The bee., 1909-08-05
DISPATCHING
BY TELEPHONE.
Invention Of "SeIectora TeIe.
phone Has Great PossibiI.
tiles for Railroads.
LEADING ROADS HAVE TESTED
INSTRUMENT AND ARE PLEASED.
All Signals on a Division Can be
Operated From Central Office.

NeW OIks July 0l.-Ihere il
everv indication that the teIe
graph will be superseded by the
telephone for dispatching on
American railroads. The change
has been contemplated for sew.
eral years, but only with the in
vention of the "selector" has the
change been made practicable.
The result is the serious consid-
GRAFTON by railroad superintend-
ents Of the telephone for lmme.
date adoption. Already thirty
OF the principal roads have
equipped parts of their lines
with the se'ector telephone to
test its efficiency for dispatching.
Some strong reason lie back of
the proposed change. The most
important of these is that when
Judge lands handed down his
decision IN favor of the nine
hour law for railroad employees,
demand was at once created
for $4,000 additional operators,
whose estimated salaries would
aggregate SO, 100000.
A second reason is that the
average telegraph operator is
not as efficient as he should be,
and that there is decided short
age of good operators. This
shortage will be augmented by
the nine-hour law; less efficient
operators will have to be en-
ployed, and as result dispatch.
ing will be done with less safety
and with greater loss of time.
Another reason for the tele-
phones superiority is demon
strated by conditions in Mexico,
where the National Railways
were tied up because of a strike
by the American telegraph OPP
orators. Concerted action by
telephone operators would be to
no purpose, as technical educa-
ton is not necessary to operate a
telephone and the places of
strikers could be filed easily.
Thus would be eliminated ALL
probability of traffic prostration
through a strike.
Another economical argument II
Is also evident: unframed ma
tives could be employed in the
county,, districts with just as
good, lot better, results than
are to-day obtained by import
ing trained aliens Operators not
native to the place.. They '
would accept lower wages to I
live at home, and tits estimated {
by the leading railroads that a s
saving of 10 to 46 per cent. can c
be effected in this way. :
Only with the invention of t
The selector has the telephone :
become applicable for dispatch t
ing. This instrument makes it f
possible for the cen trail office to a
with any one sub S
office of its choice unknown to n
The others, although but a single t
Jet of wires is used. And the p
iub-ofhces, to communicate with s.
'ach other, must do so through II
he central office, where the con- u
7ersation is audible. "
Eighty of the principai rail- 81
'oads Of the country have been ii
ounded with reference to their ii
attitude towards the telephone "
IS successor to the telegraph. Il
These include such roads as the el
Canadian Pacific, al
and the Pennsyl- v
ania A large majority declare NJ
themselves in favor of the 81
hange and fifty announce that M
u extension of their telephone Y
ystems already in operation Is
ontemplated. These roads
perate 1,5Sl miles Of track
nd at present have IL 1892 miles
quipped for experimental pur- u 4