The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-05-30
INTO new HOME
Independent Telephone Com
pany Making Ready to Move.
New Quarters Will Be Most
Complete in West.
CHANGE ON JUNE 18TH
Force of 100 Girls Will Be
Employed.
Cost of Improvements Will
Aggregate 100000.
CHANGE ON JUNE 18TH


if everything goes right" said B. F.
Pankey, president of the Independent
Telephone company, as he stood in
front of the new structure which has
| just been completed and watched the
workmen engaged in laying cement
walks.
To a casual observer it would ap
pear from the street as though but
little was being done towards accom-
plishing this end, but once inside of
the building his mind would speedily
| be disabu There is a small army
of electrical experts engaged in every
department under the direction of
Superintendent Nevin in forwarding
speed consistent with the installation
of a plant of this kind.
| In the second story where the bat
/ teries and insulation boards are To-
! Gated a number of the most expert
wire workers of the country are en-
gagged under the direction of B. E
Niven, who is installing the plant for
the American Telephone company of
Chicago. In and out among the laby-
rinth of wires these men have worked
| for weeks, some of them suspended
1 from the ceiling while others occupy
every conceivable space about the
building
The wires enter the building in
cables from the alley on the north and
are carried to the second floor where
the work of distribution has already
commenced. 1t is on this floor that
they are first released from their lead
container and find their way to the
operating boards on the floor above.
After they enter the building they
are strung on insulation racks which
afford protection from lightning and
chance connection with heavily
charged electric light or street car
wires It is this board which affords
6C
to its fire proof condition. Here the
wires find their way into smaller con-
tainerss of the same kind and are car
ried TO other parts of the building and
a network of small cables is the re-
The changing over" Of the wires
will be a delicate and difficult task and
subscribers may find the service slight
" impaired while this ia being done.
The work will. however, be done as ex-
peditiously as possible under the di-
rect supervision of w P Hemphill. /
secretary of the company and himself
an electrical expert.
Building Is Ffreproof.
To an unframed mind the mass of
wires mean nothing and the wonder /
is how order and accuracy can be /
brought out of the chaotic condition |
which seems to prevail. Every pos
sible trouble has been anticipated and |
while the Edison company will fur |
nish the current for the exchange in I
case break down SnOulQ occur III
that plant the Independent company |
has a natural gas engine of its own |
which will take the place and do the |
work of the Edison plant
Instead of supplying the current df- |
rect as has been done in the past it /
will be carried to a storage tank and +
used as needed thus doing away with /
the machine noise" incident to the /
telephone exchanges of the city at the /
present time.
The building itself is a substantial /
three-story brick directly east of the I
state house square on Jackson street
and besides being a model of its kind I
is as nearly fire proof as is possible.
All the glass used is of the wire laid
fire proof variety and even the window
frames and easements are of steel.
building which could be destroyed by
fire even though the buildings near it
should burn.
steel has entered largely into the
construction of the interior and all of
the floors are cement while steel posts
support the floors and roof, the build
ing alone costing $4,000.
The fixtures of the building includ-
ing the local board are finished in ma
hogany. The floors OF the office are
of rubber inlafd while the carpets of
the operating room on the third floor
are of cork so that not a sound can be |
heard as the force moves about or the
operators pass to and from their po-
sitions-
The Off1ce fixtures and furniture of
and brass are the finest
ever brought to the city for this pur-
pose and were manufactured for the
Telephone company from
original designs. at a cost of about
$1,000.
Not a scrap of the furniture now in
use will be used about the new build
ing as II has been sold to the manu-
facturers of the present outfit who will
ship 1t to Billings. Mont, where it will
be installed in a city almost the size
of Topeka.
Matron to Be Employed
The second floor of the building will
be given over to the officers of the
operating department of the exchange
with the several superintendents and
the girls employed as operators. A
matron will be in charge of the de-
partment for the girls and while on
this floor they will be under her direct
Steel lockers have been provided
for each of the operators and they are
furnished with individual keys. One
room is set apart for a hospital where
the employees will receive attention in
case of accidents or sickness while on
duty. In another room arrangements
have been made for the lunches of the
operators, many of whom come from
a distance and prefer to carry their
meals with them
The top floor is given over entirely
TO the boards, local and long distance,
and this as well as all other depart
nents is a model from a sanitary as {
well as the beauty standpoint. The
local board which will accommodate
900 subscribers is arranged in the
the open part to the east.
1t iG hare that the great inprove-l