The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-03-29
The BELL" HOME WELCOMES
PUBLIC
Every Day Is Visitors Day at the
Bell Telephone Home-A Trip
Through Offices is Afforded
by Management.


You may be as grouchy and dis
agreeable as you please to the tele-
phone operator who answers your
call with a mild Number please"
but you will always, nevertheless, be
treated with unfailing courtesy in
return. After the operator has re-
turned a pleasant voice over the wire
in exchange for your growl, you will
soon, with a little reflection, come
to recognize the great truth that, IA
soft answer turneth away wrath. &"
And again if you would take the
time to visit the home of the Bell
Telephone company you would soon
decide that if you were the operator
you would be the gTouchiest, the
most disagreeable person in the
world. Confronted with a switch
board with flashing lights, plugs,
wires, and calls, the telephone oper-
ator retains her equanimity while
you on the outside are yelling at her
over the wire to hurry up and at the
same time muttering things under
your breath. Taking into considera-
tion the numerous and various de-
tails of the telephone operator S
daily routine, the subscriber should
feel inclined to facilitate her work
all he can. One thing he can do,
that many fail to do, is to call by
number. If you don't know the
number look it up in the telephone
directory and if it is not listed there,
then the operator will be glad to
give it to you. Be considerate of
the operator as she is always con-
siderate of you. Don't think she
has all the time in the world, but
rather, as the fact is, the busiest
person in the borough. The popular
conception of a telephone exchange
is, place where two girls pass away
their time eating candy and reading
magazines.
Last Thursday we had the pleas
ure to be conducted through the To-
cal exchange by Mr.. Dellmore, and
although we did not grasp all of the
technical details of the complicated
workings of the system, we gained
complete knowledge of the inside
workings of the exchange, which
will help us to be more appreciative
of the good service hereafter. w. A.
Dellmore, the local agent for the
Bell, has been permitting the general
public 20 get a glimpse into the
workings of the local office. Every
day is visitors day and business
men and others desiring to go
through on an inspection tour will
be conducted by Mr.. Dellmore, and
they will have the pleasure of see
ing the operators at their work be-
side having the various details of the
system explained to them. 1t is
worth the time of the busiest man to
visit this institution where business
huns all the time. Between the
hours of 8 and 10 o'clock in the
morning and and 8 at night, the
operators have all they can do and
perhaps more, and through it all they
never once attempt any back talk"
to a subscriber who kicks because
he has been waiting at least thirty
seconds for an answer to his call.
To go through this institution, to
see the operators at work, to have
the workings explained to you, the
toll lines, the rural lines, the town
lines, and to see at the switchboard
demure young lady answering the
calls of hundreds of subscribers,
then it is that you wonder why she
don't get all mixed up. This is the
best cure in the world for that in
clination to growl over the telephone
and be impatient IL she does not
connect you with your party within
less than no time at all.
District Manager E. II. Simons, To-
cal manager T. A. Garvey, and local
agent w. A. Dellmore, are building
up a system of working conditions
for operators that will not only
clinch courtesy as the motto of the
office, but will gradually teach the
people of Honesdale that there is
nothing quite like it, next to sun
shine.
The lines of the Bell reach to
nearly all parts of the county, be-
side giving free service to Hawley
and White Mills. Honesdale and the
rural routes have about $50 Bell
| telephones.