The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1910-10-20

work In large cities Is generally di.
yidcd into three shifts, two Of them
working during the day and the early
night hours when the service Is in
greatest demand. and the other In the
less arduous hours Of night and early
morning. So. the new assistant man.
ayers work AZ first will probably be
on the easy night shift But ultimate.
ly, II he is ambitious and progressive,
he will be assistant manager in one
Of the large exchanges where there
are three or four hundred girl opera.
tors
Then he becomes manager Of
small exchange station, and finally, II
he attend to business and takes a
pride in making his exchange model
whore ali calls ar" handled with the
least possIhI" delay ana complaint. he
IS rewarded By being made the actual
ami direct head Of one Of the largest
exchanges The salaries of managers
range from $1,000 to $4,000 year
Their reputation is in their own
hands; for they are the solo respun.
sible heads OF the exchanges. having
the employment and control Of all en-.
rloyoes and being subject only to the
traffic chief
The next promotion is "A big one. be.
ing TO traffic CHIEF itself. He is the
immediate superior Of all exchange
stations managers in n largo district
such as the old city Of New York, or
Brooklyn, or New Jersey. This man Is
the executive director Of all traffic
business and calls his exchange man.
ayers together frequently to discuss
and decide upou various important
phases to keep their work progressive
and uniform His salary Is from 81 ,OOC
to $4,000 a year.
Then comes the coveted position Of
superintendent OF traflc. who gets $40.
600 to $4,000 year, is member Of
the company. is executive head OF all
traffic chiefs, and is on an equality
with the plant superintendent and the
general commercial superintendent, the
three great directors Of all telephone
business except that which Is purely
financial and executive. Any one of the
three officials Is in line for the posts
of general manager. and. ultimately,
president
There is, however, another line OF
advancement In the traffic department,
that Of traffic engineer You may have
noticed that telephone districts. espe
CHILLY in the larger centers OF popula.
ton, are in condition Of continued
change. new exchanges being opened
old ones abandoned. etc, to meet the
changing conditions Of telephone trnf.
lic This is where the engineers work
comes in.
We shall say that your boy, while
getting his telephone education and
working as traffic inspector. has mani.
tested n desire and aptitude for work
ing up through what IS known as tho
engineering department rather than &c
become an executive. His obscrvant
instructor has noticed this and com.
muncatcs accordingly with the head
pf this particular branch. who assigns
the beginning to the study OF charts
blowing the volume and trend of tele.
phone in various districts So your boy
watches the number Of calls made in
particular localities. their decrease and
Increase at different hours and from
day TO day and thus becomes a sort OF
traffic prophet When he finds that the
demands Of an exchange will be up 10
the maximum of its tac" In two
or three years, say, he sents his
data to the head OF the donartment
and new exchange station ~dered
built An exchange station b.. to be
planned at least two years ahead, as
this time is required to insta! one.
traffic engineer also designs the equip
mcnt and switchboard capacity neces
sary for all stations, and It is on his
recommendation that steps are beihg
taken continually to maintain the serv
ice on a no-delay basis.
The pay Of engineers and assistants
is about the same as In the managing
branch Of the traffic department, and
after becoming full fledged traffic
engineer in charge of large district,
the incumbent is on par with the
traffic chief and in line for the traffic
superlntendency
Such, In general way, are the steps
that boy who desires to make traffic
telephony his life's work has to take
And lnt mo add that with tho tainphopn