The evening world., 1919-05-01

Jus bear Il aud snie fof a very LITTLE whils
rhen all viii BE- wcn and tho little old "tc,"
WI make Jou fsS Glad ycu waited
At least this il what Frank H.
Bethel. First Vice President OF tho
New York Telephone Company, told
us when we begged for an eKplana-
ton OF the peculiarly trying telephone
conditions that add at present to tho
sorrows Of life. Mr.. Bethet listened
patiently to our list Of grievances
which are your grievances; every
body's grievances-and won our graf
itude by not denying that we had
cause for complaint.
81 Know" said he yesterday in his
office at l6 Dey Street, exactly what
the telephoning public is up against.
have my troubles, too, getting num-
bers and service-if that's any consO-
lation." Ot ISL II offer these roa-
sons for the publics confidence and
cooperation:
"t'irst, the fact that when the " 1r
came, industry Was drafted. Hundreds
OF telephone wires were taken over
by the Government. Tho ones left for
public use were suddenly-almost
Overnight-loaded with traiuc almost
20 the swapping point
AS Inc wag progressed New York
80 far as numUer of phone calls Is
concerned, had virtually another
whole city the size OF Duualo. say, Or
oven rnIiduciphId, supcrImpUsed upon
IL II was Impossible % get LraInuu
girls enough TO take care Ui tnIs extra
wOrN. We employed ana framed them
AS fast AS It was physically possible.
But tue uvuauus tUT svIsIy u,CI cdSGu
by tens ana uunulcuS OF tnuuSands.
1t reACuCd eventually the Almost un-
.nlhkaDie average OF three anu one
quarter million calls per uay, more
nan ~ ace the calls sent uaIy W Lon
don. ParIs ana Rome combined!
"NOH, dummy lS never sausfact-
ory. But dummy rs better than
nothing. 50 We nad no cnuiCe out u
put IN green hanus dummies. We
lid our utmost. we distributed these
unframed glrls amongst tno expert
snced ones. We scnOOied tncm out OF
hours. We aided them by printed
Instructions. We advertised con-
stantly for help. We trled day and
nlgnt to WORK Out Il solution.
Meanwhile our cqui iomcnt had to
be EXTENDED and altered. THIS meant
confusion in the central Offices
noise, disturbances of "a hunured
sorLs which nothing could oov.ate.
And II took time. especially under
.hc labor conditions tnat confronted
Is. Ii takes, for ins tanC s, IN normal
lines, a year TO erect a central othce
DuIldlng--a year to make the COM
plete equipment Of sucn an othce--
and another year to install 1t,
I'VE had to requIsition the reserve
telephone equipment underneath the
citys streets. which also took time,
labor and much money. The restrIc-
lions OF war hampered us. Every
thing hampered rs at II does all in
dustry In wartime"
With some emotion l reminded
Mr.. Bethel that since the armistice
was signed our telephone troubles
mad grown even more acute. DO We
not become old and haggard stand
ing before our telephones, juggling
hooks and wailng for Central TO
give US the number We want, not
just any old number she has IN
stock2 Do we not grow hystericdl
and finally lapse into n comatose
condition because we cannot elicit
Central. who apparently dies as soon
as we give her a number? DO we
not drop the receiver and frantically
ny TO the Battery or to Harlem IN
person. failing to get response over
the wire? Yea, verify, we do. And
Mr.. Bethel realizes It and proffers
this solace:
y know that to the person stand
ing at a telephone waiting for service.
It 10 incomprehensiblo why that ser
vice is not forthcoming. myself.
many a time, have stood al 4 railway
ticket window wondering what the
man CAN be doing behind that
wicket! Yet some necessary thing Is
going on.
''lt Is peace time. too, the telephone
subscriber figures. Help is plentiful.
Building materials are accessible.
Traffic is more free.
"My answer Is an urge TO tho
batflcd subscriber to realize that New
York City is the meeting point OF
two great lines OF travel. One, com
ing out OF the Bast, bringing thou
sands OF returning men cach week.
The other, from the West, brings
thousands of persons on business, for
pleasure or to welcome the men from
overseas. Seventy y-three per cent. Ot
the hundreds Of thousands Of troops
from abroad land at Now York, while
the transient daily population Of the