Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1908-02-27
MANY NEW HELLO"
JOBS OPEN FOR WOMEN
Railways Are to Use Phone Ii
Place of Telegraph After
March L.
OPERATORS TO BE LET OUT.
Block Signals Also Will Be In,
stalled and Many Small
Stations Closed.

A new field Of employment for wom
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 viii be fol
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 tele-
phone, where formerly such orders we're
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 /.
1T was confidently expected that this
law would work a revolution In railway
operation, and 1t was with this end in
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 it 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
in the working hours of railway tele-
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 it was therefore hoped by the
men that an increase in wages would
be part Of the revolution planned.
Changes to Result.
The railway managers at first took a :
similar view Of the situation, but 1t
soon was discovered that it would be
impossible to supply the demand If all
existing telegraph offices were to be
after March /. AS a re-
suit Of careful study Of the situation
the nlne-hour day for telegraphers will
bring about the following changes:
/. The abandonment Of all stations
as telegraph stations except division
and functional points.
2. The substitution Of telephones fol !
the receipt and the transmission Of or ,
lers and messages.
3. The employment Of women as
agents In many stations thus trans
formed into telephone stations.
4. The transaction of a tremendous
amount Of Office business by letter
which formerly was transacted by tele-
graph.
8. The rapid extension Of the auto
matte electric block signal system,
which will make telegraph stations un-
Necessary.
In determining to inaugurate these
hanges the railway managers found
hat they had in reality been preparing
or them for years. 1t was discovered
lso that by adopting the most expen-
I've system of block signaling train
riders and telegraph stations could for
be greater part be done away with
The railroads, therefore, decided tha,
hey would rather spend millions in
roviding and maintaining automatic
lock signals which never go to sleep
nd which never fail unless they spell
danger" than to spend the same
honey in maintaining telegraph sta
ons and telegraph operators. The
losing Of stations as telegraph stations
J made possible by the fact that with
n automatic electric signal all that is
ecessary is to start trains as fast as I
le terminal block is empty and keep
lem going until a semaphore says
stop"
Surgeons Knife Cures Headache. a
After suffering eXcruciatinC pains In hiA