The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-01-05
With the State Press
The Governor is All Right.

came reconciled to the decision Of Governor
Mann in the Allen cases. nor do We perceive
from the news accounts what commends itself
to us as good and sufficient reason for pardon
ing the so-caI1ed cocaine king of Newport News,
yet acquaintance with his excellency is such
that cannot doubt his sincerity or compe-
tency in such matters. and by the same token
must disapprove the Incorporate comments some
of our contemporaries have been pleased to make
touching the matter.
1t requires no effort to detect the fact that
some OF the reports of the clearly
incomplete If not indeed prejudiced; hence 1t
is no surprise that some of the editorial work
has been grossly unjust. But any criticism OF
Governor Mann in this case must OF necessity
carry with 1t reflection upon his motives, for
it is undenable that his information must be
as full and authentic as that OF the newspapers
condemning him, and he is as capable OF passing
intelligent judgment In such matters as they.
Why then should his motives be questioned? Is
there naything in his career public or private.
suggestive, much less excusatory, OF such i'm
putations? If so, what? Now let his traducers
put up shut up; this thing Of claiming
license to abuse and defame any and every pub
lie servant who will not do the instantaneous
contemporaneous forward, back and SIDE step,
of conforming his acts to every whim and
vagary of this critic or that, is both wearisome
and Observation-Disclosures Times.
The Courtesy of Telephone Operators.
President Elliott in his recent book, The
Truth About the Railroads. speaks of the OPP
portunity the employees of the railroads have
to show courtesy to the millions of annual pas
sengers-
The truth In strikingly illustrated in the tele-
phone business. The year 1913 shows approx
matey SIS, 600 originating calls in the New
England Telephone and Telegraph company, an
average OF 10000 calls to each operator In
other words each operator has had 900 OPP
company.
How often is she guilty of discoutesy? The
all f1fv
and includes complaints of discourtesy all
which the subscriber views as such. even though
the operator only obeying the companys
rule, in using certain standard phrases or
in refusing to furnish non-advertised numbers
These called discourtesy complaints, both
oral and written, approximate 1900 for the
year--one for every 3s5. 900 messages: Ave a day
for 900 daily messages.
Put in another way. three tenths of one COM
plant for every operator per year. or three years
for complaint for every operator! Think
of it, In three years she has spoken with the
public of all classes, conditions and tempera-
ments 10000 times and has been thought to be
discourteous only once! Concede that not all
dissatisfaction is expressed in complaints, admit
that it exceeds the complaints. five, ten. twenty,
one hundred times and even then how does the
record compare with that of the average bust
ness or professional man?
Let him be his own silent judge. How hard
he finds it to please his friends in his
daily contact with them, how much harder to
please his chance acquaintance and how little
he knows how many strangers he has offended.
If he failed but in hundred times, he
would feel justly pleased with himself and have
a reputation for sainthood among his neighbors.
Yet even then the telephone girl weHld beat
him more than thirty times over! Think OF it!
Telephone operating has developed the art of
being kind. The ,aptly chosen phrase, the At
ting tone the ready hepfulness go farther to
make this rough world smooth than all our
good Observation-Disclosures Topics.