El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-06-12
Automatic Telephone Coming Into General Use
.Shortage OfOperators For TELEPHONE Is Serious

CHICAGO, I'LL, June 12.-Sh0rtage
u Of telephone girls fer operating
sWlcchboards is one Of the big
troubles o. the business world these
days and everywhere the service is
berated and called poor, although the
telephone management is doing
everything It can TO get girls.
In every big city there is cam
paign on to secure operators De-
partmenr stores are cooperating, for
S@rT need the service, along with
others and you'I see windows In every
city with large displays urging girls TO
become operators telling Of the clean
illness OF the work. of the recreation
rooms, the weekly dances, the lunches
at cost and everything that would
make the positions attractive
They are paying as much for tele-
phone operators and even more than
for girls in other work requiring a
similar amount OF Intelligence and
effort, but they don't seem TO be able
70 get them and keep them
The companies even pay the
girls while they are Learning but
the turnover as they call ia.
in year. Is running about 100
percent. which means that an en-
tire new force OF girls must be
reemployed each year.
II takes a girl several months to
become proficient in the operation
Of a board In large city and just
about the time she learns the work,
20 some other place. gets another Job
or something. The same may be true
in other businesses where girls are
employed. but lt is not so noticeable.
because they do not have 10 be trained
80 long
The matter has beeome 80 Eeri-
Gus that the American Bell Tele-
phone company has about decided
10 change all its plants I'm the
country. except the small towns,
where the help question Is not 20
paramount 20 automatic The
cost viii be terrific, hut if is the
only way to give service, they
I recently told in these columns Of
the plans Of the washington. ID. C.,
plant TO make the next unit an auto
matte exchange. and New York has
similar plans under way, while in
philadelphia, Cincinnati. Chicago,
Baltimore and every city I have Wis
TIED, similar plans are under discus
sion.
The change is going to cost mill
lions of dollars but IL is found
necessary. and the old automatic
hat we used 10 laugh ut in FL
Paso may come home 70 reost be-
fore very Ions
The Ben company retained the au-
tomato system in Phoenix, Arizona
when IL took over the Independent
company there, ana / is said to be
operating satisfactorily
1t viii not be long before all the
exchanges are automatic OF course. [
even an automatic exchange requires
some girls for its operation. but it
can get on with few compared to the I
requirements where all the work is
manual
The telephone company operating /
IN New York city has recently an l
nounced that. following exhaustive I
experiments, it has developed a ma /
chine switching central office system 1
that has proved so satisfactory in a /
number Of practical trials as 10 war /
rant its use in several places within I
Its territory. installations are now /
being made in Dunlzirk. ithaca and 4
Geneva and the work is expected TO 4
be completed about the first OF the i
year In New York city It is planned ]
10 place this apparatus in the three ]
new exchanges, but none OF these in
stalations can be completed, accord /
ing to present estimates, much be-
fore the end OF 1920. The latter /
changes are expected TO help meet ]
The abnormal demand for telephone /
service in that city.
The new system has been carefully ]
worked out and the means OF coordi-
mating IL with the other types Of 4
switchboards have been so perfected D