New Britain herald., 1927-05-28
THE OBSERVER
Makes Random Observations
On the City and Its People

being content to hang up abruptly
leaving one with the desire to hand
him Z hard one on the chin. the big
stiff. Usually his abrupt departures
leave the other end hanging in the
middle of q sentence. There should
be . law.
Then there u the hard Of hear
ing chap. He never gets what you
tell him In anything less than five
tries. When answering the phone he
shuts all windows. stops other con-
versations, glares at someone who
rustles paper and then says HUH"
for twenty minute stretch.
There Is the long distance demon.
He gets a big kick out Of talking
with foreign places. Any excuse for
call to Los Angeles sends him aft
er toll line. Usually the charges are
reversed.
There is the careful talker-the
fellow who carefully speaks each
word directly into the mouthpiece
as per instructions issued by the
company. In case he cannot get
operator Immediately he follows
out instructions to a bitter end. To
watch him at work on a dial phone
is an education.
Then there is the telephone hard
guy"-the chap who takes delight
in bawling out the operator. A
slight delay from the girl with the
smile brings from this idiot string
of abuse that would do credit to a
dyspeptic longshoreman. He is for
ever threatening to notify the conf
pany" about n certain operator. In
real life he is usually five feet three
inches tall and afraid Of a good
sized jack rabbit.
Then there Is the rhetoric shark.
usually OF the weaker sex. This
woman abandons all idea Of speed
and efficiency by giving through the
phone complete lesson in English
AS she is spoke. Her idea OF ask
ing who's talking is May I inquire
who this might be to whom ! am
speaking? One feels positively
ashamed to just give her the name
without tipping ones hat, making a
low bow and kissing the extended
hand.
Then there Is the person who
mumbles on in a monotone, grow
ing fainter until the listener at the
other end has fear that he is be-
ing strangled slowly by a band Of
Paris Apaches. After about ten min
utes OF muttering he stops and the
receiver clicks signifying that the
conversation is over. Bewildering
but harmless; he very seldom has
anything to say worth while listen
ing to.
There Is the watchful telephone
talker. He usually starts off with
There's somebody on this line"
when, as a matter of fact there
couldn't possibly be anybody on the
line except a couple OF sparrows. He
seems to think that the entire ma
ton Is in league against him and is
listening in on his most innocent
calls.
There Is the perfect telephone
conversationalist. He says what he
has to say In a concise yet polite
way. He has none OF the faults of
the others. He is efficient in every
detail. He should be honored. Leave
wreaths and flowers at the rear en-
trance.
ut Is comparatively easy to get
to the top but it is much more diff
| flcult to stay there" remarked a
retired business man while being
interviewed on his opinions about
success.
! Likewise it might be said that
getting on the front page of a news
paper is not such a difficult feat but
1t Is q real test staying there. The
front page of a paper Is similar in
some respects to merchants favor
lite show window-the best and most
interesting goods are found in botl
places.
| What qualities a new story TO,
first page position? First of all il
must be OF interest to a great man,
people. The greatest interest to tn.
! greatest number, is the first requi.
site. The character of the story i.
not Of so much Importance but i,
must be interesting whether it deals
with religion. murder. divorce. spec.
tacular feats or accidents. Frequent.
ly newspaper receives an item
about affairs which have limited in.
terest accompanied by the request
that they be given first page pos;
ton. People making such request.
cannot understand why they are mo-
granted.
In widespread interest, the World
War was the prize first pager of tht
present generation and yet, for &
time, 1t received only a few line.
daily frequently tucked away on ar
inside page. Then the war flaret
up it was first page copy for man,
weeks. But when winter arrived
and the opposing armies dug in
hghting was virtually discontinued
There were raids and countcr-raid.
which seemed to be of little Interest
IN this country. But with warmer
weather. the armies and navies were
released and the war came bach
onto the front pages Of the newspa
pers. When the United States gov.
eminent began to show interest, ey,
cry newspaper "played up" thu
story and when America got into
the war. editors chief regret wa.
that they had only one front page
| to give tn their eadera Ii ia or