The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-01-16
PHONE TROUBLES
Farmers Object to Change in
Scalp Systems.
Utilities Expert Reports Crank
Call Most Reliable.

AS a result of a conference between
farmers of Shawnee county and Of
ficials of the local telephone company
a farmers mutual telephone company
for Shawnee county may be organ
lied.
The meeting was held late Wednesday
in the rooms of the Commercial club.
Those present at the meeting objected
to the proposed installation of the
Crank telephones on rural routes. A
resolution was passed pledging the sup
port of those present to the PROPOSE
ton of opposing have the phones in
stalled. w. S. Robinson was made
chairman of a temporary organization
and Alexander Mcdonald, secretary.
The contention of the management of
the Bell company is that after the
new phone system is completely in
stalled the service will be far better
than at the present time. The farmers
could not see things from the same
view point.
The local company was represented
by Edward Kellam, division commercial
superintendent, A. J. Mackey, superin-
tendent of the Topeka exchange, and
the district plant chief of the company.
B. L. Brown, district manager of the
ST. Joseph Mo-, district was also pres
ent.
Among those who spoke for the farm
ers were w. S. Robinson, A. Mcdonald
G. w. Betz, Gilbert Tomlinson, Frank
Slower Albert Wooster, N. B. Emerson
and John Hitler.
The telephone company base their
change back to the crank" system on
proposition that it will give more re
liable service on rural lines than the
central energy system. A storm, ice,
a twisted branch of a tree, any of
these things touching the wire. Will
light the little lamp on the central
switch board and keep it lighted under
the central energy system just the same
as when a patron takes the receiver off
the hook This puts the line out of
business until the trouble is located and
removed. In town this can be done
quickly, but it takes longer out in the
country.
BY using the crank system to call
central the line will stay in working
order as long as it is up and connec-
lions are not burned out or broken by
storm or accident.
The objection of former patrons
that ringing the bell calls up all peo-
pIe on the party line is done away
with by the company, by the system
now installed. Only the buzzer at
central station rings when sub
scriber calls. The subscribers phone
bell can only be rung from the cen
trail switchboard, and on this call only
the bell of the patron wanted will
ring.
The company asked the Kansas
expert in it's employ to investigate the
working of the two systems on rural
lines and report which was the best.
The commission sent its electrical en-
gineer on the Job. He studied the
situation two or three weeks and re-
ported that the "crank" system gave
the most reliable service on rural
lines. In his report he said;
THE comm on battery system is I'M
practicable for heavily loaded party
lines. If a magnetic line is partially
short circuited by a wet limb, or fails
down in the road and is partially
grounded, it is still able to work and
give some sort of service, but if
common battery line is crossed, the
signal in the office is Immediately
displayed and remains displayed till
the cross is removed, which renders
service in the meantime impossible.
The places where the magnetic system
is preferred, says these writers, is in
rural communities where lines have
rather great average length, where
many subscribers are apt to be on
each line and where sources of cleo
trica1 power available for charging
storage batteries do not exist
L examined some of the lines and |
rode out something over Ia miles from
the exchanges. The line construction
was all in good shape. In places the
wire ran through trees and thus was
a source of trouble as mentioned
above. Before trees can be trimmed
permission must be obtained from the
owner of the land on which they
grow. If this is not given the tele-
phone company is powerless to correct
the cause of trouble.
ST talked over some of the common
battery telephones and also over one
of the new telephones that have been |
installed and am sure / heard more |
distinctly over the new phone. The |
extra cost of these instruments over i
the common battery phone and the |
labor to make the change proves TO ]