The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1907-02-28
Troubles of Telephone Company
on Long Distance Lines Will
Soon be Over
POLE CLIMBING WILL CEASE
One Hundred Wires That Storms Can
not Touch Will Soon be Available
Between Chicago aad Milwau-
kee- Breaks Easily Found

Many of the trouble shooters and
linemen employed by the Wisconsin
Telephone company between Milwau-
kee and Kenosha will be transferred
to other departments when the pro-
posed improvements to the system are
completed next fall. The reason for
moving the men who have spent much
of their time in climbing poles is that
the lines for through" traffic will be
torn down when the cables are placed
in conduits which are now completed
There may be storms of sleet and
snow, heavy winds from Lake Mich
lgan and all other sorts of disaster,
but the officials Of the Wisconsin Tele
phone company will only smile. They
will remembe the damage which was
once done to their poles and wires,
and smile again.
One object of the company in plac-
ing its cables beneath the surface of
the ground is to obviate all trouble
caused by the severe storms which
usually occur during the spring and
fall months. The conduits are placed
below the frost line, so that there will
be little work for the men who have
been employed to tshoot trouble
The company has found that it is
impossible to handle all Of the traffic
between Milwaukee and Chicago on
the present circuit, the increasing
business demanding twice the num-
her IF wires IN ,yUa = Fovu x,a,~s ..r.-
With the pole system, it is impossible
to have more than twenty,three cir
cults, and when the cables are placed
in the conduits, there will be nearly
hundred lines that can be used be-
tween the two cities.
1t costs less to maintain an under
ground system than poles and wires
above ground. The conduits are made
of wood, covered with creosote to pro-
tect them against decomposition.
Breaks IN the wires are located by
means of the galvanometer, an instru-
ment used for the purpose of measur-
ing the intensity Of electric currents.
The resistance per mile in the wire is
determined by means of the instru-
ment, and it is then multiplied by a
certain unit which gives the distance
of the break from the station.
The galvanometer, of course, has
been used by the construction depart
ment of the telephone company in
locating breaks in cables on the over
head system. Naturally the conduit
system causes many to wonder how
the breaks IN the long cables between
Milwaukee and Chicago could be
found and repaired. These acci-
dents will be discoveredaas quickly
as those which occur above ground,
and there will be no difficulty in re-
pairing the damage.
On many of the lines, the poles are
numbered SO that 1ineman car be
directed to a place and find the break
without losing any time. The system
of measuring the distance from the
station is followed soSaccurately that
an estimate is never more than FIVE
or six poles lengths out Of the way.
The cost of installing the cables in
the conduits will be in the neighbor-
hood Of 81, 00O,O 900. The poles will not
be torn down, but will be used for
farmers lines and for service be-
tween the points along the line from
Milwaukee to Kenos,ha, the southern
point Of the Wisconsin Telephone
company's syetenl.
The conduits were laid by the Bell
n
Telephone company, the Wisconsin
Telephone company's cables con-
meeting with those of the Chicago
Telephone company at Kenosha.
Notwithstanding the cost of the con-
struction work, it has been found that
to handle the rapidly increasing bust
ness more circuits are needed.