Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1907-09-14
Unsuspeeted Cnuses of .Trouble.n

Unsupported Causes of "Trouble."
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 instru-
ments on the subscribers premises.
This kind of trouble" is difficult to
| locate, and so is specially annoying;
but almost always It is perfectly
avoidable, being caused by uncon-
scious carelessness.
In one case when a subscriber re-
ported that he was unable to talk
through his telephone at all 1t was
found that a member of the family
had laid pair of spectacles on top
OF the bell box of 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 clos
Ing the circuit before II reached them.
Another subscriber declared that peo-
pie 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 Central to
perform her work properly, but to the
fact that his wife had muffied the tel
ephone bells while the baby took his
nap and had forgotten to remove the
muifler
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 every
thing, though. Every now and then
a subscribers station" fails to work
properly because some one stands "a
dripping umbrella where it saturates
the telephone cord and spoils the insu-
lation, or careless office boy does
similar damage in polishing a desk set
with liquid instead of with channels
leather Leaky plumbing raises hav-
oc with interior circuits every now
and then. Here and there is a ner-
vous person who has a habit of jab-
bling with pen the green silk cord of
his desk set while he is telephoning,
with the result, of course, that he
eventually spoils the insulation,
which brings the wires of the circuit
into contact and puts them out of
commission. And many subscribers
"tidget" with the green cord when
talking, twisting and bending it be-
tween their fingers till one of these
days the copper strands inside break
completely off.
Considerable Unsatisfactory SER
vice" is caused by subscribers attach
ing to the telephone instrument de-
vices of one sort or another that in
terfere with its proper working. Moth
ing should be fastened to the trans
mitter by screwing the mouthpiece
through it, for instance that disar
ranges the adjustment For obvious
reasons nothing should be stretched
over the opening Of the mouthpiece;
that puts an obstacle between the
NOlSO anu IllC ulipll d6lll uS LlOulu-
piece can be kept perfectly clean by
wiping it out with a dry cloth; no
liquid should be used.
Carpenters, paper hangers, paint
ers, 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 1t in their attempts
to replace things as they found them.
When it Is necessary to disturb tele-
phone wiring for any purpose, the |
company should be asked to send its |
own expert men; and it will save the |
subscriber loss of time and intarrnp- |
tion of service if he will notify his |
manager at once of any kind of |
trouble" so that it may be traced |
and remedled as quickly as possible. |
There is no charge for calling the ex-
change office for this purpose, wheth
er the call Is made from subscrib
ers station" or from a public pay |
station