The Washington times., 1913-10-21
NATIONS SECRETS
KEPT BY WOMEN
Capitol Phone Operators Never
Reveal What Goes Over
Their Wires.

II the President and a Senator with a
secret were at opposite ends of a tele-
phone wire and you, the central" were
In between with a receiver clamped over
Your ears, would you be tempted to
listen a bit and tell?
Maybe you would, but If you were on
the switchboard at the Capitol Of the
United States. where meet the wires
leading to the offices of legislators and
the White House. you wouldn't.
There has been mighty little listen
Capitol Central or ~centrals''-there
are now several of them-havc been on
the job. And thereby hangs an inter-
estinc story.
Away back in the past not so very
long after Eve and the serpent got the
paternal ancestor into trouble, some
male knocker asserted 1t was impos-
sihle for a woman to keep a secret. He
spoke before the day Of the modern tele-
phcne. and. of course, he didn't know
anything about Mrs. Harriott q. Daley
and her corps of Capitol hello girls.
But the knocker said 1t just the same.
and It has been repeated since, and
now comes the time to nail the canard.
Could Startle Public.
There are women at the Capitol who
60 keep secrcts-every day. There has
never been a leak from the Capitol
switchboard. Yet big news items buzz
over the wires almost constantly. aod
II our heroine central, wanted TO lis
ten, and tell, many a story which Is
never printed might starle curious
and absorbing public.
The CAPITOL switchboard, located on
the top floor of the House Office Build
Ing. and guarded by a big sign Which
- 4 tslv m
meets the Offices of more than six hun
dred national legislators, the various Oh
ficials OF the Senate and House, the
White House, the Congressional Library,
and the Municipal Building.
There is a really private line to the
White House. and the same is true or
the Library and the Municipal Building.
A Senator or a Congressman, Tor IN
stance. doesn't have to get Main SIX
if he wants to talk with the President
He simply asks for the White House
and the job is done. Nobody can listen
except the Capitol operator and the
White House switchboard man-ano
they don't.
In 1895. when the first switchboard
was installed in the Capitol BuildinS,
there were but ffty-one plugs ana one
operator attended to all the calls. Nov
there are more than eight hundred
plugs, or stations and it requires from
four to seven operators to take care CT
the incoming ana outgoing calls.
In the early days the Senate and tue
cs. Now the telephone clearing house
Is located in the big building to the
right of the Capitol proper and every
office on the grounds Is within access.
Mrs. Harriott G. Daley broke In as
the House central. She Is now chief
nnerotor on the big multiple board and
is surrounded by a capable corps OF as
sistants, who give both a day and a
night service Prior 70 1898, when Mrs
Daley became the Capitol central
members used to stand in line In tne
old House postoffice in order to get
chance at the one telephone available.
1000 Calls Day.
Mrs. Daley estimates that more than
oIO calls are handled daily over the
Capitol lines. In the busy PERIODS,
when the House and Senate are grind
ing away many hours of the day ana
night. the number of calls is Increased
The average, perhaps. is about 2.ooO per
dav-and not a legislative secret has
ever been dIvulged by those who occupy
seats at The multiple board.
The tariff, trust prosecutions. patron
ape lobbies, love- politics, currency Ind
what-not are topics discussed over the
rrire among men high in the councils of
the nation Mrs. DALEY and her Slrls
are trustworthy: they don't have time
and they don't care to listen-and II
thcy did nobody would ever know. The
male knocker who said woman can l
Keen a secret? He's wrong.
I'm the first place" said Mrs. Daley,
the operator who is handling several
hundred calls a day hardly has time to
do any eavesdropping. In the second
place it is forbidden. and again not one
of them would tell anything wnich
might be accidentally overheard. we
have never had a leak since l have
been in charge of the Capitol phones.
Operators are presumed to get the con-
nection, to see that the parties wanted
are on the line, and then to cut out.
They don't attempt to hear what Is
being said.
we have our hands full as ii is. Now
adays l seldom make connections per
sonally. My time is occupied with
trouble calls and requests for infor-
nation. We have many of the latter.
and the average operator must Keep
her head in order to give rapid service.
For instance. We have many a
troublesome request. An uninitiated
telephone user will say Give ME Con-