Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-07-30

| eight hours day and be central In
the telephone exchanges of the coun-
try, there would be nothing but girlless,
self connecting phones. But that time
has not arrived. The girls are indis-
pensible to the service and of real use
/ to patron and company.
I They stand, ready handed, in the
very center of the system. to tie to-
| gether it's nerve like wires that the en-
ergy Of electricity may carry your
words to me and mine to you. And
whether she is efficient, or whether she
| ties your nerve wire to somebody else's
| that you didn't want, pleases you or
! gets on your nerves
| But remember this, central is hu-
man. subject to the faults of all hui
mans but the assertion is Undoubtedly
| true that your make a larger percent
age of mistakes in calling than does
Central" and she calls hundreds
| where you call one number. no matter
how much you use your phone. And
| if the patron does his part he helps
himself to better service by making 1t
easier for central"
'Tis no easy task the operator is put
to when she takes her seat on her stool
in front of her section of 100 phones
! that she must connect with 200 9TH
! ers. From unseen wires. voices call to
| her She must catch each call, no mat
4 ter how many others are calling, and
they do call, two. three, or four at a
i time, and even more sometimes. To
j catch every number every time
| promptly. and without error, is beyond
! the possible for any human.
| The writer knows. Twice he tried
being an operator by proxy. That is
central did the work-the answering
Of the calls, the connecting of the
wires. He merely stood by with a head
| piece connected to her section" and
heard the calls. her answers, and saw
her work at close range He's ashamed
to confess how many calls he would
| have missed if he had had her job. The
| girl missed a mighty small percentage.
| And how the voices came From be-
hind the tiny lights that flash in the
board every time receiver is taken
down on the system they called her
big booming voices of deep chested
men: slurred. inarticulate jumbled
| numbers from snappy voices that
barked shrilly: squeeky high-pitched
voices that Jared the ear drum; gut
tural, growing voices that marked the
Crouch with phonetic sign board
| as plainly as tho it were spelling in
letters as high as a house, the soft
smooth voices Of men and women.
! grateful relief to tired ears; treble
voices Of children. The tempestoous,
peevish voices of the irritable and inn
patient.
j They came single-sometimes as
rapidly as the clock ticks; at other
times spaced by a pause. Again two
were calling at once-sometimes three.
Each wanted number. All were
served by the same girl
| But what was she doing while the
voices called, shouted and urged. Calm
ly she sat. Quietly. but quickly, oh,
SO quickly, did she work. Nirnbly she
plucked this connecting cord, then that
one. Quick. efficient fingers flew back
and forth. back and forth across the
Section" plugging in" pulling out,
! as the connection was made or the
! takers hung up
And as she worked she wove as the
weaver weaves a warp and wool of
cords across her board. At all angles
they intersected. and crisis crossed each
other At one time there were TWEEN
{, ty of them stretched over space no
|
was no confusion. No cords were tan
sled or snarled. Every move counted.
There were no false motions, no en-
ergy was wasted.
| Multiply her by dozen sitting in a
row. Multiply her section" by sixteen
others for the board. Place behind the
row Of girls on stools. supervisor" or
two who silently walk back and forth
overseeing the work, stepping in here
and there to lend a helping hand when
calls crowd too thick and fast upon
any one girl then add the quietness of
your drawing room and you have a
picture, poorly drawn, of an everyday
scene in the local telephone exchange.
| The qufetness, that's the surprising
and interesting environment of the
| place. Dozens, yes scores, are calling
| all the time over the thousands OF
wires to these girls The girls are an
swering without ceasing. Yet when
| YOU step back from that board half d
| dozen PAGES you hear no sound FOR
! central" works quietly, talks in low
| voice. If she shouted at you as you
do at her she'd split her throat in
half dozen hours.
But crowd up closer-you must edge
up very closely. Then you hear.
Number, number, 1882; number please
141: line busy, 345; number, 1914; that
lines out Of order; number 1017 yellow,
the line is busy; central, 1921; 321, US;
number, line busy: number. number
So it goes continuously and uninter-
ruptedly, excepting that at times the
! brief intervals between calls disappear
altogether or lengthen slightly as calls
increase or grow fewer. Always is
central calling number repeating
the number to let you know she caught
it, connecting you, or telling you some
one else is talking over the line you
wanted.
How does she know when the line
is busy? Perhaps you thought some
time that she just said that because
/ she was too lazy to connect you. But
remember the operator doesn't know
the line is busy until she has tried to
connect YOU When she tries. and the
metal end Of the connecting cord
touches the little hole in the board
| where are the wires of the phone you
want, then it. sends back to her ear q
| sharp click. That click says Zine
busy to her. If the line was not busy
| there would be no click. So she tells
| you line is busy" But it's easier for
her to complete the connection, If the
line is not busy than it rs to tell you
the line is busy, and in addition she
knows you will very probably call