The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1921-05-25
One Telephone Move
Each Ten Seconds
During May Rush
President Sunny OF Illinois
Bell Explains New
High Record

Here Is something which has
more moves to it than a game OF
checkers or chess.
During the month Of April the
Chicago organization Of the Illinois
Bell Telephone Company moved
27,100 telephones. Two-thirds OF
these moves were completed in the
last fifteen days of the month.
In the first half of May 10000
orders were completed d. This
means that in the month OF April,
in the Chicago district, the -ele-
phone Company installed, moved,
or took out four telephones a min
ute; one every fifteen teconds,
During the first half or May, this
rate was raised to the almost in
credible speed of completing an
order for telephone service every
ten seconds, nine hours a day.
B. Z. Sunny, President OF the
Illinois Bell Telephone Company,
included the above in a talk before
the Electric Club of Chicago. Mr..
Sunny went into all phases Of the
telephone industry. Part OF what
he said follows:
Telephone service necessarily
depends upon coordination, coop.
Grafton and the highest type of
team work, not only by the tele-
phone employees but the subscrib-
ers and their employees. There
are other lines Of business, of
course, where these factors are i'm
portant, but I doubt If as much so
as with the telephone.
a"If you have an electric light on
your table, it does not impair its
value to you if no one else has one.
If you have gas in the kitchen
range to cook your breakfast, it
does not affect you it no n else
has it.
IF. however, you have a tele-
phone, it is of no use TO you what
ever unless your neighbors are
similarly equipped and its value to
you depends upon the Telephone
Company's employees and the list
of people with whom you can talk.
That part of the telephone serv-
ice in which the iayman has the
largest interest is with relation to
the traffic. He is in contact with
the telephone operators at his Office
and at his home, and he has more
or less curiosity to know how the
business is conducted.
I'm Chicago, in 1920, we required
about 5000 operators and we were
short of that number throughout
the year from 500 TO 1900. We lost
the equivalent of $500 operators
through resignation and diSmissals
during the year. This does not
mean that $500 operators that we
started with at the first of the year
out Of the 5000 dropped out Of the
service. About 1900 or 80 per cent.
remained throughout the year, and
the losses were largely of operators
who remained only one or two
months.
ITO fiji the vacancies, we EN-
ployed and trained 1850 operators,
and we re-empIoyed $3.50 ex-opera-
tors who needed little or no train
ing. There were l,150 additional
applicants who passed the exanin-
alton and started in the school, but
who were dropped or who resigned
before finishing the training course.
we are required by circum-
stances to be a very eXacting en-
ployer, but at the same time it is
our constant purpose to be a very
square employer.
an April there were 100000
local calls, and our observations
indicated that $3.50 were answered
within ten seconds and o6T Of the
connections that could be completed
were completed without error. Ten
million calls failed because of the
busy signal; s~eventy-fve per cent
are party lines, etc; on six million
calls the second party did not
answer or the call was abandoned
by the first party before the second
party did answer" .
Mr.. Sunny went into detail to
explain the handling of long-dis-
lance telephone calls, telling of
many new devices and methods
which have been perfected to re-
duce the delay in completing long
distance connections and improving
transmission.