The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-09-16
THE GENERAL PUBLIC
 AND THE TELEPHONE An Idea of What Happens in Court Street When You
 Call Central.
COMMON BATTERY SERVICE
Improvements Introduced by Installation of This
 New Method.

Year by year the telephone is becom- ing more valuable to the business man and the housekeeper. While many in- agine that they fully appreciate the value of telephone service, no one full ly realizes it's true worth until he has been in a place where it is impossible for him to reach a telephone. Tele- phony is rapidly becoming the most useful invention of the age and with of it's value. it is but a mater of time when practically every house will be equipped with a telephone.
 In spite of this tremendous use of service, however, the average sub- scribed has little idea of the manner in which his call is handled There is a Central, that Is all he knows about the matter. For this reason a de- scription of how a call is handled may interest the telephone using public.
 The point to which all the subscrib- CTS lines converge is the switchboard. It is through this that the connections are set up. The board is divided into sections. Each section into three po- sitions, an operator handling the calls that come in on each of these. Each one of these is, therefore, known as an operators position. Directly in front of the operator are a number of little holes known as subscribers jacks. h. to these little holes come the lines from the subscribers telephones. Over each is a small electric light.
 Above these holes are what are known as the multiple jacks The number of these holes depends on the number of lines in the city. Each girl has in front of her hole or jack rep resenting every line in the city. This arrangement is duplicated in front of every position. It is therefore impos- sible for her 10 plug into any wire in the exchange that a subscriber may desire. There are no lights connected with these jacks.
 The operator wears a head piece to which is attached the receiver, which fits close to one ear. On her breast is an aluminium holder into which Is set the transmitter through which she speaks Both of these are connected by means of cords to plug which she inserts into a jack hole in the board thus connecting her receiver and trans mftter with the position she is to oper- ate.
 Having gained some idea of the op- erators' tools, so to speak, we will go on with the method in which a call is actually handled. We, will begin with the calling subscriber who takes the receiver off the hook This act completes battery circuit. This op, eration completed another battery cir cult, in which there is a calling in ol signal lamp, is put into operation and the light, mentioned above as being situated over the hole or jack into which the subscribers line comes, is lighted Tn front of the operator are number of pairs of cords with meta tips or plugs at the ends. The opera. tor takes one of these from the back row and inserts the plug in the jack directly under the signal lamp.
 Having plugged into the jack ol hole the operator throws back switch which connects her transmitter ant receiver with the line of the calling subscriber, and says, What nun. ber?" The subscribed now has Cen tral and should give his number, talk ing care to see that the operator re peats it correctly. When the subscrib