Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-02-28

New York, Feb. 3e.-Whan one
Of the seven million people in New
York city reaches out these days
through that marvellous modern
network which makes up the tele-
phone system OF the metropolis
and tries to tag another particular
individual In the great mass for a
bit Of talk. he Is likely TO- have
trouble. The infinitely complicated
task Of putting the people Of Ameri-
cas- mighty mart in telephone
communication IL all gummed up and
not working properly, and. despite
his stoicism. Father Knickerbocker
Is getting fussy about it.
New York is an extraordinarily
good-natured city. Or. perhaps it
is merely apathetic after long years
Of wearing adversely. Anyway, 1t
bears with Spartan fortitude the
burdens Of civic inefficiency
which would not be tolerated by
most American communities.
Even Arctic explorers must have
felt an Overwhelming gust Of pity
for the city's recent plight when it
suddenly became covered with half
. foot Of snow, which refused to
melt, but New Workers endured the
catastrophe with their usual sto-
ical calm. Apparently. they thought
it was only natural that . storm.
the traces of which would have
been quickly cleared away by .
less lethargic municipality. should
completely paralyze the transpor-
tation facilities of Manhattan for a
whole week; cut off food supplies,
and make walking to work as risky
an adventure as winter climbing in
the Alps. The newspapers said
some unkind things about the may
or, but for the most part New York
bore the loss Of its motorcars. its
horses, its time and its balance,
without . whimper.
In a like manner, the city has
for the last six months nobly en-
dured the strain Of a telephone
service, which is not only worse
than any encountered In most ru-
raj America, but which has taken
the BOBBY prize away from Europe.
Telephoning in New York these
days has several well-deaned and
painful stages, like pneumonia. 1t
proceeds like this:
Upon calling . number. in the
first place.you are invariably told
that the line is busy. Then. If CEN
trail cannot get rid Of you this way,
the next time you are told that the
number does not answer. Protest
| ing this. you are next connected
with the wrong number. Eventual
ly, after waiting anywhere from 20
to SO minutes, you get the right
number and about to deliver an
important message to the person al
| the other end of the wire, when. OF
course, you are cut of-for the
first time. After that. you are cut
| off SO frequently, with such dog
ged persistence on the part of the
operator, that your conversation
never gets beyond the stage of des-
! perate "hellos." II it does, central
Immediately puts someone else on
the same line, SO that, after a
fierce, unintelligible battle, you ara
usually compelled to hang up the
receiver and sink, weeping and ex'
hausted, to the floor.
But if, by any chance, you are
weary and decide to retire early
after a day of hard toll, or if there
happens to be illness in your fam
lily, why, then, you are literally
overwhelmed by the alertness anG
efficiency of the telephone service
In fact, the whole department will
concentrate on your line to show
you how we'll it works. 1t will cal
you up to ask you if the service has
improved, and after that it will cal
you frequently and loudly just te
beg your pardon or tell you thai
someone else has been trying t.
get you. but had become discour'
aged.
For months, as has been said
New York has stood this sort O.
thing with dignity and tolerance
1t has joked about it, and it ha!
even tried to pretend that waiting
for telephone calls was good for it
Cheerful attention was directed tt
the beneficial repose to be gained
from sitting with ones eyes closet
while waiting for a call in a tele
phone booth, while, not long ago, i
was pointed out by some jolly sou
that standing in q correct position
while at the phone was a splendid
form of exercise. There is grea
hunt on for hobbies which one ma,
It'll In these waits. The advocates
of systems of mental calisthenic
that will corrugate the cerebellun
are reaping q consequent harvest
| Apparently. the telephone com
pany is not able to make use of TIL
very obvious fact that. by pluggin!
Z call properly the first time, tina
call can be handled more econom
icalfy than by making 1t necessar
that It should be repeated.
Within the last couple Of weeks
however. New York has at last be
gun to demonstrate the well-knowl
fact that the worm will turn.
has turned on the New York Tele
> phone company the full force @
late but ponderous disapprova
The city is humminng like . bee
hive with proposed remedies 70
. the present abominable service, a
we'll as threats Of what will hap
pen il it isn't improved. Most en-
couraging Of these is the plan Q
. New York assemblyman. Loui
, A. CuyiIlier Of Manhattan, to intro
, duce into the legislature a bill
, making the telephone company liza