Evening star., 1932-02-29

| or even suspended In mid-air out over
| the street.
The hnemen were doing some solder
| ing there, and were using the tent 70
keep the wind from blowing the blow
| torch.
Now here Is where the human touch
comes in. The men can use these tents
we understand, whenever they so de-
sire, not only to protect the flames, but
to protect themselves as well.
That is humanity in action. Civiltza-
ton no longer demands that any one
shall suffer just for the show of the
thing. If suffering is necessary, men
must meet 1t like men. if they can
but if there is any legitimate relief
it may be taken without question.
Another human quality to the tele-
phone-and this time we go back to
the Instruments the sometimes husky
tone the thing takes on. One would
swear it needs cough drop. Every
human being has had some experience
personally with husky voice, and can
sympathiZe even with a device of So
called inert substance when 1t suffers
| from the same defect. Perhaps a tele-
phone instrument should not be called
inert. That curious word means with
out inherent power of action. motion
or resistance; without active chemical
or other properties. The phone re-
quires the magic, the mystery. Of elec--
tricity to make it go" The word
inert comes from lin" without, plus
"ertis," art-that is, without art. But
there is, curiously enough, no such
word as "ert." We can't say that a
thing which has an inherent power OF
action Is "ert" And we ought to be
able to. 1t is a question.
X Il X
Another thing which makes the tele-
phone human is the fact that one may
get bad connection over it.
One is always making bad connec-
tions with other human beings, on
and off the telephone.
There is no one who has not had the
experience, at some time or other, OF
realizing that the human being with
whom he is talking is not getting" one
Differences in life habits. of ancestry
of education, of outlooks, and even
more inlooks, make two human beings
secure a connection" which eliminates
all hope of perfect understanding be-
tween them One sees that the con
nection" will always be bad" that
there Is no hope of that meeting of the
minds which is the essence Of the per-
1eCJ COLLTdCI. IL iS wv Udu' IL ID AhC'
But perhaps the most human thing
about the telephone is the interdepend-
ent quality of each and every part.
Each part is vitality dependent upon
every other part. Perhaps there Is no
other organization with which most OF
us come into contact daily which re-
uuires such a perfect working of parts.
1t reminds one of the human body it
self, with every organ depending, in
the last analysis, upon the perfect func-
ton of every other organ for perfect
health. This Is a human touch par
excellence.
The crowning humanity about the
telephone is the human voice itself
That is where we all come In. The world
of men loves to talk, and talk is the
major product of the telephone. 1t is,
basically, a pathway for talk. 1t takes
the place Of air. It unites the voice
with the ear, it completes the circuit of
far more than electric-mind and
mind. Such is the human service OF
the telephone, one which every user
feels, although perhaps dimly at times,
especially when the last Of the opera
tors says, Excuse it, please"