New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-01-25
All Connections Switched
and None Who Were
Talking Know 1t.
OLD DEY STREET
OFFICE is CLOSED
Many Officials Inspect the New
Walker-Lispenard Building
and Witness Transfer.

without the knowledge Of single sub
scriber who might be using the wires'
every long-distance telephone line oper-
atlng in New York was switched last
night from the old operating room OF the
American Telephone & Telegraph COM
pany. No. 10 Dey street. to the new once
I'm the Walker-Idspenard Building, NO
q Walker street. The pulling OF rev
strings in both offices at 1O:OS o'clock
meant the passing of the old office ana
the completion Of work that has taken LOO
workmen more than a year and cost
! $4,000
I II is two years since the American Tele-
phone & Telegraph Company, which OPP
crates the long distance lines, decided
that a new long distance station was
needed to replace that which was being
rapidly outgrown. To erect the building
required nearly year and then engineers
and experts Of the Western Electric COM
pany were set to work TO install the new
apparatus. Bancroft Gheradi. plant en-
gineer, and X. w. Waterson, traffic engi-
neer, of the American Telephone Tele-
graph Company, designed the new ONCE
the installation being under the direction
Of w. A. Titus, division superintendent Of
the Western Electric Company. Millions
OF connections were made. The amount
OF platinum used in each connection is
the size of pin point. yet the cost of that
metal In the new boards was In excess OF
! $4,000.
/ On the third floor OF the building is the
| testing room, with delicate apparatus 10
/ locate and remedy trouble" On the
next floor IL the room where all calls are
recorded before being sent to the floor
/ above, where is the largest long distance
| operating room in the world. On the
/ third floor also are the rest rooms and an
| emergency hospital for the operators,
| school for beginners and a supervising
room. every long distance connection be-
ing under the eye of a supervisor
Into the new operating room will pour
/ all long distance calls originating in the
/ city. II is, in fact, the clearing house
/ for long distance messages. and from it
/ direct connection may be had with Chi
| cago. Milwaukee. Omaha, Denver, and,
it was announced last night, within year
with San Francisco
This extension will be the company's
/ contribution to the big fair OF 1915 Theo-
dore y. Vail, president of the company,
having ordered his engineers TO have the
/ plant in such shape by the time the fair
opens that one may talk from ocean to
ocean. The circuits will include eighty
eight to Philadelphia, thirty-five to Bos-
ton, ten TO Albany, twelve to Pittsburgh
and three to Chicago.
Among those who witnessed the cut
ting in of the new Office last night were
y. o. Kingsbury, Vice-president of the
company; J. r.. L. Van Meter, general
superintendent of traffic; +. A Steven
son. general superintendent 'of plant; S.
f. Thurber, vice-president of the New
York Telephone and Telegraph Company,
who was accompanied by G. c. Allen,
general superintendent Of the plant and f.
T. Sherwood chief engineer while Otto
de Fejer counsellor secretary; Bernard
de Paskay, technical counsellor; Akos
Terstyanszky and Alexander Ledeczy.
engineers, and Yeno Kaiser, manager of
the royal post and telegraph administra-
ton OF AUSTRIA Hungary, here to inspect
and purchase American long distance
apparatus, made up the interested group.
The work of cutting in consisted OF
pulling bits of insulation from the boards.
thus completing all connections. At the
Dey street office the process was re-
versed cutting the old connection. That
there might be no interruption, all long
distance connections standing at $50
o'clock in the old Offices were set up in
the Walker street Office also. All those
after 10 o'clock were set up in the new
office, and when the whistle blew the
Osy street station ceased TO exist.