New-York tribune., 1907-06-30
THE SWITCHBOARD.
Its Origin and Development in Tele-
phOne Use.

phone line and the first switchboard, which fan
together about Thirty years ago in April
single wire strung from the factory IN Boston
where Bells Instruments We're made to the manu-
facturer's residence in Somerville. two or three
miles out in the suburbs. This the first tele-
phone line constructed-the primal ancestor
of the seven and a half million miles or WIRE
which connect than three million SUD-
scribarS' stations In system alone. Al tle
beginning Of the summer Of 1871 soon after the
erection of the first telephone line, several wires
radiatng from common centre were for the hrst
time interconnected By means of a crude device
which, through evolution, has become the huge. IN
tricate. highly perfected switchboard of to-day.
Next 10 the telephone itself the switchboard IS
the most marvellous ana most necessary Ie'IluLe
OF the communicating system remarkable eNgl-
neering feats have been performed IN building The
lines. local and long distance. Broad rivers have
been SIanned or underlaid; lofty mountain Sides
nave been scaled rock and sand. precipice and
quagmre. storm and flood. all have presented
seemingly insurmOuntable obstacles which. In their
turns. have been overcome. sometimes with most
ingenious skill. The work OF the line builders has
been the most spectacular. no doubt. but 1t would.
after all, have counted for little were II not allied
with the inventive genius that devised the means
OF Joining into any two of the myr1ads OF
copper threads by which our voices are carried
far and near.
The earliest attempt at interconnection the
general plan OF the exchange as we understand
II to-day was made In Boston In May, Is17- There
was then operating in this city company which
provided electrical burglar alarm service. 1t had
central station where the alarm signals WERE con-
nected by wires with the premises OF its various
subscribers. who chiefly bankers and mer
chants Arrancements were made for the use of
these lines and the central station expert
mental telephone exchange Telephones were at
taChed five of the circuits-three In banks.
In the office Of u Arm of bankers and one in the
office of the manufacturer of the instruments-and
repeatedly the wires were so connected in the
alarm cOmpanys headquarters that conversations
were carried on between the several subscribers
The crude apparatus used for making these con-
nections could hardly be called switchboard.
though II served. in its small way. the pur-
81. VBrs
It contained the germ of great Idea. It started
experiments tho result OF which there put
into operation the following January a real tele
phone central office. In Bridgeport. Conn. there
was private telegraph system, private teegraphy
being sort of social fad at that time and among
the enthusiasts connected with IL Thomas B.
Doolittle already the inventor of many ingenious
devices and soon to be the producer Of more. MT.
Doolttle attached the telephone instrument 10 his
society telegraph wires. modified the switchboard
through which the lines had been connected so
that It could be manipulated by an operator, and
attached signal bells to all the circuits as a means
of calling the operators attention There Were
twenty subscribers served by this pioneer switch
business street Of any American city that does
not contain many telephones as twenty. and
there plenty of commercial offices and indus
trial plants in every large city which have private
switchboards of their own serving more than
twenty stations floor of a building
In the same month that Mr. DoolittIe put his
switchboard into operation the first fully equipped
commercial telephone exchange ever established
for public general service was opened In New
haven II was q success from tn6 Stdrt ana no
sooner was the success OF the New Haven under
taking apparent than other cities began installing
central offices. The possibilities thus given the
telephone increased It's popularity enormously, IN
spite Of the doubts and hesitation nearly every one
showed IN the early days. on June 81. ETi, there
were $50 telephones in regular use-230 telephones
In the whole world thirty years ago to-day where
now there upward Of 100000 Within a month
after tho number had more than trebled within
months II had been multiplied by six. and by
the spring OF 1850 there IN operation some
sleO transmitting and receiving telephones Mean
time the central offices had multiplied wonderfully.
and by March, 1sSl. there were in the United states
only nine cities OF more than 10000 inhabitants. and
only OF moro than 1900 without a telephone
exchange.
The early switchboards were curious cOntrap-
tions beside the modern type OF apparatus. They
took several forms before the multiple board
used worked out At first they had sig
nal bells OF different tones one at the end OF each
subscribers circuit the distinctive tone indicating
which line ringing up" Then numbered
drops were adopted each line having a metallic
shutter In the front OF the board which when the
subscriber turned the generator crank at the side
OF his telephone instrument fell SO as 70 display
the nun Der OF his nre- And finally came the
common battery" switchboard. now in use in all
large cities and being adapted 10 smaller eX-
changes IN which the operators signal Is given by
a tiny incandescent electric lamp. The one place
IN the telephone system where a bell never rings
IS the central office.
Some OF the early switchboards big frames
set along the side of the operating roon the con-
nect,ons being made by boys who ran from one
point 70 another as the calls came In Others were
elongated tables, the switch sockets being set
the fiat top and the cords for connecting them
being suspended from the ceiling Apparatus OF
this clumsy and slow 10 operate. besides
being limited in the number OF lines IL could pro
vide for. 1t abandoned In the United states
a quarter OF a century but II is curious COM
mentRry the lack OF progressveness IN some
dire,tions Of our transatlantic cousins that Il
stn in use In some of the government operated eS-
changes OF Europe. No doubt their bEckwRrdness
In adopting improvements accounts for the small
development of European telephone systems as
compared with the development in this country In
the last few years there have been devised So
called automatic telephone systems, In which
the subscriber does the work of making connec-
tions between his lines and the lines OF other sub
scrbers instead OF that work being done by an
operator in the central office.
The rate at which facilities for verbal communi-
cation by wire have expanded and the enormous
cost of this growth among the most impressive
things In American industrial history They are
suggested In the cold figures OF the census report
already referred TO- when II says The total value
OF telephone apparatus manufactured. as report
ed In the census OF 1905. SIS. S63 SOS. COM
pared with Sl0,5l2.4l2 for the census of 1900
These figures reveal all the facts, for during
the period covered greater activity was shown
IN any department of electrical application than In
telephony The value returned for the 42SS central
switchbo6rds was s. Ia. .+{7 to which should be
added the 3el7 private exchange boards. Of q value
of s56l 795 making q total of $57l9.2i2 To this
should be added a large proportion of the value
OF son 500 reported for telephone parts and sup
plies The subscribers apparatus used In connec-
ton with these exchange boards and smaller equip
ments was reported as having value of $SO0S,'5S,
OF which S64S3 418 represented by complete sets
of transmttcrS and receivers And this Is Just
the apparatus and equipment for central offices and
subscribers stations. taking no account OF the ex-
penditures upon the outside lines. overhead under
ground and submarine.
SOME STRANGE ESQUIMAU CUSTOMS.