The Mankato free press., 1913-03-14

case being secrecy, which is the
fundamental value of the automatic
telephone The inventor of the au-
tomato telephone being a business
man realized that the leakage by
telephone of business secrets was an
important factor to be considered,
and out of his experiments the au.
tomato telephone has been devel-
oped.
"The first automatic telephone was
a crude and cumbersome affair, but
successful enough to justify further
experiments, as a result of which the
present automatic telephone differs
but slightly from the telephone Won
now have in your home or office, the
difference being, that there is
small dial fastened securely to the
telephone The dial bears the nu-
merals from to 9, and is covered
by a metal disk, perforated over each
numeral with a hole large enough to
admit the tip of the finger. Assum-
ing, that l57 is the number desired,
you would proceed as follows: In
sert the tip of the finger in the hole
over the figure |, and draw the disk
around to a stop, releasing it, place
the finger then in the hole over the
figure repeating the performance,
then place the finger in the hole
over the z, and draw down to
stop. The action of the dial rotat-
ing back to it's original position after
each operation sets up the cOnnec-
tion with the number desired at the
central office, by means of electric
impulses. Naturally one would think
that the system is very complicated
one, but such is not the case. Each
part Of the apparatus at the central
office is arranged so that any part
can be removed for repairs within al
most the fraction of a second. The
slightest Indication Of trouble is re-
corded at the office by means of
different colored lights, each having
certain meaning in the trouble
code. Each case of trouble is re-
corded automatically and in most
cases the remedy has been applied
before the subscriber or anv other
person is aware of the trouble. OF
course, a great many questions arise
such as. Can it be used in the
dark?" The manufacturers claim that
ii is not necessary to see, and that
a blind person can operate the tele-
phone. The first hole in the disk on
the dial calls information, who will
give you the number desired, or any
other information you wish. Suppos-
ing that number has been changed,
in that case you will be automatically
given the information girl again, who
mi falt nf nhon
really corrected by your own mis-
take. Supposing the telephone has
been taken out, you will get the
same answer, and so on. 1t seems
that for every objection you can
raise, about this remarkable system,
there is solution of the problem
'The automatic telephone does
away with the human factor, and
this is precisely what other lines of
business are endeavoring to do, as
it has been proven satisfactorily that
machinery is more dependable than
any human being. In England they
are now making a very exhaustive
test of the durability of the system
before adopting it. I am told that up
to the first of February the machin-
cry they had installed to make the
calls automatically registered 1,OOO,-
reported trouble, and this trouble hap
pened to be wire trouble, against
which there is no guarding.
Some of the Advantages.
Some of the advantages gained by
the use of the automatic are speed,
the making of call requiring less
than fifteen seconds. In fact, it has
been demonstrated that a party called
twenty-five persons in twenty min
utes, a feat that is absolutely impos-
sible with the manual system.
Absolute secrecy is assured, it is
simply not possible for other parties
to hear the conversation, neither
can they tell who is being called,
without watching the dial You get
no wrong numbers unless you make
the mistake yourself. This feature
alone appeals to people who are
backward about using the telephone
because of their inability to make
the operator understand the number
they want. And in this way it in
creases the number of people who
can use the telephone.
There are in all American cities
foreign speaking people, unacquainted
with English, and certainly not able
to talk with English speaking opera
tors, who are usually employed. In
black and white the numerals are
usually the same, therefore it is easy
for any person, whether he speak
English or not to select the number
he wishes.
at has been shown where auto
matte telephones are installed, that
this feature alone has increased the
telephone business from to 40 per
cent. If it were not for this fact
alone, it would have been impossible
for the telephone company in San
Francisco to give service to the
Chinese colony In this case they
substituted the Chinese characters
for the numerals, and of course it
was easy for the Chinese to conduct
their business by telephone.
One of the Great Features.
'One of the greatest features about
the automatic system. is to handle
the maximum of business as easily
as it does the minimum. without any
additional expense With the manu-
al board you have to arrange your
operators according to the number of
calls being handled, often-times
rushed period will take place when you
are not prepared for it, consequently,