Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-06-01
Passing of the
Hello Girl
ny Frederic J. Haskin

Washington. June An interest
ING development in telephone history
i that the automatic phone is NOW
being used Ia rural districts.
The automatic telephone. which
makes every caller his own central.
IL far from new in the cities, where
u s being used extensively. In fact,
Il "a far from new anywhere. consider
ing that II was invented IN crude
form three years after Bell produced
his instrument But as a practical
proposition FOR tho benefit OF the farm-
~ and long distance commuter, the
automatic is just coming into popu-
larity
To the city man the automatic sys-
tem means chiefly that he Is respon-
sihle for his own mistakes and cannot
hlamc central when he gets 452S when
ne wants 45sa To the farmer. how
ever. the automatic means more than
this AZ a matter of progress.
The most important advantage is
a s4-hour service BY the manual
system the farmer has been unable
90 get service after eight or nine
ENfhTA AM lNt NAtAAlkH AtNsAAA~t7 AhAA-
tral closed the switchboard in the
dining room then. and went out on
the front porch 20 rest The auto
tnoti, system Is handled FOR rural
distriCts from the nearest city eN-
change. 50 that the farmer has city
service az any hour.
The telephone is becoming even
more Important 10 the farmer than
a. the business man as a means of
franaacfing business and keeping IN
Vuclai connections. The party line
thst "a the busiest Of 80 much joking
= very real and serious factor in
country intercourse II Is. pcrhal s.
the sufcst rapid system 81 dissent
ratinr news So FAR discovered.
The party llbc is now called into
use in spreading news Of market re-
ports. when the weather forecast
and the government crop reports are
sent out by radio every day the news
Is in some communities received bE
a wireless operator who telephones Il
M once 70 a long line Of listening farm
srs. The messages go out al GER
tain times every day-stock market
reports NJ one hour. grain and po-
tatn news al another. and general
summary in the afternoon--so the
farmers know exactly when 70 expect
them.
The Popular Party Line.
A. social factor the party line has
well ntFh proverbial functions 70 per
form Every member Of a party hnf
knows that the telephone is town
meetit.g place and IN carrying on 2
conversation chooses his words ac-
cordinrly. Listening in is regarded as
quite in the rules 90 the game in mos,
places. so popular Is tho system that
la voino instances when party lines
were cot from 80 phones 70 70 tht
suhnerib. ~ protested and some hi-d
their phones removed
There are nov about 100000 auto
matte telephones IN the lr.ted states.
phnaaclphia cut over 47.G09 phones
ono DAY recently The Stai oi ohio
ia uvsr one third automatic. ;e-elif-oili-
eafy steaking A. switchboards wear
oct thry are being reI laced generally
hy the newer SYSTEM whenever coa-
aitlons pefTaf The trEsition is neces-
safliy workea Ia this way because a
largo switchboard exchange IS eN-
pens.ee. costing several haadred thou
eard dollAfn II lasts from six %
fifteen years. depending On the amount
al uso u receives.
We are tod that the automatic sys-
TEN gradually extended does not
thgoe the telephone girls out Of em-
pluylncrt a. was predicted by some.
'rhe rcEin, NJ Il girls needed 70 make
connections by tie manual system is
not wantcc for that purpose with an
automatic switchboard. il is true But
there a. sflll much central Office work,
especially repairs. Despite the fact
that girls are not generally 50 adept
~ understanding electrical apparatus
a. boys are. the telephone companies
aud that the girls are more salts
factory in making delicate adjust
ments The girl repairer has patience
and nneness of touch which IS more
necessary for routine repair work
than thorough knowledge of the
workings Of a dynamo.
The repair work is absorbing some
of the girls. Others viii be needed
still 10 record toll calls and supply
information There will be few, II
any, girls actually dismissed, for
there have never been enough opera
tors available 70 keep pace with the
rapidly growing telephone systems.
Companies have always had to take
II for granted that the average tele-
phone operator would get married in
two years During the war. the turns
over was even 100 per cent in single
year. This meant, and still means.
a heavy overhead expense and tele-
phone company schools perpetualiy
in session 10 train newcomers.
~ LfeEx