Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1928-11-30
The Telephone Directory.

Montgomery and Prince Georges coun-
ties newest telephone directory is now
being delivered. This book is the most
informative and is undoubtedly referred
to more often during the day than any
other book in Rockville. H. C. Ransom,
manager of the telephone company here,
says that subscribers have acquired the
habit Of keeping telephone directories con-
veniently located so that they may refer
to them when making calls. This increases
the accuracy of telephone service and re-
suits in fewer wrong numbers than when
subscribers rely on their memory in max
ing calls, he states.
with the assigning of numbers to telephone
stations about As years ago. The first
telephones did not have numbers. People
wished to talk to Mr.. Jones or Mrs. Brown,
they asked the operator for the particular
party by name and she established the
the connection accordingly.
But when the telephone industry began
to develop and people came to realize the
value OF the service. both in the Office and
In the home, there were soon more names
than the switchboard operator could mem
orize. SO 1t became necessary to devise
some means OF recording the people who
had telephones, and in this way numbers
were assigned TO various lines.
A list Of names and corresponding num-
bers was the origin of the telephone direc-
tory. As the number Of names increased
the directory became more pretentious
until today the directory contains the
names Of those subscribers to the service
whose telephones were installed before
the last directory went 20 press.
The printed directory is designed to meet
the telephone number requirements Of the
subscribers in the locality which it serves.
Printing a telephone directory is very
much of an undertaking and the first step
Is made when the subscriber enters the
business Office of the company and re-
quests the installation Of a telephone. He
10 given an application card which bears
in addition to other information. his name.
business and address as they will appear
in the directory. This information, which
he Is asked to approve as to correctness
before he leaves the Office. is the first
move in providing his telephone service.
With the application card as a basis.
the manager writes. a sufficient number of
copies Of the service order to satisfy the
needs of the various departments Of the
company-one copy goes to the workman
who installs the telephone instrument on
the premises of the subscriber. another to
the central Office man who will make the
Necessary connections on the main frame
and switchboard, and still other copies TO
the information operators and accounting
department, who must post their records
showing that another telephone is avail
able for service and for which bills may
be rendered.
Another copy OF the service order Is
forwarded to the directory department
where group of specially trained girls
separate those orders involving work which
in no way affects the directory listings
Orders hich require some alteration in
the existing directory listing, the insertion
Of new listing or the removal of listing
already appearing in the book. are then
passed TO girls, expert in the alphabeting
Of directory listings, who arrange them in
the proper sequence.
In determining the proper alphabetical
sequence Of directory lstings. a set OF
rules has en- developed for compiling the
directory with view to rendering the
greatest possible service TO the user Of the
directory. In many cases, due TO the fact
that number Of subscribers will have
the same surname and frequently the same
initial, il is necessary to take into cOnsid-
Grafton the business designation and Occa-
siOnally to consider addresses in determin-
| ing the proper sequence OF the listing
The girls whose responsibility il is to
arrange in alphabetical sequence the thOus-
ands Of orders affecting the directory, which
are received IRON the various telephone
business offices. must be thoroughly familiar
with all Of these rules in order that their
work may be done accurately and rapidly.
After the orders have been arranged in
the proper sequence they are passed to
other girls who prepare the orders in
printers copy" After this is done the
copy is passed on to the printer where line
Otype operators set up in type the names.
numbers and addresses.
Due to the constant increase in number
of telephone subscribers and the changes
being made by existing subscribers which
affect the name. business designation. adj
dress. or telephone number Of the listing
appearing in the directory. thousands OF
discontinued and altered listings are han
died each yearin telephone directories.
Each one OF these changes requires the
issuance OF at least one service order for
the directory compilation forces in pre-
pairing the printers copy
After the listings have been set in type
in the printing plant. the columns are
accumulated in trays or galleys. These
galley trays are then combined and made
up into page formation from which copper
electro plates are made. When the required
number of electro plates have been complet-
ed they are run through the presses and the
se;s. after being assembled in the proper
sequence. are passed to the binding ma
chimes where the covers are attached. The
directories are then trimmed, bundled and
shipped to the proper distribution point
where special forces deliver them to tele-
phones subscribers.