Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-25

Few branches OF business have enjoyed
the development that has marked the ac-
tivities OF voice-transmlsson. Telephones
have multiplied over and over again until
there are now more than 60OOO 900 In use in
the United States. Talk over wires has in
creased to such an extent that the com
panles which keep account Of their mes
sages show a total Of 10000, 900 900 conversa-
tlons a year, and these constitute only
about half Of the total number OF mes
ssges.
II is said that the Bell Telephone COM
pany added 1900 instruments a day to its
service during 1909, and that the independ-
ent companies did equally as we'll II not
better. New York has $4,000 telephones and
Chicago 10000. The exchanges Of the latter
city are the busiest in the world. They
average twenty-five conversations on each
line day, or about 100000 messages each
twenty-four hours. The average converse
tlon is said to be 200 words long, so that
the total number Of words spoken over Chi
cago telephones in a day would fill 1900
ordinary sized books.
The wireless telephone is being perfected
gradually. and inventors confidently pre-
dict that the next ten years will see re-
As the telegraph was the forerunner Of the
telephone, and the wireless telegraph the
harbinger OF the wireless telephone so It
is believed the picture transmission by wire
Snd wireless will be followed by actual
seeing by wire It is predicted that people
OF this generation may yet behold the per
son at the other end Of the line when they
use a telephone.
! Ttuit dtgpafchins nv Aalanhoba Il bainR
adopted by many important railroads. and
! IN the recent eastern blizzard 1t proved a
last resort in the handling Of trains. Be
tween Rochester and Syracuse the New
York Central did not have a single tele-
graph line in operation In spite of the
fact that the telephone lines were crossed
| Ia two places and further jnterfered with
by the breakdown of the Niagara Power
company's high tension transmission lire,
they were able to perform passable service.
The same was true on the Delaware divi-
sion Of the Pennsylvania railroad. While
the telephone wires were crossed and
broken the operators still were able to
talk the entire length OF the division. The
railroad officials stated afterwards that
but for the telephone not a wheel could
have been moved until the telegraph viii es
were repaired.
President Taft has one Of the biggest
telephone booths ever n ade. Not only is it
roomy enough for him, but his stenographer
can ertcr It with him. 1t is finished In a
way that makes It a note BILE piece of cabi
net making. The White House has one OF
the best branch telephone systems ever
Installed In addition to the public system
there is private system, which leads 10
tho capitol and the various executive de-
partments. over which the confidential
business of the government is transacted.
Uncle Sam is the worlds greatest user Of
the telephone, In tho past the government
was given a flat rate for It's business; to-
day II is charged so much per message,
and the government clerk cannot use the
telephone for his own private business ex-
cept by resorting to pay stations. Even
when subscriber calls up a clerk he must
leave his number and have the clerk go Ito
the pay station and cali him. In this way
the Washington Telephone company gets
double pay for many of its messages.
The automatic telephone exchange has
been on trial for some time ana has prove d
such a success that several concerns in
America are now manufacturing such equip
ment. On this exchange each subscriber
is able to make his own connection and
there is no chance for back talk on the
subscribers apparatus there Is a clock-like
affair with ten holes in it's face, numbered
| from zero to nine When a person wishes
TO call 1862, for instance, he takes the re-
osiver from the hook puts his finger in
hole No. and rotates the disk as far as
It will CO. then permits It to return auto
matically to Its normal position. He re-
peats the same operation for each of the
three other numbers, The connection Is
made through the sereetive principle, used
in party line servlce. When II has been
| established and the conversation is con
| oluded hanging tffe receiver on the hook
disconnects the telephone and the SUBJ
! scriber is ready to call up another person.
1t is 50 arranged that no one can ring in
on the conversation, The switchboard is
always in service and the subscriber can
be sure there has been no indifference to
! his call
Norwegian fishermen are using a new
niero-telephone apparatus to detect the
coming Of a shoal Of fish. The instrument
is enclosed in a water-tight box and sub
merged in the sea. 1t Is connected with a
receiver in the boat and the listener can
hear the fish coming when they are still
some distance away.
The telephone companies Of the United
States are lending their aid toward the