Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-25
USE oF-THE. TELEPHONE
INTRODUCTION IN CoMMERCIAL
LIFE OF WASHINGTON.

"A HlceltHS VI tie <AIllcIICAh 1iActASuIC VI
Electrical Engineers was held last night
in University Hall Of the George Wash.
ington University, 10th and H streets north
west. After short business session Mr..
Edward Russell, who presided, introduced
Mr.. Paul @. Burton, electrical engineer od
the Chesapeakess and Potomac Telephone
Company who made brief address and
introduced Mr.. George c. Maynard. me-
chanical and electrical curator Of the
Smithsonian Institution, who. he stated,
is one OF the pioneer telephone men in the
District.
Mr.. Maynard read paper on the intro
duction Of the Telephone in the District,
which was, in part, as follows:
Prof. Alexander Graham Bell. who per-
fected and invented the telephone, hon
ored the United States by bringing 1t to
this city for Its first Introduction, and
the people of the United States and of
this city can never too highly honor Prof.
Bell for his achievements. Had the in
ventor appeared with accomplishments of
mystery and ceremony, bringing complfcat-
ed and elaborate apparatus for examina-
ton and submitting some great problem
for investigation, the proposition would
have received more serious consideration:
but he simply presented a small piece Of
wood, a magnetized steel rod, tint heliz
Of fine wire, scrap Of thin sheet iron and
announced that with one Of these toys at
each end OF a wire, persons could readily
hold conversations; therefore the proposition
was pronounced to be impossible. Few per-
sons were even willing to try the expert
ment.
Fail to Understand.
ITO most persons the demonstration was
so strange that they could only ascribe 1t
to supernatural power, and the only way by
which this feeling could be overcome was
by getting two intimate friends to talk with
each other, and thus make them understand
where the communications they received
really came from.
I'm the fall of 1873 the telephone appeared
in this city. At the outset experiments
were made on special lines erected which
connected the Capitol and the departments.
the police lines and some others. The wires
leading from the Capitol ran through an
underground cable, which was the first
underground circuit in this city. After q
short period of trial the telephone was Of
fered to the public as practical device.
This proposition was received with much
incredulity and ridicule.
Mr.. Gardner G. Hubbard, under whose
control the telephone business had been
placed by Professor Bell, endeavored to CO.
operate with the Western Union Telegraph
Company over their wires, but the company
pronounced it a humbug Private lines were
first established. connecting different offices
two hand telephones and magnetic call
bells. One of the early installations was at
Kendall Green Institute.
Used First by Evening Star.
1.-THE first experimental and educational
public central office was located at 1923 q
street northwest. into which a number of
private wires were run and connected with
a twenty-four-wire Western Union peg
switch, the purpose of which was to give
persons an opportunity to experiment with
the new method. The first exchange oper-
ator was Burnet L. Nevius. and the first
person to use the service was reporter for
The Evening Star assigned to duty at the
Capitol during the sessions of Congress
After some explanations he was enabled to
send his reports of congressional proceed
ings up to the latest hour before the paper
went to press. This first attempt was so
successful that The Star reporters at the
Capitol continued the practice until the end
Of the session.
THE first public exchange was estab-
lished in October, 1878, and after a short
time the first fifty subscribers were Sc
cured. In building the system wires were
run almost exclusively on housetops, as for
twenty years the District authorities OPP
posed the extension of the pole lines
Mr.. Maynard then described the equip
ment of the central office. He stated that
at first boys were employed as operators,
but they proved unsatisfactory. and were
gradually replaced by girls He said for
the first year of the business subscribers
were called by their full personal or firm
name, and when NUMBERS were ADOPTED the
greatest opposition was aroused. I'm one
instance he said. "a firm of three law
yers refused to respond to calls unless the
name of each member was distinctly and
respectively given:
Toll System Introduced.
Later on a toll system was arranged,
which caused a rebellion, due to a lack of
misunderstanding of what the results would
be. After considerable explanation a modi-
fed plan was adopted by which yearly
rates were adjusted to the amount Of bust
ness done, and non-subscribers could pay
for occasional messages. The original num-
Der of subscribers within six months in
creased to 100, and thereafter increased
about 100 per year to 1885,
Mr.. Burton gave an interesting illustrated
lecture on Telephony" in which he de-
scribed the various uses of the telephone.
The illustrations consisted of a map of the
city showing how the cables are distributed
about the streets. the various methods of
stringing wires on poles and the erection of
cables on buildings
Others who spoke on the subject were
Messrs F. H. Bethel, vice president, and
B. w. Trafford, general manager, of the
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Com
pany. The audience consisted largely of
employees of the mechanical division of the