Evening star., 1947-11-02

lTHE clumsy dialing Of pan
/ icky lad of 8 got him "Spe-
cial Operator.
Awakening from sound
sleep, he had found he was alone.
He was badly frightened.
Son." the operator said, give me
the names OF some Of your neigh
bors, but don't hang up-you and I
will visit together every minute
or So"
In a few minutes she had located
the mother who had "just stepped"
next door "for q moment" When
over the open phone she heard the
door slam and a cry Of "Mommie, u
she knew all was well.
Next day, mother and son went to
the main telephone Office to express
their appreciation.
A World Of Adventure.
An adventure started for me the
day I stopped being q housewife
and became special operator at a
telephone exchange in our Nations
Capital. It opened new world OF
wires and headsets. and red, white
and green lights. And In this world,
permeated by good humor and un-
failing courtesy, I found stories OF
romance and tragedy.
I have, returned to my home and
house routine, but I want to recall
those days Of just short while ago
Maybe you'd like to go with me and
look at life from the inside Of the
telephone exchange.
My first insight into the spirit
of the place came with an opera
tors finding of a number for an old
lady, who had misplaced her glasses
and who simply had to reach" her
son at his hotel before he left to
catch a train. The operator, in fine
fettle, was working on three long
distance calls at the same time.
Ambulance Calls.
Another busy operator called an
ambulance for a bewildered hus-
band, whose baby, 1t seemed, was
about to try to be born at home.
It was almost a tie race to the hos
pital between mother, father, son
and the stork.
When you dial a number that
has been changed, disconnected, put
in the private-number listing or
when you make a mistake in dialing
of the black or red "O's," lights flash
to the intercept board. Special
operators work this intercept board.
There is block at the left hand
of Special Operator-the last word
on telephone numbers. 1t tells. at a
glance, the exact status of every
number in the exchange.
After-School Calls.
During school months the ex-
change is especially busy around
half-past 3 in the afternoon.
Children love to use telephones.
In addition to the wrong numbers
they call (their batting average on
this is high) they want to know
the numbers of all the movie houses,
the ball scores and why their fathers
offices are busy. One little fellow
asked if his mother was playing
bridge at the Congressional or
Columbia Country Club. Another
sought the name of his fathers
tailor. His mother had left suit to
be pressed. We got the number for
him and he called the next day to
say he had gone to movie, as a
reward.
The story of a little girl who
phoned in to say she couldn't
awaken her mother had a happier
ending. Special operator phoned a
Ineighbor to, suggest she try to find
what was wrong. Later the neigh
Dor called back that she had found
the woman in a coma, had called
doctor and that everything was
then under control.
And Some Are Romantic.
1t probably wouldn't occur to you
that telephone operating and baby
sitting have anything in common.
One woman, who was desperately
searching for a baby-sitter, finally
asked the operator If she knew