The Republican journal., 1907-11-07
TELEPHONE TALKS.
unsupported Causes of "Trouble."

unsupported SduSeS OF IfOuDle.'
Apart from the inevitable trouble"
in the intricate and sensitive equip
| ment of central offices and in the ex-
tensive system of outside lines, over
head and underground, the telephone
service occasionally suffers from dis
turbance of the circuits Or instruments
on the subscribers premises. This
kind of trouble" is difficult to locate,
and SO is specially annoying; but al
most always it is perfectly avoldable,
being caused by unconscious careless
ness.
In one case when a subscriber report
ed that he was un2 bic to talk through
his telephone at all it was found that a
member of the family had laid a pair
the instrument SO that the steel bows
touched against the binding posts to
which the outside wires are fastened,
thus cutting out" both transmitter
and receiver by closing the circuit be-
| fore it reached them. Another sub
scriber declared that people who called
him had been told 'They don't answer"
when he knew positively that the bell
had not rung at all. His difficulty
turned out to be due not to any failure
of "CentraP' to perform her work
properly, but to the fact that his wife
had muf1ied the telephone bells while
| the baby took his nap and had forgot
! ten to remove the muller.
Inside telephone wiring is insulated
with the greatest care to protect it
against dampness and to keep the wires
separated from each other. 1t cannot
be made proof against everything
though. Every now and then a sub
scriber's station" fails to work prop
erly because some one stands a drip
ping umbrella where it saturates the
telephone cord and spoils the insula-
ton, or careless office boy does similar
damage in polishing a desk set with
liquid instead of with chamoiS leather.
Leaky plumbing raises havoc with i'll
terror circuits every now and then.
Here and there is a nervous person who
has a habit of Jabblng with a pen the
green silk cord of his desk set while he
is telephoning, with the result, of
course, that he eventually spoilS the in
sulation, which brings the wires of the
circuit into contact and puts them out
of commission. And many subscribers
''hdget" with the green cord when talk
ing, twisting and bending it between
their fingers till one of these days the
CoppSl iuSluS Ulcdh COul
off.
Considerable unsatisfactory service
is caused by subscribers attaching to
the telephone instrument devices of one
sort or another that interfere with it's
proper working. Nothing should be
fastened to the transmitter by screw
ing the mouthpiece through it, for in
stance; that disarranges the adjust
ment. For obvious reasons nothing
should be stretched over the opening of
the mouthpiece; that puts an obstacle
between the voice and the diaphragm.
The mouthpiece can be kept perfectly
clean by wiping it out with dry cloth;
no liquid should be used
Carpenters, paper hangers, painters,
plumbers and other workmen who, with
the best intentions in the world, move
the wires temporarily that they may
better do their work, frequently either
break the circuit in doing so, or injure
it in their attempts to replace things
as they found them. When it is neces-
sary to disturb telephone wiring for
any purpose, the company should be
asked to send it's own expert men; and
it will save the subscriber loss of time