Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-15

xxCOME of these short-circuit chaps
on the papers haven't got brains
enough to make quorum,
snapped the telephone girl as she came
out Of the exchange building, homewaro
bound. She glanced again at recent
newspaper with shrug OF her peek
a-boo waist expressive Of infinite con-
tempt.
Mamie?" asked passing friend.
Crossed in love again?"
"Oh. ring off, tartly replied the siren
of the switchboard. Pm sore over
what these fellows have been putting in
the papers about the way us telephone
girls answer back"
Thought the kick was that you didn't
answer" interrupted the friend brutally.
He'd spent one-half his life waiting for
street cars and the other half for central
to respond.
AS though even a girl could talk to
dozen men at once over telephone, she
gave a sniff of her nose. But what
I'm making a noise like a congressman
about now is the talk about how the
girls always repeat number back to
the caller in a way different from the
way he calls it. This whiffet here hasn't
got sense enough to know why put
must go making faces at us in the pa
pers.'
..Why don't you repeat the number as
it is called to you?" asked the friend,
leading the way to the soda water III
looks to me lots easier to follow suit
than to poke over the cards for new
or that is, l mean it seems lots more
polite to repeat a fellows own words"
But not so businesslike." said the
lady of the copper lines. bringing up her
face out of the foam with a sigh. I'VE
change the manner of calling to avoid
mistakes. For every number there are
several others that sound somewhat
like it, Now. when a man calls num-
ber and you, mistaking it for one of
these others, call back the wrong num-
Der in just the same sounds he used,
that man thinks you called back the
right number and hollers back Yes.
Then In minute there's trouble. and may
be you have to threaten to report that
telephone for using heated language. You
number he called because he's thinking
about that number and expecting to hear
YOU repeat it to him: and. according to
Law of Something that
bald-headed man came up and talked
to all us girls about once, he's just
bound to think the number he hears is
the one he's expecting to hear, unless
it's awfully different And so we girls
try to make 1t sound as different as we
can"
'S'pose you want to get 5000. you'd
say 'fifty-sixty,' wouldn't you. Now 'nrty-
sixty sounds awfully like 'ffteen-six-
teen,' don't it? And it's a good chance
I'd mistake 1t for that. And s'pose an
swered back 'fifteen-sixteen to you. do
a weeks end. 1t would be that same
old 'fifty-sixty,' sure as fate. that you'd
hear, because the sounds are waiting
back there in your head to be heard and
anything near it would sound like fifty
sixty to you. So. you'd say, Yes.
please or. more likely, lymph. umph.
right away'-and in two minutes you'd
be trying to scalp me over the wire.
but if I think you say fffteen-six-
teen when you really call for ffty-sixty.
1 don't repeat it to you that way. I say
one-five-one-six, maybe. or use some
other form Of expressing that number.
in sound from the 'flfteen-six-
teen I thought I heard you call; Tor as
soon as / change the way Of calling the
wrong number its resemblance to the right
number is gone. That's the milk In the
cocoanut And So when I call back one
you know at once I'm on the
wrong trail and you say say. No.
show he understood. mot much you
wouldn't" sneered the woman of
he wire wilderneSSeS. you'd Snarl