The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1913-04-23
Seems About the Only Effective
Solution of the Service Prob.
lem, Says General Man
ager Won Schlegell
DECLARES LINES LOADED
WITH USELESS TALKING
Fewer Calls With Better Ser
vice Would Result from Pro-
posed Scheme, He Insists

Detroit Is the only city OF It's size
that has 80 many telephones on
tlat rate system. AS long as this sys-
tenn il maintained, the service IL
bound to be crowded. and 1t will be
imperfect II occurs 20 me that the
only solution or the service problem is
the meter system"
General Manager A. Won Schlegeii,
OF the Michigan State Telephone Co
was discussing, Tuesday morning, the
resolution, proposed by Aid Barnett,
that the telephone service be invests
gated By a council committee.
BY the meter system, the cost OF a
telephone Is determined by the num-.
her of calls over the line. A device
in the exchange registers the number
OF calls, and the rate is gagged accord
ingly. In some cities. certain lines
have nickel-in-the-slot devices, like
those in the public pay stations OF
Detroit
The use OF the meter system Mr.
Won Schlegell continued, would elm
mate great deal Of useless talking
and a great deal OF complaint because
of busy lines. II would mean that the
switchboards would not have as much
business to handle. and the Jperators
would be better able TO care for the
calls In the hurry which our volume
OF business necessitates, mistakes are
unavoidable SO long as the work has
TO be done by fallible human gencies
Since we instituted the toll sys-
TEN between Detroit and Windsor,
the business over the under-river
cables has decreased materially.
When we stopped the free service be-
tween Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, the
business dropped TO 10 per cent Of
the former figure. The unnecessary
calls were eliminated.
1.-The business done over the teie-
phone has increased marvelously in
the past few years. The lines are
used for the most trivial matters.
One merchant told me recently that
he would have TO install three more
trunk lines not because OF any
growth sin his business, but because
SO much of II was done over the tele-
phone, and so many questions were
asked Of his employees by customers.
Children have become accustomed
10 the use of the telephone, and dis
cuss their trivial matters over IL.
The system has become far more than
an instrument for business and ordi.
nary social matters. 1t Is this eAtire-
ly unforeseen development that Is
causing a large part OF the service
trouble, and I can see no remedy but
a meter system that will cut down
the number of calls. / haven't thought
the matter out: ! haven't made any
estimates; but II simply occurs TO me,
in discussing the matter, that meter
system is the only plausible way out
Of the difficulty.
Those who have experienced un.
usually poor service during the past
month. must remember that we have
had some exceptional storms, from
which the system has not yet recov-
erod. In the heavy wind. sleet and
snow. OF month ago we lost 2.4O0
poles, and though We have put every
available man on repair work, it is
not yet all completed"
"What causes connections to be
broken so often. during CONVERSE
tions?" Mr.. Won Schlegell was asked.
"If the telephone Is on q private
switchboard, sometimes the switch
board operator is to blame" he re-
piled "A call from department store
through the hands of the switchboard
operators in the department store and
the city hail. as we'll as those OF the
operator In the exchange. The larger
the number OF hands through which
II passes, the greater the risk OF in
terruption. The girl In our exchange.
however, is watched by supervisor,
and Ia likely to be more careful than
the operator In the private exchange.
Then there Is the chance that some.
thing is wrong with the signal which
tells whether the line is In use or not
There are many contingencies that
might arise, by which the connection
would be broken.
Our operators are the best We can
get. IL Is true that we have great
difficulty In finding them-greater diff
ficulty than the companies OF other
cities. The reason Is that there are
70 many Industries in Detroit that
employ young women that the supply
of operators Is never quite equal to
the demand We have done every
thing to attract young women to this
business. We pay them $50 month
while we teach them. and we are
happy II 80 per cent OF those whom
We instruct become good operators.
We have rest rooms, recreation rooms,
bathrooms for the girls. We have a
cafe In which they can get cooked
food three times day at the bare
cost OF the food itself--nothing COM
ing out for heat. light or service. And
still we must advertise constantly for
more girls.
so unless We can find some way
of decreasing the volume of service
and eliminating unnecessary calls,
don't know what more can be done to
improve the service than we are at.
tempting to do. The problem Ia q
very serious one. We are trying to
\ give the public the best service pos
sible. for II means just az much to us
as II does to the people OF Detroit"
HOMICIDE SUSPECT