The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1914-03-13
HELLO GIRLS Hello
RECEPTION At
EXCHANGE
! eIephone subscribers Guests
of The Company
INSPECTION OF LOCAL PLANT
Comparatively the Largest Gather
ing In the District. Thursday
Afternoon

IL was reception DAY InurSuay at
the local exchange of the New Eng
land Telephone and Telegraph com
pany and during the afternoon aud
evening nearly four hundred persons
to be exae. 375, visited the quarters
of the company at the corner OF
North and Pleasant streets and were
shown through the plant. The larg.
er portion Of the CUES s were sub
scribers of the exchange and they
were responding to the invitations is,
sued few days ago by Manager w.
E. Bissell to inspect the internal
workings of the exchange.
The reception day plan Of the com
pany is part Of general scheme
fcrmu ated for the purpose of bring
ing subscribers and the employees of
exchanges closer together, to permit
users Of telephones to acquire more
comprehensive knowledge of the me
chanism and its operation and to
create a better understanding be-
tween the company and its Gus
tcmers. Tuesday was reception day
n Pittsfeld, Wednesday in Nor h
Adams and today in Great Barring
ton. Taking in comparison the size
Of the exchanges in the two Massa
chusetts cities, he reception here
Thursday from the point of atten-
dance was by far the more success
ful Of the three, so far held.
During the afternoon the grea er
portion Of those who visited the ex.
change were women. They were
hown through he Office, the operat
ng room and the ties room and tho
working of the apparatus was ex-
blamed in detail by employees. In
he evening the proportion OF mel
vas larger than in the afternoon
Many OF those who at ended the
eception had never before been in
ide OF an exchange and had the.
irst opportunity of observing how
he operating end OF the telephone
business is conducted. Although
here was crowd OF people bankes
ehind the long switch board durinl
he entire afternoon. the business O.
he exchange with the extra opera
ors attached to the exchange OIL
iuty, went on without interruption
he intricate mechanism of the
witch board was careful ly explained
y members OF the staff who hac
cen de allied for that purpose. =
er watching the operators answe.
nd connect their calls. not few OF
he subscribers stated that in the FL
ure they would feel ashamed to lose
atience with the young women Oh
he switchboard.
There are at present 1925 subscril
srs connected with the LEGAL ex
;hange which includes the village of
bennington, Old Bennington an
Nor h Bennington and the towns OF
Shaftbsury and Woodford. The pres
ent plant was installed seven years
lgo and at that time was the latest
hing in its line. Immedia ely al.
he new plant was put in operation
he exchange began to grow and In
ten years the number Of subscribers
has doubled. Eleven operators are
1t present required to handle the
business.
On one or two occasions the com
pany has instituted canvassing caIl
paigns in Bennington. but he growth
4 the exchange during the past
,hree years has come without solicit
tation and is therefore undoubtedly
due in Z large measure to he courte
Gus manner in which the business
has been conducted by the force I'M
der Manager Bissell. Every com
plant. no matter how trivial, is Civ
en- a thorough consideration. Oper-
ators are just as human as the res.
Of us and all Of us make mistakes.
1t was partially for the purpose OF
demonstrating the human ements
IN the operation OF a telephone ex-
change that the reception Thursday
Afternoon was held. and sudglng
from the expressions OF many who
were present. this object was certain
ly attained.
The staff az the Bennington ex-
change is at present made up Of as
follows: Manager. W. r. Bissell;
cashier. F. Irene Davis: chief opera
tor. Mary f. Butler; supervisor.
Mary A. Doyle; operators. Clara NJ
Pellerin. Bessie NJ. Kennon. Louise
N. Burns. Cecile NJ. Dorion. Mary
r. Doran. Elizabeth NJ. Nealon,
Bessie II. Shea. Halle A. Woodward: