Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-05-20
.PARTY-L|NE TROUBLES;
REMEDIES FOR THE SAME
Some Telephone Neighbors in Rich
mond Who DO Not Always Read
lily Agree on Time Division.
WORRIES OF THE HELLo.pEopLL;
Short Talk With Managers Reveal
Some OF Everyday AnnoNanccs
Over the Wircs-Eight Thousand
Party" Takers i'm Richmond.

Everybody has heard OF neighbors
who couldn't get along together on
account, pc. haps, of chickens or chill
dren or some other visible cause. Per-
haps everybody has not heard of tcIe-
phone heighbors who cannot agree. but
they exist right here IN Richmond. Tho
telephone people say SO, and they GER
tainly ought to know. Every day they
receive from ten To fifteen requests TO
please put me on another line"
There arc more than 5000 two-party
line residence telephones in Richmond
and one can readily see what the tclc-
phone company is up against in hand
ing these requests. |, is AN utter i'm
possibility. they say. TO arrange 5000
telephone subscribers in pairs so that
each individual subscriber Will be com
pietely satisfied with the other person
on his or her line.
In the first place. there is not always
another line available and TO move
subscribed No ] to another iine--Np. 2.
Tor instance-would mean that a sub
sciibcr on No. . line would have to be
moved to some othe" line, crowding off
sun another subscriber, and so on
ad infnitum.
a telephone official told The Times
Dispatch reporter that when an appli-
cant requests two-party telephone SER
Wee. II Is Tcry carefully explained
that there VIII be another party on
the line, ana that the telephone com
pany canno. undertake 20 say just who
That party Will be. just street
car company cannot guarantee who
VIII SIT beside a passenger when he
boards a car
y funny thing abou, (, is that in
many cases the complaining subscriber
Is also Objectionable 10 the other party
4
al. due respect, OF course. huw's the
company going to know II the sub
scr!bcr who wants to be changed WIN
be satisfactory 10 the party on the Inc
10 which he IS changed. or that party
TO him? Talk about your endless
chains! Here l. something 70 pondc.
over.
or course. IN ordinary times i, would
be simple remedy 10 suggest that
the complaining party have AN ,ndi-
viduai line put in. but tho company
cannot very we'll do that IN these war
days, when they are Obliged to so easy
on new construction on account Of the
necessity Of conserving men and ma
terials.
Probably most OF the trouble be-
tween subscribers party line
comes about because one or possibly
both use the telephone excessively and
camp on the line" when the other
The remedy, says the district man
ager o: the telephone company, lies in
the observance OF what he calls party
line courtesy. 30 telephone subscriber
who is !indful Of the rights Of his
neighhor Cor maybe IL is her ueighborl
VIII use the telephone for long period
Of time without giving the other per
son chance 10 pU, IN call. The
fact ;hat person subscribos for SER
vice On line doesn't give that person
tho right 10 use The line continuously
or 10 be caustic or unkind 20 another
person on the line. The rights OF one
are not superb 10 the rights or tbs
other.
When face 10 face with a person, a
conversation Is more smooth and salts
flying II bot PARTIES are pleasant and
courteous. It's the same way With the
telephone. The quality OF service on
an party lire depends on the CO.
operation OF the subscribers on that
line. They can make ii good OF bad,
pleasant or unpleasant
The telephone company suggests a
remedy for much OF the difficulty aris-
ing out of long conversations and con-
sequent delay 10 tho calls OF the other
party. II is this. when you have a
long conversation 10 get ont OF your
system, divide II in two parts, with q
fvc-minute interval This VIII give
the other person on the line = chance
TO make call in between Another
thing: do not make seven or eight calls
in succession. tying UP the line for
half an hour or more. Give the other
person a chance TO use the line