The sun., 1919-02-02

writer had n look around "a Walker
street. There were forty Ave: forty
five out Of 100000 telephones. in the
busiest telephone area OF its size on
our busy and sometimes vcXatious lit
tie planet.
Now in the trouble cases that elude
the test mans skill help is bcsought
OF the wire chiefs province. which is
upstairs. on the twenty umpth floor,
among the distributing frames. The
impression this big room makes on
the visitor is that of a bleak Congress
Sional library. its stacks fun Of mean
descent bulbs or tiny, neat brass but
tons instead of books. The stacks,
which are the frames. rise to the cell
ing; the testers up here work on traV-
cling ladders-live on the ladders, in
fact
Hanging between the barriers OF
frames are here and there a morning
glory horn. a smaller edition of the
thing that used to go with pho0o-
graphs, but painted abysmal black ana
showing in it's sombre throat little
round yellow eye OF intermittent lu-
ininosity. To the inexperienced visitor
the horns make the place as weird as
the House OF Suddhoo. albeit this de-
vice is nearly as old as the telephone
itself
You take your position anywhere,
thirty feet II you wish from the near
est morning glory; the yellow eye
lights to attract your attention and 20
signify that down on floor eight "A
test man is ready for speech with YOU;
~, trtr
voice. The horn replica. That Is. the
test man replies; but the voice, while
perfectly distinct. is odd and husky
and blarirg and inhuman.
There you stand, feeling the Creeps
of a broad daylight spiritualist seance
without the consultations of hocus-
pocus and mysticism. and trying to
look unconcerned and chat like n nat
ural, rational being. When you can
endure no more OF it the Cyclops says
goodby and his orb is quenched
How Gable Trouble Is Found.
They call the thing the loud speaker
Up at the Metropolitan Opera House
Mr.. Gatti has a copy OF II in his pri-
vate ONCE by which he hears, fresh
opera. Its use ut "a Walker street,
OF course, is to have the wire man in
speaking touch with the test man
downstairs, and yet save him climb
ing down his ladder every few minutes
10 an ordinary phone.
Exactly how the wire men test the
cables the writer does not pretend TO
be able to explain II he could. he
would he an electrical engineer. and
even then the explanation would not
convey much, probably, 70 most read
era OF this article. The problems state
themselves like algebra; given three
known quantities, find y. How Won
derfully \ is found will be under
stood from the fact that in a case OF
cable trouble, no matter how far re-
mote from the central bureau, the re-
pair man can always be sent straight
to the manhole nearest the spot that
leeds him.
Have you ever seen a sample cut
Of one of these telephone cables?
Each OF its many fine strands of wire
"a pair OF course. for every circuiD
Is swathed In tinted tissue paper spl-
rally twisted on like an old fashioned
pipe lighting spill The colors help
the repair men to distinguish the diff
ferent circuits.
In the New York Telephone build
ing, IL Dey street, they have an amaz-
ing specimen Of skrimshander, us sail
ors call such things; cut OF cable
frazzled and artiiced into patriotic
ornament, a sort OF parti-colored foun-
tain, with an american eagle atop and
| flags OF the allied nations grouped