The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1910-07-05
SEEK SIZE IN
TELEPHONE GIRLS.
Physical Examinations Often
Required, With Educational Test
Highest in Boston.


She is not telephone girl if she is
under five feet in height. The COM
panies employ only girls who can
reach to the top of their switchboards
and reasonable distance sideways
from their positions, and the short
ones never get a chance.
Conditions existing in telephone
exchanges throughout the country are
interestingly set forth in the report re-
Gently sent to the Senate dealing with
the investigation made by the Bureau
of Labor. The bulk of the report
deals with the women employees
there are 1928 of them working at
the switchboards for twenty-seVen
companies in twenty-six States which
furnished the data. Agents of the
bureau visited seventy-three ex-
changes and found them, generally
speaking, well housed. In many
cases the girls were compelled to
walk up from one to four flights of
stairs, and more than two-thirds of
tbs complaints heard were because of
the lack of elevators.
In some cities imposing medical or
physical examinations are required of
applicants The height is often de-
termined without the applicants
knowledge by a young woman who
engages the former in conversation
while she compares the level of the
others eyes with her own. The edu-
cational requirements are usually
that the applicant must have passed
the sixth or seventh grade in gram
mar school. Boston alone prefers
high schools girls, but is not always
successful in obtaining them. Girls
are put into training schools for a
four weeks course before they are
placed at the switchboard.
Wages for telephone girls vary
from a highest monthly average of
$36.96 in New York City to $22.40 in
Nashville, Tenn. In some of the
smaller cities the average goes even
lower, particularly in the South. The
Bell company employs 1926 women
operators at an average monthly wage
of $30.91.
In nearly all offices the operating
force is divided into four general
shifts. Day operators usually work
between a. m. and 100 p. m. Eve
ming operators usually work from l l
a. m. to p. m. Night operators usu-
ally work beyond midnight, while the
work of "split-trick" operators is di-
vided into two or more periods by an
intervals of more than two hours be-
tween two of those periods. The
newer and, therefore, younger girls
are usually put on the split trick"
Efficient service is Gossible up to
225 calls an hour for each girl. She
cannot answer more than that with
out injury to herself or injuring the
service. The bureau has reached the
conclusion that the operator who has
not enough to do to keep her con-
stantly busy, however, does not prop
erly attend to what she has.
Commissioner Neill strongly urges
the practical elimination of overtime
for operators, and says this can be
brought about if the larger cities will
set the example. New York City has
done so, but in Chicago the Bell oper-
ators have about twenty-eight pei
cent. of overtime and in New Orleans
as high as ninety-eight per cent.
A widespread and intelligent effort
on the part of the companies to look
after the comfort and well being OF
its women employees was found. On
the other hand, the Investigators dis
covered that the women were loyal to
the companies and enthusiastic for
their work, all of which is said to add
much to the efficiency of service to the
public.