The Monmouth inquirer., 1919-09-25
WALL STREET AND
THE TELEPHONE

Wall Street, that is to say, the fnan-
eial district, because either one in
cludes the other, is all that the name
implies. 1t is a region Of buildings,
some gray with age, and some of the
most modern constructiOn-al devoted
to monetary affairs.
Telephone pioneers can easily re-
member when the financial district was
much less attractive and interesting
than it now is Many historical land
marks have passed away, to be re-
placed by buildings which pierce the
clouds, or adorn the sites of less pre-
tentioius structures of other days.
No grass grows in the pavements or
in the roadways of the financial dis
trict-which is another way of say
ing it is a busy place Wall Street is
short, narrow, and somewhat winding,
but it holds the magic lure of minted
money Here regulations are made
or blasted over night, and fortunes
are won or lost from ten to three,
any day A keen analyst would say
there is a grim significance in the fact
that river lies at one end and a
graveyard at the other.
As matter of course, in district
Of such intense and important activi-
ties the telephone is absolutely indis-
pensable The daily transactions OF
the Street" would be impossible with
out it. In no other section of the
city is the telephone population" SO
dense.
In the main standard equipment
meets all telephone requirements OF
subscribers in the district The New
York Telephone Company equipment
engineers are, however, sometimes
called upon to consider special ar
engagements to meet special conditions;
for example, the private line monitor
was designed years ago to accommo-
date the numerous private lines which
terminated in the brokers wire rooms"
The brokers are good telephone
customers ;" as a rule they are able
and willing to pay for what they want,
and on account of the constantly
changing condition of the market"
they require many changes in their
wire connections they want
these made quickly, for in no other
place is the maxim "Time is money"
so true as it is in Wall Street.
In addition to the necessary local
and private line service between the
brokers offices and the Stock and
other exchanges, some of the brokers
have private lines to their branch Of
fees in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago,
and other cities. This service is fur
nished by means of 'long distance
loops" from the subscribers office here
to the long distance frame" of the
American Telephone and Telegraph
Company at "a Walker Street, where
they are connected with Long Dis
lance" lines, under contract arrange
ment with A. T. & T. Co.
Stock Exchange and "Curb"
Members of the New York Stock
Exchange are subject to certain regu-
lations of that institution as to their
telephone service; for instance, no
telephone may be installed, moved or
disconnected on the floor of the Ex-
change or on the members premises
without a formal permit being signed
by the secretary of the Exchange This
and other similar regulations are
designed for the protection of the
members as a whole, and incidentally
they are in the interest of the tele-
phone company. too
The "curb" market should haye a
paragraph by itself. The Curb Asso-
citation transacts its business in Broad
Street just south of Wall Street
The members trade IN stocks not list
ed with the New York Stock Ex-
change. Their Offices are generally
under their hats, or in a telephone
booth nearby or in a window overlook
ing the curb. They are a picturesque
and colorfu crowd, and in action on
big day they may easily be compared
with a tribe of dancing, gesticulating
aborigines celebrating some pagan
feast.
Serving the "Street"
The telephone requirements of SUBJ
scribers in the financial district make
heavy demands on all departments of
the New York Telephone Company.
The Broad, Rector, and Hanover ex-
changes handle the bulk of the traffic,
and when the Stock Exchange has a