The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1908-03-13
Railways Arc to Use Phone In
Place of Telegraph After
March 1.
OPERATORS TO BE LET OUT
Block Signals Also Will Be In.
stalled and Many Small
Stations Closed.

A new field Of employment for WON.
en- is to be opened by the railways.
This does not mean that the roads will
employ women telegraphers, but on the
contrary their employment will be for
the purpose of taking the place OF tele-
graphers already in the service. The
future woman railway operating EN-,
ploye will be engaged at the smaller
stations taking train orders over a tele-
phone, where formerly such orders were
transmitted and received by telegraph.
This new field will be open to women
when the new nine-hour day law gov
erning the working time Of railway
telegraphers goes into effect on
March l.
1t was confidently expected that this
law would work revolution in railway
operation, and 1t was with this end I'M
view that the Order of Railway Tele-
graphers procured its passage despite
the determined opposition Of the rail-
way managers and even against advice
direct from the White House. The lev-
olution Is coming, all right, but 1t will
be revolution which will relegate the
telegraph to back seat as an adjunct
to railway operation and will throw
thousands of operators out Of employ
ment end annually will decrease their
number until they will almost disap-
pear from American railways.
1t was expected that the reduction
| tn ha hD,, op <alr
graphers to nine hours would compel
the railroads to employ at least 5000
additional men at once. 1t was also
known that 1t would be impossible to
secure this number Of men when need
ed, and 1t was therefore hoped by the
men that an increase In wages would
he part of the revolution planned.
Changes to Result.
The railway managers at first took a
similar view Of the situation, but ii
soon was discovered that it would bd
impossible to supply the demand If all
existing telegraph offices were to be-
maintained after March !. As re-
suit Of careful study Of the situation
the nine-hour day for telegraphers will
bring about the following changes:
/. The abandonment Of all stations
as telegraph stations except division
headquarters and functional points.
2. The substitution of telephones fo1
the receipt and the transmission Of ora
ders and messages.
3. The employment of women as
agents In many stations thus trans
formed into telephone stations.
4. The transaction Of tremendous
amount of Office business by letter.
which formerly was transacted by tele-
graph.
5. The rapid extension of the auto
matte electric block signal system.
which will make telegraph stations UNI
necessary.
, In determining to inaugurate these
, changes the railway managers found
= that they had in reality been preparing
for them for years. 1t was discovered
, also that by adopting the most expen.
a sive system Of block signaling train
orders and telegraph stations could fol
) the greater part be done away with.
> The railroads, therefore, decided that
i, they would rather spend millions In
!, providing and maintaining automatic
= block signals which never 60 to sleeI
. and which never fail unless they spell
!. danger" than to spend the same
!. money in maintaining telegraph sta
a lions and telegraph operators. Tit
- closing of stations as telegraph stations
- is made possible by the fact that will
). an automatic electric signal all that Il
- necessary Is to start trains as fast a
70 the terminal block Is empty and keel
70 them going until semaphore say
"stop."