Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1908-04-22

d. c. The government and private in
dividuals at the national capital keep
the wires hot through official and
business hours. Nowhere else is the
telephone day so long, because in the
evening and pas midnight newspaper
correspondents are sending hurried
telephone messages over the wires in
to editorial offices anywhere from a
score of miles to 1900 miles away
Nowhere does the telephone company
find the demand for its facilities
spread over a longer day Yet a glance
at the fluctuation of the curve of the
days business rising from a low
point before seven o'clock in the
morning to a high peak at about
eleven and to still higher elevation
in the, early evening, tells a graphical
story of facilities which have to be
provided for business hours only.
For your telephone message cannot
be forwarded for you after you are
tucked away in bed. In contrast
with the operation OF the telegraph
companies, President Vail shows that
the telephone company is at a dis
tinct disadvantage in meeting the
fluctuations of traffic. At the Offices
of the Western Union or Postal your
message from, say, New York to Chi
eago will be handled for you even Ii
two score other people are crowding
to get in communications which must
be handled over half score of avail
able circuits. The kilograms are sim
ply handed in and filed before an
operator who dispatches them in or
der. This practice enables the tele-
graph company to distribute its bust
ness somewhat more evenly over the
working hours. During the might
hours the lines ar used for press mes
sages or for long distance messages
in transit.
But when you want to telephone
you want to do 1t now. Your mes
sage cannot be tied up in a phono-
garph, because somebody must talk
with you at the other end. One con-
versation must succeed another over
the circuit, and the subscriber has to
do his own talking. The telephone
engineers for technical reasons cannot
even build up the phantom" circuits
familiar in telegraphic operation, for
the phantom" has only very limited
field of usefulness in telephone opera
ton
All which means that only about
half the facilities are utilized to fair
part of the capacity during business
hours only. The rest are utilized
only to a fractional part of the ca
paoity at any time. Mr.. Vail makes a
remarkable statement that If during
certain hours of the day messages in
tended for long distance transmission
could be subjected TO half an hours
delay the days traffic could be so
spread out that the facilities required
could be reduced at least one-third.
AS I'll and long distance lines of the
country now aggregate 1,664,000 miles
II VIE ard 10000 miles OF poles. an
idea Is easily given OF the price that
has to be paid for perpetual readiness
70 serve subscribers.
That cheap rates for long distance
service. depending upon high average
use Of facilities. are a virtual impossi-
bility appears In Mr. Wallis exposition
Il is physically impraetlcable 10 crowd
In more than about so many messages
on given eng distance circuit, and
hy no chance can waste Of time be-
tween messages be eliminated. An
expressive way Of putting 1t is that
there are ouly a certain number Of
Eve minute intervals in each hoGr or
ave-minute spaces on each clock II
YOU want more time intervals or more
spaces you must take more hours or
more clocks. In toll line business
everything above the normal capacity
Of each circuit must be provided Ior
by additional circuits"
Most people think Of the three
minute long distance message as mean
ing Just three minutes use of the
circuit. But Il takes time to get two
persons in communication with each