Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-14
Chesapeake and Potomac
Telephone Company to
Install Aut0maticS Soon


Automatic telephone equipment for
Washington as soon as it Is possible to
install it, Is the determination of the
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone
Company. .
T., p. Sylvan, assistant to President
Bethel. was unable to say today just
how long it would take to replace the
present manual telephone system in
the District of Columbia with a full
automatic system, but declared a par
tial automatic system would be in
1919, he hoped.
Washington will be the first large
city in the United States to be fully
equipped with automatic phones, when
such installation is finally completed. it
was declared. The work will cost mil
lions of dollars, and no steps can be
made until a building is erected by the
company to house the automatic ex-
change necessary to handle the auto
matics."
1T isn't the attitude of ths Postmas-
ter General that is driving the Chesa-
peake and Potomac Telephone Company
to take this STEP" Mr.. Sylvan declared.
The prod that is making us change to
the automatic system as fast as we can
is the need of financial relief.
Will Install $1,000.
There will be 10000 instruments in
stalled in this city by the end of the
matter as fast as we can, nobody Is
going to suffer more than the tele-
phone company" Mr.. Sylvan declared
that installation of q full automatic
system will afford the company great
relief from the operating difficulties
now besetting il.
When the city is finally equipped
with the dial phones it will elimi-
nate nate ,! fully lily, 80 per cent Of the hello
orators and information"
The present plan of the company
calls for a start in the business sec
ton and continuation into all parts
of the city rapidly as possible Mr.
Sylvan explained During the process
of extension, however, the system will
be so operated as TO permit of ready
and easy intercommunication between
the manual and automatic sections of
switchboaTds, as well as between the
Washington system and the balance of
more than ten million telephones of the
Bell system.
Telephone Nerve Center.
Washington is the telephone nerve
center Of the country" Mr.. Sylvan de-
clared, and the maintenance of one
sential. Mr.. Sylvan expressed it as
his opinion that the Postmaster Gen
eral, in offering to run the District
telephones. lost sight of the fact that
ephones merely would. in a sense, di
vorce the local system from the ma
tional system. Mr.. Sylvan declared
that the entire telephone system either
should be under one management, as
at present. or should be owned entirely
by the government
II is known that experts of the Post
once Department, who have advocat ed
the installation Of automatic phones
under government ownership believe
that the installation might be COM
pleted within two months.
Count on Belief.
Mr.. Sylvan emphatically decla red tina
the installation could not be begun,
even. in that time, and declared that to
expedite the early completion Of the
automatic installation, the company
must count on some immediate relief
in the form of an order from the Pub
lie Utilities Commission. Unless. as a
war measure, he said. the commission
asks the people to eliminate unneces-
sary calling. the company will be COM
PEELED to continue expending large
sums of money on installation of tenn
porary manual equipment to care for
such calls.
"As was explained at the hearing the
company. If granted the relief suggest
ed by the commissions own experts,
would during 1918 earn less than az
per cent on the valuation as fixed by
the commission" Mr.. Sylvan said. by
failure to make changes effective
March /. 1918. this has now been fur
Their reduced. 1t must, therefore, be ap-
preciated that the company has every
incentive in the world to hurry the in
staliation of the proposed system as
much as is humanity possible
IF the commission and people of
Washington will manifest toward the
company a measure of confidence and
good will in this serious crisis, it will
go very far toward aiding the company
in securing the millions necessary to
make the change and to make provi-
sion for the future growth of the sys-
tenn"