New-York tribune., 1907-05-12
TROUBLES.
They Cost the Companies Millions
of Dollars ETcry Year.

Figures show that the minor troubles OF the
telephone service and the measures taken to keep
the plant in perfect working condition day III ana
day out. cost the companies millions OF uoli"iS
every year. This does not count the havoc wrought
among the wires by storms and hoods-the calaInl-
ties of the business. as they may be caIed-put III
cudes only the diurna round of things gone wrong
which are sometimes simple enough when they are
found. but often very difficult to locate ana
always even more disconcerting and annoying ana
much more expensive. 10 the telephone men thah
to their subscribers.
After all II is surprising when you come to
think OF IT, how little interruption of the telephone
service there is. The records Of exchanges IN tHe
big, cities show that the average no one SUD
scrihers service IS interrupted, even for second
oftener than in four years. l'"'-"ne
switchboard such is used in the larger central
Offices contains 1900 miles of wire and 2oop00 sol
dered connections with hundreds Of thousands OF
small parts including 5000 incandescent electric
lamp signals bigger aroUnl than an OLD fash-
ioned slate pencil with hlaments finer than hui
man hair Tho auxiliary apparatus through which
the outside circuits distributed and brought 10
the switchboard contains other thousands or miles
Of wire and other hundreds of thousands ot parts
For instance. the relay by which the current is
introduced into each subscribers Nnc-each line
having its own special reIay-contains mile and
half Of wire as fine ordinary sewing cotton-so
fine that Il takes four miles OF Il 20 weigh pound:
besides the subscribers relays there arc several
hundred others for trunk lines. office circuits. op-
orators positions and so on.
In this maze Of delIcdtcly adjusted mechanism
occur nearly half OF ELL the telephone mans
troubles Fortunately for him. tho central Office
plant is arranged with sucu skllful method that
every part OF Il be- reached easily II anything
goes wrong, and many cases OF trouble IN the ca
change equipment remed!ed without the SUBJ
scriber knowing that they have occurred. But 20
keep the system. inside and out. iu tho perfect
working order which mnimizos troubles and as
efficient service is tremendous expense, the
companies setting aside a third of their gross ma
every year for maintenance and repairs.
Considerable malicious damage is done hy thieves.
who strip cables, leaving the WTes exposed 20 rain
and sleet for the sake of the lead of which the
covering is made Squirrels are almost bad
Two legged thieves gnawing the protecting metal
away ana sometimes tampering with the in
suIatiou of the wires within. The brushing ot over
hanging tree limbs against the wires. particularly
In wet weather when the trees are heavy and.
being damp. good electrical conductors. is the
cummonest, perhaps, OF all the causes OF overhead
troubles is so detrimental to good transmission
that in some localities the companies resort to pri
Vate rights Of way broad enough to allow the cut
unS away on both sides of every thing tnat can
possibly interfere with the circuits.
Troubles in the underground system are partcu-
underground cables is mucn larger than in over
head cables. ard therefore the number Of circuits
affected is cOrresppndmgly greater. An injury to
underground cable which eventually causes
trouble may exist a month or two before it makes
wires out" the damage can he located by
jured; but II entire section of cable IS bad
must be made rom manholo TO manhoe until the
Frequently cable trouble underground is caused
sewers laying water or gas pipes repairing
streets or doing work of that kind. A while
I3ost0n came arrnee Tbat az io p1t Ii LOW" Z niar
box buried severai feet 6eIowy the eIIrfaco Tr5t
foreman. evidently without stopping 10 think
throw it away" This they proceeded to do with
enthusiasm and few minutes later telephone
they could not get Central and began making
Trouble men" have found an underground cable
cut clear through by a crowbar which had been
conduit then the sheath Of the cable. then the
closely packed wires and finally the sheath again
lead shcaths of underground cables. mistaking
clare And occasionally in winter a little wafer
will get into a manhQle and freezing the
nectlons. crush cable all out Of shape until it
few summers ago which puzzled the inemen men,
good deal II occurred on pole line that had
above the trees the foliage being cut away on
either sid" to prevent interference. The trouble
then. before It could be located, Il disappeared
a seaTc OF e FPf es A.
found an umbrella rib lodged way out branch
when the wind blew from from Just the right direction
Several years ago there was a mysterious case
out from the city The service worked all right
ii was so affected tnat. while Central could cali
the lee company @ the lee Gompaay could not cq
all right again. All sorts Of tests and inspections
were made. but they revealed nothing that would
account for the queer state OF affairs
After a long investigation Il found that II
tiny piece Of aluminium wire in a fuse box three
miles from the lee company's office had been fiat
tened lust enough by its fastenings that in the
cool of the evening It contracted sufficiently to
increa Sc the resistance the line n point
which the current from the subscribers telephone
could not overcome, though tha more powerful
current from tlc central ofhce could get by IT,
Of 1eJ
so the telephone worked properly during the day
4 new fuse wlre put In and there has never
been amy trouble there since.