Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1908-12-02
vallejo Evening Chronicle.)

In less time than it takes to tell 1t.
the new equipment recently installed
by the Western Electric Company at
the main office of the Pacific Tele-
phone and Telegraph Company was
put into operation and when com
pleted the town of Vallejo had one
of the finest equipped exchanges in
the state.
All one night a corps of expert
electricians and telephone experts
worked hard and swiftly with the
idea of making the exchange COM
plete and ready for service before
morning. Long before midnight all
the mechanical part of the arrange
ment was in readiness but the officials
waited until the calls of the public
became few, in order that the ex-
perts might get in their work undis-
turbed and without unnecessarily dis
turbing any business of telephone
users. This work OF preparation was
watched with great interest by the
visitors present; in fact they looked
with wonder at the work of the tele-
phone men. What mass OF
wires" said one man; Really ! don't
see how they can distinguish one
from another" And little wonder.
for the back OF the board seemed to
contain thousands Of wires.
The number of calls was not be-
coming less and with everything in
readiness the installers waited for
their call. While waiting for the
change to be made from the old oery'
ice to the new our attention was
called to the working OF a telephone
exchange-and what n revelation II
was.
To those whose knowledge OF a
telephone system is limited TO the
fact that II the receiver is taken from
the hook someone will say Mum
ber please" and Immediately give you
the party wanted. visit TO tele-
phone exchange will be time well
spent People were seeing something
new every minute. The lighting OF
the tiny lamps, the low distinct
Number, please" of the operator,
the rapid movements OF the opera
tors 20 on almost continuously
Every move counts, no time Is wasted
In idle conversation and the idea OF
system prevades. We watched with
deep interest all the operations nee
essary 10 complete a call but before
we could really understand II all, we
were told by Mr.. Mitchell, the man
ager, that soon the work of cutting
over the new lines would start
When the foreman gave the order
TO cut In the new apparatus no"
those men did work! They did nj
tear around madly like most people
when In hurry but made every
move count. Each man had his par
tienlar work cut out for him and ne
Iaid IL without asking any questions
Everything moved smoothly and 81
rapidly that those Witnessing the al
dition OF the new lines hardly nae
time TO realize what was going on
lbefore Il was all over. We were In
formed by the installer, however ina
the time taken for this particular
cut over was no shorter than usual
which goes to show how well STAND
ardized the apparatus and methodi
must have been In order TO put thi'
number of new lines in operation
without a hitch OF any kind
To a growing city like NaiieJ'
nothing is more essential TO IN
prosperity and advancement thah
good telephone system and that J.
sbould become necessary for the tel
epbone company TO make such elaD
crate extensions of the system u
| good ENluEnIt AhaA NAA"
only keeping pace with the llu'eS
but rapidly pushing TO the IIoh'
The rapid growth in the number o' o'
phones in this city has made THIS al
dition necessary and the new equip
ment will not only take care OF 'h'
present demand but will also MAKE
adequate provision for future
growth.
The telephone has long passed the
stage when it was a luxury 70 DC
enjoyed by the well-to-do ana mas
become a necessity not only TO pun
uc institutions and private enter
nrises but TO the home as we'll Ihe
telephone Of today is a servant 10
the city and the people and very
useful servant II Is. Every pnDho
i Nth fgIaUnOnfn