Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-02-11
RICHMOND TELEPHONES
HAD THEIR BUSIEST Time
GasIess Day That Came Without
Warming Gave Hello" Girls
limo OF Their Lives.
THOUSANDS OF EXTRA CALLS
a Hundred Thousand Recorded in
HalrHour After Gas Was Cut on.
Incidental Calls Kept Up Until
Nearly Midnight.

Last week when Richmond had a
Easiess day. not designed by Hoover
or Garfield. several thousand people
who use gas ranges for cooking pur.
poses and several thousand others who
depend lrgely upon the gas heater for
warmth on cold day. without warning
found themselves suddenly without
fuel Naturally such of them n. had
telephones convenient rushed 10 tha
same and called up somebody for in
formation. Rapid calls poured in upon
city officials and upon the newspaper
Offices where any kind of information is
supposed TO be on tap at all hours. and
wives phoncd to husbands down town
and neirhbors called UP ncghtors and
so IL went.
The telephone people report thar
thcrc wcro over 100000 calls of this
character in less than :, half an hour
after the gas was cut off. 1t would
seem tina. they found il Impossible
TO keep a further record. but i, ,s vo,v
certain that many times the numbc..
or Calls AZ were recorded in the fra,
hait hour were made before midnight
Oh last Wcdnesday--calis that were di-
rtc'!y. and incidentally. due to the cut :
ting off OF the gas and would no, hayo
been made bu, for the gaSlcss day.
In" 100000 that were ken, track or
n the hvst half hour by the teleDhor,
people were made by people who have
telephones In their houses. Later =,
ne class. who are in the habit of usin,
inc corner grocery phone. got busy ana
thev put in not few thousand calls
IN the meantime. or later on still. those
who havc the habit OF droppinC In on
neiEhbors and asking the use of tn.
phohc IN emergencies. commenced to
Eet IN 'h'ir "oTh Truly an emer-
Sency confronted ,hem. and the
nctghbors with the phone raise,
no objection. Then as the dim
nor hour Approached. the man
or the house. now down to,rn a. his
place OF business. began TO get uneasy
ana commenced phon!ng TO the good
woman Il, hone % know abou, the
prospects for dinner and ask whether
Or not he should cat ~ Il restaurant
before coming home The young men
and old bachelors. VINO board uptown.
also kept phones pretty busy. inuuir-
ing OF tho lan!lady as TO the outlook.
After the late dinner and the EARL
supper had been dispensed with and
Easless households had settled down
for the evening. The real "pasiess''
gossip over the telephone commenced
in earnest. !, was then that tn. dear
women folks who had friends tacy
knew were dependent upon The 2as
range for cooking commenced 20 call
up 10 inquire how the gas user Eut
through the ordeal. Here is a sample
OF what went on. My dear, I've been
thinking o: YOU all tho afternoon
How did you make on: for supper
Suppose the oil doesn't come, and they
don't turn the gas on in the morning.
what will you do about breakfast
and SO on and on. Little chats like
those were kept UP for from two 10
ten minutes until away into tho night.
Fer tao hours that night the writer
was in hearing distance OF q phone in
4 house OF only A small family. lie
kept tally and heard one side OF cy-
nctly eleven converse tons OF that char
actcr. Tho women OF the house had
"Taslc3s" friends and nciShbors in va
rious parts q! the city, and they were
anxious TO know how thsv made out.
Then other friends had 10 know A.
this particular household stood tho or
deal. and as many calls came in 10
that phono a went out from IL II
il fair 20 presume that this Kind or
household. but was pretty general al!
over the city.
or course. II is impossible to form
n correct estimate OF The number OF
telephone calls that were due 20 TIE
gas situation last Wednesday. but
starting with the 100. 300 that the tele-
phone people recorded in oue-half hour
~ a basis TO figure on. il would prob
ably be safe to wager that Richmond }
Eas!.ss day Increased the calls many
times that number. The telephone is
great institution, and no city in the
United states has tho benefit OF bet
ter phone service than Richmond.