The Monmouth inquirer., 1920-05-20
''wHY DU 1Jsj
like YOUR J0D?"
This Is What Two Telephone
Employees Think of
Theirs!
CONSTANT VARIETY MAKES
JOB" FASCINATING.

"JOB" FASCiNA ING.
Variety, Hard Work, and Interest Make
A. 3. Hughes, N. Y. Tel. &c. Wire
Chief Of Pen Van, ". u, Feel That
the Maintenance" End of the Tels-
phone Game Is the Only Job for Him.
am a wire chief in a small country
town. About mile south lies the
beautiful Lake K, which is a
centre Of activity in summer, but
dreary and lonesome during the winter
months. The roads are impossible; /;
even our railroads have weekly rests.
We have approximately eleven han
dred stations-aboUt seven hundred
working local battery, and the re1lain-
der magnetic. We switch for seven
switching service companies. The
equipment in the central Office is of
the mongrel type, part Century, part
Stromberg, and the remainder Western
Electric. The outside plant is in first
class condition. having been recently
rebuilt.
The Land of "My Job"
Monday morning sees me refreshed
and ready for any emergency.
Arriving at the office at Z 80 a. m.,
| proceed to test our toll lines Find
Ing toll line in trouble means man,
conveyance, and material to clear the
same. These have to be ready so that
the man can start on "His Job" at 8 100
"a. m. If clearing that toll line comes
within the scope of my days work, l
have first to definitely settle in my
ilnlnd that nothing of Importance will
disrupt the service rendered by the
Company during my absence, due to
any failure on my part.
The telephone bell rings. voice
without the smile inquiries for the raan
that fixes the telephones. Upon 1eil-
ing him that Tin the man, he begins
'What the - is the matter with my
telephone? why the - dart this
- bell ring?'
A soft word turreth away wrath
sbut 1t takes several soft and Diplomatic
phrases to appcasa that of Mr.. y.
White testing The reported troahle
before leave town to clear the fcH
line. notice that quite n number Of
lines in the enc hundred block are re-
ported "cannot GET Central" This im-
mediately brings before me mental
picture of the '1ine circuit" with its
source of battery, and the fuse protec-
.tion. l take one look at the fuse panel
(Which has no fuse alarm) and see
that the fuse Is blown. After little
physical and mental exertion | locate
a aground" on one of the line relays.
This trouble fixed, am on the point
of leaving when the chief operator
calls me back: "The light stays in all
the time on No. IS PANEL"
Nothing to Do Until Tomorrow.
retrace my steps with anything but
pleasant thoughts of relays other than
the Western Electric type. 1t requires
a good deal of persuasion to adjust
some of these relays and you have to
stand on your head to do the work.
Finally / manage to get the proper
turn of the adjusting screw to make
this relay docile, and l am at liberty to
clear the trouble on the toll line. If
IT'S summer, it's really grand to roll
along enjoying the air and ever on the
alert for the trouble. This is the most
fascinating part of my work.
II is constant variety that makes
this "Job" of mine so fascinating. I've
tried other work with seemingly much
better prospects of advancement, but
I always revert to the maintenance
end of the telephone game and My
Job" What is there in this world that
will put a man on his mettle more than
dealing with two extremes consecutive
ly,--a grouchy bear of subscriber one
minute and the whimpering self-con-
seious one the next; wave OF trouble
and the calm without any; the summer
and its pleasures and the winter with
it's hardships. -
My Job is my very life.