The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-12-04
BUSINESS HEAVILY
HANDICAPPED BY
! PHONE SERVICE
President Of Chamber Of Com
merCe Says No End Of VAL
liable Time Is Lost Each
Day Through IneffiCienCY.

Improvement in the service rendered
IN Memphis by the Cumberland Tele-
phone and Telegraph company has be-
come a crying necessity for the prop
sr and normal dispatch OF business, w
~ FitZHugh, president Of the Chamber
OF commerce, said Thursday morning
~ iurther comment on his request TO
W, T. Armstrong, chairman Of the law
committee OF the chamber, TO investi-
gate the breakdown" OF the service
Ut II pretty generally recognized by
the business interests Of the city"
Mr. FitsAugh said, that the inefficient
telephone service is the greatest detri-
ment to the conduct OF their business
that they have to contend with, In a
city the size Of Memphis business men
are compelled to rely on the telephones
TOR the transaction Of a great deal Of
their business, II Is necessary that this
service be raptd aud good II not no
end Of time Will be lost, which is very
valuable.
There is no telling how much Of
the time Of the business men Of the
CITY is wasted every day by the tail
ure OF the telephone exchanges to give
them connections promptly and cor
rectly. Why | talked with business
man the other day who said; IL We
could only get central we can't even
do that half the time
One man says that he generally has
to try two or three times before he can
get the number he desires. He takes
down the receiver, central says, mum
Der, please" he furnishes the number
and he gets sllence-'dser, solemn un-
broken silence, II Is then necessary Ia
ring off and try again. And then
maybe II takes third trial to set the
connection,
Another complains Of always getting
the wrong number on the first two or
three attempts,
Yet another says that he gives cen.
trail his number and then after a wait
is again asked for hts number, which
he must repeat,
These experiences have become typ.
ical, Generally subscribers Of the tele
| phone service have learned to shun Il
| wherever II is possible TO transact bust.
ness by word Of mouth or letter They
only take chance on the phone When
II Is unavoidable, A person who Is
compelled TO use the telephones a great
| deal, such as n newspaper reporter
plust count upon sacrificing greaI
| deal OF his time each day to the incffl-
cheney Of the telephone service,
A good example of recent rotten tele'
| phone service occurred wednesday wher
4 reporter for The News Sclnitar callet
f'a'n elai, which u st Jnseph's hos
4e saSs TambNT
| He rot Main 4b70 He shllek tbs iiVoN
and attracted central's attention again
He repeated Main 6t4i This time h
! got Main SAL Again he shook thu
| hook, There was little longer walt
several clicks, and n feminine vote,
said lis this Main Star" The reporter
said he was also trying to get that mum
Der. and asked the ladys number. y
was Main 23i Again the reporter shoot
| the hook Finally he got central MAR
6i4l," said the reporter. walt Then
tho report IAN lines are busy" Wher
| finally he had waited u time, then go
the number O5 minutes had passed., h
| talked for moment, then was disoon'
nected before he had concluded his con-
versation.