New-York tribune., 1911-12-17
Your Daughters Vocation
Telephone Girls Are Paid While Learning and
May Rise to Highly Paid Positions.
BY Mary Marshall.

: information" or long distance operator y
where she receives from SO to SR, or oc-
casionally as much as Sl1 in the big cities
The supervisor" must not only have a
thorough knowledge OF the routine OF the
telephone. but she must be tactful as Well
for it is her duty TO have charge OF about
nine operators. TO pass back and forth be
hind them as they work, coaching them
! when they get confused relieving them at
! their post If need be and keeping track OF
the work Of each girl
! To hold a position as information
! girl must have displayed not only powers
| Of courtesy and tact but an amount Oh
general information above that of the aver
age telephone girl. OF course, she won't De
able TO answer all the riddles that are put
/ to her over the phone, but with the help
OF a half dozen or so gudebooks and di-
rectories on her desk she will be able to
DO good deal to keep people Informed.
OF these three positions the supervisors S
| IS, perhaps, the most desirable, for IL IS
! from the ranks of the supervisors that the
assistant chief operators are drawn with
salary OF SIS a week. and the assistant
chief operator is quite sure, II she Sticks
TO business, TO develop in course OF time
into that object of every little hello girls
ambtlons-the chief operator-who draws
each week salary OF $40 10 f25. young
woman in this position has to handle scores
of girls. who must be kept every moment
they are on duty IN a we'll poised, agreeable
frame Of mind. SO for a position of this
sort personality, sympathy, magnetism go
quite as far as ability TO handle wires.
oil tell
this position as chief operator with sal
airy that would make most young lawyers
onvious is the top rung OF the ladder OF
the telephone profession for women; but as
a matter Of fact there are number OF
women who began as telephone operators
who now receive from the telephone COM
panies considerably more than this. Inc
principal of one OF the largest telephone
schools in the country is said to receive
something like $500 a year, and other
teachers I'm these schools receive salaries
almost as large.
4 visit to one of the telephone exchanges
v ould convince any one that the telephone
eirl is about as well provided for as any
working girl whether in the store, office
factory or schoolroom. The exchange quar-
ters are almost always in new, airy, fire.
proof spick and span buildings. and as you
watch the Young women at their work you
will see that the various motions they 20
/ lttrough-chest expanded, head held erect,
and arms i'm motion-look like a physical
culture drill. Each exchange has It's rest
room. provided with magazines and news
PAPERS There is usually matron on duty
who I'm case any OF the operators are taken
III knows Just what to do. But telephone
girls don't often fall ILL., for. from carefully
kept figures. it has been proved that tele-
phone girls on the average enjoy better
hs salth than their sisters who work in stores
or offices or schOolrooms.
The exchange luncheon room is great
boon 10 the telephone operator, for here
every day she can get a cup OF hot choco-
late. tea or coffee. with cream and sugar,
free Of charge So II the operator chooses
TO bring a little luncheon from her home
her luncheon problem is solved from the
first.
While by far the greater number Of tele-
phone operators are In the employ Of the
regular telephone companies, there Is al
ways "A demand for girls who can handle
private branch exchanges in hotels, apart
ment houses and business houses. While
a young woman so employed does not have
the protection that the employe Of the reg
ular telephone company enjoys, she does
very often have more variety I'm her daily
task. Sometimes these girls receive their
training In the employ OF the telephone
companies. but more often they start In
green and acquire skill slowly through
their own efforts. An exceptionally quick
private branch operator sometimes gets az
much as So week
Perhaps the greatest attraction IN the
telephone business for a young woman Hes
IN the work itself which Is far from
monOtonous As the operator sits al her
post watching the little lights that dance
before her eyes and dc'uy piyins the wires
she knows that all the great leaders ~ the
worlds affairs. men Of wealth and men Of
might social queens and the nations
rulers talk over her wires, and she knows,
too. that no big transaction can he put
/ through without the aid Of her deft fingers
and ready wits
That was a great day for the telephone
operators Of the Broad Exchange in New