, there is
the element of constant activity. Truly
, there is something doing" at the old
yard. a good deal more than has been
doing there for many years past Every
pier and drydock has its imposing
cruiser or battleship, and every shop is
working under high pressure.
Five of the battleships now in COM
mission are at the ward, the Georgia
Missouri, Iidiana, Rhode Island and
Illinois. q powerful fleet by themselves
and typical of the new navy" Be-
sides these there are the cruisers New
York, Nashville and Detroit and the
forDedo trairing ship Vesuvius. These
last four are out of commission for the
present.
Things are done faster. and probably
better. than they were in the old days
Here is an example of this: Until the
f1ood-tide Of business struck the
CharlestOwn yard the telephone was
looked upon as a limited convenience,
while now ii has taken it's place among
the indispensable things and become an
almost unlimited convenience. There
were plenty of telephones for yard use
formerly, about $50 altogether. but
when the cOmmandant or the head of a
department wanted to cali up Wash
iEgton or New York he had 10 go to one
of the yard pay stations or else to some
station outside the yard altogether.
Operators Are Enlisted Men.
Finally these busy men realized tina
such an arrangement would never NEE
the requirements of the press of bust
ness following the completion of TN,
mammoth dry dock. 1t woul1 be NOR,
like the tweitetS century TO have
direct outside connection. the felt
and with the approval of the navy dc
partment the New England Telephone
&. Telegraph company took out thu
1hirty-three telephones used by tn,
chief officers and department heads an,
put in new telephones and an extra
switchboard with trunk lines running
10 the Charleston exchange. Since ther
call TO Boston, across the Charles oI
10 any other point outside the yard