Evening journal., 1920-07-26
CAN'T SUPPLY
Phone Orders
More Than Quarter of a Mil
lion Orders Will Be Un-
filled for Months

NEW YORK. July 26-"waiting' o.
asks the operator Waiting Wait
ing?"
Yes. a quarter Of a million Ameri-
cans are Waitng-not for the tele-
phone girl TO give them a number, but
FOR the company TO install The tele-
phone
And there are Indications they will
be waiting for some time yet-may-
be- two or three years. And then when
their orders have been filled prob
ably Will be as many more applicants
clamoring for telephones in the United
States, where more than iwO-lhirds
OF all the phones In the world are
located.
The number OF untitled orders for
telephones is a direct reflection Of
the growth Of business in general. and
The telephone business in particular.
\ large number Of waiting orders
means phenomenal growth Of tele-
phones installed and telephones or
derod. For The Bell companies the
country over there are total Of
about 10000 contracts awaiting In
stallaiion. In addition 90 this there
are considerable number Of requests
made FOR telephones which have been
made. There never has been and prob
aDly VIII never bc day that There
are not untitled orders. and statistics
show The number is normally $1,000
for the Bell system.
on the basis Of the results of an
inquiry whereby 10 was learned that
In II metropolitan districts in The
country selected at random there are
at present approximately 1874 900 un-
iilled orders FOR telephones by indi-
Nldual WOuld-hc subscribers. 10 Is
estimated about 10000 other appll-
cations for equipment In various
parts Of The country that are yet to
| be lllcd. AZ present In the whole
! country there are about i200OOO0
telephones now In use.
/ Reasons assigned by telephone com
pany officials here and In other cities
/ in most clses were The falling of Of
production, inability Of manufacmr-
crs TO gel transportation for sup
/ piles and "a general shortage OF
materials and labor
In New York city alone there arr
now on llle 6JOOO applications for in.
| stall3iiOns OF telephones I'm residences
apartment houses, Offices and factor.
les And there are already abou
$4,000 subscribers In The greater city
lnnllcd orders as reported from
other cities are as follows
Chicago 5000: Cleveland. 1900
Minneapolis and st. Paul 1000. In
dianapolls, 5000. Boston, 1900, Den.
Ver. 1000. oklahoma City, 1000, ST
Louis, 1900, Connecticut. $500, At.
lanta 2 $50. Blrminzham, 1900 Mo.
bile 1000 and Springfield. H.. 400
In explaining the situation that con-
fronts The American Telephone and
Telegraph Company the Bell Sys-
t.I. a.. N..I
panles, owns or controls more than
100000 Of the 100000 telephone.
In use throughout the United states
an official OF that company said,
: Great manufacturing plants have
, changed their products over night n
W,0rd the making OF arms, anmuni
3 tlons and materials OF war has beer
- stopped and the manufacture Of plOWs
I dynamos, steel products, textiles an'
the varied materials Of peace has beer
, begun.
, "Unnlled orders are on hand, new
! central Offices are needed, new
/ sWsichboards. new relays new DIS
tributing boards, new conduits new
, cables, new manhOles. new pole lines
! new equipment OF every kind. rhOus
/ ands Of miles Of cable must be laiC
thousands of miles OF wire must b
Z spliced and strung, uncounled mil
/ lions OF Joints must be soldered q
4 make perfect the connection TO IN
central Offices The whole country
teemine with this construction, GOV
, erlng every mechanical process, frOr
, factory production TO Insulation q
! the subscribers instruments"
4 Among the materials most used b
the telephone companies and whic
| 10 has been almost impossible TO oh
, tain, the official said-either due
! falling on OF production or TO poo
l transportation-are as f0llos.
Copper-ln 1919. 2a,0OOOOO pound
@ was used for telephone lines and 90
p 10000 pounds for making lead-covel
p Ell cables and apparatus.
a Slec - approximately ie,OoW
n pounds used annually In sheeis strip
j. bands, structural shapes and magn'
e steel
IS Galvanized iron and steel wire--Al
o proXimately 10000 tons used ever
j. year
Lead-Annual requirements are 100
e 10000 pounds.
i- Anlimony and Tin-Annual requir
% mcnis 10000 and 100000 pounds, r
le spectlvely and most OF which COM
q from China, japan and the Straits Sc
u Elements.
Brass Rod and Sheet - 10000
N pounds used every year
~
s. Rus PASSENGERS ESCAPE.
pc While coming down the hin fro
,c the Ccdars lasl night. bus No. 10