:.t.^!''-r'-;
|[T|1LZ!1^L!M^^
From the collection of the
oPreiinger
11 V
t
ibrary
w P c
San Francisco, California
2008
REFERENCE USE ONLY |
• • ••• •
«• •• • •
•• .1 •••
.•c'**:
Index tQ the
Magazine
Volume XXVII, 1948
Information Department
AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY
New York 7, N. Y.
>1
i
J'RINTED IN U. S. A.
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE
VOLUME XXVII, 1948
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPRING, 1948
''We Must Continue to Go Forward." by Leroy A. Wilson 5
Public Telephones : They Serve Everybody, by T. Hunt Clark ... 9
Rural Telephone Progress — 1947 20
Making Inter-Office Trunk Equipment Do Double Duty, by Ben-
jamin K. Boyce 23
Business and People, by Keith S. McHugh 31
It Was a Tough Winter 39
Bell System Inventions Are Not Suppressed, by Hubert A. Pat-
tison 48
W^ashington's Xew Federal Dial Switching System, by George
E. DesJardins 50
The Single Warrant : A Step Ahead in Corporate Finance, by
Frederick A. Wiseman 59
Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly 70
The Goose That Lays the Golden Egg 72
SUMMER, 1948
Exchange Cable : The Drama of Post-war Production, by Charles
G. Sinclair, Jr 77
The License Contract, by Keith S. McHugh 88
The Thirty Millionth Bell Telephone Is Installed in Iowa 93
The Wires W^hich Carry the News of the World, by Robert E.
Moore 94
Southern Xew England and the Telephone 104
The Benefit and Pension Plant Is Thirty-five, by Charles J.
Schaefer, Jr • 105
Bell System Advertising Wins Award 113
Charts at Works, by Kenneth W. Haenier 114
Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly 1 24
Ideas. Men, and Things, by James O. Perrine 126
The Greatest Communication Network in History 135
3
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVII
AUTUMN, 1948
How Western Electric Serves Telephone Users, by Clifton W.
Phalcn 141
A Design for Living, by Theresa E. Boden 148
Telephone City 162
Sorting Two-and-a-half Billion Tickets a Year, by Fredric M.
Biathrow and F. Raymond Brewster 164
Promoting Safety in Our Automotive Fleet, by Erie S. Miner .... 172
Most People Are Honest, by H. Montague Pope 185
Telephones of the World, by James R. McGozvan 192
Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly 202
WINTER, 1948-1949
Six Thousand Telephone Companies Serve U. S.. by A. Roger
Chappelka 209
Bell System Patents and Patent Licensing, by Keith S. McHugh . . 217
The Part Communications. Play in Civil Defense, by Judson S.
Bradley .' . 220
The Millionth Bell Rural Telephone Since the War Is Installed . . . 226
Toll Dialing by Operators Reaches Some 300 Places, by Ernst J.
Guengerich 228
Fair Exchange, by John Mason Brotvn 238
Right-of-Way Comes First, by Harry H. Hoopes 240
Installation by Western Electric Company, by Alvin von Auiv .... 249
The Things Men Live By, by Walter S. Gifford 259
Telephone Facilities for Railroad Reservations, by Justin E. Hoy 260
Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly 270
Bell System's Television Networks Connected 271
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE
VOLUME XXVII, 1948
INDEX
A
Issue Page
Accounting — Billing Systems:
"Sorting Two-and-a-half Billion Tickets a Year" by Fredric
M. Biathrow and F. Raymond Brewster — 5 photos ....Au 164
Advertising Award:
A. T. & T. wins "Honorable Mention" for national maga-
zine advertisements in 1947 — photo Su 113
American Telephone & Telegraph Company:
"The License Contract" by K. S. McHugh Su 88
"The A. T. & T. Company Opens New Broadcasting Studios
in New York" (In "25 Yrs. Ago") . . . .^^^ Su 124
"The American Telephone Historical Collection" Wi 270
Annual Reports:
"We Must Continue to Go Forward" by L. A. Wilson Sp 5
Arnold, H. D.:
Scientific research Su 131
Associated Companies:
"The License Contract" by K. S. McHugh Su 88
Awards — Advertising :
A. T. & T. wins "Honorable Mention" for national maga-
zine advertisements in 1947 — photo Su 113
B
Bacon, Sir Francis:
Scientific experiments Su 126
Baekeland, George E.:
Statement on suppression of patents Sp 49
Becquerel, Andre:
Scientific research Su 132
"Beginning of Policy of Selling Service and Not Instruments"
(In "25 Yrs. Ago") Au 202
Bell, Alexander Graham:
Scientific research Su 126
Watson denied that Bell offered to sell stock at low price . . . .Sp 22
"Bell System Ideals Are High" Wi 270
"Bell System Inventions Are Not Suppressed" by Hubert A.
Pattison Sp 48
"Bell System Patents and Patent Licensing" by Keith S. Mc-
Hugh Wi 217
"Bell System's Television Networks Connected" — 1 map Wi 271
5
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVII
Issue Page
Bell Telephone Laboratories:
"The License Contract" by K. S. McHugh Su 88
"The Benefit and Pension Plan Is Thirty-five" by C. J.
Schaefer, Jr Su 105
Biathrow, Fredric M. and F. Raymond Brewster:
"Sorting Two-and-a-half Billion Tickets a Year" — -5 photos.. Au 164
Biography :
Biathrow, Fredric M. — portrait Au 138
Boden, Theresa E. — portrait Au 138
Boyce, Benjamin K. — portrait Sp 2
Bradley, Judson S. — portrait Wi 206
Brewster, F. Raymond — portrait Au 139
Chappelka, A. Roger — portrait Wi 206
Clark, T. Hunt — portrait Sp 2
Desjardins, George E. — portrait Sp 3
Guengerich, Ernst J. — portrait Wi 207
Haemer, Kenneth W. — portrait Su 75
Hoopes, Harry H. — portrait Wi 207
Hoy, Justin E. — portrait Wi 207
McGowan, James R. — portrait Au 139
McHugh, Keith S. — portrait Su 74
Miner, Erie S. — portrait Au 139
Moore, Robert E. — portrait Su 74
Pattison, Hubert A. — portrait . Sp 3
Perrine, James O. — portrait Su 75
Phalen, Clifton W.— portrait Au 138
Pope, H. Montague — portrait Au 139
Schaefer, Charles J., Jr Su 75
Sinclair, Charles G., Jr. — portrait Su 74
von Auw, Alvin — portrait Wi 207
Wilson, Leroy A. — portrait Sp 2
Boden, Theresa E.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Au 138
"A Design for Living" — 13 photos Au 148
Boyce, Benjamin K.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Sp 2
"Making Inter-Ofifice Trunk E(|uipment Do Double Duty"
— 4 photos, 1 map, 2 diagrams Sp 23
Bradley, Judson S.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Wi 206
"The Part Communications Play in Civil Defense" — 1
photo Wi 220
Brashear, John Alfred:
Scientific research Su 127
Brewster, F. Raymond:
Biographical sketch — portrait Au 139
Brewster, F. Raymond and Fredric M. Biathrow:
"Sorting Two-and-a-half Billion Tickets a Year" — 5 photos.. Au 164
Brown, John Mason:
"Fair Exchange" Wi 238
d
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVII
Issue Page
Buildings — Telephone :
"Telephone City" — photo Au 162
Bush, Dr. Vannevar:
Statement on suppression of patents Sp 49
"Business and People" by Keith S. McHugh Sp 31
C
Cady, Walter Gusrton:
Scientific research Su 133
"Catalina Radio Telephone System Superseded by Submarine
Cable"— ( In "25 Yrs. Ago") Au 203
Chappelka, A. Roger:
Biographical sketch — portrait Wi 206
"Six Thousand Telephone Companies Serve U. S." by A.
Roger Chappelka — 6 photos Wi 208
Charts:
"Charts at Work" by K. W. Haenier— 10 charts Su 114
Customer opinion of service. 1946-1948 Su 119
Distribution of the world's telephones — 1947 Su 115
Estimated Bell System exchange cable shipments for 1948
compared with the expected 1948 production of certain
other items Su 87
Growth in stations, 1876-1919 Su 117
Manual answers, per cent over 10 seconds — 1939. 1947, 1948.. Su 118
Millions of telephones, 1920-1947 Su 123
^'et telephone gain, 1935-1947 Su 122
Percentage distribution of telephone plant investment.
1920-1947 Su 121
Telephone development of large cities, January 1. 1948 ....Au 198
Telephone movement and net gain, 1920-1947 Su 120
Telephones in countries of the world. January 1. 1948 Au 194
Telephones— in millions, 1920-1947 Su 118
Telephones per 100 population. January 1, 1947 Su 116
Telephones per 100 population. January 1, 1948 Au 196
The World's telephones, January 1. 1948 Au 197
The World's telephones by continental areas, January 1,
1948 Au 193
"Charts at Work" by Kenneth W. Haemer — 10 charts Su 114
Civil Defense:
Bell System Men in Office of Civil Defense Planning Wi 206
"The Part Communications Play in Civil Defense" bj-
Judson S. Bradley — 1 photo Wi 220
Clark, T. Hunt:
Biographical sketch — portrait Sp 2
"Public Telephones: They Serve Everybody" — 9 photos ....Sp 9
Construction :
"Second Transcontinental Route Planned" — (In "25 Yrs.
Ago") Sp 71
Crookes, Sir William:
Scientific research Su 129
7
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVII
Issue Page
Crystals :
"Ideas, Men and Things" by J. O. Perrine Su 132
Curie, Paul:
Scientific research Su 132
Curie, Pierre:
Scientific research Su 132
D
Davy, Sir Humphrey:
Quote on discovery of Michael Faraday Su 127
Quote on success through failures Su 126
DeForest, Lee:
Scientific research Su 131
"A Design for Living" by Theresa E. Boden — 13 photos Au 148
Desjardins, George E.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Sp 3
"Washington's New Federal Dial Switching System" —
4 photos Sp 50
DeVries, Hugo:
Scientific research Su 128
Diagrams:
Showing DSA switchboards arranged for dual use Sp 29
Inter-office trunking circuits, showing dual use Sp 27
Round robin duplex teletype service Su 99
Telephone equipment arranged to give both customers and
ticket sellers access to reservation clerks over the same #
turret lines Wi 266
Telephone equipment arranged to provide separate turret
lines for customers and ticket sellers to reach reserva-
tion clerks Wi 267
Dial Systems:
"Making Inter-Office Trunk Equipment Do Double Duty"
by Benjamin K. Boyce — 4 photos, 1 map, 2 diagrams ...Sp 23
"Six Thousand Telephone Companies Serve U. S." by A.
Roger Chappelka — 1 photo Wi 212
"Toll Dialing by Operators Reaches Some 300 Places" by
Ernst J. Guengerich — 4 photos, 1 map Wi 228
"Washington's New Federal Dial Switching System" by
George E. Desjardins — 4 photos Sp 50
Displays and Exhibits:
"Southern New England and the Telephone" — 2 photos ....Su 104
Dufay, Charles:
Scientific research Su 130
E
"Early Telephone Experiment" Sp 30
Edison, Thomas A.:
Quote on suppression of patents Sp 49
Scientific research Su 126
8
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVII
Issue Page
Employees:
"Business and People" by Keith S. McHugh Sp 31
"The Things Men Live By" by Walter S. Gifford Wi 259
"We Must Continue to Go Forward" by L. A. Wilson Sp 5
Employees — Classes :
"A Design for Living" by Theresa E. Boden — 13 photos ...Au 148
"Exchange Cable: The Drama of Postwar Production" by
Charles G. Sinclair. Jr. — 9 photos. 1 chart Su 76
F
"Fair Exchange" by John Mason Brown Wi 238
Faraday, Michael:
Scientific research Su 126
Finance:
"The License Contract" b3' Keith S. McHugh Su 88
"The Single Warrant: A Step Ahead in Corporate Finance"
by Frederick A. Wiseman — 6 photos Sp 59
"W'e Must Continue to Go Forward" by L. A. Wilson Sp 5
Flags:
"The New Bell Flag"— (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Su 124
Fleming, John Ambrose:
Scientific research Su 131
Franklin, Benjamin:
Scientific research Su 126
G
Galileo:
Scientific experiments Su 126
Geissler, Heinrich:
Scientific research Su 129
Gibbs, Josiah Willard:
Phase Rule Su 128
Gifford, Walter S.:
"The Things Men Live By" by Walter S. Gifford Wi 249
"We Must Continue to Go Forward" by L. A. Wilson Sp 5
"The Greatest Communication Network in History" Su 134
"The Goose That Lays the Golden Egg" Sp 72
Guengerich, Ernst J.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Wi 207
"Toll Dialing by Operators Reaches Some 300 Places" by
Ernst J. Guengerich — \ photos, I map Wi 228
H
Haemer, Kenneth W.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Su 75
"Charts at Work" — 10 charts Su 114
Henry, William:
Scientific research Su 126
9
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVII
Issue Page
Hertz, Heinrich:
Scientific research Su 130
History :
"The American Telephone Historical Collection" — (In "25
Yrs. Ago") Wi 270
"Beginning of Policy of Selling Service and Not Instru-
ments"—(In "25 Yrs. Ago") Au 202
"Early Telephone Experiment" Sp 30
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly,
April 1923" Sp 70
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly,
July 1923" Su 124
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly,
October 1923" Au 202
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly,
January 1924" Wi 270
Watson denied that Bell offered to sell stock at low price . . . .Sp 22
Hittorf, Johann Wilhelm:
Scientific research Su 129
Hoopes, Harry H.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Wi 207
"Right-of-Way Comes First" — 3 photos Wi 240
"How Western Electric Services Telephone Users" by Clifton
W. Phalen— 4 photos Au 140
Hoy, Justin E.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Wi 207
"Telephone Facilities for Railroad Reservations" — 5 photos,
2 diagrams Wi 260
I
"Ideas, Men, and Things" by J. O. Perrine Su 126
Independent Telephone Companies:
"Six Thousand Telephone Companies Serve U. S." by A.
Roger Chappelka — 6 photos Wi 208
"Installation by Western Electric Company" by Alvin von
Auw— 6 photos Wi 249
Inventions :
"Bell System Inventions Are Not Suppressed" by Hubert
A. Pattison Sp 48
"Bell System Patents and Patent Licensing" by Keith S. Mc-
Hugh Wi 217
"It Was a Tough Winter"— 16 photos Sp 39
J
Jewett, Dr. Frank B.:
"Addresses Pacific Coast A.I.E.E. Meeting from New
York"— (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Au 202
Quote on suppression of patents Sp 49
"Joint A.I.E.E. Meeting by Wire and Loudspeaker" — (In "25
Yrs. Ago") Sp 70
10
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX. VOLUME XXVII
Issue Page
L
Langmuir, Irving:
Scientific research Su 131
Lenard, P. E. A. von:
Scientific research Su 129
"The License Contract" bj^ K. S. McHugh Su 88
Loudspeakers:
"Jewett, Dr. F. B., Addresses Pacific Coast A.LE.E. Meet-
ing from Xew York" — (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Au 202
"Joint A.I.E.E. Meeting by Wire and Loudspeaker" —
(In "25 Yrs. Ago") Sp 70
M
"Making Inter-Office Trunk Equipment Do Double Duty" by
Benjamin K. Boyce — \ photos, 1 map, 2 diagrams Sp 23
Management:
"We Must Continue to Go Forward" by L. A. Wilson Sp 5
Manson, Dr. Melville H.:
Statement on Design for Living program Au 148
Maps:
Bell System coaxial and radio relay networks which carry
television programs Wi 271
Facilities added in Bell Sjstem rural areas during 1947 Sp 21
Outline map of Manhattan and the Bronx, showing loca-
tions of central offices Sp 25
States connected with the Xew York and Chicago crossbar
toll dialing systems Wi 229
Marconi, Guglielmo:
Scientific research • Su 130
Maxwell, J. Clerk:
Scientific research Su 130
McGowan, James R.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Au 139
"Telephones of the World" by James R. McGowan — 5
charts Au 192
McHugh, Keith S.:
"Bell System Patents and Patent Licensing" Wi 217
Biographical sketch — portrait Su 74
"Business and People" Sp 31
"The License Contract" Su 88
Portrait Sp 2
Portrait Wi 206
Mendel, Gregor:
Research with garden peas Su 128
"The Millionth Bell Rural Telephone Since the War Is In-
stalled"—2 photos Wi 226
Miner, Erie S.
Biographical sketch — portrait Au 139
"Promoting Safet\' in Our Automotive Fleet" — 14 photos ..Au 172
11
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVII
Issue Page
Mobile Telephone Service:
"Six Thousand Telephone Companies Serve U. S." hy A.
Roger Chappelka — 1 photo Wi 213
Moore, Robert E.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Su 74
"The Wires Which Carry the News of the World" — 8
photos, 1 diagram Su 94
Morgan, William:
Scientific research Su 129
Morse, Samuel B.:
Scientific research Su 126
"Most People Are Honest" hy H. Montague Pope — 4 photos . . . . Au 185
Motion Pictures:
"Sorting Two-and-a-half Billion Tickets a Year" by Fredric
M. Biathrow and I". Raymond Brewster — 5 photos Su 170
N
"The New Bell Flag"— (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Su 124
Newton, Sir Isaac:
Scientific experiments Su 126
O
Operator Toll Dialing:
"Six Thousand Telephone Companies Serve U. S." by A.
Roger Chappelka Wi 212
"Toll Dialing by Operators Reaches Some 300 I'laces" by
Ernst J. Guengerich — 4 photos, 1 map Wi 228
P
Page, Arthur W. :
Quote on public relations Sp 58
"The Part Communications Play in Civil Defense" by Judson S.
Bradley— 1 photo Wi 220
Patents:
"Bell System Inventions Are Not Suppressed" by Hubert
A. Pattison Sp 48
"Bell System Patents and Patent Licensing" by Keith S.
McHugh Wi 217
"The License Contract" by K. S. McHugh Su 88
Pattison, Hubert A.:
"Bell System Inventions Are Not Suppressed" Sp 48
Biographical sketch — portrait Sp 3
Pay Stations:
"Most People Are Honest" by H. Montague Pope — 4
photos Au 185
"Public Telephones: They Serve Everybody" by T. Hunt
Clark Sp 9
12
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVII
Issue Page
Pensions:
"The Benefit and Pension Plan Is Thirty-five" by C. J.
Schaefer. Jr Su 105
Perrine, James O.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Su 75
"Ideas, Men, and Things" Su 126
Phalen, Clifton W.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Au 138
"How Western Electric Serves Telephone Users" — 1 photos.. Au 140
Pierce, George Washington:
Scientific research Su 133
Plant— Central Office:
"Installation by Western Electric Company" bj' Alvin von
Auw— 6 photos Wi 249
Plant— Outside — Trucks :
"Promoting Safety in Our Automotive Fleet" by Erie S.
Miner — 14 photos Au 172
Plant — Outside — Cables :
"Catalina Radio Telephone Sjstem Superseded by Sub-
marine Cable" — (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Au 203
"Exchange Cable: The Drama of Post-war Production"
by Charles G. Sinclair, Jr. — 9 photos, 1 chart Su 76
"Making Inter-Oflfice Trunk Equipment Do Double Duty"
by Benjamin K. Boyce — 4 photos, 1 map, 2 diagrams . . . .Sp 23
Policies :
"Beginning of Policy of Selling Service and Not Instru-
ments"—(In "25 Yrs. Ago") Au 202
"Bell System Ideals Are High"— (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Wi 270
"Bell Sj^stem Inventions Are Not Suppressed" by Hubert
A. Pattison Sp 48
"Bell System Patents and Patent Licensing" by Keith S.
McHugh Wi 217
"The Things Men Live By" by Walter S. Giflford Wi 259
"We Must Continue to Go Forward" by L. A. Wilson Sp 5
Pope, H. Montague:
Biographical sketch — portrait Au 139
"Most People Are Honest" — \ photos Au 185
Preece, Sir William:
Scientific research Su 131
Priestley, Joseph:
Scientific research Su 132
"A Privacy Radio System for Catalina Island" — (In "25 Yrs.
Ago") Su 124
Private Branch Exchanges:
"Washington's New Federal Dial Switching System" by
George E. Desjardins — 4 photos Sp 50
"Promoting Safety in Our Automotive Fleet" by Erie S. Miner
— 14 photos Au 172
13
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVII
Issue Page
Public Relations:
"Business and People" by Keith S. McHugh Sp 31
"How Western Electric Serves Telephone Users" by Clifton
W. Phalen — 4 photos Au 140
"Most People Are Honest" by H. Montague Pope— 4 photos. .Au 185
"Public Telephones: They Serve Everybody" by T. Hunt
Clark — 9 photos Sp 9
Quote by A. W. Page on Bell System public relations Sp 58
"Right-of-Way Conies First" by Harry H. Hoopes — -3
photos Wi 240
"The Single Warrant: A Step Ahead in Corporate Finance"
by Frederick A. Wiseman — 6 photos Sp 59
"Six Thousand Telephone Companies Serve U. S." by A.
Roger Chappelka — 6 photos Wi 208
"Sorting Two-and-a-half Billion Tickets a Year" by Fred-
ric M. Biathrow and F. Raymond Brewster — 5 photos ..Au 164
"Telephone Facilities for Railroad Reservations" by Justin
E. Hoy — 5 photos, 2 diagrams Wi 260
"We Must Continue To Go Forward" by L. A. Wilson ....Sp 5
Public Telephones:
"Public Telephones: They Serve Everybody" by T. Hunt
Clark — 9 photos Sp 9
V
R
Radio:
"The Greatest Communication Network in History" Su 135
Radio Stations:
"The A. T. & T. Company Opens New Broadcasting Studios
in New York"— (In "25 Yrs. Ago") ', Su 124
Radio — Transoceanic :
"Transatlantic Radio Telephone Experiments" — (In "25
Yrs. Ago") Sp 70
Radio Telephony:
"A Privacy Radio System for Catalina Island" — (In "25
Yrs. Ago") Su 124
Rates — Telephone :
"The Goose That Lays the Golden Egg" Sp 72
"We Must Continue to Go Forward" by L. A. Wilson Sp 5
Rayleigh, John William Strutt:
Scientific experiments Su 126
Research :
"Ideas, Men, and Things" by J. O. Perrine Su 126
Richardson, O. W.:
Scientific research Su 131
"Right-of-Way Comes First" by Harry H. Hoopes — 3 photos ...Wi 240
Roentgen, Wilhelm Konrad:
Roentgen and X-Rays Su 129
"Rural Telephone Progress— 1947"— 1 map Sp 20
14
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVII
Issue Page
Rural Telephone Service:
"The Millionth Bell Rural Telephone Since the War Is In-
stalled"—2 photos Wi 226
"Rural Telephones" Wi 237
"Six Thousand Telephone Companies Serve U. S." by A.
Roger Chappelka — 6 photos Wi 208
S
Safety:
"Promoting Safety in Our Automotive Fleet" by Erie S.
Miner — 14 photos Au 172
Schaefer, Charles J., Jr.:
"The Benefit and Pension Plan Is Thirty-five" Su 105
Biographical sketch — portrait Su 75
"Second Transcontinental Route Planned" — (In "25 Yrs. Ago")..Sp 71
Sinclair, Charles G., Jr.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Su 74
"Exchange Cable: The Drama of Post-war Production" —
9 photos, 1 chart Su 76
"The Single Warrant: A Step Ahead in Corporate Finance" by
Frederick A. Wiseman — -6 photos Sp 59
"Six Thousand Telephone Companies Serve U. S." by A. Roger
Chappelka — 6 photos Wi 208
Snyder, John W.:
Portrait Sp 54
"Sorting Two-and-a-half Billion Tickets a Year" — by Fredric
M. Biathrow and F. Raymond Brewster — 5 photos Au 164
"Southern New England and The Telephone" — 2 photos Su 104
Statistics — Telephone :
"Telephones of the World" by James R. McGowan — 5
charts Au 192
"World's Telephone Statistics, 1922"— (In "25 Yrs. Ago") ..Au 202
Securities— A. T. & T.:
"The Single Warrant: A Step Ahead in Corporate Finance"
by Frederick A. Wiseman — 6 photos Sp 59
Watson denied that Bell offered to sell stock at low price . . . .Sp 22
Stockholders :
"We Must Continue to Go Forward" by L. .\. Wilson Sp 5
Storms :
"It Was A Tough Winter" — 16 photos Sp 39
Surveys:
Chart — Customer opinion of service. 1946-1948 Su 119
"The Single Warrant: A Step Ahead in Corporate Finance"
by Frederick A. Wiseman Sp 63
"Telephone Surveys" Wi 269
T
Telcmobile :
"Public Telephones: They Serve Everybody" by T. Hunt
Clark — 2 photos Sp 15
15
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVII
Issue Page
"Telephone City"— photo Au 162
Telephone Development:
"The Millionth Bell Rural Telephone Since the War Is In-
stalled"—2 photos Wi 226
"The Thirty Millionth Bell Telephone Is Installed in Iowa"
— photo Su 93
"Telephone Facilities for Railroad Reservations" by Justin E.
Hoy — 5 photos, 2 diagrams Wi 260
Telephone Pioneers of America:
"The Things Men Live By" by Walter S. Gifford Wi 259
Telephone Service:
"How Western Electric Serves Telephone Users" by Clifton
W. Phalen— 8 photos Au 140
"The License Contract" by K. S. McHugh Su 88
"Making Inter-Office Trunk Equipment Do Double Duty"
by Benjamin K. Boyce — 4 photos, 1 map, 2 diagrams ...Sp 23
"Public Telephones: They Serve Everybody" by T. Hunt
Clark— 9 photos Sp 9
"Six Thousand Telephone Companies Serve U. S." by A.
Roger Chappelka — 6 photos Wi 208
"Telephone Service" Wi 219
"We Must Continue to Go Forward" by L. A. Wilson Sp 5
"Telephones of the World" by James R. McGowan — 5 charts ..Au 192
Telephones — Statistics :
Chart — Distribution of the world's telephones — 1947 Su 115
Chart— Growth in stations, 1876-1919 Su 117
Chart — Manual answers, per cent over 10 seconds, 1939,
1947, 1948 Su 118
Chart— Millions of telephones, 1920-1947 Su 123
Chart — Net telephone gain, 1935-1947 Su 122
Chart — Telephone movement and net gain, 1920-1947 Su 120
Chart— Telephones— in millions, 1920-1947 Su 118
"Charts at Work" by K. W. Haemer— 10 charts Su 114
"Telephones of the World" by James R. McGowan — 5
charts Au 192
Telephones — Uses :
"Fair Exchange" by John Mason Brown Wi 238
"The Part Communications Play in Civil Defense" by
Judson S. Bradley— 1 photo Wi 220
"Telephone Facilities for Railroad Reservations" by Justin
E. Hoy — 5 photos, 2 diagrams Wi 260
"Washington's New Federal Dial Switching System" by
George E. Desjardins — 4 photos Sp 50
Telephotography :
"The Wires Which Carry the News of the World" by Rob-
ert E. Moore— 3 photos Su 100
Teletypewriters :
"The Wires Which Carry the News of the World" by Rob-
ert E. Moore — 4 photos, 1 diagram Su 94
16
DELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVII
Issue Page
Television:
"Bell System's Television Networks Connected" — 1 map ...Wi 271
"The Greatest Communication Network in History" Su 135
"Six Thousand Telephone Companies Serve U. S." by A.
Roger Chappelka Wi 214
"The Things Men Live By" by Walter S. Gifford Wi 259
"The Thirty Millionth Bell Telephone Installed in Iowa"— photo . . Su 93
Thomson, J. J.:
Scientific research Su 131
"Toll Dialing by Operators Reaches Some 300 Places" by Ernst
J. Guengerich — 4 photos. 1 map Wi 228
Training :
"Installation by Western Electric Company" by Alvin von
Auw — 6 photos Wi 249
"Transatlantic Radio Telephone Experiments" — 1923 Sp 70
Treasury Department:
"The Single Warrant: A Step Ahead in Corporate Finance"
by Frederick A. Wiseman — 6 photos Sp 59
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly, April
1923" Sp 70
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly, July
1923" Su 124
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly, Oc-
tober 1923" Au 202
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly, Jan-
uary 1924" Wi 270
V
Vail, Theodore N.:
Quote on Benefit Plan Wi 259
Volta, Alessandro:
Scientific research Su 126
von Auw, Alvin:
Biographical sketch — portrait W^i 207
"Installation by Western Electric Company" — 6 photos ....Wi 249
von Laue, Max:
Scientific research Su 129
W
"Washington's New Federal Dial Switching Sjrstem" by George
E. Desjardins — \ photos Sp 50
Watson, Thomas A.
Watson denied that Bell oflFered to sell stock at low price . . . .Sp 22
"We Must Continue to Go Forward" by L. A. W^ilson Sp 5
Western Electric Company:
"Bell System Patents and Patent Licensing" by Keith S.
McHugh Wi 217
"Exchange Cable: The Drama of Post-war Production" bj'
Charles G. Sinclair, Jr. — 9 photos, 1 chart Su 76
17
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVII
Issue Page
"How Western Electric Serves Telephone Users" by Clif-
ton W. Phalen— 8 photos Au 140
"Installation by Western Electric Compan\'" by Alvin von
Auw — 6 photos Wi 249
"Most People Are Honest" by H. Montague Pope — 4 photos. . Au 185
Wilson, Leroy A.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Sp 2
"We Must Continue to Go Forward" by L. A. Wilson Sp 5
"Winter, It Was a Tough"— 16 photos Sp 39
"Wires Which Carry the News of the World, The" by Robert
E. Moore — 8 photos, 1 diagram Su 94
Wiseman, Frederick A.:
Portrait Sp 3
"The Single Warrant: A Step Ahead in Corporate Finance"
— 6 photos Sp 59
"World's Telephone Statistics, 1922" Au 202
18
im
/■-'
k\ 1 1 '■ «^
"We Must Continue to Go Forward*^ • Leroy A. Wilson
Public Telephones: They Serve Everyhody • T. Hunt Clark
Making Inter-Office Trunk Equipment Do Double Duty
Benj^^min K. Boycb
Business and People • Keith S. McHugh
Washington's New Federal Dial Switching System
George E. DesJardins
The Single Warrant: A Step Ahead in Corporate Finance
Frederick A. Wiseman
nencan' Miepnom
Bell TelephoneA^^W
spring 1948
"We Must Continue to Go Forward," Leroy A. Wilson, 5
Public Telephones: They Serve Everybody, T. Hunt Clark, 9
Rural Telephone Progress — 1947, 20
Making Inter-Office Trunk Equipment Do Double Duty,
Benjamin K. Boyce, 23
Business and People, Keith S. McHugh, 31
It Was a Tough Winter, 39
Bell System Inventions Are Not Suppressed, Hubert A. Pattison, 48
Washington's New Federal Dial Switching System,
George E. DesJardins, 50
The Single Warrant: A Step Ahead in Corporate Finance,
Frederick A. Wiseman, 59
Twenty-Five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly, 70
The Goose That Lays the Golden Egg, 72
Indexes Now Available, 72
y4 Medium of Suggestion ^ a Record of Progress
Published for the supervisory forces of the Bell System by the Information Department of
American Telephone and Telegraph Co., /p5 Broadway^ New York 7, N. Y.
Lerov a. Wilson, President; Carroll O. Bickelhaupt, Sec; Donald R. Belcher, Treas.
Who's Who & What's What
in This Issue
The statement which Leroy A. Wil-
son made at the annual meeting of stock-
holders of the A. T. & T. Company on
April 21 is his first formal public utterance
since he was elected to the presidency of the
company two months earlier.
Mr. Wilson's election as president cli-
maxed a Bell System career which had be-
gun 26 years before with the Indiana Bell
Telephone Company when, two days after
graduation from Rose Polytechnic Institute
in Terre Haute, in June of 1922, he re-
ported for work as a traffic clerk and stu-
dent in Indianapolis. During his years
with that company he had direct charge of
the telephone operating forces in several
districts throughout the state before return-
ing to Indianapolis as district traffic super-
intendent in 1927.
It was in 1929 that Mr. Wilson trans-
ferred to the Department of Operation and
Engineering of the A. T. & T. Company
in New York. His first work there was in
the traffic division, but he also gained ex-
perience in dial equipment engineering and
in related fields. Ten years after his ar-
rival in New York, he moved from the
traffic to the commercial division of O. &
E., where he was placed in charge of the
work on telephone directories. The fol-
lowing year he was made rate engineer in
the same division, and in 1942 he was ap-
pointed to head the entire commercial di-
vision.
It was from this post that Mr. Wilson
was promoted to an A. T. & T. vice presi-
dency in 1944, with the assignment to study
the revenue requirements of the Bell Sys-
tem. His "Reasonable Earnings to Insure
the Best Service," published in this Maga-
zine for Autumn 1945, expounds his phi-
losophy on the subject and directly pro-
motes an understanding of it.
It is a coincidence that T. Hunt Clark's
"Public Telephones: They Serve Every-
body" appears in this issue, since his only
previous contribution, "That First Call
T. Hunt Clark
Benjamin A. Boyce
Keith S. McHu^h
Hubert A. Pattison
George E. Desjardins Frederick A. Wiseman
Home," was published in the Magazine
for Autumn 1945, which carried Mr. Wil-
son's only previous contribution.
An officer in tvvo wars, Mr. Clark spent
the years between them in the commercial
engineering division of the New York
Telephone Company; as secretary to Wal-
ter S. Gifford, then president of the A. T.
& T. Co. and since February 18 of this
year chairman of the board ; and in the
sales and servicing section of the commer-
cial division of the O. & E. Department of
A. T. & T. After discharge in 1945 —
with the rank of Major — from his duties as
Chief of the Control and Communications
Section of the National Office of Civilian
Defense in Washington, he rejoined the
sales and servicing section, where his field
has included public telephone service.
The report of the past year's progress in
carrying forward the Bell System's pro-
gram of rural telephone development is
one of an annual series prepared by the
commercial division of the A. T. & T.
Company's Department of Operation and
Engineering. It is published in these pages
as supplementing "More and Better Tele-
phone Service for Farmers," in our issue
for Winter 1944-45, and "Progress in Ex-
tending Bell Rural Telephone Service," in
our issue for Winter 1946—47.
Making two telephone circuits grow
where but one had grown before is an ac-
complishment which Benjamin K. Boyce
has opportunity to achieve^— thanks to the
peculiar geography of Manhattan Island
and the fixed telephone habits of large
numbers of customers of the New York
Telephone Company.
Mr. Boyce joined the Engineering De-
partment of the New York Telephone
Company in 1907, and served in various
engineering capacities before becoming toll
and exchange plant engineer in 1921.
Five years later he became chief engineer
of the Upstate Area of that company, with
his headquarters in Albany, and in 1939 he
was appointed to a like post in the Man-
hattan Area. After another tw^o 5 ears he
became vice president and general manager
of the Bronx- Westchester Area, and since
1942 he has been Chief Engineer, Manhat-
tan-Bronx-Westchester, New York Tele-
phone Company.
A statement of the Bell System career of
Keith S. McHugh will be found in the
Magazine for Autumn 1947, in which
was published his "How Big Are the Little
Things in the Telephone Business?"
Joining the Bell System in 19 18, Hubert
A. Pattison was with the Patent Depart-
ment of Western Electric Company for 26
years. He was in charge of the work at
Kearny from 1922 to 1925, and then until
{Continued on page iq)
LEROY A. WILSON
President, American Telephone and Telegraph Company
The New Head of the American Telephone and Telegraph
Company Greets the Stockholders at the Annual Meeting
In New York on April 21
44
We Must Continue
To Go Forward"
Lerojf yl. IVilson
Two MONTHS AGO your directors
elected a new President of the com-
pany. I am deeply aware of the re-
sponsibilities that have been entrusted
to me. I take heart from the con-
viction that Bell System policies and
the high standards of performance
achieved over the years give us the
best kind of foundation for meeting
the problems and opportunities of the
future.
It is a privilege to join with you
today in paying tribute to the man
who during 23 of his nearly 44 years
of Bell System service has headed this
company. Through successive pe-
riods of boom, depression, and war,
and through these post-war years,
Mr. Gifford has kept our public-
service enterprise on a true course.
He has done so with untiring patience
and steady courage, with considera-
tion for the interests of everyone as-
sociated with the business — whether
as customer, stockholder, or em-
ployee— and with a personal gra-
ciousness that endears him to all who
know him.
Many minds and many hands have
shared in making our service every-
where more extensive, more useful,
and more valuable to more people.
They have had, in Mr. Gifford, the
leader who with wisdom, foresight,
and rare judgment has made their
teamwork increasingly effective.
That he is now serving as Chairman
of the Board and is continuing to
participate actively in the business is
a great comfort to me, and I am
sure is heartily welcomed by the
stockholders.
The Annual Report, which was
sent to all stockholders in February,
presented in detail the management's
accounting of its stewardship for the
year 1947, and the statement which
accompanied dividend checks of April
15, less than a week ago, gave the
latest financial results of Bell System
operations.
Since V-J day the System has had
under way the largest construction
program in its history, in order to
provide new buildings, central office
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
apparatus, telephone lines, and other
equipment needed to meet the un-
precedented demand for service and
to make the service better. More
than seven million telephones have
been added. Demand for service
continues at a high level, and to meet
it we must keep on with our heavy
construction program, which will re-
quire large additional amounts of
new capital.
Nearly two billions of new capital
have been raised in the last 24
months. The greater part has been
obtained from long-term debt issues.
Some $785,000,000 has come from
the sale of convertible debentures and
the conversion of debentures into
A. T. & T. stock. The number of
stockholders has reached a record
total of 737,000, an increase of 14,-
000 since the beginning of this year.
We heartily welcome those who are
acquiring shares in the ownership of
our expanding business.
The proportion of debt in the total
capital of the System is now about
50 percent; approximately one-fifth
of this is in the form of debentures
convertible into stock. Each deben-
ture converted reduces the proportion
of debt, and with earnings adequate
to attract additional conversions we
can in due course look forward to a
lowering of the current debt ratio.
We must obtain the additional capi-
tal needed to provide the service that
our customers want, and at the same
time maintain a sound financial struc-
ture, which is the only basis for good
service, good wages, and protection
of the savings invested in the busi-
ness. This means that earnings must
continue to provide a return on the
stockholders' investment sufficient to
permit the majority of financing
through issues of stock or debentures
that are later converted into stock.
Your management is taking every
means to accomplish this, and I am
confident that we shall be successful
in the future as in the past.
More than 20 years ago, speaking
before the 1927 Convention of the
National Association of Railroad
and Utilities Commissioners in Dal-
las, Texas, Mr. Gifford stated the
fundamental policy of the Bell Sys-
tem. It was obvious, he said, that
the only sound policy that will meet
the System's obligations "is to con-
tinue to furnish the best possible serv-
ice at the lowest cost consistent with
financial safety. This policy is bound
to succeed in the long run and there
is no justification for acting other-
wise than for the long run."
The Bell System has been success-
ful because it has lived by this policy
and lived up to it. A few illustra-
tions from the record will help to
show this. They are the best evi-
dence too that the same policy will
guide us well in the future.
Today we are able to provide a
great deal more service to more peo-
ple than 20 or 25 years ago. The
number of Bell telephones has in-
creased nearly three times. The vol-
ume of calls has increased from about
18 billion a year to more than 50
billion. Service is faster, the quality
of transmission better, and errors less
frequent.
The plant is more sturdy and the
service most dependable. The range
of service has been vastly extended,
not only to bring the convenience of
the telephone to the more remote
areas of our own country but also to
reach countries all over the world
1948
'JVe Must Continue To Go Forward"
and to serve ships, automobiles,
trains, and aircraft. Teletypewriter
exchange service has been extended
to customers in all parts of the
country.
New types of facilities are being
introduced, including coaxial cables
and radio relay systems which are
carrying television programs as well
as telephone conversations. New
switching systems are going into the
plant that will in time further speed
up toll and long distance service by
enabling operators to dial calls di-
rectly from coast to coast and by
enabling customers to dial many of
their own toll calls to points beyond
their local exchange area. New tele-
phone instruments and teletypewriter
equipments are under development
which will further increase the con-
venience and ease of communication.
We are keenly aware that the prob-
lems caused by the war and the un-
precedented demands of the post-
war period have made it impossible
to give service to all who want it and
to give every customer the kind of
service he wants. Yet, though the
service today is not in every respect
what we would like to have it and
intend to make it, it is beyond all
comparison better than it was 20 or
25 years ago.
Not only is the service better but
its value to the user is far greater
than ever before. For example, a
telephone user today on the average
can reach three times as many tele-
phones in his local exchange area as
he could 25 years ago. Another evi-
dence of the increase in value is the
tremendous increase in demand. The
fact is that generally the price of tele-
phone service to the user is today
relatively much less than it used to be.
Because of the steep rise in the cost
of providing service since the war,
Bell System companies have recently
had to request increases in telephone
rates, and additional increases are
necessary. However, may I point
out again that the increases that have
been made effective in the last year
or two are the first important ones
since the period of price adjustment
following World War I, and that
they have been much less than the
rise in prices generally.
Under the policy stated in 1927,
then, the quantity of service, the
quality of service, and the value of
service have all increased. The pol-
icy also pointed out that "Payments
to stockholders limited to reasonable
regular dividends with their right,
as the business requires new money
from time to time, to make further
investments on favorable terms, are
to the interest both of the telephone
users. and the stockholders."
Reasonable and regular dividends
have been paid to stockholders
through the speculative 1920s,
through the depression years of the
'30s, and through the war-time and
post-war '40s. As new money has
been required, stockholders have had
the right from time to time to invest
further in the company. The finan-
cial integrity of the business has been
maintained. Your management is
keenly aware that this is essential to
the progress of the business, to the
improvement and expansion of the
service, and to make possible the
fullest measure of opportunity to
employees.
In the same way, our policy recog-
nizes that it is to the advantage of
customers and stockholders that the
Bell Telephone Magazine
employees of the Bell System be well
paid, that they carry on their work
under good working conditions, and
that individual abilities be discovered
and developed, with promotions
made from the ranks. The joint en-
terprise of investors who are paid a
reasonable return and employees who
are paid good wages is to the advan-
tage of both groups, and also to the
advantage of telephone users, who
thereby obtain steadily better and
more valuable service.
Over the years public regulatory
authorities have generally recognized
this. From the record of the past
there is every reason to believe that
on the whole they will continue to do
so and that they will approve what-
ever increases in telephone rates may
be necessary to keep the telephone
companies financially sound and in a
position to continue their progress in
increasing the value of the service. A
financially healthy telephone company
is an asset to community, state, and
nation; financial ill health could only
produce in the long run the most
costly of service to the user.
As Mr. Gifford observed in the
policy statement of 1927, to which I
have already referred, "The margin
of safety in earnings is only a small
percentage of the rate charged for
service, but that we may carry out
our ideals and aims it is essential that
this margin be kept adequate. Cut-
ting it too close can only result in
the long run in deterioration of serv-
ice while the temporary financial
benefit to the telephone user would
be practically negligible."
The common sense of this state-
ment is as obvious today as it was
then. A sound and prospering or-
ganization is the only kind of organi-
zation that can continue to make
progress in the public interest. We
cannot rest on the record of the past,
but under the policy which has been
so successful in the past we must con-
tinue to go forward. That service
be further expanded and improved;
that the cost to the user continue to
be as low as possible; that employees
find good pay, opportunity, and satis-
faction in their telephone careers;
that stockholders receive a reason-
able and regular return and that their
savings invested in the business be
protected — in meeting these objec-
tives lies the task of your manage-
ment; a task that is accepted with
confidence, with whole-hearted en-
thusiasm, and with the determination
that the people of our nation shall
continue to enjoy the most, the cheap-
est, and the best telephone service in
the world.
A Three-fold Program of Improvement^ Instituted since
The ITar^ Promises Better Service for Customers and a
Consequent Gain in Revenue for the Bell System
Public Telephones: They
Sen^e Ea erybody
T. Hunt Clark
One of the first big post-war sales
and servicing jobs to get under way
in the Bell System's Associated Com-
panies, and one which is already
showing important results, is aimed
at improving public telephone serv-
ice * — and thus public telephone reve-
nues. Important as public telephone
service is at present — it handled more
than two billion calls last year — the
companies are moving aggressively
ahead on a plan to make it still more
so.
Three outstanding factors have
made this one of the lead-off post-war
sales projects:
I. It is a job on which a good
deal can be done with only minor
demands on the already over-
loaded outside telephone plant and
central office facilities.
* This article refers only to public telephones ;
i.e., coin and attended telephones which are
provided for the use of the general public.
Not included in the discussion are the semi-
public telephones provided primarily for the
subscriber, with public use more or less inci-
dental.
2. It is needed to insure the ade-
quacy of the service on which the
entire public depends so much, not
only in emergencies but for busi-
ness and all sorts of other oc-
casions as well. It is particularly
important at this time because of
the number of people who have
been unable as yet to obtain tele-
phone service of their own.
3. It offers attractive opportuni-
ties for increasing revenues sub-
stantially.
The public telephone promotion
forces of the Associated Companies
are pushing forward on three pri-
mary fronts:
A. Improving service and reve-
nues at existing public telephones
by improving the convenience, com-
fort and attractiveness of the serv-
ice.
B. Relieving congestion and im-
proving revenues by providing ad-
ditional public telephones.
lO
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
The size and importance of public
telephone service is indicated by the
fact that in 1947 the more than two
billion calls made at public tele-
phones produced some $150,000,000
in gross revenue.
While public telephones comprise
only 1-5 percent of the System's main
telephones, they contribute 7 percent
of the total billing.
And every call is an opportunity to
create better public relations.
C. Encouraging the general pub-
lic to place calls at public tele-
phones rather than to use the pri-
vate telephones of subscribers in
stores and other business places.
Proof of the Puddifig
What can a well integrated, aggres-
sive public telephone promotion pro-
gram such as this really accomplish?
Perhaps the easiest way to visual-
ize it, and to prove it, is to see its re-
sults in a medium sized city — one of
the many where this work is under
way. Let's look at what happened
in Winston-Salem, N. C, recently.
The Winston-Salem exchange area
has a population of 119,000; and
last summer, when the public tele-
phone promotion man came into town
to start work, it had 300 coin tele-
phones in service. The representa-
tive visited all these locations, and
carried out such a program.
He saw to it that locations, and
directory, lighting, and ventilating fa-
cilities, were improved where needed.
He arranged for refinlshing any
booths in poor condition, and en-
listed the cooperation of the pub-
lic telephone agents — the owners or
lessees of the premises where the tele-
phones are located — in providing
adequate day-to-day janitor service.
Fourteen businessmen were per-
suaded that public telephone calls had
no place on their business lines.
In all, he found ways to Improve
124 installations, and he found good
spots for 43 more coin telephones.
So attractive to the public were the
service Improvements he was able to
achieve that, a few months after the
job was done, revenue from the coin
telephones was found to be running
50 percent ahead of the same period
of the previous year. That contrasts
sharply with the increase of only 0.7
percent In revenues from coin stations
in the rest of the state of North
Carolina during the same period.
Certainly this Is proof of a mighty
good pudding.
Now let's look a little more closely
at the three aspects of this big pro-
motion job.
IMPROVING SERVICE
Conditions at all existing installa-
tions are being thoroughly reviewed
for opportunities for Improving serv-
ice to the public. Special attention is
paid to low revenue producers.
Take the nickels, dimes, and quar-
ters collected from public telephones
last year —
Stack them up in one pile and you
would have a monument over 3,000
miles high.
Lay them end to end and you
would have a metal ribbon over
36,000 miles long.
Load them in boxcars and you
would need a 300-car train over two
miles in length.
1948
Public Telephones: They Serve Everybody
II
For example, here
are some of the meas-
ures being taken by the
Associated Companies
at such locations to im-
prove—
Convenience: by mov-
ing the station to a
more accessible loca-
tion; or by providing
shelves or tables for
directories which are
now hung from chains;
by replacing directories
with torn or missing
leaves.
A bank of five booths
in a store off the lobby
of an office building
was made more accessi-
ble by moving them out into the
lobby. Result: an increased patron-
age which brought with it an 80
percent increase In . revenue, or
$3,400 more a year.
Comfort and Appeal: by better
lighting, installing fans and seats, im-
proving janitor service, and moving
from excessively noisy locations.
A telephone near a juke box is not
pleasant or easy to use, and the pub-
lic will avoid it; whereas it can be a
real public servant In another spot on
the premises. The ceiling lights In
booths are now being changed from
25-watt to 40-watt bulbs for better
visibility when dialing, making notes
during conversations, etc.
Privacy: by providing booths for
public telephones which formerly
were simply mounted on a wall.
Recently such an open telephone In
a five and ten cent store was replaced
by two telephones In booths. The
greater privacy was appreciated — to
Installation of a public telephone was once a particularly
noteworthy occasion
the tune of a 200 percent increase in
revenue — $1,200 more a year.
Prominence: by adding signs, or
changing their type or location, to ob-
tain greater coverage and visibility.
Illuminated signs are coming into
greater use at appropriate locations.
Moving the station to a more con-
spicuous location is also an effec-
tive means of making It more con-
venient— as was illustrated earlier.
Brightly painted booths at selected
locations are making their appear-
ance around the country, giving pub-
lic telephone locations a bright new
look.
To carry out a job such as this,
Involving about 300,000 public tele-
phones, requires a well planned,
closely coordinated program of In-
spection, prescription, and corrective
action. The principals concerned are
the Commercial, Plant, and Engi-
neering Departments and our friends
the public telephone agents.
12
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
Work begins with a thorough in-
spection of each location by the Com-
mercial public telephone promotion
people. In addition, as a regular and
continuing thing, the public telephone
coin collectors make it a point to be
on the look-out for and to report any
conditions which may affect service
adversely. They are in an excellent
position, for example, to spot missing
equipment, damaged parts, and un-
sightly conditions.
In the plans for increasing the at-
tractiveness of service at existing
public telephone locations, the agent
plays a particularly important part.
The telephone company looks to him
This elaborate telephone booth of half a century ago had
many of the important features of its modern counterpart
to provide suitable space for the
equipment, to keep the facilities
clean, and to furnish current for
booth and directory lights. Thus he
shares with us the job of maintain-
ing the installation in good condition.
For his part he is recompensed,
generally by a commission on the re-
ceipts, so he has a stake in seeing to
it that his public telephones are in-
viting to the public.
The Bell System pays the tidy sum
of about $28,000,000 yearly to its
public telephone agents.
To get the agent off to a fresh
start, and to make sure that a good
housekeeping job is done, some of
the companies say, in
effect, "Mr. Agent,
this time we'll clean
up the booth for you
and then you'll see
what a difference a little
more 'spit and polish'
makes to appearances
— and, incidentally, to
the size of your com-
mission check at the
end of the month."
More often than not
Mr. Agent is impressed
by the results and
this has a salutary
effect on his caretak-
ing activities in the
future.
The Plant Depart-
ment majors in the
important job of sched-
uling and taking the
necessary action to
make such improve-
ments as refinishing
booths, relocating the
facilities, adding signs,
and so on.
1948
Public Telephones: They Serve Everybody
13
RELIEVING CONGESTION
Busy, congested locations are get-
ting first attention, and new tele-
phones are being added in localities
where facility conditions permit.
Close coordination with the central
office equipment schedule is main-
tained, to make sure that this new
installation work is intensified as ad-
ditional central office equipment is
installed.
In the meantime, the program pro-
vides for assuring that the best use is
made of what we have. We want to
be sure that existing public telephones
are in locations where they do the
most good.
Usually the amount of money col-
lected from a public telephone is a
good index of how well it is serving
the public. So, if receipts from a
low payer cannot be improved by
the various corrective measures men-
tioned earlier, it is moved to a loca-
tion where it will be more useful to
the public.
However, there are exceptions to
this. Some public telephones are
comparatively little used but are left
where they are because many people
in the locality have no other tele-
phone to use in an emergency.
USE OF subscribers' SERVICE
The channeling of bona fide public
telephone calls over coin telephone
lines is another part of the public
telephone promotion man's service
improvement job.
In many instances, without realiz-
ing the disadvantages, a business sub-
scriber permits his customers and the
general public to use his business tele-
phone for calls which public tele-
phones are intended to handle.
He is unaware that this needlessly
An average modern public telephone instal-
lation: clean-cut^ Junctional. Note par-
ticularly such points as the seat in the
booths directories on a well-lighted shelf
and memo-sheet holder above them, and the
sign at the top of the booth giving the loca-
. tion of other public telephones
ties up his line and he may lose im-
portant calls.
He may find he has not collected
for toll calls that were made.
If there are enough calls, he may
be depriving himself of commissions
on these calls if they were made over
a public telephone on his premises.
The corrective action taken is to
make sure that attractive, convenient
coin telephone service is available
nearby and to move the subscriber's
service to a spot less accessible to the
public.
In a Texas city, the public tele-
H
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
phone people worked with 19 large
downtown businesses which were
making their own business lines
available to the general public. They
included department stores, banks,
theaters, etc. The businessmen were
convinced by the telephone represent-
atives that it would be to their ad-
vantage to discontinue this practice
and to encourage the public to use
the coin telephones. Sixteen public
telephones were installed for public
convenience and the business tele-
phones were moved. Public tele-
phone revenues at these locations are
now $14,400 a year — and the busi-
nessmen are getting nice commissions.
Good Service Is the Aim
Good public telephone promotion
pays off in more than nickels, dimes,
and quarters.
The public relations stake in the
job is also big. Big because each
day millions of people all over the
country who use these facilities are
impressed favorably — or otherwise.
The influence, good or bad, is cumu-
lative, and therefore of great impor-
tance in molding public opinion of
the telephone company. There is
plenty of evidence of this.
That people do appreciate clean,
well-equipped, conveniently located
public telephones is being clearly evi-
denced in Winston-Salem and other
places where this work has been un-
der way.
Also from time to time there are
the dramatic occasions when public
telephones and public telephone peo-
ple can render unusual and much
valued service.
Take, for example, the recent com-
Modern design and architectural treatment make this attended -public telephone
center attractive
1948
Public Telephones: They Serve Everybody
15
ment of a commuter who
said "That job was
worth four full pages of
newspaper advertising in
building good will."
This is what inspired
his remark.
He was one of thou-
sands who were ma-
rooned in a railroad sta-
tion when the "big snow"
hit the New York area
right after Christmas
and badly disrupted train
and bus service. The
situation at this station
was particularly acute,
and the public telephones
in the station were
jammed in the emer-
gency.
To do what they
could to meet the urgent
needs of the situation,
the New York Tele-
phone Company dis-
patched a number of special repre-
sentatives to the location. Equipped
with armbands reading "Telephone
Company," they stationed themselves
at the public telephones and rendered
all kinds of special assistance. They
made change, gave out long distance
call information, and made additional
directories available.
Because of the excessively heavy
traffic, there were long dial-tone and
circuit delays. Some users became
impatient, and with others unfamiliar
with dial coin telephone service did
not wait for dial tone and lost their
nickels. As well as they could, the
representatives made refunds.
Several of the representatives,
with the railroad company's assist-
ance, set up shop in a ticket seller's
An outdoor public telephone. When shortages of equip-
ment have made it impossible to provide residence tele-
phones., booths such as this have brought service to
housing developments which otherwise would have been
entirely without it
booth and hung up a sign reading
"New York Telephone Company
Representative." A special line to
the "A" board was installed, and
when anyone was particularly over-
wrought and ran into delay in com-
pleting his call, the representative
undertook to relay the message to the
called number. This ticket window
did a land office business and in a
small way assumed the proportions
of a general information bureau.
For the better part of a week, as
long as the emergency lasted, these
special emissaries of helpfulness and
good will were on the job.
Special Services and Equipment
This awareness of public needs and
reaction shows itself in a variety of
i6
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
Atelemobile brings the convenience of telephone service to a dog show which^ like many
other public gatherings^ would otherwise be without it
Interior of a telemobiUy showing the arrangement of space to accommodate booths y waiting
customers^ and attendant
1948
Public Telephones: They Serve Everybody
17
other very practical ways
in tiie public telephone
promotion job. For ex-
ample, the increasing
number of public tele-
phone installations at
outdoor locations recog-
nizes that they are some-
times better public serv-
ants out-of-doors than
indoors.
The end of a transit
line, or a transfer point
in the outskirts of a city,
is illustrative. Here peo-
ple often need to make
calls after the stores in
the neighborhood are all
closed.
Missed the bus! Train
delayed ! Must call
home ! The outdoor pub-
lic telephone meets the
need. Many more of
them are coming into
use.
The outdoor location is also play-
ing an important part in many new
residential areas where facility short-
ages prevent furnishing main-station
telephone service for the time being
and where suitable indoor locations
are not available.
In some places they are also being
placed experimentally along super-
highways where roadside commercial
establishments to house indoor pub-
lic telephones are often non-existent
or few and far between.
There are other new developments
designed to do whatever can be done
to provide convenient public tele-
phone service wherever it is needed.
The telemobile, an attended pub-
lic telephone center on wheels, with
about six booths, space for an attend-
One type of telecart^ luhich brings coin-box telephone
service to bedridden patients in veterans^ hospitals
ant, and seats for customers, is often
used to meet the special needs for
service at county fairs, important
golf tournaments, dog shows, and
similar occasions. They get around.
Their war record is distinguished.
Some of them served on the decks of
battleships in dock, and others served
at desert military posts. They were
widely used where indoor space could
not be obtained immediately and
where speed in establishing service
was important.
The telecart, the tea wagon tele-
phone, is a war baby originally de-
veloped to bring telephone service to
the bedridden patients in military
hospitals. It did its job well and is
still used widely in the hospitals of
the Veterans Administration.
i8
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
Colorful booth installations attract attention — and customers.
York City subway station
This pair is in a New
Today, advance planning in coop-
eration with the V. A. is making it
possible to equip these hospitals with
suitable telephone outlets, with the
result that a nurse can plug in a
telecart for service at the bedside of
any bedridden veteran.
For the wheel-chair patient, public
telephones are installed in over-
sized booths, big enough to accom-
modate his chair. For those with in-
jured hearing, hard-of-hearing (am-
plifying) sets are provided; and for
men on crutches there are booths
with and without seats, so they may
choose whichever is more convenient.
You may never have seen Gelett
Burgess' purple cow, but in New
York City and perhaps in other
places you can see gay red tele-
phone booths. They are intended to
and do attract attention and custom-
ers in places where they might other-
wise be overlooked.
So far, the attention-getting rec-
ord of these booths is remarkable.
Repainting a booth red, and thus im-
pressing on passers-by its convenient
availability, generally increases the
revenue about 25 percent.
Coupled with other improvements,
revenue increases have been even
greater. Public telephone people
have, for example, removed a group
of four booths, installed three red
booths a few feet away at a better
location with improved lighting and
directory facilities, and have found
that the increased usage thus stimu-
lated has stepped up revenues by 780
percent — a rate of $1,600 a year.
Outdoor booths at gas stations are
going up in the color motif of the
gasoline company whose products are
1948
Public Telephones: They Serve Everybody
19
sold there — another example of the
variety of possibilities for using color
in this field.
The use of striking color is, of
course, appropriate only at selected
locations and, as you might expect,
intelligence and taste are necessary to
achieve pleasing and effective results.
Multiple Objectives
The attractive color treatment is
illustrative of the new attention which
the promotion people and engineers
are turning to the job of improving
public telephone service and revenues.
The possibilities of improving
lights, booths, directory facilities,
signs and booth ventilation are all
being studied. The result will no
doubt be still further improvements
in the appearance, as well as the gen-
eral convenience, of public telephone
installations. Meanwhile, the pres-
ent fuller utilization of existing fa-
cilities— booth fans. Illuminated signs,
special exterior finishes, and the like
— is already bringing benefits to the
users of this most necessary service.
More modern and convenient pub-
lic telephone service, more widely
used by a more satisfied public, with
increasing revenues to the companies,
are the aims of this big nickel, dime,
and quarter job.
Who's Who & What's What
{Continued from page 3)
1944 he was at W. E. headquarters in New
York, where his duties included contract
negotiations. In 1944 he became assistant
general patent attorney of the A. T. & T.
Company, and since 1945 has been general
patent attorney.
Since 1937, when he transferred to the
then Procurement Division, now the Bu-
reau of Federal Supply, of the U. S. Treas-
ury Department at Washington, George
E. DesJardins has been interested in the
Federal Government's utilities services.
With a background of an electrical engi-
neering degree from the University of
Maine, he has, as engineer and economist
in the service of the Federal Government,
been engaged in studying some of its tele-
phone and communications problems. The
answer to one of them is the recently in-
stalled Federal Government Inter-Agency
Dial Switching System, which he helped
develop over a period of ten years and
which he discusses in this issue.
Among his present responsibilities is a
project of current interest to the Bell Sys-
tem operating companies. This is the U. S.
Treasury's "consolidated telephone con-
tract" program, covering some 40 major
city areas, where substantially all telephone
service to Governmental activities may be
procured under a series of nfaster contracts
between the Bureau of Federal Supply and
the various companies. Mr. DesJardins,
working with the companies' tariffs arni
engineers, sets up schedules of rates ap-
plicable to each area, which schedules are
used in operating under the contracts.
The resulting simplified operation is mu-
tually advantageous.
Although Frederick A. Wiseman's
article in this issue appears as a sequel to
"The Biggest Offer Ever," which he con-
tributed to the Magazine for Winter
1947—48, it describes an operation which
preceded the 1947 convertible debenture
offer and greatly simplified the handling of
it. Mr. Wiseman's Bell System career is
recounted briefly in the earlier issue.
The aerial photographs on pages 24
and 5 1 were obtained from Fairchild Aerial
Surveys Inc.
Rural Telephone Progress— ig4j
The aggressive nation-wide Bell System
program for providing telephone service for
another million customers in rural areas is
moving along ahead of schedule. This
plan, of unprecedented proportions, was
announced in 1945 as the first post-war
step in resuming the active extension and
improvement of telephone service in rural
areas. Considering the magnitude of the
undertaking and the serious shortage of all
kinds of supplies, it looked like a three- to
five-year job.
Actually, by the end of 1947, only a
little over two years after V-J Day, the
Bell Companies had added 700,000 tele-
phones in rural areas: 70 percent of the
job had been done in about half the time.
To do it, new rural customers were con-
nected at a rate many times faster than
ever before in the Companies' history.
During 1947 alone, 309,000 were con-
nected— a pace which brought telephone
service to about 1,000 additional rural
families each working day of the year.
Today, as a result of this record per-
formance and the active rural programs in
other telephone companies throughout the
country, it is estimated that about 42 per-
cent of the farms of the country have tele-
phone service. This compares with 32 per-
cent at the beginning of 1945.
Back of the progress made on the Bell
System rural extension program is the
story of the work of literally an army of
engineers and rural experts who have given
their full time to the job. Despite unusual
difficulties, they have built enough new
rural pole line in the last two years to
stretch twice around the world. In the
same period 300,000 miles of wire have
been strung.
In addition, they have made a real start
toward improving and modernizing rural
telephone service. Lines which had been
temporarily overloaded to provide service
for people without any service at all are
being relieved ; the aim is to reduce the
number of parties on a line to not more
than eight and ultimately to less than eight.
And, as rapidly as possible, the older crank-
type telephones are being replaced by the
most up-to-date types of hand sets.
Probably nothing, however, expresses so
well what has been accomplished thus far
as the testimony of the people themselves;
people in out-of-the-way rural places all
over the country who have been brought
closer to each other and to the outside by
these new telephone lines.
For example, when the 168 rural fami-
lies scattered over some 60 square miles in
and around the virtually isolated communi-
ties of Bayside and Bonnie View in south-
east Texas were connected to the new rural
telephone lines which were built into their
neighborhood last fall, they spoke of it as
one of the most important events of the
year. They compared the importance of
the 48 miles of new rural pole line serving
them to the new network of improved
highways just being completed in the area.
And this is understandable, for telephone
service has removed the serious obstacle of
distance. Friends, relatives, business asso-
ciates, doctors, and police were now as close
as their telephones.
This freedom from isolation was at-
Rural Telephone Progress — 1947
21
FACiLiTIES ADDED IN BELL SYSTEM RURAL AREAS DURING 1947
SaSWII IT 8.S.CEKSIIS SEOtttPHICtL tCGIOHS
tained in thousands of remotely located
communities all over the country in 1947
as Bell System pole line building crews
moved in.
A tow-headed West Virginia mountain
boy expressed it, in his own way, when he
spotted telephone linemen heading his way.
"They're coming!" he shouted. "The line-
men are coming. They say we'll get our
telephone before the end of the week, and
so will Grandma!"
City comforts drop off quickly up the
road where the boy lives, some miles from
Charleston, West Virginia. The strip of
macadam soon dwindles to a meandering
dirt road, impassable in winter. A rail-
road spur provides the only other connec-
tion with the outside world.
For weeks the families in the valley and
on the surrounding slopes had watched in-
tently while telephone construction crews
pushed ahead slowly, blasting holes in the
rock}' soil to set each pole, in many places
cutting and clearing the dense growth of
trees and underbrush so trucks and ma-
chinery could get through, and oftentimes
carrying materials into place by hand where
the mountains were too steep for trucks to
get in.
The promise of telephone service in the
valley was being met. It would provide an
important new link with the outside world
for all the families in the valley, all the
3^ear around, no matter how hard the
winter.
An Oklahoma farmer who recently wrote
to the telephone company expressed it still
another way:
"I watched your crew for days — cutting
right-of-ways, dynamiting every pole hole,
and then finally connecting our service.
Your company has taken our farm area
out of isolation. The telephone has given
us added protection from careless people
who are responsible for our forest fires,
and lawless elements who sometimes in-
vade the farm districts. Most of our fami-
lies live far apart and a good distance from
public transportation, and with the tele-
phone they can expedite assistance."
More, probably, than any one else, farm
people know this feeling of security. It
22
Bell Telephone Magazine
comes of incidents such as that which oc-
curred outside Rugby, North Dakota re-
cently, when the teacher of a rural school
was able to telephone and get badly needed
medical help for one of her pupils. The
school telephone had been installed only a
short time before ; it was one of many con-
nected to a network of new telephone lines
built into the neighborhood.
The Texas, West Virginia, Oklahoma,
and North Dakota experiences mentioned
briefly here are only typical. They echo
hundreds of others across the country and
can be repeated in every state. They mark
the steady progress of the most intensive
rural telephone building program ever un-
dertaken by the Bell System.
This rapid progress in the building pro-
gram would not have been possible with-
out the fullest use of fast, economical con-
struction methods developed and perfected
by telephone engineers in recent years.
Stronger wire cut down the number of
poles required considerably: poles are now
set farther apart. Better tools have helped
to speed up the lineman's job: portable
power-driven augers now dig pole holes
where rock doesn't interfere; plows dig
trenches, bury wire, and cover it, all in one
operation in localities where soil conditions
permit. In addition, with the close co-
operation of the REA and private power
companies, the important new techniques
of using the same wires to provide both
power and telephone service and of using
the same poles to carry both power and
telephone wires are being introduced as
rapidly as practicable.
As for what's ahead — the Bell System
rural program will continue to be pushed
ahead at all practicable speed in 1948.
It is safe to say that at least a hundred persons have told me
during the last forty years that Professor Bell tried to sell to
them, or to their fathers or uncles, or intimate friends, his
telephone stock at a very low figure — ^$10 a share is the price
usually mentioned — and that, to their everlasting regret, they
missed this opportunity to become rich by refusing Bell's offer
with some such cynical remark as, "I have no money to throw
away on such foolishness as a telephone." It is a pathetic pic-
ture that this conjures up, but all these stories are untrue,
for neither the great inventor nor any of his associates ever
peddled a share of Bell stock. If either of us sold any it was
through a broker on the stock exchange after it had a market
value above par.
A popular variation of this story is that some one owned a
big block of telephone stock, and being in financial trouble gave
it to a creditor, who took it unwillingly as a thing of no value,
but who afterwards became wealthy from it, while the hard-
up man who brought him his fortune struggled on in dire
poverty. This is also fiction.
From "Exploring Life," the Autobiography of
Thomas A. Watson. Appleton, publisher, 1Q26.
Dual Use of Central-office Mechanisms for Two Types of
Traffic with Different Busy-hour Peaks Makes Additional
Facilities Available for Customers
Making Inter-OfRce Trunk
Equipment Do Double Duty
Benjamin K. Boyce
A CONSTANT PROBLEM of telephone
engineers is to have enough equip-
ment where it is needed when it is
wanted, since wide swings in custom-
ers' requirements occur daily. In
general, the equipment needs of the
busy hours of the busy season must
be taken into consideration.
Fortunately, one of the useful
properties of telephone circuits is
that they may be rearranged — in-
terconnected, disconnected, extended,
reduced, within certain limits — for
longer or shorter periods, to form
new or additional direct circuits to
this point or that and for one reason
or another.
It is principally with toll circuits
that this is done, and with them it is
a not unusual occurrence.^ Some of
these rearrangements can be planned
in advance — as when it is apparent
that extra toll circuits will be neces-
sitated by differences in day and eve-
1 See "On Watch— All Over the Map," Quar-
terly, April 1939.
ning traffic or to provide for sched-
uled conventions or sporting events
or seasonal usage. Others must be
made on an emergency basis, because
of unpredictable changes in traffic
flow. and because of circuit interrup-
tions.
It is feasible to provide for and
schedule a similar rearrangement of
local circuits under certain special
conditions. These conditions include
the existence in one local exchange
area of many central offices with a
myriad of inter-office trunking cir-
cuits among them, and a geographi-
cal or other situation which is con-
ducive to the flow of telephone traffic
in different directions at more or less
regular times and in substantial quan-
tities.
These special conditions prevail in
the Manhattan local exchange area.
Manhattan is what most people
mean when they say New York, al-
though it is but one of the five
boroughs which comprise New York
24
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
<^ ;:.■ 'AiriiSi^^
L- '■
^i^
-^m
^
/^
^^^^^^pil^B^Qe^^^9H^9B^SN||^^DflH^^~>
ig^
^
n
^2^c2BIHSi2i^^BC!K
^r^
^^^'l .■
*!
Manhattan Island^ looking northward from the Battery toward the Bronx. In the
foreground are the skyscrapers of the downtown financial district; at the left is the Hudson
River, with a bit of New Jersey beyond; and at the right is the East River ^ which separates
Manhattan from Brooklyn and Queens Boroughs
City. It is a long, narrow island,
two and a half miles at its greatest
width, and more than I2 miles from
its upper limit, the Harlem River,
to its lower extremity, the Battery,
which looks out upon the waters of
New York harbor. Manhattan has
a permanent population of nearly
2,000,000, which is more than dou-
bled each week-day by an influx of
transients and commuters.
A few blocks above the Battery is
Wall Street, on and about which are
grouped many large financial insti-
tutions. Northward are found light
manufacturing and mercantile indus-
tries and wholesale and retail mer-
chandising; from 42nd to 59th
Streets is, broadly speaking, the re-
gion of theaters, hotels, department
stores, and specialty shops of many
kinds.
North of 59th Street, which may
be said to be a dividing line, Man-
hattan is largely residential in char-
acter; and above Manhattan lies the
almost wholly residential borough of
the Bronx. South of 59th Street the
business of Manhattan carries on.
It is the clear-cut difference be-
tween the two sections, residential
and business, which creates the cor-
responding difference in the charac-
teristics of local telephone usage.
And it is the latter difference which
makes possible the dual use of central
office equipment on which inter-office
trunking circuits terminate.
1948
Inter-Office Trunk Equipment Doing Double Duty
25
Manhattan and the Bronx in outline.
The figures represent the number of local
central offices of the New York Telephone
Company in buildings at approximately
those locations on the first of May
Opportunities for Dual Use
The business area of Manhattan,
south of 59th Street, is served by
some 54 panel dial and crossbar dial
central offices.
In these offices the busy hour for
originating calls is usually in the fore-
noon, and in some of them the vol-
ume of business handled in the morn-
ing busy hour amounts to as much as
17 percent of the day's total traffic —
which is at the rate of handling the
entire day's traffic in six hours. In
general, the afternoon traffic is much
less than the morning's; in the eve-
ning, with business buildings virtu-
ally empty of the day's throng, the
traffic is only a small fraction of
26
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
the morning busy hour. The conse-
quence is a surplus of unused cen-
tral office equipment during after-
noon and evening hours.
The residential section of Manhat-
tan, north of 59th Street in general,
is served by 27 central offices. In the
Bronx there are another 32.
Here, typically, the volume of
traffic is spread throughout the en-
tire day, without the pronounced
morning busy hour that occurs in the
central offices serving the business
section. There is, nonetheless, a
large evening requirement for equip-
ment in central offices serving a resi-
dential area.
Now it isn't practicable, in a met-
ropolitan area such as Manhattan, to
combine in a single central office some
subscriber lines from the downtown
business section with others from the
uptown residential section and thus
obtain a composite volume of traffic
in the morning and evening busy pe-
riods. But it is possible to combine
certain elements of the inter-office
trunking circuits within a central of-
fice so as to use them with the busi-
ness-area central-office trunks during
the morning peak hour and then to
use them again with residential-area
central-office trunks during the eve-
ning peak hour.
This is possible because, in central
offices serving residential areas, the
incoming trunks from business-area
central offices will have a pronounced
morning peak, when the business lines
are most active, with much less eve-
ning traffic; while in the same resi-
dential-area central offices the incom-
ing trunks from residential offices in
the same neighborhood will carry
their peak loads in the evening —
with a somewhat smaller volume of
traffic in the morning. This is prob-
ably due to a high volume of "neigh-
bor calling" during the evening, when
people are usually at home.
In other words, the opportunity
exists in certain central offices serv-
ing residential areas to use incoming
trunk equipment from business-area
central offices during the morning
peak and then to re-use the same
equipment in the evening by discon-
tinuing use of the equipment with
trunks from business-area offices and
using it with trunks from residen-
tial-area offices in the same neighbor-
hood. The dual use of this equip-
ment, at the morning and evening
peaks when it is most needed, is ob-
tained by bridging together (cross-
connecting) the incoming trunks from
the business-area and residential-area
central offices at the residential office
which they both enter.
Because the process is as simple as
it sounds involved, let's illustrate by
means of an example :
Assume there are 25 trunks in a
group from a downtown Manhattan
business-area central office — say Bar-
clay-7 — to an uptown residential-area
central office — say Audubon-3 — both
offices having panel dial equipment.
The evening traffic on this trunk
group being lighter than the morn-
ing traffic, it is possible to discontinue
10 of these circuits during the eve-
ning. The local Audubon-3-to-Audu-
bon-3 group ^ normally has 70 trunks
and this group, having an evening
busy hour, is badly overloaded in the
evening, but is entirely adequate in
the morning. We can then use the
10 trunk equipments not required in
- Calls within the same panel-dial central
office are trunked from calling to called line.
1948
Inter-Office Trunk Equipment Doing Double Duty
27
BARCLAY 7
CALLING LINES
INTER-OFFICE
TRUNKS— 1-15
INTER-OFFICE
TRUNKS— 16-25
MADE BUSY
IN EVENING
INTRA-OFFICE
TRUNKS— 1-70
TO
AUDUBON 3
CALLED LINES
DUAL USE
SELECTORS
INTRA-OFFICE
TRUNKS— 71-80
MADE BUSY IN MORNING
Certain elements of the inter-office trunking circuits within a central office may be made
to do double duty by bridging together incoming trunks from central offices having
different busy-hour peaks. For a fuller explanation of the situation assumed in this
sketchy see the accompanying text
the evening from Barclay-7 to Audu-
bon-3 to increase the local group
from 70 to 80.
These 10 trunks from Audubon-3
and from Barclay-7 would both be
bridged on the same set of incoming
trunk equipments at Audubon-3. In
the morning busy hour, the 10 trunks,
71 to 80 Audubon-3-to-Audubon-3,
would be made busy at Audubon by
means of a key,^ and during that pe-
riod these trunks would be used only
in the group from Barclay-7 to Audu-
bon-3.
In the evening, the busy test would
be removed from the trunks 71 to
3 The use of keys for making the trunks busy
is necessary as so far it appears to be unrea-
sonably expensive and complicated to equip the
trunks so that when one is in use in one office
it would automatically be made busy at a re-
mote central office. Also in such a case it is
satisfactory to leave these ten trunks perma-
nently bridged ; i.e., when one of them is being
used as a local Audubon-3 trunk, the conductors
from Barclay-7 will remain bridged on the con-
nection. The transmission loss resulting from
these bridged conductors can be tolerated on
such a local connection.
80 in the Audubon-3-to-Audubon-3
group and trunks 1 6 to 25 In the Bar-
clay-7-to-Audubon-3 group would be
made busy by a separate key. In this
way, dual usage of these 10 Incoming
trunk equipments is obtained by the
use of additional outgoing trunk
equipments for the Audubon-3 local
group and by utilizing certain spare
make-busy switches which were avail-
able In both of these buildings. Two
additional keys have to be provided
at the Audubon-3 central office, one
for making the trunks busy in Bar-
clay-7 In the evening and the other
for making the trunks busy In Audu-
bon-3 in the morning.
This arrangement for the dual use
of inter-office trunk equipments is in
effect In New York City (Manhat-
tan, Bronx, and Brooklyn) to pro-
vide 255 additional trunk circuits In
26 different trunk groups. The larg-
est Increase in any trunk group to
which this plan was applied was a
group of 70 circuits in the morning,
28
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
Panel dial selector frames in a Manhattan central office
which was increased to 92 in the eve-
ning. In one case where this ar-
rangement was used, we were experi-
encing over 3,000 overflows * from
the local trunk group daily. These
overflows were of course largely in
the evening busy hour. After this
trunk group had been increased in
the manner just described, the over-
flows were reduced to the small num-
ber {2,S) which would normally be
expected on a group the same size.
We were thus able to effect a substan-
tial service improvement in these 21
offices at a nominal expense and at a
* Offered calls which could not be completed
because all inter-office trunks to the called cen-
tral office were in use.
time when it otherwise
would have been impos-
sible for us to obtain
equipment promptly for
providing these extra
trunks.
In these oflUces we
shall continue this ar-
rangement after normal
(post-war) conditions
have been restored, in
order to obtain the sav-
ing in inter-office trunk
equipments.
As THE SIZE of the city
increases, there is a de-
creasing number of di-
rect trunk groups from
the business-area central
offices to the residential-
area central oflices, and
a corresponding increase
in the number of oflices
reached via the tandem
systems.
A careful study of our
tandem board situation
showed that, with the routings as
they now exist, the equipment at our
tandem boards from business-area of-
fices has a peak in the morning and
the equipment from certain residen-
tial-area offices has a peak in the eve-
ning.
In a few such cases it was found
that incoming tandem equipment from
business offices having a morning busy
hour could be reduced in number in
the evening, and this released equip-
ment was used on trunk groups from
residential offices having an evening
busy hour. Traffic routed via a tan-
dem board is made up of many widely
diversified types of traffic, and ac-
cordingly there is a tendency to have
1948
Inter-Office Trunk Equipment Doing Double Duty
29
CANAL 6 DSA SWITCHBOARD
ACADEMY 2
CALLING LINES
ACADEMY 2
ANSWERING JACKS
DIAL "O" trunks:
ADDITIONAL
TRUNKS USED
ONLY DURING
EVENING HOURS
DIAL "O" TRUNKS
CANAL 6
CALLING LINES
CANAL 6
ANSWERING JACKS
(
ACADEMY 2 DSA SWITCHBOARD
DIAL "O" TRUNKS
Where a DSA switchboard in the busi-
ness district {as represented by Canal 6)
has a daytime busy-hour peak and a
light evening load, while at a DSA board
in the residential area {as represented
by Academy 2) the opposite condition
prevails, certain ''dial zero'' trunks in
the residential-area office may be pro-
vided to carry some part of the even-
ing load to the other DSA board
the morning and evening peaks
equalized to some extent. We did,
however, find 19 offices where we
were able to add 66 trunks to their
tandem groups by this same dual-use
method without any great expense."
A SOMEWHAT SIMILAR ARRANGEMENT
was found to be very helpful in ob-
taining greater utilization of "DSA"
5 These cases were handled the same as inter-
office trunks with one exception. In the case of
inter-office trunks, the dual-use trunks in each
group were permanently bridged, the transmis-
sion loss being unimportant. With tandem
trunks, transmission is much more important
and the dual-use trunks were all wired through
private line test jacks by means of which the
trunks can be opened up to one of the offices
when they are being used by the other office.
The keys for making the trunks busy were used
exactly the same as for the inter-office trunks.
positions in both business-area and
residential-area central offices.®
The DSA switchboard positions in
the downtown business-area offices
were heavily loaded in the morning,
but there were spare positions in the
evening, whereas certain residential-
area offices had substantial peaks in
their DSA position requirements in
the evening. In such cases, arrange-
ments were made so that the "dial
zero" trunks in the residential-area
office which normally terminate on
the local DSA board would, in the
8 DSA positions, so-called, are manual switch-
board positions in dial central offices. By dial-
ing "o" (zero), the customer reaches a DSA
operator who will assist him in completing a
local call with which he may be having diffi-
culty, and will complete certain toll calls.
30
Bell Telephone Magazine
evening, be extended from the local
DSA board to the DSA boards in the
downtown business-area offices.
Such an arrangement required very
little equipment, and provided sub-
stantial relief to the DSA switch-
boards in the residential-area offices.
At one time in Manhattan, traffic
equivalent to a load for 30 DSA po-
sitions was being transferred from
residential-area offices to business-
area offices in the evening.
Beating the Equipment Shortage
The problem of dual use of various
types of telephone plant in metro-
politan areas is being given careful
consideration.
In the New York City area, the
problem is complicated by the very
size of the trunk plant involved. We
have, however, been able to accom-
plish substantial results in equipment
savings by the application of dual use
of incoming selectors in the dial of-
fices in metropolitan areas.
The instances of the dual use of
facilities — of certain central office
dial equipment, and of DSA switch-
boards— here described give an illus-
tration of some of the things being
done in the New York City area to
improve local exchange service. Simi-
lar arrangements are in effect in other
cities of this country, and in still
others are being planned or studied.
If this is not literally following
the injunction to make two blades of
grass grow where but one had grown
before, at least it is in the direction
of making some of our equipment do
about twice as much work as before.
And that is not only money-saving
efficiency; it is, in these days of all
sorts of shortages, one means of giv-
ing our customers more and better
service.
Early Telephone Experiment
A Bell telephone has been put in operation between the office of
J. Lloyd Haigh, of 81 John street, and his steel works in South
Brooklyn, where the wire for the great cables of the bridge are being
made. The wire passes through Buttermilk channel and across the
East river, and is about five miles long. Conversation is carried on
with ease, and a kiss, given close to the instrument at one end of the
route was distinctly heard at the other.
An exchange thinks that the proposed kissing by telephone must
be something like starting out for a clam-bake dinner and getting
nothing but fog. The allusion to a fishing smack in this simile is
obvious.
Newspaper items of 1877.
The A, T. &f T, Vice President in Charge of Public Relations
Points Out^ in a Ta/k before the Minnesota Employers^
Association^ that Businesses Must Be Good Citizens
Business and People
Keith S. McHugh
Whoever first put the two words
-public relations together hatched up
quite a bit of trouble, because ever
since then people have been trying to
explain what the words mean.
Each of you probably has his own
idea ; but I get the most help from
thinking that public relations means
simply the kind of relations a busi-
ness has with people, and what you
do to try to make them as good as
you can.
It's the same for companies as it is
for individuals — ^you'll be liked more,
or less, according to the way you act
and the way you talk. The only dif-
ference is that a company has more
chances to make mistakes; and the
bigger the company, the easier it is
for people to have their doubts about
you.
The reasons for this have probably
already occurred to you, but they may
bear a few minutes' discussion again.
If you don't mind one personal
This is the text of an address to the Minne-
sota Employers' Association in Minneapolis on
January 30.
recollection, I think it will help to
bring out how the problem gets big-
ger as the organization increases in
size. I was raised in a small town
in Colorado, and as soon as I was
old enough I used to work after
school and during vacations. At one
time or another I worked for quite a
few different people. But in every
case, the man I worked for was the
boss. He didn't have a boss himself
who reported to someone else who
had still another boss further up the
line.
My boss was always president, sec-
retary, treasurer, general sales man-
ager, and everything else. He had
no labor relations except with me
and maybe a few other people who
were working for him too. He never
heard of public relations; but with no
organization except one or two or
three hired hands whom he could
keep an eye on directly, he had the
full responsibility and at the same
time the full opportunity to deal face
to face with every one of his cus-
tomers, every supplier from whom
32
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
he bought his merchandise, and every
other person with whom his business
had dealings.
Maybe he didn't do a perfect job,
but he had every chance personally
to make the most of every occasion.
He got to know in a very exact way
just what his customers liked and
didn't like, because they kept telling
him to his face. Also, he learned at
first hand that what people thought
of his business depended a lot more
on what he did than on the way he
talked, and that he couldn't say one
thing and do another and get by with
it for long.
In short, he was in a position to
acquire from the ups and downs of
everyday experience a lively and im-
mediate sense of the things that pub-
lic relations vice presidents nowadays
make speeches about. What's more,
nobody who came in with a complaint
ever got lost in the wrong depart-
ment!
Obviously, I'm not going to say that
a business will have good public re-
lations just because it is small. But
the man who is running a small busi-
ness gets a wonderful head start — if
he wants to make the most of it —
from being continuously and directly
exposed to the experience of having
to get along with the people who
make up his particular public.
He has another advantage too.
People are not suspicious of him just
on account of his size.
It's the most natural thing in the
world for human beings to be wary
when anything begins to look too big.
Primitive people stand in awe of
mountains. The man who has never
seen an elephant is inclined to be
cautious when he first meets one.
He would be foolish if he weren't.
In much the same way, the public
becomes wary as the size of a busi-
ness increases, and this in itself tends
to give a big company certain public
relations problems on top of those
that it shares with all business.
Free Bushiess a?id F?'ee Opinion
The growth of big companies is not
the only reason why business in gen-
eral has become thoughtful about
public relations. We are getting to
be more aware of what has always
been true : that in a country like ours,
where opinion has the freedom that
we also want for business, the free-
dom of business is dependent on the
freedom of opinion. To say this is
also to say that business will have
freedom only where opinion has
power; for if opinion ever loses its
power, it will be because it is no
longer free — in which case business
will be captive also.
So if business wants freedom, it
must expect that its limits will be de-
fined by the public's judgment. It
seems to me well for any business to
remember this and take comfort from
it, particularly when the public takes
a different view of what it wants
from what the business thinks it
ought to want. On these occasions,
no less than on others, the public is
the boss and we shall be wise to rec-
ognize the fact, reflecting the while
that if the public lost its power over
us, we would still be the losers any-
way. I offer this as a consoling
thought against the day when the
public, which is moved by emotion as
well as by reason, in seeking to pro-
tect its own interest does something
to injure your capacity to serve it.
1948
Business and People
22
Yet injurious action is, after all, a
thing we are anxious to avoid.
What then shall we do?
The first half of the logic of the
matter, in the view I have given you,
is that it is desirable for any business
to recognize that it ought to depend
on the public's judgment.
The second half is that it is de-
sirable for the public — from its own
standpoint — to give business the free-
dom it needs to serve people well.
If this reasoning is sound, then it
seems to me that two things follow:
First, business and the public must
understand each other; if we are
going to depend on the public's opin-
ion, we must give the public enough
knowledge about us to reach accurate
conclusions, and we must also obtain
a fair understanding ourselves as to
how the public thinks, and what it is
likely to think about anything we do.
Second, in addition to obtaining
understanding, a business must do
the things the public likes. But no
business can do this unless it likes
the public — that is, unless it sincerely
wants to serve the public well. I
know I am dealing in the obvious, but
the obvious is fundamental and can-
not be ignored. Doing what people
like every time we have the chance is
the foundation of good public rela-
tions and we cannot shut our eyes
to it.
Also, since any business knows that
there are times when it cannot do
what the public likes, it has all the
more reason to do everything it can
whenever it can.
Size, as I have said, is something of
a handicap in making yourself liked,
because of the human tendency — and
also the ingrained American tradition
— to be suspicious of size. Further,
as an organization grows, the mile-
age within it increases and top man-
agement is likely to disappear over
the horizon from the places where
the public is expressing its moods.
But these handicaps only mean that
more must be done to overcome
them. How to begin? A good be-
ginning, it seems to me, is not to for-
get the simple things we would never
have a chance to forget if each one
of us — like my old bosses in Colo-
rado— were the whole works in his
own enterprise.
You know as well as I do what
some of these things are :
Putting yourself in the customer's
place.
Telling why you take any particu-
lar action.
Giving reasons when you give an-
swers.
Really exerting yourself to meet
the customers' wishes.
Meeting the commitments you
make.
Dealing sympathetically with com-
plaints.
Not pushing a customer around
from one person in the organi-
zation to another.
Regarding each person you are
dealing with as an individual.
Remembering that employees are
people.
Being courteous and polite out of
sincere friendliness.
Being good citizens and good
neighbors in the towns where
you live.
These are some of them.
Yet, simple as these things sound,
for some reason no business can do
them without continuous, conscious,
directed effort.
34
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
It takes time, effort, and money to
put them over and make them really
live.
It takes preaching and it takes ex-
ample.
And it must start at the top.
Courtesy is no substitute for effi-
ciency. But it takes nothing away
from it, and it can add enormously
to it. Everybody likes to be treated
politely and as an individual. More-
over, people who exercise courtesy
find that they enjoy it. It is such a
mighty asset — this thing in human
nature that makes it possible for a
business to render service that is
genuinely friendly.
A considerate, courteous, friendly
attitude really can become part of
a person's nature, inwardly felt as
well as outwardly expressed. It may
often need to be taught, but that does
not mean that it need ever be unreal.
In our own business we speak of the
"extra" courtesies that may be ren-
dered; I think that means extra in
the sense of possibly going beyond
the immediate expectation of the cus-
tomer, but not in the sense of tacking
on an artificial frill.
I doubt if any sizable business has
yet gained — I don't mean just for
itself, but for employees and cus-
tomers as well — all the advantages
that come out of thoughtful and con-
siderate attention to the particular
personal problems and needs of indi-
vidual customers.
The plain fact is that the "little
things" are not really little things at
all. They are tremendous.
If we allow them to become little,
that will only be because our per-
spective on them is not as good as the
customer's.
Moreover, they are not little to
the employee who performs them,
any more than they are to the per-
son for whom they are performed.
The employee wants it realized, and
it should be made known to him that
it is realized, that in doing the great
big little things well he is making the
most of his job.
I don't think we can ever afford
to forget that the more any business
does to treat everybody it deals with
as an individual, the more it will in-
evitably and at the same time be
treating each employee as an indi-
vidual.
There are many reasons for this,
but consider only one : no employee
can treat a customer as a real indi-
vidual unless he knows and under-
stands the company's policies. He in
turn must have been treated as an
individual to have this understanding.
''Overtones''
The establishment of standards,
and regular measurement against
them, can contribute to the consider-
ate and friendly treatment of indi-
vidual customers, in basically the
same way that they are used to re-
duce errors and improve the more
routine features of over-all perform-
ance. It is not much harder to know
whether employees are courteous
than it is to know whether they come
to work on time. What is more, the
men and women who are working at
a job like to know that performance
is measured against human and not
merely mechanical standards. The
gains that may be accrued from this
kind of management will be real and
not artificial. They can become a
genuine part of the character of the
organization and the people in it.
1948
Business and People
3S
In our business we use the phrase
"overtones of service" to try to de-
scribe some of the attributes I have
been talking about. To the public it
will make no sense — and I don't see
how it could — if the individual over-
tones which a customer may hear in
the words and actions of an em-
ployee, and which are encouraged by
management, are not matched by
what I might call the "overtones of
corporate acts" for which the man-
agement is directly responsible.
An example will illustrate what I
mean.
A while ago a woman came to one
of our business offices to pay her bill.
She explained to the cashier that she
was a bit late in paying because her
little girl had been sick and she didn't
want to leave her alone. However,
she hadn't wanted to put off paying
the bill any longer, so she had finally
decided to leave the house for an
hour or so and come down to our
office.
The cashier said she was sorry,
thanked the customer for the pay-
ment and for the trouble she had
gone to, and expressed the hope that
her daughter would soon be well
again. Later, after she thought the
woman had had time to get home,
the cashier called her to ask whether
everything was all right.
I think that was a nice thing to do,
and I imagine you do too.
But if you think so, what do you
suppose our customer thought of it?
She was quite overwhelmed, and said
so. She thought the company was
tops. And her whole picture of us
was created by one simple, friendly
act.
When an employee has so effec-
tively created so favorable an impres-
sion, it would seem a pity for the
management to nullify the gain by
handling some corporate matter in a
tactless or inconsiderate way. What
would this customer have thought,
for example, if she had looked in the
newspaper after talking with our
friendly cashier and seen something
about the telephone company that
made us seem mulish, thoughtless,
arrogant, or all three? How could
she reconcile two such different ideas ?
Obviously she couldn't.
Spreadi?ig Knowledge
Now I would like to say just a little
about the other side of the relation-
ship between business and people —
the spreading of knowledge and un-
derstanding.
To the man who is running his own
business, every part of what he is
doing is mighty important. None of
the parts get any less important when
somebody else is doing them for him.
x^lso, the man who is running his own
business has all the knowledge about
it that there is. He may not have
enough knowledge to make a success
of it, to be sure ; but everything there
is, he has.
That stops being so when he gets
to be a corporation with a lot of
employees. The corporation has a
policy — ^but how much do the em-
ployees know about it? The em-
ployees know a lot about what the
customers and the public think — but
how much of what they know does
the corporation know?
To come anywhere near matching
the efficiency of a one-man business
in these respects, there must be ample
communication, and it must be two-
way. As a part of it, aside from the
technical knowledge and training that
36
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
employees need to perform their par-
ticular jobs, it seems to me that all
the men and women in a company
ought to have at least enough infor-
mation about the organization, poli-
cies, objectives, and problems of the
business to understand the general
functioning of the organism of which
they are a part. If the people who
are in business do not understand
what it is all about, it is hard to see
how the public can be expected to
understand it.
Giving Out the Facts
After what a company does, and
what the employees know and think
about it, probably next in importance
in contributing to the public's state of
mind is what the business says about
itself.
Some companies say very little, I
imagine pretty much on the theory
that what they are doing speaks for
itself.
Perhaps so; but I would prefer not
to take that chance. Our own feel-
ing as a public service organization is
something like this :
The public is our big boss, and
there is no question whatever that
public opinion controls our enter-
prise. It's our job and responsibility
to give the best telephone service we
can, and we have pledged ourselves
to do that.
We don't believe, however, that
the public should be left unaware of
what is entailed in the job entrusted
to us. We think we ought to tell the
story candidly, completely, and con-
tinuously.
Public opinion may sometimes be
fractious, and sometimes slow in com-
ing to a fair conclusion; but, given
the facts, it can be trusted to come up
eventually with sensible answers. If
the facts are not known, however,
you couldn't really blame the average
American for thinking that we might
give better telephone service than we
do if we used bailing wire for cir-
cuits and charged half the price.
An important part of our point of
view is that the public in the first
place is entitled to know whatever it
wants to know about us.
Should we just answer questions,
then, and stop there?
Well, no — for the reason that
while a lot of people are in fact in-
terested enough to ask us a lot of
questions, usually the first thought of
most Americans each morning is not
to wonder how the telephone com-
pany is getting along. They're more
likely to be interested in the weather,
and where their rubbers are if it's
raining.
To get understanding, it is up to
us to spread knowledge of the facts
about the business. This we do out
of the conviction, and on the basis of
a great deal of evidence, that more
public knowledge makes for more
and better telephone service.
Keepifig on the Track
My main reason for mentioning
some of our own ideas about inform-
ing the public is to point out that we
have thought it right to stay on our
own track with our own story about
our own business — the only field in
which we are entitled to be consid-
ered expert. It seems to me that the
more this is done by business, the
better will be the evidence presented
to the public as a whole and the bet-
ter informed American public opin-
ion will be.
Another thing that seems to me
1948
Business and People
37
important in thinking about public
opinion and public relations is the
idea of continuity.
Winds of opinion are always chang-
ing, just as a customer can come into
a store one morning as sweet as pie
and be back in a fret in an hour. As
public wishes and views change — as
they will, for example, with changes
in economic and social conditions —
business must constantly face new
problems and be alert to meet them.
Yet a business which has developed
out of experience a sound fundamen-
tal policy is likely to be better able to
cope with change than one that has
not.
Such a policy necessarily is one that
recognizes the likelihood of change,
and allows for it. Indeed, it de-
mands that the business keep chang-
ing on its own initiative, preferably
ahead of the public. It asks for con-
tinuous, objective self-criticism, and
expects that habits will not be al-
lowed to harden.
This kind of policy also contem-
plates that things which are impor-
tant in the long run — including the
things that help toward improving
public relations — will not be tossed
overboard to meet the exigencies of
the moment, will not be jettisoned
for opportunism.
Good Citizenship
Most of what I have been saying has
been about customers and employees.
But all the people you have public re-
lations with aren't customers. Every
place where you operate or which
your business touches is full of peo-
ple who have ideas about you simply
as citizens, and one of the things they
get opinions about is what kind of
citizen you are.
With every employee a citizen too,
the character of his citizenship re-
flects yours, and the community's idea
of the quality of your citizenship is
pretty largely conditioned by how it
regards him.
This subject has many aspects, but
I will mention only one. That is the
question of encouraging local man-
agement to look on good citizenship
as a natural part of their job re-
sponsibility.
No community will regard an or-
ganization as a part of the commu-
nity unless the organization shows
that it wants to take its fair part in
local affairs. The people of the com-
munity have two bases for judgment :
first, the company's own behavior as
a citizen, as made manifest by its
local representatives; and, second,
the things which the company's local
representatives do as individual citi-
zens themselves.
Mere location is not enough. It
is quite possible to be located in
Blankville for a hundred years and
still be an outsider; but for the con-
cern that is really in quest of good
public relations, to remain an out-
sider is the last thing in the world
that it wants.
Of course, asking local manage-
ment to make you a good citizen in
Blankville also means giving local
management the authority it needs.
Responsibility must be decentralized
in fact as well as in theory. The peo-
ple to whom you give the job of win-
ning respect and liking for your or-
ganization as a good citizen cannot
win such respect if it is apparent that
they cannot act without approval
from somebody else two hundred
miles away. To be sure, there must
38
Bell Telephone Magazine
be continuous communication within
the organization, but this ought to
be for the purpose of equipping peo-
ple to carry out their jobs, not for
the purpose of preventing them.
Keeping It Personal
This idea of good citizenship em-
braces so many of the things that
make for good public relations that
I should like to keep it particularly
before you in closing.
Just consider some of the at-
tributes of the person who most
quickly comes to your mind as a good
citizen.
He's a good neighbor, to begin
with — friendly, thoughtful of the
wishes of others, and glad to lend a
hand whenever he can help.
He speaks his mind on community
affairs, but before he does so he tries
to make sure he knows what he is
talking about. And he's ready and
willing, too, to take his share of re-
sponsibility.
He is not a stuffed shirt.
Nor is he merely sentimental. Af-
ter all, he wants his neighbors and
fellow citizens to think well of him.
He is anxious to enjoy good standing
in the community. He wants to earn
— and to keep — a good name and
reputation.
The business that is interested in
staying in business has some of the
same ambitions. It seems to me that
a good way to realize them is to exer-
cise some of the same virtues. No
doubt you have noticed that thinking
in these terms helps to make the
whole subject that I have been talk-
ing about a personal matter for each
of us.
When you think of a citizen you
think of a person — an individual.
In the same way, when you think
of a business being a good citizen you
have to think of what all the indi-
vidual people in it — at all levels in
the organization — are doing to make
it so.
To get and keep the kind of repu-
tation that we call for convenience
"good public relations," intrinsic
quality of product and technical
proficiency of service must assuredly
come first. But beyond these, the
things that each of us can do under
the heading of good citizenship, with
all that that implies, will largely de-
termine the kind of relations that any
business will enjoy with the people
who are the public.
It Was a Tough Winter
It was a tough winter for a large
part of the Bell System.
From the Great Plains to the At-
lantic, beginning last November and
continuing well into March, storm
followed storm: little storm or big,
snow or sleet or even tornado, some
doing no damage to telephone plant
and some doing a great deal.
Take just two of them by way of
illustration.
In New York and a section of the
eastern seaboard, the snowfall which
began the day after Christmas de-
posited a greater depth of snow there
than ever before within the memory
of living man or the local weather
bureau. It snarled and practically
halted transportation for a while,
and it brought unusual traffic peaks
to the central offices, but it did little
real harm telephone-wise.
Covering a vastly greater area, the
sleet storm which started on New
Year's Eve in the Texas Panhandle
and swept north- and east-ward to
the Great Lakes and lower New Eng-
land created more havoc than in
many a year from that cause. The
great weight of ice on the wires, in
places accompanied by strong winds,
leveled 15,000 poles, put 6,000 toll
circuits out of order for a time, and
silenced 125,000 telephones.
To repair the damage inflicted by
the season's wintry storms, the West-
ern Electric Company supplied in a
hurry such items as 30,000 miles of
wire in cable, 15,000 miles of other
wire, and 300,000 pounds of miscel-
laneous hardware — in addition to
supplies drawn from regular stock
piles. The men of the Associated
Companies and the Long Lines De-
partment carried out restoration on a
night-and-day schedule, often in the
face of rough weather and bitter cold.
They carried out the restoration
even while the Bell System's service
and construction program continued
forward at driving pace.
Consider these indicative figures :
In those five storm-ridden months,
the Bell System installed more than
3,000,000 telephones, with a net gain
— after changes and removals — of
more than 1,300,000 telephones for
the period. And during the winter
months just passed the System han-
dled an average of 165,500,000
telephone calls a day — which is
14,500,000 calls a day more than the
average for the preceding winter.
Old Man Winter didn't succeed in
slowing up seriously the System's ef-
forts to build and install the equip-
ment to bring service to the many
who have been waiting for it and to
provide for the requirements of the
coming years. But the pictures on
the next eight pages show how hard
he tried.
39
This New Hampshire toll line^
in the territory of the New Eng-
land Telephone and Telegraph
Company^ was temporarily out
of service
Snow-shoe weather is unusual
, in Connecticut^ where the
-^ Southern New England Tele-
phone Company operates
40
In New Jersey, sleet
brought down electric
power wires too, and
kerosene heaters had to
be brought into some
central offices
41
The New Jersey Bell Telephoned
Company's outside plant wasX
hard hit by the New Years
Day storm
Plant employees of the Bell
Telephone Company of
Pennsylvania push ahead
with service restoration
This open-wire toll line is
in North Carolina^ in the
territory of the Southern
Bell Telephone and Tele-
graph Company
Half a tree had to be hauled
up by winch line before the
Michigan Bell Telephone
Company s men could un-
dertake repairs here
43
Lines of the Indiana Bell Telephone Company {above) and the Illinois Bell Telephone
Company were victims of the New Years sleet
44
// was bleak in Iowa as this crew of the Northwe stein Bell ^ Telephone Company went
about setting a pole here after one of December's storms
I Two men of the
[ Southwestei-n Bell
' Telephone Company
I tackle wrecked cross-
i arm and tangled
I wires on a pole in
' Arkansas
45
The ski-mounted sno-mobile
on the trailer can carry two
men over dry snow at 60
m.p.h. with their repair and
testing equipment.^ emergency
rations^ snow shoes^ and other
winter necessities. It is part
of the winter preparations oj
the Mountain States Tele-
phone and Telegraph Com-
pany in Wyoming^ whose
Teton Mountains form the
back drop for this picture
The fanuary i sleet storm
invaded the territory of the
Bell Telephone Company of
Canada to fell a pole line on
the outskirts of Windsor
46
This Long Lines Department pole,
with its glistening burden, typifies
many another of its fellows from
Texas to the Atlantic which stood
firm under such weight of sleet
Throughout the storm area, the
Western Electric Company s dis-
tributing houses were on the alert
to speed the supplies on which res-
toration of service depends
47
Bell System Inventions Are
Not Suppressed
Hubert A. Pattison
Occasionally the charge is made that the
Bell System "suppresses" patents. What is
really meant is that patented inventions
which have been made or acquired by the
Bell System are suppressed.
This charge is false.
In considering this question, it is impor-
tant first to distinguish clearly between
"non-use" and "suppression." They are
not synonymous. Everyone knows of pat-
ented inventions that never saw practical
use; competent authority estimates that
probably more than half of all patented in-
ventions are not used commercially.
Experience in the Bell System in utiliz-
ing its patented inventions shows that,
while a high percentage go into its plant,
there are many others which never find
their way into such equipment. There are
good reasons for this.
The use of all patented inventions is an
impossibility in any rapidly advancing art
such as telephony. Inevitably, many are
ahead of their time and must await the de-
velopment of related things before they can
be put into the plant. Others lose out in
competition with even better inventions
made by Bell System engineers or by others.
Still others become obsolete long before
their term of 17 years expires. To urge or
imply that these "unused" patented inven-
tions are "suppressed" is misleading and
false.
What do we find when we use "suppres-
sion" correctly? We find a charge which
makes no sense and which is not true.
Far from suppressing any inventions,
natural self-interest requires that the Bell
System make every effort to put new de-
velopments to use in the telephone system
wherever their utilization will result in
better or cheaper telephone service.
Sometimes a new device seems simpler
than it really is, leading the public to
wonder why it was not available earlier
and perhaps giving rise to suspicions of
suppression of inventions. The introduc-
tion of the hand telephone set, combining
a transmitter and receiver on a single
handle, seems to have produced such a re-
action.
Actually, a great deal more than the
idea of mounting the transmitter and re-
ceiver on a common pick-up frame was
necessary before a satisfactory telephone
hand set could be produced. Thus it was
necessary to invent a transmitter unit whose
performance would not be impaired by
being used in any position or by being
picked up and put down repeatedly in ordi-
nary usage. It was necessary to find some
practical way to prevent interaction be-
tween the transmitter and receiver units,
through the common frame, setting up a
disagreeable noise or howl which made
commercial use impossible. The research
Bell System Inventions Are Not Suppressed.
49
required was unusually difficult and took
a long time; without it the "simple" hand
telephone was worthless for use in the Bell
System.
In short, the reason why the hand type
of telephone set did not go into wide-
spread use in the Bell System until 1927
was simply because its development had to
await several essential inventions and not
because of any attempt to protect invest-
ment in earlier types of units.
There have been other new develop-
ments in telephone communications equip-
ment which have been delayed awaiting
further required research in the thing itself
or in collateral things which were needed to
place it in commercial use. And they get
used if they show promise of better or
cheaper service.
The unfounded assertions that new tech-
nical developments are held back by large
companies, in spite of the overwhelming
evidence of technical pioneering by such
companies, are by no means confined to the
instance of the Bell System. Although the
Bell Sj'stem is not informed about the prac-
tices of other companies to the extent that
it knows its own operation, published evi-
dence has come to our notice which shows
that business in general is also innocent of
suppression or withholding of patented in-
ventions.
The subject has been investigated at pub-
lic hearings at the instance of Congress
several times, and the weight of evidence
has always shown that there is no suppres-
sion of patented inventions. Indeed, only
doubtful inference and unsubstantiated ru-
mors have been offered as contrary evi-
dence.
Thomas A. Edison, the great inventor,
testifying before a committee of Congress
in 191 2, said that he did not know of a
single case of suppression of a useful inven-
tion.
At the hearings held in 1939 by the
Temporary National Economic Committee,
Dr. Vannevar Bush of the Carnegie Insti-
tution, and George E. Baekeland, pioneer
manufacturer of plastics, made similar
statements. Mr. Baekeland brought out
in connection with his statement that the
American Chemical Society had circular-
ized its members asking for any instances
of suppressed patents and that not a single
example was reported.
Dr. Frank B: Jewett, President of the
National Academy of Sciences, said in
1943:
"Personally, during an experience in in-
dustry of nearly forty years I have never
known of a single authenticated case where
a valuable invention was wilfully sup-
pressed. Nor have I ever known anyone
who claimed to know of a single such case."
In addition to making the fullest practi-
cal use of its inventions in its own op-
erations, the Bell System also makes its
patented inventions available to others on
reasonable terms for a wide variety of pur-
poses through patent licenses granted to
other concerns. Such licenses enable the
licensee to make use of any invention of the
Bell System in the apparatus licensed,
whether the Bell System itself uses that
patented invention or not. The Bell Sys-
tem's general practices of making its in-
ventions available to others are well-known
in the communications industry.
As a broad statement, therefore, it can
be said that if a Bell System patented in-
vention is not being used, it is not only be-
cause the Bell System itself has no present
use for it but because no one else has use
for it either.
l^he Government' s Inter- Agency Communication Network of
Manual Switchboard and Tie Ljines Is Now Superseded by a
More Modern and Efficient Installation
Washington's New Federal
Dial Switching System
George E. Des Jar dins
Engineer, Public Utilities Division, Bureau of Federal Supply,
U. S. Treasury Department
Monday morning, February 2,
1948, was just another Monday
morning for many Washingtonians;
but for thousands of Government
employees the day had finally ar-
rived when they would have to
change some of their telephone
habits. The old direct tie-line and
manual interdepartmental systems
had been discontinued at the close of
business on Friday, January 30, and
by Monday morning had been re-
placed by a single dial system for
handling inter-agency calls. Over
the week-end, obsolescence had yielded
to the engineer and his slide rule, and
the old had been replaced by the new.
Our Federal Government in Wash-
ington and the District of Colum-
bia's governmental activities are
served by upwards of 100 separate
telephone PBXs — private branch ex-
changes. These range in size from
small manual or dial PBXs with per-
haps 10 or 20 telephones to the huge
installation that served the approxi-
mately 20,000 War Department tele-
phones during the latter part of
World War II.
These PBXs are of course supple-
mented by numerous individual lines,
auxiliary lines, private lines, and the
like; yet about 98 percent of Govern-
ment telephone activity is in PBX
service.
The administration of nearly all
our Federal Government activity is
centralized in Washington. As a re-
sult, there exists a considerable com-
munity of interest among agencies,
and calls to and from other agencies
are an important portion of the traffic
at pach PBX. This has long been so,
and, together with the high con-
JVashington s New Federal Dial Switching System
51
The heart of Washington^ D. C. In the center foreground is the Capitol, while all about
are Government buildings housing agencies which are now enjoying an itnproved tele-
phone service
centration of Government agencies
within a relatively small area of
downtown Washington (the entire
area of the District of Columbia is
only 67 square miles), resulted in the
establishment about 30 years ago of
what became known as the Interde-
partmental switchboard for handling
calls between departments and agen-
cies of the Government. This was
a manual switchboard located in a
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone
Company building and maintained
and operated by C. & P. personnel.
The Interdepartmental system may
be represented as a wheel, with the
Interdepartmental board as the hub
and with Interdepartmental lines
radiating like spokes from that hub
to the various Government PBXs.
All large Government PBXs, and
most of the smaller ones, had such
lines into that board.
The operation at the board con-
sisted of handling calls between those
Government agencies having lines to
the board. It was variously referred
to as the Interdepartmental or Gov-
ernment board, since it handled calls
between departments and agencies of
the Government; or as the "80"
board, because the operators at that
switchboard were reached from Gov-
ernment dial telephones by dialing
"80."
C. & P. revenues from this system
were on the basis of a monthly charge
to each agency for its lines into the
switchboard, plus a charge for each
call handled. There were no other
charges, either for operators or for
switchboard positions.
As the use of the telephone in-
52
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
creased, in step with the growth of
Government, the community of inter-
est between certain pairs of agencies
increased to the point where it was
found expedient and economical to
provide one or more lines to connect
their PBXs directly. Such lines were
furnished by the C. & P. at estab-
lished rates; and if the traffic between
two agencies was heavy enough and
the distance not too great, the inter-
agency service on this basis could be
more economical than either via the
Interdepartmental board or via the
city's regular central-office telephone
service.
These direct tie-lines came into
very wide use, particularly between
the larger agencies, and an extensive
network of criss-crossing tie-lines was
built up through the years. This net-
work was in effect superimposed on,
and was supplementary to, the Inter-
departmental line network. The di-
rect tie-lines served fewer agencies
than the Interdepartmental lines, but
at lower cost per call.
All these considerations necessarily
affected the engineering of line re-
quirements as between the two sys-
tems, and it became the accepted prac-
tice to provide direct tie-lines to carry
the base traffic among the heavy-use
PBXs, while the overflow from those
lines, and all traffic of the lighter
users, moved over Interdepartmental
lines. In fact, at dial PBXs, equip-
ment was so wired that tie-line over-
flow automatically moved over Inter-
departmental.
This was an excellent and prac-
tically fool-proof arrangement — in
theory. But in practice it just did not
work out, and the inter-agency pic-
ture resolved itself into two separate
networks. This not only created cer-
tain inefficiencies, but the difficulties
experienced in trying to maintain the
two networks in economic balance
were, let us say, numerous and per-
plexing. The need for a more flex-
ible arrangement that would combine
the best features of both had long
been obvious.
The principal difficulty experienced
with the dual system was that hun-
dreds of calls, particularly from dial
PBXs, were routed over Interdepart-
mental lines by dialing the universal
"80" code into the Interdepartmental
switchboard, rather than over the di-
rect and more economical tie-lines
provided. In spite of repeated in-
structions to the contrary, Govern-
ment personnel at the various agen-
cies, with both tie-lines and Interde-
partmental available, persisted in
dialing "80" instead of the specific
codes for particular tie-line groups,
even though the Interdepartmental
routing in every instance interposed
an additional operator and gave gen-
erally slower service.
Another factor militating against
the proper use of tie-lines was the
lack of uniformity in assigning tie-
line codes. For example, of those
dial PBXs having tie-lines to Treas-
ury, each one might well have as-
signed a different code to its Treas-
ury lines.
Prelimi7iary Studies Undertaken
In 1936 the idea of a mechanical
switching arrangement for handling
inter-agency calls began to arouse
interest in the then Procurement Di-
vision, now the Bureau of Federal
Supply, of the Treasury Department.
Several preliminary studies were
made in the next few years, and by
1948
Washingtori s New Federal Dial Switching System
S3
Clifton E. Mack, Director 0/ the Bureau of Federal Supply, inaugurates the new system
in the presence of fohn T. Kent {standing). District Commercial Manager — Government,
of the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, and D. A. Kosh, Chief of the
Public Utilities Division
1939 plans were under consideration
to lease such a switching installation
from the C. & P. Company. By that
time, actually, an engineering study
of that installation, including line and
switch requirements and tentative
code assignments, and based on the
then configuration of inter-agency
traffic, had been completed and was
under consideration. But unsettled
world conditions and then World
War II combined to postpone action
on the project, at least until the nec-
essary equipment again was available.
In July of 1944, when the Public
Utilities Division was established in
the then Procurement Division, its
engineers resumed study of the pos-
sible economies and efficiency of
such an arrangement under existing
conditions.
The situation in 1944 bore little
resemblance to the 1939 picture,
however.
Government telephone growth dur-
ing the war had been incredible. For
example, in 1939 a 28-position
manual PBX with about 3000 sta-
tions served the combined War and
Navy activities. By 1944, the War
Department PBX alone had no po-
sitions serving 19,300 stations, and
Navy had its own PBX of 62 po-
sitions serving about 11,400 stations.
The picture had so changed, in
fact, that there was strong sentiment
— on the part of some people, at any
rate — in favor of waiting until the
54
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
war ended and Government activity
leveled off before undertaking such a
project. It was ultimately decided,
however, that more could be gained
by proceeding immediately than by
postponing the matter indefinitely,
and studies continued.
Old data were obviously worthless,
and it was necessary for engineers of
the Public Utilities Division and of
the C, & P. Company to start from
scratch, obtain up-to-date traffic data,
develop a complete new set of re-
quirements, and design an entirely
new installation.
The existence of the huge War
and Navy PBXs introduced trunking
and switching considerations that five
years earlier would have been thought
The first call over the new system is received by Secretary of
the Treasury Snyder^ under whose jurisdiction comes the
Bureau of Federal Supply
fantastic. Tying such PBXs, and a
hundred or so others, into a well-
integrated system wherein any spe-
cific agency could be reached from a
telephone in any other agency by
dialing a particular code, was not a
simple matter. It raised many ques-
tions and problems that had to be re-
solved by the C. & P. and the Public
Utilities Division.
By early 1946, studies had pro-
gressed to the point where it was ob-
vious that such a system would be not
only technically feasible but also eco-
nomically desirable. It was therefore
thought well to obtain the reaction of
all Government agencies in Washing-
ton to the proposal — at least in prin-
ciple. Inasmuch as the proposed sys-
tem would replace
both the existing di-
rect tie-line and In-
terdepartmental net-
works, and therefore
would require 100
percent participation
by Government agen-
cies, it was felt that
all should be advised
of developments.
A meeting was ar-
ranged to which all
agencies were re-
quested to send rep-
resentatives. The
proposal was pre-
sented to them for
their consideration
and representatives
of the Public Utili-
ties Division and the
C. & P. Company
were on hand to an-
swer questions. The
reaction was unani-
mously favorable,
1948
Washington's New Federal Dial Switching System
SS
and resulted in the placing of the
order for the dial switching system.
A detailed traffic study of all inter-
agency traffic as of August 1946 was
made by the C. & P. Company, and
served as the basis of the engineer-
ing, by the A. T. & T. Company and
the Bell Telephone Laboratories, of
the switching system. The switching
equipment for the system, which was
manufactured by Western Electric,
is installed on C. & P. premises.
The equipment is furnished at
tariff rates. Arrangements have been
made for the Public Buildings Ad-
ministration to accept this billing,
and to pro-rate the charges to par-
ticipating agencies. It has been pro-
posed that Public Buildings Adminis-
tration request a specific appropria-
tion from Congress to pay these
charges; if granted, it would obviate
the allocation of charges to each
agency. The lines connecting each
agency with the switching center are
billed directly to the agency by the
C. & P. Company in the regular
monthly bills.
How the System Works
The inter-agency dial switching
system serves 108 PBXs, is designed
to serve 130, and may be expanded
if necessary. Of the 130, 70 of the
more frequently called PBXs may be
reached through three-digit codes
running from 130 through 199; 60
smaller agencies use four-digit codes
beginning with 12 10 and running
through 1269. It will be noted that
all codes begin with "i." This de-
sirable feature is possible because the
first level on first selectors at all Gov-
ernment dial PBXs has not been used
for PBX station numbers and is
therefore available for this purpose.
The August 1946 study disclosed
that there were 2,269 lines in the di-
rect tie-line network and, 1,336 lines
in the old Interdepartmental net-
work: a total of 3,605 lines. The
traffic on these networks, according
to preliminary estimates, was such
that a single integrated system of
2,517 lines could carry it. Actually,
a total of 2,486 lines was on the new
system at the time of the cutover.
This number of lines is of course,
subject to modification as experience
in actual operation is gained. Reg-
isters are provided for the various
switch and line groups that will make
it possible to keep service — and
economy — at the optimum.
The largest single group of lines
provided, 271, is to the former War
Department PBX, which now serves
National Defense. On the other
hand, a small activity such as the Na-
tional Mediation Board requires but
one line.
In designing the switching arrange-
ments, it was found desirable to
break up large groups of lines into
separate incoming and outgoing
groups. Generally, if 10 or more
lines are required to handle a par-
ticular agency's two-way traffic, it is
more effective, and it may be just as
economical, to break them up into
one-way groups. The difference in
cost of the tie-line terminal equip-
ments involved in one-way versus
two-way operation becomes an im-
portant factor in the economics un-
derlying the engineering of large
groups of lines.
The actual switching of the sys-
tem is done with step-by-step equip-
ment utilizing 2,854 switches. Of
these, 60 are line finders, 1,520 se-
lectors, and 1,274 connectors. The
56
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
relatively few line finders required
are used only on low-calling-rate two-
way lines from manual PBXs. The
great majority of incoming lines are
one-way and terminate in incoming
selectors.
Operation of the equipment in
handling a call is essentially as fol-
lows :
From a dial PBX, the calling party
at the PBX station picks up his hand
set, receives the dial tone, and dials
the code assigned to the particular
agency he is calling. The operator
at the called agency answers, and
connects him to the extension he de-
sires.
From a manual PBX, the desired
agency's code is not dialed until the
PBX operator has connected the call-
ing party's line to one of the lines
to the switching center. When that
connection has been made, he receives
a dial tone, and proceeds as above.
Advantages of the System
From the Government's point of
view, the major advantages to be
gained from the new system are :
1. Economy. The new system
replaces two less efficient systems,
and the resulting savings are esti-
mated at about $85,000 per year.
2. Speed. Actual checks made
of calls placed at dial PBXs indi-
cate that a total elapsed time of
ten seconds or less, from the pick-
ing up of the hand-set at the call-
ing station to the actual answering
by the called party, is not unusual.
3. Reliability. The system
should be practically free from op-
erating interruptions of any kind.
4. Availability. The system is
in service 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week. The old Interdepartmental
board was regularly on a 7 A.M.
to 5 :30 P.M. 5-day week schedule,
with but skeleton coverage at other
times.
The major advantages to the
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone
Company are :
1. Utilization. The lines of the
new system make for much better
utilization of cable plant than the
two networks that it replaced.
Revenue from direct tie-lines is
based on air-line distance between
terminals, regardless of the actual
routing involved. The new sys-
tem will result in a larger ratio of
revenue mileage to route mileage,
since the location of the switching
center in one of C. & P.'s down-
town buildings permits tying into
existing cable very efficiently.
2. Efficiency. More efficient
dial operation replaces the old
manual system. This is in line
with the present program of dial
conversion.
3. Reliability. The C. & P.
also benefits from the fact that the
system should be practically free
from operating interruptions of
any kind.
Prehmtnary Arrangements
Telephone people don't get very
excited about cut-overs any more.
Telephone plant growth is so rapid
that cut-overs are every-day occur-
rences. This one wasn't quite in that
category, for two reasons. First,
this was a unique installation; there
wasn't another one like it anywhere.
Second, there was the whole week-
end, from close of business Friday,
1948
Washingtoris New Federal Dial Switching System
SI
Operation of the switching equipment is being explained to a group of Government and
telephone company officials
January 30, to opening of business
Monday, February 2, in which to get
the job done — an unparalleled luxury
in cut-overs.
For weeks before the cut-over, the
C. & P. Company's Government Dis-
trict office had hummed with activity,
for much had to be done in the way
of education. The program started
with the service engineers who
deal with the Government agencies.
Through them the operating and
supervisory personnel at Government
PBXs were informed as to the de-
tails of operation under the new
system.
The Bureau of Federal Supply co-
operated in the educational phase by
issuing circular letters with instruc-
tions and pertinent information to all
agencies. These were directed to the
"Heads of Departments and Estab-
lishments," and included, among
other things, a recommended form
for an instruction memorandum
which each agency was requested to
reproduce for distribution to all its
personnel.
Directory information, such as the
code assignments for the various
agencies, was made available to such
of them as desired it for use in re-
vising their directories. To those
agencies that did not desire to revise
their directories at this time, the C. &
P. Company furnished a supply of a
specially prepared card form of di-
rectory, with the code information,
for distribution to their personnel.
All this planning, which was very
effectively coordinated, resulted in a
well-informed group of prospective
users.
Interest in the new service ran
58
Bell Telephone Magazine
high and manifested * itself In the
nearly 100,000 calls placed during
the first 24 hours. Some of these
were undoubtedly curiosity calls : a
healthy thing — within limits — in an
installation of this kind, and certainly
to be expected. But it was not ex-
pected that the volume would be
maintained at this high level. How-
ever, the record of calls over the sys-
tem during the three weeks immedi-
ately following the cut-over indicates
a normal business-day average of
92,400 calls, with a maximum of
107,400 and a minimum of 87,900.
This looks a good deal like enthusi-
astic response of Government per-
sonnel to the excellence of the service
being provided.
This general acceptance of the
new system is very gratifying to both
the Government and the Chesapeake
& Potomac Telephone Company.
Such reaction as has been voiced is
also uniformly favorable. Very little
objection of any kind has been heard,
and such difficulties as have been ex-
perienced were of little importance.
Although the fundamental sound-
ness of the project was well estab-
lished as a result of studies under-
taken by Government engineers,
smoothness, speed, economy, and ef-
ficiency of operation which the sys-
tem exemplifies is believed to be but
the reflection of the quality of Bell
System personnel — in the A. T. & T.
Company, C. & P. Company, Bell
Laboratories, Western Electric — that
made it possible.
The C. & P. Company has been
most involved, and any attempt to
mention, by name, all those of the
C. & P. who shared in this effort
would be practically a roll call of the
local group. The entire C. & P. or-
ganization is to be particularly com-
mended for its part in bringing an
idea to life.
Continued close and harmonious
cooperation between that organiza-
tion and the Bureau of Federal Sup-
ply can only result in the best possible
telephone service for our Federal
Government — an objective which the
Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone
Company and the Public Utilities Di-
vision have In common.
... all business in a democratic country begins with public
permission and exists by public approval. If that be true, it
follows that business should be cheerfully willing to tell the
public what its policies are, what it is doing, and what it hopes
to do. This seems practically a duty. It is not an easy duty
to perform, for people who make up the public are generally
busy about their own affairs and are not particularly prone to
take time off to hear about the telephone business or any other.
On the other hand, I think it clear enough that the public
would very much resent it if a business now took the attitude
which many used to take, "We'll tell you nothing. It is none
of your affair." The Bell System endeavors to tell the public
about its affairs in a number of different ways.
From "The Bell Telephone System," by Arthur W . Page, Vice
President, A. T. ^ T. Co. Harper ^ Brothers, publishers, 194 1.
''Opinion Surveys*' among A, T, &f T, Stockholders Helped
In the Development of One Document Combining ""Fuir^
And ''Fractionary IVarrants and an Order Form
The Single Warrant: A Step
Ahead in Corporate Finance
Frederick A. Wiseman
In the past 20 years the American
Telephone and Telegraph Company
has made four offers to stockholders
of convertible debentures totaling
more than one billion dollars.
These debentures, which are evi-
dence of corporate debt, are labeled
"convertible" because under certain
conditions they may be converted into
shares of A, T. & T. capital stock —
which are certificates of ownership of
the company. Because they carry
this privilege of conversion, the law
requires that such debentures must be
offered first to existing A, T. & T.
stockholders for purchase.
The offer to stockholders is made,
and their right to purchase is repre-
sented, by warrants which are sent to
them through the mails. There are
a great many A. T. & T. stockhold-
ers: more than 723,000 at the end of
last year. In connection with all four
debenture offers, about 3,750,000
warrants have been issued.
Warrants, since they are concerned
with an investment matter, are nec-
essarily phrased in the rather for-
mal and — to some people, at any rate
— unfamiliar language of financial
transactions. Also, they present to
each A. T. & T. stockholder the
necessity of deciding what course,
among several alternatives, he or
she should pursue.
All this has added up, in the past,
to a vast amount of routine work for
the A. T. & T. Treasury Depart-
ment, and to a good bit of confusion
among many stockholders, making
things difficult for both parties.
Last year, with a $357,000,000
convertible debenture issue * in sight,
the Treasury Department set out to
see what could be done to simplify
the whole transaction.
This is an account of what was
achieved in connection with that
issue, and the way in which it was
brought about.
* See "The Biggest Offer Ever," Magazine
Winter 1947-48.
6o
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
SL*()-t/l
1948
The Single Warrant
61
Key to the Situation:
The JVarratit
The key to the situation was the
warrant itself: what it did, what it
required, what it said, how it said it.
What the warrant must do, in
terms of the 1947 debenture issue,
was to convey to every stockholder
the right to subscribe for debentures
in the ratio of $100 of debentures
for every six shares of stock held.
For stockholders whose numbers of
shares were in even multiples of six,
that was easy: for each multlple-of-
six shares, the right to subscribe to
an equal multiple-of-$ioo in deben-
tures. It was the fractions — the
holdings of less than six shares, and
of numbers of shares not evenly
divisible by six — which complicated
matters.
What the warrant would require
of every stockholder was, first, a de-
cision as to what to do about his
rights to subscribe to the debentures
and, second, a course of action to
make that decision effective. De-
pending on what he wanted to do
and on the number of shares of stock
held, a stockholder might decide to
subscribe to debentures, to sell his
rights, to buy debentures* and sell ex-
cess rights, to buy more rights in or-
der to purchase more debentures, or
to transfer some or all of his rights
to somebody else; and then he had
to instruct the A. T. & T. Company
to execute his wishes.
What the warrant must say was,
of course, in explanation of what was
required and by way of instruction
in how to do it.
How the warrant would say it —
whether clearly, simply, logically, or
otherwise — would determine how
easily the stockholders would under-
stand the entire transaction and, in
consequence, carry through correctly
and with a minimum of error, con-
fusion, and avoidable correspondence.
To appreciate how radical was the
1947 simplification, we must go back
a couple of decades and look into
the customary practice.
And the customary practice had
long been, we find, for an issue like
the 1947 offer, to send to each stock-
holder: i), a "full" warrant, repre-
senting the right to subscribe to $100
of debentures for every six shares
he held; 2), a "fractional" warrant,
representing his additional but less
than six A. T. & T. shares and in-
sufficient in themselves for the pur-
chase of a $100 debenture; and, 3),
an order blank instructing the com-
pany what disposition the stockholder
chose to make of his full warrant and
fractional warrant (if any) and of
his privilege of acquiring the deben-
tures. All three separate documents
were mailed to stockholders with a
covering letter from the president.
It was customary also to have the
"fractional" warrant read "1/6 of
$100 of debentures," "2/6 of $100
of debentures," and so on up to "5/6
of $100 of debentures." Great pains
then had to be taken to explain that
a subscription could not be made for
a "fractional" debenture.
In the 1 94 1 convertible debenture
offer, this source of confusion was
eliminated when the "fractional"
warrant indicated simply the num-
ber of "rights" it represented. The
necessary explanation was made, of
course, that the fractional warrant
must be combined with another war-
rant for additional rights when sub-
62
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
No/
Mu>t B« Comhin<vJ with i Additional Ri(th'? »hen Subscribing
RIGHT TO SWBSCRIBE EXPIRES JULT !. 1929.
H Mt KMl tut Mj-Brtstto" •• <* Wton UU <•« tKl« »mn».« trt» k<»au <'^ »< 4^ |m t«1«». --
American Telephone and Telegraph Company
2/6 OP SIOO OF BCWDS
IT IIII"llt««HT«-2-«l«HT»
TJiia U ta Certify th«t
PrMttotuI Solwcriptlon W'«rTant Cof
T«j>-Y(j«r Convertible ^H^ <i<M Uebtirtnrt Bena*
0ai«t May 30, IS2S.
|j li* «l>«v* ^!>t •* «»K»o1»ti»8 mnal V —M mat tm^tUiBcti in tmt«»ttd
AKEKICAN TEtEPBONS AND TELKI
PATBtKT mat
ACCOMPAIIY THIS
*UB»CRirTIOII
ADKCEHCItT
•vtXIaa AtnMHM K giM
1^ •< tlH Cniniu « )lla jMu It U
m
r
IH BROADWAT, NISW TOR
Tlw ttiMt«r«ti««4 hvrvhr aDlMcr^f^Hr Bi»
fraetlvUAl wmrriLjita ac<alup«R]rj»c _
•»«> to w <li«r«f«r la full u fH^^I^ la tba drrailar Itttit •( «£> CMKruv r«f<rr^ to la Oit
MK*Mi« of liMMb c«*«r*dl by <tt]« fradiMul
<vliidi irttk ¥tkm
mM«* ttS« tl T«il. \\ » MMMh lll«(Mt« WIMIlMr "Mlw" «# "Mn."
MtmI ••• HaBtor
Dato ■••M.tiHuii.at.
rLEAti OS NOT WHIT* IK TH« »^AC« BELOW. «E««IIVte f<t* USf OF CO«ll>A«Y.
Vvfm*vii KctarMM
Mali mnaM Ka.
^iRitaat AMatiat af Baatft
•aaa NwMbara
SPECIMEN
A ig2g ''fractional" warrant. The conventional ''2/6 of $100 of bonds" in the upper
right corner confused many stockholders and caused much correspondence
scribing for debentures. This step
toward clarifying the "fractional"
warrant has been referred to by
brokers as perhaps the most impor-
tant improvement in the form of the
warrant up to that time.
The process of clarification was
continued with the 1946 offer of
convertible debentures. "Fractional"
and "full" warrants were used; but
where a stockholder received both,
they were attached, and were folded
back to back to facilitate mailing.
This had the advantage of keeping
the two kinds of warrants from be-
coming separated and perhaps lost;
but so many stockholders failed to
unfold and examine the documents,
and wrote to the company about sup-
posedly missing "rights," as to neces-
sitate a printed letter of explanation.
And "full" warrant, "fractional"
warrant, and order blank still totaled
three formal documents to be exe-
cuted and returned to the company.
That brings us up to 1947. And
the 1947 convertible debenture issue
would be the biggest ever.
How could the warrant, the key-
stone to the structure of the stock-
holder relationship, be further sim-
plified.
Boldly the proposal was made to
1948
The Single Warrant
63
./ ig^i ''fractional" warrant. The wording at the top and the method of showing the
number of rights are considered to be the most important change prior to 1947
combine "full" and "fractional" war-
rants and the customary order form
in one warrant instead of three sepa-
rate documents, and to explain in
simple and informal terms what it
was all about.
But it had never been done !
Was that of itself any reason why
it could not or should not be done?
With more than 700,000 stock-
holders, should A. T. & T. experi-
ment— or leave that to some other
company with relatively few stock-
holders?
Nobody had the answers to those
basic questions. But we thought we
knew the way to obtain them. How?
Well, it's the stockholders who
would be most affected. So we de-
cided to ask them.
Seeking Stockholders' Opinions
There is in the Chief Statistician's
Division of the A, T. & T. Company
a group which is expert in conducting
opinion surveys — studies of "custo-
mer attitude." * And many of the
principles and techniques which apply
to studies carried out among custo-
mers can apply equally well to studies
carried out among stockholders.
* See "Finding Out What People Think of
Us," Magazine Spring 1946.
64
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
Those specialists were asked to find
out how stockholders might be ex-
pected to feel about the new "single"
warrant. They undertook, on a
"sampling" basis, to get information
about the new single warrant on
these three points :
1, whether stockholders would
know how to proceed with it, as-
suming that they wanted, a), to
sell all or part of their rights; b),
to use all or part of their rights to
subscribe to debentures; or, c),
to assign all or part of their rights
to others.
2, which parts of the warrant
and the related instructions stock-
holders would have difficulty in un-
derstanding.
3, what suggestions for im-
provements could be obtained.
First, sample specimens of the
proposed new warrant were devised
and, after an almost infinite number
of revisions, were printed.
Then, through experimental inter-
viewing, a series of questions and an
outline for the interview procedure
were created. It was found, inci-
dentally, that each interview would
consume no less than three-quarters
of an hour if thorough coverage was
to be obtained.
Finally, it was decided to conduct
extensive interviews with about 200
stockholders.
But, by the time 100 interviews
had been completed, it was evident
that so definite a pattern had been
set that the results thus far obtained
could be accepted as reasonably rep-
resentative of stockholder reaction.
What was the pattern?
Briefly, the stockholders favored
the new form of warrant by seven to
one. Only seven percent expressed
no preference.
But the interviews also made it
clear that there was room for im-
provement in the arrangement of the
single form and the information it
contained, and in the wording. Some
stockholders not only had difficulties
with the financial terms — warrant,
rights, debenture, and the like — but
were not sure what was meant by
such words as void, pending, aggre-
gate, assign, remittance, and similar
expressions.
The interviews also had their
amusing points.
One stockholder, of foreign ex-
traction, when asked what he would
do if he had 15 rights and wished to
use 12 rights in subscription and sell
the other three, responded: "I ask
the man at the counter."
The interviewer suggested that he
might be at home so that it would not
be convenient to do that.
The reply was: "I wait until I
come downtown and then ask the
man at the counter."
"Suppose you were ill and would
not be able to come to the counter?"
"I send someone to ask the man at
the counter."
Another stockholder responded,
tongue in cheek, to the printed ques-
tion, "Disposition of warrants?" on
a form, that his warrants should be
"kind and gentle."
Stockholde?' Reactions
The study emphasized the need
for further simplification of the war-
rant, and of the transmittal letter
mailed to stockholders with the war-
rants. It showed that improvement
could also be made in the printing
style as well as in the arrangement
1948
The Single Warrant
65
m
1
N^
r
1
r '
f0i^S<
•''.''.
sr^
^'i
In ihe/oregrounJ is the Communications Bureau which in I92g handled correspondence
with stockholders. In relation to the number of stockholders^ the number of cases
requiring correspondence was more than twice the 1^47 volume
and location of the printed matter.
In short, improvement in every phase
of the warrant and related material
would help to reduce the stockhold-
ers' confusion with respect to the ac-
tion required of them upon receipt of
their warrants.
The study of stockholder reactions
supplemented the knowledge gained
through past experience about diffi-
culties stockholders have in grasping
the significance and purpose, as well
as the uses which may be made, of
their warrants. This was of mate-
rial value in the final determination
of what form of warrant should be
used. The next step was to review
the subject with the lawyers. In-
stead of complicating the warrant
form, the lawyers contributed much
to the further simplification of it.
As finally corrected and revised,
the new single warrant presented in
one piece of paper what had before
been contained for most stockholders
in three pieces of paper. (Two war-
rants, a "fuir and "fractional," and
an order form for the stockholder to
use ia giving instructions as to the
use of his rights.)
The amount of printed material
on the new warrant contained fewer
than half the printed words which
had before appeared on the three
pieces. The words used were easier
for most people to understand, and
the style of type used was easier to
read.
The language was as simple and
understandable as it could be made
and the left hand portion was given
over to simple and concise directions
regarding the value and use of rights.
The stockholders liked the warrant
they receiv^ed in 1947, and frequently
said so. For those who did not ex-
press their opinion, the record speaks.
Fewer letters, fewer telephone calls,
fewer people who had to take the
time and trouble to come to the office.
66
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
The new single warrant, plus other
changes and improvements associated
with it, brought forth marked differ-
ences in operating results between
the 1946 and 1947 convertible deben-
ture issues.
The 1947 Convertible Debenture
Issue was $357,532,600 and was
four percent larger than the 1946
issue.
The number of warrants issued in
1947 was one-third fewer.
hnpoj'tant Results
Cases requiring correspondence or
telephone communications with the
stockholders were appreciably fewer.
Cases where the stockholders came
to the office because they wanted to
ask questions and get direct answers
were 15 percent fewer in 1947. Tele-
phone inquiries from stockholders
who needed some explanation of
their transactions were 28 percent
fewer.
There were nearly 6,000 more sub-
scribers in 1947 and the amount of
the offer unsubscribed was less than
in 1946. But the total hours worked
by the temporary security issue or-
ganization of 700 people were nine
percent fewer in 1947. Total over-
time hours worked by the organiza-
tion were 60 percent fewer in 1947.
This all means, of course, that the
new single warrant and the changes
associated with it made things easier
for the stockholders and at the same
time the company's work of process-
ing their transactions was less than it
had been previously. The results, of
course, also reflect other factors; but
underlying them all was the new
form of warrant.
Stockholders found on their 1947
warrant mstructions as to its use in
concise, easy-to-read language. The
left end of the warrant containing
these instructions also served another
practical and useful purpose. As the
warrants were returned to the com-
pany with the stockholders' directions
for subscription, sale of rights, or
transfer, the left end was cut off,
stamped with date and reference
number, and filed. The main sec-
tion of the warrant then proceeded
through a series of routine opera-
tions. By promptly establishing a
reference file of warrants used in sub-
scription, sale, or transfer, a major
problem that had plagued the or-
ganization in preceding issues was
practically eliminated.
This up-to-date file made it pos-
sible to locate cases in process when
stockholders anxious to know about
their transactions wrote or tele-
phoned. Frequently stockholders will
make inquiry regarding a transaction
or ask that it be changed shortly
after mailing their warrants to the
company. This had been a diflicult
problem to cope with in the past be-
cause of the tens of thousands of
transactions in process at all times
during the subscription period.
The new warrant was an impor-
tant factor in bringing about the bet-
ter results in most operations for the
1947 convertible debenture issue. It
was not a cure-all, however, in mak-
ing matters easier for the stockhold-
ers. One obvious disadvantage of
the single warrant was the fact that
when a stockholder wanted to dis-
pose of excess rights (previously rep-
resented by a fractional warrant) it
was necessary to send the warrant
to the company to be divided into
1948
The Single Warrant
67
two warrants, unless the stockholder
wished to arrange for the sale of
the excess rights through the com-
pany. For a few this proved to be
an inconvenience.
The number of cases requiring cor-
respondence in 1947 was equal to
about fiv^e percent of the number of
stockholders. More than 100 em-
ployees were needed in the Communi-
cations Division to handle the work.
'Way back in 1929, before much
progress had been made in the im-
provement of warrant forms, there
was nearly twice the amount of cor-
respondence in relation to the num-
ber of stockholders as there was in
1947. A larger number of em-
ployees was required in 1929 to han-
dle the same number of cases.
The information which the study
of stockholder reactions made avail-
able showed that a great deal could
be done to eliminate sources of con-
fusion and misunderstanding. There
is a point, however, beyond which it
is not possible to go.
Technical Requirements
An offer of securities to stockhold-
ers for subscription must be in ac-
cord with the Securities Act. If the
securities are to be listed on an "Ex-
change," the provisions of the Se-
curities and Exchange Act also apply.
The rules and regulations issued by
the Securities and Exchange Com-
mission must also be complied with.
In a broad sense, all must be in ac-
cord with accepted general corporate
practice. There can be no violation
or conflict with laws governing the
acts of corporations.
Furthermore, the New York Stock
Warrants for the ig^i and previous issues were numbered and signcJ sioiultaneously
on the printing presses after they had been prepared for each stockholder. This provided
an alphabetical numerical sequence^ whether a stockholder received one warrant or two
68
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
The machines shown here, regularly used for filling in amounts and signing dividend
checks, were used on pre-numbered warrants last fall to fill in the number of rights and
sign them at the same time
Exchange and other exchanges on
which A. T. & T. securities are listed
have rules and regulations designed
to protect the investing public as well
as to insure uniform action by the
membership of the exchange. Any
issue of securities must conform to
such regulations and customs.
There are many considerations in
the development of a new form of
warrant. In addition to the effect on
the company, the stockholders, and
the agent appointed for the stock-
holders in the purchase and sale of
rights, another very important mat-
ter is the effect on the work of bro-
kers who handle transactions in the
purchase and sale of rights or ar-
range subscriptions for their clients.
About three-quarters of the stock-
holders receiving rights for subscrip-
tion to a convertible debenture issue
sell the rights to others who use them
in subscription. Practically all of
these sales pass through brokerage
channels. Because of the interest
brokerage firms would have in any
change in the form of warrant, a
series of conferences was arranged in
the fall of 1947 with representatives
of the Association of Stock Exchange
Firms.
The approach in these conferences
was the same as it had been with
respect to the stockholders' inter-
ests. Basically whatever arrangement
proved best for the brokers would in
the long run also be best for the com-
pany. With this as the starting point
and holding to the view that the prin-
cipal objectives were to insure that
the company's stockholders would
receive value for their rights and
that the new issue of debentures
would be a success, a number of mat-
ters were concluded of mutual bene-
fit to the brokers and to the company.
The principal simplification agreed
upon with the Association of Stock
1948
The Single Warrant
69
Exchange Firms provided for the
filing with the company of certain
forms of agreement of indemnifica-
tion and for the use, where desired,
of printed facsimile signatures in
place of a handwritten oflicial signa-
ture. While experience has demon-
strated the need for rigid require-
ments in the transfer of ownership of
stock, it is evident that somewhat
more liberal treatment can be applied
in the case of rights which are of
limited value and which expire in a
relatively short time.
The arrangements agreed upon
with the stock exchange firms simpli-
fied their work tremendously, while
introducing no adverse factors, and
met with general approval among
financial firms. The number of war-
rants cancelled and re-issued by rea-
son of transfers in 1947 was down
75 percent compared with 1946.
The procedures developed from
the discussions with the Association
of Stock Exchange Firms have re-
cently been adopted by the Gulf Oil
Company for its new issue of stock
and have also been adopted by the
Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
The latter company also used the
single warrant form.
The material distributed to bro-
kers describing the use of printed fac-
simile signatures called for illustra-
tions showing the circumstances and
conditions under which such signa-
tures would be accepted. This sug-
gested the need of a representative
type of broker's signature. Ordi-
narily the name John Doe is used as
an anonymous person. This hardly
seemed appropriate as the name of
a brokerage firm because, like law-
yers, brokers usually have a com-
posite of many names in their firm.
In fact, one of the very large broker-
age firms has such a long name and
so many partners that it is commonly
referred to as "We the People."
In place of John Doe the name
Richard Roe, Dee Coe & Co., writ-
ten as shown below, was adopted as
the illustration of an official signa-
ture.
This illustration of a broker's offi-
cial signature appears in the mate-
rial used for both the Gulf Oil Com-
pany and the Pacific Gas and Elec-
tric Company issues. Perhaps it may
become the John Doe of brokerage
firms.
The warrant used by the A. T. &
T. Company in the 1947 issue repre-
sented another step in the continuing
process of improvement. Many im-
portant changes have been made as
warrants have been issued from time
to time over the years and no doubt
changes will be made in the future.
This is normal progress, and it is in
keeping with the constant endeavor
in the telephone industry to find bet-
ter ways of doing its job.
Twenty-five Years Ago in the
Bell Telephone Quarterly
Items from Volume II, Number 2, April 1923
Transatlantic Radio
Telephone Experiments
New honors in the field of telephone re-
search were achieved by Bell System engi-
neers when, on the night of January 14,
executives of the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company talked from the
United States to England by radio tele-
phone.
Sitting in his office on the twenty-sixth
floor of the Telephone and Telegraph
Building, 195 Broadway, New York, H. B.
Thayer, president of the company, spoke
into a telephone words which were carried
over cables and open telephone wires to
Rocky Point, L. I., transmitted through
the ether, and plainly and distinctly heard
by a group of scientists and newspaper rep-
resentatives assembled at New Southgate,
a suburb of London.*
The Rocky Point sending station is
owned by the Radio Corporation of Amer-
ica. The radio apparatus and system used
was made possible by cooperation between
this company and the American Telephone
and Telegraph Company and is the result
of research and experimental work in the
laboratories of American Telephone and
Telegraph Company and the laboratories
of the Radio Corporation of America and
its associated companies.
Transatlantic radio telephony is not new.
In 19 1 5 Bell System engineers succeeded in
sending the human voice by radio tele-
phone from Arlington, Va., to Paris. The
experiment of January 14, however, dif-
fered from that of eight years before in
that it was carried out along lines definitely
prearranged, the program extending over a
period of exactly two hours. Whereas, in
•See '"Hello England': A One-way Trans-
atlantic Talk," Magazine Winter 1946-47.
the experiments of 191 5, a few words and
sentences were intelligible, in the later test
thousands of words were transmitted and
received in England so clearly and dis-
tinctly that the intonations of the speakers
were recognized by their friends and ac-
quaintances. . . .
The transmission of actual messages was
preceded by several w^eeks of experimenta-
tion in which isolated words were used for
test purposes. In the course of these pre-
liminary tests a mass of data in regard to
the transmission characteristics of the ether
was obtained. It is believed that these rec-
ords will be of considerable value in the re-
search work being carried on by Bell Sys-
tem engineers.
i
Joint A.LE.E. Meeting
By Wire and Loud-
speaker %
One of the attractions on the program
of the mid-winter convention of the Ameri-
can Institute of Electrical Engineers was a
joint meeting between 1000 members as-
sembled in New York and 500 members
assembled in Chicago. The meeting was
held on the evening of February 14th,
President F. B. Jewett presiding from New
York. The two assemblies were united as
though in a single auditorium through the
agency of the Western Electric Company's
public address system associated with the
long distance telephone lines of the Ameri-
can Telephone and Telegraph Company,
in such manner as to give two-way loud-
speaker operation. By means of this in-
stallation, papers which were read in New
York were heard simultaneously by the
audience in Chicago and papers read in
Chicago were also heard at New York. . . .
Twenty-Jive Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly
71
At each auditorium the only apparatus
visible was a small but very sensitive trans-
mitter, which stood on the speaker's desk,
and a group of small horns suspended
above, from which the amplified voices
were emitted. In addition to the visible
apparatus, powerful vacuum tube ampli-
fiers were used to magnify the speaker's
words. Sets of these amplifiers as well as
the transmitters and horns were located at
both New York and Chicago. The long
distance wire telephone circuit joining the
two audiences carried special equipment so
as to deliver the speakers' voices at either
end with a minimum of distortion.
A special telephone circuit also carried
the speakers' voices to the radio station
WEAF in New York, from which they
were broadcast to many thousands of lis-
teners who were not in attendance at either
auditorium.
Second Transcontinental
Route Planned
Plans are nearing completion for work
which will make available a second trans-
continental route. The construction work
which it is expected to complete this year
involves pole line work, wire and equip-
ment installations from Denver via El
Paso to Los Angeles.
Transcontinental telephone service was
first made available to the public in Janu-
ar)% 191 5. Prior to that time, two routes,
both carrjing long haul circuits, had been
extended as far West as Denver. The (Ex-
tension of this service to the Pacific Coast
involved the construction of many miles of
new pole line, the stringing of four 165
(No. 8 B.W.G.) wires between Denver
and San Francisco, extensive rearrange-
ments of the existing circuits east of
Denver, and the installation of telephone
repeaters and associated equipment at suit-
able points between New York and San
Francisco. High quality telephone service
has been furnished over these circuits since
their completion, various improvements
having been made from time to time as
the art advanced. . . .
After carefully considering all of the
factors involved, it has been decided that
the service as a whole can be best safe-
guarded by providing the additional facili-
ties now required on a second route, and
arrangements are under way to make four
165 gauge wires available from Denver to
Los Angeles via El Paso. The carrying
out of this plan will make available two
separate routes carrying long haul circuits
from the Pacific Coast to points east of
Denver, tvvo such routes having been avail-
able east of Denver since transcontinental
service was started. As the new route is
largely through a section of country where
few severe storms are experienced, a high
degree of protection to this very important
service will be furnished. In addition, the
circuits to be provided on the new route
will more satisfactorily handle the rapidly
increasing requirements for through service
between Los Angeles and other southern
California points and the East.
The provision of facilities along this
route is in line with the plans for perma-
nent extensions of the trunk lines for
nation-wide service which contemplated the
provision of at least three main transconti-
nental routes with suitable North and
South tie lines. One of the two new routes
planned will extend from New Orleans
and Dallas via El Paso to Los Angeles,
and the other from Minneapolis via Fargo
and Billings to Seattle. The work being
undertaken this year fits in with the plans
for the Southern Route.
The Goose That Lays the Golden Egg
From an order issued January 2g, ig48, by the North Carolina
Utilities Commission, authorizing a second increase in rates for
the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company in that
State.
It must be kept in mind that tele-
phone service is different from that
rendered by any other utility in that
all parts of the country are intercon-
nected. People in this State talk to
people in other states; people in other
states talk to people in this State ; and
if the service in any state through
which their conversation is trans-
mitted is poor, the whole service is
poor, just as no chain can be stronger
than its weakest link.
In North Carolina the expansion
program for this year calls for the
expenditure of $15,081,000. This
fund contemplates the building of
additions to outside plants, new build-
ings and land, central office equip-
ment, pole lines, installation of sta-
tions, and additional toll circuits.
Thirty-five thousand applications for
service were pending on January i,
1948.
The people of North Carolina are
clamoring for this needed expansion.
and this Commission is anxious to
see it carried out, believing that the
increased facilities would add mil-
lions of dollars of profits to the busi-
ness and other interests of North
Carolina, while the crippling of the
proposed expansion program would
no doubt mean the loss of millions of
dollars to the people of the state.
In view of the water-logged situa-
tion presented above, this Commis-
sion is anxiously willing to cooperate
with every state involved in any ef-
fort to provide rates which will as-
sure the company a fair profit. A
contrary course, in the opinion of the
Commission, would be like killing the
goose that lays the golden egg, for it
is obvious to even the novice that un-
less the company is put in a position
to give good service and provide the
necessary expansion, the result would
be disastrous, not only to the com-
pany but to the public as well.
Indexes Now Available
An index to Volume XXVI (1947) of the Bell Telephone
Magazine may be obtained without charge upon request to
the Information Department of the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company, 195 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y.
A twenty-five year cumulative index, covering Volumes I
through XXV of the Bell Telephone Magazine and its
predecessor, the Bell Telephone Quarterly, may be ob-
tained without charge, by those maintaining a file of the publi-
cation, upon request to the same address.
72
f«//^c; j:^^\^ V a X -^ «»r jl v mnuf^i a. 'u/u
Kjurnrnci i u^
Exchange Cable i The Drama of Post-war Productmf^^ Aw&
Charles G. Sinclair, Jr. ^
The License Contract • Keith S. McHugh
The Wires Which Carry the News of the World
Robert E. Moore
The Benefit and Pension Plan Is Thirty-Five
Charles J. Schaefer, Jr.
Charts at Work • Kenneth W. Haemer
Ideas, Men, and Things • J
RRINB
- ./w-^"**-/.**;^^,*
mericanlekphoTie S^-^ekmpbCoTrfanV'Newmn
Bdl TelepKone/w^^
Summer 1948
Exchange Cable: The Drama of Post-war Production,
Charles G. Sinclair, Jr., 77
The License Contract, Keith S. McHugh, 88
The Thirty Millionth Bell Telephone Is Installed in Iowa, 93
The Wires Which Carry the News of the World,
Robert E. Moore, 94
Southern New England and the Telephone, 104
The Benefit and Pension Plan Is Thirty-Five,
Charles J. Schaefer, Jr., 105
Bell System Advertising Wins Award, 113
Charts at Work, Kenneth W . Haemer, 114
Twenty-Five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly, 124
Ideas, Men, and Things, James O. Perrine, 126
The Greatest Communication Network in History, 135
^ Medium of Suggestion ^ a Record of Progress
Published J or the supervisory forces of the Bell System by the Information Department of
American Telephone and Telegraph Co., /p5 Broadway^ New York 7, A^. Y.
Leroy a. Wilson, President; Carroll O. Bickelhaupt, Sec; Donald R. Belcher, Treas.
Who's Who & What's What
in This Issue
Cables of all kinds, old and new, are
familiar items of telephone plant to
Charles G. Sinclair, Jr., for his 35
years in the Bell System have been spent
entirely in outside plant work. He joined
the New York Telephone Company in
19 1 3, and after a period of field work in
the Plant Department he was assigned to
outside plant engineering. In 1921 he
transferred to the outside plant section of
the Department of Operation and Engi-
neering of the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company. Since February i
of this year he has been the company's out-
side plant engineer.
At present Vice President of the A, T.
& T. Company in charge of the Informa-
tion Department, Keith S. McHugh was
an administrative vice president of the
company from 1938 to 1946, an assistant
vice president for four years before that,
and commercial engineer from 1929 to
1934. In the ten years after joining the
A. T. & T. Company in 1919 he had been
successively an engineer with that com-
pany, general commercial engineer of the
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Com-
pany at Washington, D. C, general com-
mercial manager of the Upstate Area of
the New York Telephone Company, and
vice president of the company. That is
the background which enables him to dis-
cuss the value of the historic "license con-
tract" arrangement to a telephone system
which has to serve a continent. Mr. Mc-
Hugh's "Business and People" was pub-
lished in last Spring's issue of this Maga-
zine.
Robert E. Moore began his Bell System
service in St. Louis in 1926, when he was
employed by the Southwestern Bell Tele-
phone Company as a commercial repre-
sentative. In 1927 he was transferred to
the Long Lines Department of the Ameri-
can Telephone and Telegraph Company in
St. Louis, where he served as telephoto-
Charles G. Sinclair, Jr.
Keith S. McHugh
Robert E. Moore
Who's Who 6? What's What
IS
Charles J. Schaefer, Jr.
Kenneth W. Haemer
James O. Perrine
graph representative and commercial rep-
resentative. In 1930 he was appointed di-
vision commercial manager for Long Lines
at Cleveland, remaining in this position
until 1940, when he was moved to his pres-
ent assignment in New York as Press
Service Manager for the Long Lines Com-
mercial Department.
Joining the Bell Telephone Company
of Pennsylvania in 19 14, Charles J.
ScHAEFER, Jr., gained experience in both
traffic and commercial work before he was
appointed a special assistant in the Person-
nel and Public Relations Department there.
In 1925 he transferred to the Personnel
Relations Department of the A. T. & T.
Company, where he is Secretary of the
Employees' Benefit Committee. His pres-
ent article is his second discussion of the
Benefit Plan: ten years ago, in the Bell
Telephone Quarterly for January,
1938, was published his contribution on the
occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the
Plan.
Leaving the advertising field in 1926,
Kenneth W. Haemer joined the Chief
Statistician's Division of the A. T. & T.
Company, where he first worked on sta-
tistical presentation and production. In
1935 he turned his interest to methods.
and worked on the development of a gen-
eral statistical methods file which was pro-
vided to all Bell System companies. In
1942 he entered military service in the
office of the Commanding General, Army
Service Forces, where he headed the sec-
tion engaged in developing and installing
standards for the ASF Reporting System.
He returned to the A. T. & T. Company
in 1946, and is now in the general sta-
tistical analysis section of the Chief Statis-
tician's Division. Mr. Haemer is Chair-
man of the American Statistical Associa-
tion's Committee on Presentation, an editor
of The American Statistician, and is the
Telephone Representative on the ASME
Committee on Graphic Presentation, au-
thorized by the American Standards As-
sociation.
A STUDENT and TEACHER of the physical
sciences, James O. Perrine had been
Professor of Electrical Engineering at Yale
University when, in 1921, he joined the
former Department of Development and
Research of the A. T. & T. Company,
where he engaged in research on the prop-
erties of materials used in dial telephone
systems. Since 1925 he has been a mem-
ber of the company's Information Depart-
{Continued on page J 12)
At the distant end of this machine^ installed in the Western Electric Company's Kearny
fForkSy the new ''alpeth" telephone cable emerges, to be wound on reels and shipped Jor
urgent service. See the article beginning on the opposite page
^
Producing more than Sixty Billion Conductor Feet of Cable
In IQ4.8^ Much of It a New Type^ Ranks as a Great
Industrial Achievement of the Present Era
Exchange Cable: The Drama
of Post-war Production
Charles G. Sinclair^ Jr.
In a conference room at the head-
quarters of the Bell System in New
York, a group of men gathered on
May I, 1946, to discuss a problem in
exchange cable production and to
make a decision that would bring
about its solution. Although the
meeting was not attended by any pub-
licity, the decision made that day by
those men, representing the Bell Tele-
phone Laboratories, the Western
Electric Company, and the Opera-
tion and Engineering Department of
the American Telephone and Tele-
graph Company, may well constitute
a milestone in the history of the tele-
phone industry.
During the war, when materials and
manpower were not available for
many normal civilian needs, demand
for telephone service had increased
enormously. The telephone plant
facilities which had been provided be-
fore the war for growth of the busi-
ness had been largely exhausted, and
it had been possible to augment them
only very slightly. As a result, the
Bell System was confronted after the
war with the necessity of manufactur-
ing and installing, at a rate never be-
fore contemplated, all the units that
go to make up the plant facilities re-
quired to give telephone service.
Central-office equipment and build-
ings, telephone instruments, cable,
wire, poles, conduit — just to mention
a few of the major items involved —
all had to be obtained in unprece-
dented quantities and built into plant,
if the demands of the public for tele-
phone service were to be satisfied.
Many of these items required large
expansion of the Western Electric
Company's manufacturing capacity
before they could be fabricated in the
necessary volume. Arrangements had
to be made for a continuing flow of
materials into the manufacturing
processes, in huge quantities.
To meet the situation posed by the
pent-up demand and expanding re-
quirements of the public for telephone
78
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
Copper wires meet aluminum tape: the thin metal strip is applied longitudinally around
the paper-wrapped core of telephone wires in the manufacture of alpeth cable
service called not only for wise plan-
ning and attention to a thousand de-
tails in order to create a well coor-
dinated program, but it called also
for great courage on the part of man-
agement.
A myriad of obstacles had to be
overcome. Materials of many kinds
had to be obtained. Many new em-
ployees had to be added and trained
as craftsmen: linemen, cable placing
gangs, cable splicers, station in-
stallers. In addition, there was the
gigantic financial task of raising the
required capital. Future economic
trends were uncertain. To resolve,
in the face of this situation, to pro-
ceed as rapidly as possible to pro-
vide telephone plant facilities that
would enable the Bell System to in-
stall telephones at a rate more than
twice that ever previously attained,
truly required courage of a high
order.
Among all the kinds of telephone
plant for which provision had to be
made, the supply of adequate quanti-
ties of exchange cable * posed a prob-
lem that was unique. Study of the
situation led to the conclusion that
it would be necessary to produce ex-
change cable at an annual rate of
sixty billion (60,000,000,000) con-
ductor feet.
Now, sixty billion conductor feet
of exchange cable is a quantity that is
*ELxchange cable is cable which is installed
to provide the local telephone circuits in cities
and towns and their environs where the num-
ber of circuits required is too large to be pro-
vided by open wires carried on pole lines.
^
1948
Exchange Cable
79
Thermoplastic added: the hot polyethylene is extruded onto the aluminum-covered
core and the cable then passes into a water tank for cooling
difl&cult to comprehend. It is, just
for instance, more exchange cable
than the total that then existed in the
plant of the Pacific Telephone and
Telegraph Company from the Cana-
dian to the Mexican border; it is —
since the figure is, after all, of as-
tronomical proportions — just about
enough to provide twent}'-four pairs
of wires spanning from the earth to
th€ moon. It is almost twice the
amount of exchange cable produced
for the Bell System in 1929, the year
in which the pre-war peak had been
attained.
The Eiquipment Problem
To REACH an aliriual rate of produc-
tion of sixty billion conductor feet re-
quired very large additions to the
factory space and machinery of the
Western Electric Company. A great
deal of flexibility is required in such
an expansion of manufacturing facili-
ties, since the sizes of cable required
from week to week are subject to
wide variation.
Cables range in size from the large
ones containing many hundreds of
wires, for installation under busy
city streets, to those carrying a rela-
tively few wires to be erected on pole
lines through the countryside to pro-
vide telephone service to the nation's
farms. Consequently, whereas the
sheathing machinery may be the limit-
ing factor when the average srze of
cable is small, the insulating and
twisting machinery, or possibly the
stranding machines, tend to limit pro-
duction when the average size is
large.
8o
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
1 >t^:' • "^^'WmBihr ^^m^Hkiik
-i^^
IbJ j .JT'"-
■,,,*J8»«*-**,
ffi."
^^1 • ^^"^^ 1
^^^^^HB^^^>S?lftb.^s^%j.
^^
k."V ^
C%^l^
^&
^"^^^Vh^BSS
>H -■'■
-psi^g
^Js
••''«
^
■M^^f^lfev
^\ Kfi
Pf-
_..^.l
^Ni>-
^
^%»«i
. _,^^5^^ .^
■1
^'W^l ■! M
.... :■ *k
fe?.! "'
'-.I'^^^^ \., J
l» ip .■(^^'''''''''^llk^
'^
l^^
^^t..
M
* ■ ' --jt* ''
WHr^i^^sWv^M
^K^^^f
^^^^^^ 1
fti C -
1
^^k.U M'
'' .H^'
E?
In
»i^'-'.
■hh^..
~™w?^^-t-"^«'<'~<"
■■' —
V
0-r'^ ■
<
• jk
^.>^^
^
1^^
..».-.^;.-
0^ aw^ away: several turns around the spool in the foreground maintain proper tension
on the completed alpeth cable J or winding on the shipping reel at the right
These and other factors were fore-
seen of course, and equipment was
added with the expectation that, re-
gardless of variations in the average
size of cable that might be required,
working some of the machinery 24
hours per day and frequently 7 days
per week would make possible the
production of sixty billion conductor
feet of cable per year.
In order to produce equipment for
the armed forces. Western Electric
Company's Hawthorne cable shop
had been completely dismantled, and
the capacity of the Kearny cable shop
had been greatly reduced. The task
of reconversion for the production of
exchange cable involved, therefore,
the removal of machinery which had
been installed to manufacture war
equipment and the return from stor-
age and re-installation of machines
for cable production.
In order to provide for the neces-
sary increased manufacturing capac-
ity, 75 percent more space had to be
obtained. Efficient operation required
that this additional space be adjacent
to existing cable manufacturing facili-
ties. So Western established another
factory, into which manufacturing
facilities for other products were
moved from both the Hawthorne
and Kearny plants, thus making the
space available for manufacture of
cable.
To make so much more cable re-
quired heavy machinery which was
extremely scarce and hard to get.
^
1948
Exchange Cable
81
Wire-drawing machinery to make the
cable conductors had to be increased
by more than 70 percent ; machinery to
apply wood-pulp insulation to the con-
ductors had to be increased by 75 per-
cent; machines to twist the insulated
wires into cable pairs required more
than a 60 percent increase. Other
machinery, such as stranders, cablers,
and dryers, had to be increased in
varying proportions up to 100 per-
cent.
Contacts with suppliers soon shat-
tered hopes of early completion of
the expansion program. In many
cases, even such promises as delivery
of some of the needed equipment in
40 to 70 weeks could not be met.
The entire electrical equipment manu-
facturing industry, which provides
the motors and electrical control units
needed, was overloaded and had a
huge backlog of orders. Widespread
strikes in industries furnishing raw
materials greatly interfered with ob-
taining such items as steel for chain
drives, pig iron for castings, and even
coal to furnish the power needed for
processing the basic materials.
Careful investigation indicated,
however, that the necessary materials
for manufacturing cable — such as
copper for wires and wood pulp for
insulation — although then largely un-
der government controls, could prob-
ably be obtained in the requisite quan-
tities— with the exception of the lead
for cable sheath.
Aluminum for Lead
Lead, and later lead alloys, had
been the traditional material of which
telephone cable sheath has been made
throughout practically the entire his-
tory of the industry. Its low melting
point, its ductility, among other quali-
ties, adapted lead particularly well
to this use.
Unfortunately, however, while the
last quarter century has seen a marked
increase in demand for lead for the
manufacture of storage batteries and
many other purposes, nowhere in the
world have any substantial additional
deposits of lead ore been found.
After checking all the responsible
sources of information, the conclu-
sion was inescapable that it would be
extremely difficult, if not impossible,
to obtain lead in sufficient quantity to
provide sheath for the volume of
cable production contemplated. It
was this situation that brought that
group of men together in the con-
ference room at the Headquarters
Building on May i, 1946.
The Bell Telephone Laboratories
and the Western Electric Company
had been studying alternative types of
cable sheath for more than two dec-
ades. In the five years preceding the
war, experimental lengths of cable
having sheaths of material other than
lead had been made available for
laboratory tests. The most promis-
ing of these was a composite sheath
built up in this order: around the core
of insulated wires was placed a sheet
of corrugated steel with a cemented
longitudinal seam ; this was covered by
a thermoplastic material; and finally
came an outer corrugated brass
sheath having an overlapped longitu-
dinal seam which was sealed by sol-
dering. Laboratory trials of this
sheath had yielded promising indica-
tions, and it was decided that sheath
of this general type offered the great-
est possibility of providing an ade-
quate outer covering for that part of
82
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
the cable production for which lead
would be unavailable.
In planning to go forward with
this program, advantage was taken
of the fact that other materials had
become; available during the war pe-
riod which offered some improvement
over the pre-war experirnental cables.
Aluminum had become plentiful, and
it was decided to substitute this ma-
terial for the corrugated steel placed
directly over the core of the cable, in
order to take advantage of the
greater electrical conductivity of alu-
minum. This is of value in provid-
ing shielding for the cable against in-
ductive disturbances and also added
protection against lightning damage.
Also, the possibilities of obtaining
adequate amounts of sheet steel were
exceedingly dim, inasmuch as the de-
mands for this material in industry
generally far exceeded the visible sup-
bly. In the pre-war samples, a rub-
ber thermoplastic material had been
placed between the two metal shells;
but now a new material, polyethylene,
was available. This material is a
tough plastic having high dielectric
strength and about 30 times as much
resistance to water penetration as
rubber.
It was this sheath that the group
meeting on May i, 1946, decided
should be developed as an alternative
to the standard lead sheath and
brought into production as rapidly
as possible.
Pressure for Production
Normally there would be a cautious
approadi to any major change in de-
sign and materials for such an im-
portant and long-lived item as cable.
There would be laboratory tests of
a few saniple lengths. If these were
promising, field laboratory trials
would then be inaugurated. If these
also proved successful, a few com-
mercial installations would follow.
The behavior of the new material
would be observed closely over a pe-
riod of perhaps several years before
concluding that extensive use of it ap-
peared advisable.
These steps might very likely have
required a five-year period before
reaching a decision such as that made
in 1946. In 1946 there wasn't that
much time.
In making the decision to proceed
with a venture of this sort, the proba-
bility was recognized that changes in
design or material might prove to be
necessary as further study of the
sheath and the facilities needed for
its manufacture progressed. These
are the inevitable concomitants of
treading untried paths. ■
Before many months had passed,
laboratory study had indeed deter-
mined that changes in design would
be necessary in order to make the
outer brass covering suitable. The
changes found necessary introduced
difficult manufacturing problems.
Meanwhile, time was running on
apace and provision of facilities for
producing the increased amount of
cable, except for sheath, were moving
ahead rapidly. Another decision had
to be made if we were not to lose pro-
duction for want of sheath.
The decision was made.
It was to make the cable without
the outer brass shell, relying upon the
relatively high impermeability of the
polyethylene material and the barrier
of the aluminum tape around the
core to exclude moisture from the
^
1948
Exchange Cable
83
Same weight: the alpeth
cable at the left contains
152 pairs of 22-gauge cop-
per wire^ as against 5/
pairs of the same gauge in
the lead-sheathed cable at
the right
Alpeth cable: from left to
righty pulp-insulated cop-
per telephone wires, paper
'jorapping, corrugated alu-
minum covering, and outer
sheath of polyethylene
compound
cable. This, of course, contemplated
that the polyethylene would be ex-
posed to the elements. To forestall
the disintegration which might other-
wise result from the exposure of such
an organic material to sunlight and
atmosphere, the polyethylene, nor-
mally milky white in color, was com-
pounded with carbon black and an
anti-oxidant, as is commonly done
with rubber compounds which are to
be similarly exposed.
This sheath came to be known as
"Alpeth," a name coined from the
key letters of fl/uminum and polyethy-
lene.
If the decision taken in May of
1946 to proceed without delay to
manufacture and use brass sheath
cable was daring, the decision to go
forward with the alpeth sheath was
little short of derring-do. Alpeth
had not been subjected to even the
limited pre-war tests applied to the
brass sheath. Reliance was placed
solely upon laboratory study of the
polyethylene material. True, this
laboratory study was exhaustive, com-
prising exposure to temperature and
humidity cycles as well as to ultra-
violet rays. These are what are
known as "accelerated aging" tests
and, while an extremely useful tool
in appraising the characteristics of a
material intended for outdoor use,
they are rarely relied upon as a com-
plete substitute for field trials under
the conditions of commercial installa-
tions. But time did not permit trials
of the usual kind to be made.
Experimental lengths of the new
cable were made available early in
1947 for trial purposes. A wholly
new splicing technique had to be de-
84
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
Training thousands of cable splicers in the technique of making a water-tight enclosure
comparable to the lead-sleeve wiped joint was a major undertaking
vised to provide a water-tight enclo-
sure such as is afforded by the lead
sleeve and wiped joints used to en-
close splices in lead-sheathed cable.
Devising and refining methods of
splicing represented a major develop-
ment in itself. Here again, some of
the newer materials, such as neo-
prene, were used to ensure a closure
which would remain water-tight and
durable despite exposure to sun and
air. The quick training in the operat-
ing companies of thousands of cable
splicers in the new techniques was no
small achievement.
Advantages of Alpeth
As IS USUAL in such an undertaking,
unforeseen contingencies arose and un-
expected obstacles were encountered;
but each was successfully surmounted,
and in September of 1947 the first
lengths of cable having the new type
of sheath came off the production line.
Since those first lengths were fabri-
cated, last September, production of
the new type of sheath has increased
steadily until now about 30 percent
of all the exchange cable being manu-
factured is made with the alpeth
sheath. As is to be expected in the
manufacture of an entirely new prod-
uct, the alpeth sheath has not been
entirely without faults. These have,
however, been of relatively rare oc-
currence and there is every reason to
suppose that further study and ex-
perience will point the way to their
practical elimination. A substantial
amount of field experience has been
gained in the installation of the new
cable, so that we are now in a posi-
tion to appraise its relative value.
1948
Exchange Cable
85
The new cable has a number of
characteristics which recommend it.
The sheath is extremely light, with
the result that even the largest
size cables weigh only about half
as much as lead-covered cables.
Smaller sized cables are relatively
even lighter. This of course brings
savings in freight charges and facili-
tates handling the cable during in-
stallation. It also permits aerial
installation on smaller and lighter
suspension strand than would be re-
quired for lead covered cable.
Advantage is taken of the light
weight of the cable and the fact that
the polyethylene has an extremely
low coefficient of friction by install-
ing the cable in conduit in longer
lengths than would be practicable
with lead covered cable;
thus the amount of splic-
ing is reduced. In many
cases, where splices are
not required in a man-
hole for distribution pur-
poses, successive under-
ground sections are
pulled in one length.
merely bending the cable
to rack it in the inter-
mediate manhole, with-
out splicing it. Where
splices are necessary, the
amount of work involved
is somewhat more than
in the case of lead-cov-
ered cable, but it is ex-
pected that in time fur-
ther developments should
substantially eliminate
this disadvantage. For
underground use, the
alpeth sheath has one
extremely important ad-
vantage. It is not sus-
ceptible to corrosion, which is a fre-
quent cause of failure of lead sheath.
Finally, the cost of the alpeth sheath
is appreciably less than that of lead
sheath.
All in all, it appears that although
born as the child of necessity, the
new type of sheath may well have a
permanent place in cable manufac-
ture, even if, in years to come, the
supply of lead should become suf-
ficient to provide sheath for the
amount of cable required to be manu-
factured.
Runaway Demand
Currently, the Western Electric
Company is producing exchange cable
at a rate somewhat above 60 billion
conductor-feet annually : the goal that
New materialsy as well as a new technique.^ are required
for making splices in alpeth cable
86
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
I
Reels of exchange cable ready for shipment from the Kearny Works
of the Western Electric Company
was set at that meeting on May i,
1946. It is indeed fortunate that
this is so; because, as the public de-
mand for telephones has grown to
proportions far in excess of expecta-
tions, the requirements for cable have
grown apace, so that today exchange
cable is the most critical element of
plant in providing facilities for new
telephones.
It may be of interest to reflect
upon why this is so.
To most readers, the question will
undoubtedly have occurred as to why
the program for the production of
cable, central-office equipment, and
telephone instruments was not in bal-
ance. The answer is that it was I
Sixty billion conductor feet of ex-
change cable per year wasn't selected
because of any cryptic significance of
that number. On the contrary, it
was expected that this would be suf-
ficient, within a year or two, to care
for all the held orders and to pro-
vide cable plant adequate to meet
the continuing demand for telephones
— as then foreseen. But alasl The
unprecedented demand for service
could not reasonably have been fore-
seen. Even bold forecasts, predict-
ing a considerably greater demand
than had ever been experienced be-
fore, were still short of the service
customers wanted. Plans for the
manufacture of central-office equip-
ment and telephone instruments con-
templated that, in addition to caring
for growth, the quantities planned
would also provide for an active pro-
gram of dial conversions. As the
unprecedented demand continued, it
1948
Exchange Cable
87
was, of course, possible to deflect the
central-office equipment and instru-
ment production originally intended
for dial conversions to help meet the
unexpectedly large demand for addi-
tional telephones and defer dial con-
versions to the extent necessary. On
the other hand, in the case of ex-
change cable production, there was
no such cushion to absorb the shock
of the sharply increased demand.
Exchange cable thus became the bot-
tleneck in the effort to clear held
orders.
Production at an annual rate above
60 billion conductor-feet is far from
an easy task. It calls for carrying on
certam of the manufacturing opera-
tions 24 hours a day, frequently 7
days a week. To obtain the materials
necessary — the copper, the wood pulp
for insulation, the lead, the ahiminum,
the polyethylene, as well as other in-
gredients— presents a Herculean task
of supply, which is being met only
with the utmost difficulty. Within re-
cent months there have been times
when the Western Electric Company
has had to scrape the bottoms of the
bins hard to keep the machinery in
operation, so closely has the produc-
tion program been geared to ultimate
availability of materials.
The achievement in so greatly in-
creasing the volume of cable manu-
facture, while putting into produc-
tion an entirely new type of sheath
and finding the means of successfully
installing it, rates as one of the great
industrial accomplishments of the
post-war era.
steel
Passenger
Dwelling
Freight
W.E Co.
Production
Automobile
Units
Cor
Exchange
Production
Production
Cable
Shipments
Estimated Bell System exchange cable shipments for 1^48 com-
pared with the expected 1^48 production of certain other items.
The highest pre-war year is taken as 100 percent for each item
Central JVork on Common Problems^ to Avoid Duplication
and Prevent Waste^ Is Assured by the Relationship between
A, T, &f T. and the Operating Bell System Companies
The License Contract
Keith S, McHugh
The license contract is a contract
between the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company and each of the
operating telephone companies of the
Bell System. Under it, all work
together to provide a coordinated
nationwide communication service.
Each operating company does locally
the work that can best be done locally,
and the A. T. & T. Company is re-
sponsible for work that can best be
done by a central organization.
If one single big company were
providing telephone service every-
where, it would be natural, and in
fact essential, for it to have a central
staff of people carrying on research,
handling patents and financing, as-
sisting the local operating areas and
divisions, and making studies and de-
veloping methods to the benefit of the
service in all places where the com-
pany operated.
The same functions are equally
necessary when, as in the Bell System,
several companies, rather than one
big single company, have the respon-
sibility together.
Having several companies, each
responsible for providing service in
its own territory, has been of great
importance in making it possible for
the Bell System to give the best tele-
phone service in the world, for it has
aided in decentralizing responsibility
and authority so that local people
who know local conditions have the
freedom and ability to act as circum-
stances require.
But the centralization of certain
work has likewise been of the utmost
value. And since we have several
companies, instead of one big com-
pany, assurance that this central
work will be performed is provided
by a contract between the A. T. & T.
Company, which does the work, and
each of the Bell System operating
companies.
The name "license contract" goes
back to the early days of the business,
when local companies were first li-
censed to use Bell telephones; but for
years the contract has guaranteed
that the operating companies will get
the benefit of important services ren-
^
The License Contract
89
dered by the parent company, includ-
ing research, financing, and engineer-
ing. To reimburse the A. T. & T.
Company, the operating companies
pay a percentage — since 1929 it has
been 1V2 percent — of their operating
revenues (excluding certain minor
; items). This is payment for value
received and for services rendered.
Each of us knows from his own
knowledge that both local and cen-
tralized work are needed to give
good telephone service.
It takes telephone people in Mem-
phis to provide service in Memphis,
others in Spokane to give service in
Spokane, and so on in every com-
munity.
And in each operating company
i headquarters there are people who
[ work on problems that affect the serv-
! ice in all the areas where the com-
pany operates. Their work is part
[ of the cost of providing service, just
as the wages of every operator and
craftsman are part of the total cost.
The same is true of the central
group at Bell System headquarters,
who are working on problems that
are common to all the companies.
And just as some of the revenues of
each operating company must be used
to pay the cost of work done in its
own headquarters, so likewise some
of the revenues of all the companies
are used to pay the cost of work done
at System headquarters.
There are two main reasons for
centralizing certain functions:
First, it is economical and efficient
— it is just plain horse-sense — to do
central work on common problems
and make the results available to all
I concerned. Duplication of effort is
avoided, waste prevented, progress
quickened.
Second, coordination is needed.
This is particularly important in our
business, because the very essence of
telephone service is to interconnect
people wherever they may be, and the
over-all quality of the service in one
place depends on, and contributes to,
the quality of service in other places.
What the Operating Companies
Get under the Contract
The centralized services ren-
dered by A. T. & T. under the license
contract fall into five groups. Let
us look briefly at each :
I. Research and Development
The contract provides that A. T.
& T. will maintain facilities for
constant research. The Bell Labo-
ratories (owned by A. T. & T.
jointly with the Western Electric
Company, the System's manufac-
turing and supply unit) render this
service. Each step forward in tele-
phone progress has depended on
research. Alexander Graham Bell's
invention was only the first of
thousands of inventions needed to
create the telephone system. Start-
ing from scratch, the Bell Labo-
ratories, which grew out of Bell's
original attic workshop, have de-
veloped switchboards, cables, better
telephone instruments, modern dial
apparatus, and a whole vast array
of devices and systems. Without
these there could be no telephone
service as we know it today.
This great research organiza-
tion— the largest industrial labora-
tory in the world — employs a staff
of outstanding scientists. For each
90
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
operating company to try to dupli-
cate it would be not merely waste-
ful— it would be utterly impossible,
for there wouldn't be enough com-
petent scientists to go 'round.
The cost of research is a major
item of expense among the license
contract services. The return in
value to the operating companies
and to telephone users, however,
is tremendous, for research has
enormously increased the scope and
quality of Bell telephone service
and has lowered plant and operat-
ing costs — below what they would
otherwise have to be — by hun-
dreds of millions of dollars. (Just
to give one example : Sixty years
years ago the cost of wire in tele-
phone cable, per pair-mile installed,
was more that ten times the cost
per pair-mile in today's 2121-pair
cable.)
A. T. & T. pays the cost of Bell
Laboratories' basic research and
development work, including the
acquiring of new fundamental
knowledge. Western Electric pays
for development and design work
specifically related to Western's
products, and this expense becomes
part of the total cost of equipment
that Western makes and sells. For
example, A. T. & T. would pay for
developing a new metal alloy which
might have various uses, and West-
ern would pay for the design of a
particular product in which the
alloy was used.
2. Operating Advice and Assist-
ance.
The license contract provides
that the A. T. & T. Company shall
maintain a staff to give the operat-
ing companies assistance in all
phases of telephony. The General
Departments of the A. T. & T.
Company comprise this staff. They
furnish advise and assistance to
the companies in general engineer-
ing, plant, traffic, commercial, ac-
counting, patent, legal, administra-
tive, personnel, treasury and all
other matters contributing to the
efficient and economical conduct of
the business.
This staff analyzes experience
and results in all territories, and
in consultation with the operating
companies develops new methods
which afford the basis for coor-
dinated improvement of service.
Such centralized work is essential
to bring about the orderly, eco-
nomical introduction of improved
equipment and more efficient prac-
tices. It makes it possible readily
to bring the total System experi-
ence to bear on any particular op-
erating problem in a particular
area. Similarly, it enables all the
companies to realize gains on a
broad front by using or adapting
methods that have been found ad-
vantageous through localized trial
and experiment. If there were no
centralized staff, each company
would have to duplicate its Work,
at much higher cost.
3. Patent Rights
The A. T. & T. Company owns
or has rights to use patents cov-
ering most of the apparatus and
equipment used to provide tele-
phone service.
The operating companies not
only obtain the right to use these
inventions and those coming along
in the future; the contract also
obliges the A. T. & T. Company to
1948
The License Contract
91
defend the companies and to save
them from loss from any patent in-
fringement suits brought against
them for using recommended ap-
paratus. These rights and this
protection are of very great value
to the operating companies.
4. Financial Advice and Assist-
ance
The A. T. & T. Company pro-
vides financial advice and assist-
ance to the operating companies,
including help in securing capital
funds for service improvement and
expansion. An important part of
this is that A. T. & T. obtains
money from investors and keeps a
pool of funds available. The op-
erating companies can borrow
from this pool on short notice.
This enables them to keep their
own cash balance low, get money
for construction as needed, and re-
pay it later. The cost of financing
is kept down — the money is on
hand when wanted.
5. Availability of Materials
The A. T. & T. Company agrees
to maintain arrangements for the
manufacture of telephone appara-
tus and materials under its patent
rights; the operating companies
are assured of a dependable source
of top quality products at reasona-
ble prices.
economically perform these services
for themselves, nor can they obtain
the rights and services elsewhere.
The A. T. & T. Company makes no
profit out of the arrangement; in all
but one of the last ten years the cost
to A. T. & T. in rendering the serv-
ices, excluding any return on capital,
has been more than the payments
made by the operating companies.
Could each company pay its share
of the actual total cost of the services,
instead of paying a percentage of
revenue? In principle, either basis
could produce satisfactory results, al-
though experience over the years
shows that the former method would
have cost the operating companies
more. Also, use of a percentage of
revenues has the practical advantage
of being simpler.
When an operating company in-
creases its rates to customers, pay-
ment of a percentage of revenues
means of course that the amount paid
to A. T. & T. for the license contract
services is also somewhat increased.
However, expenses of the A. T. & T.
Company in rendering the services
are also going up, for the same rea-
sons that oblige the operating com-
panies to increase their rates. In-
creasing the license contract payments
proportionately with increased reve-
nues helps to make the payments come
closer to meeting the actual cost of
rendering the services.
A. T. & T. Makes No Profit from The License Contract Services
The License Contract Payments Increase Bell System Efficiency
The payments made to A. T. & T.
by the operating companies are for
necessary services and valuable rights.
The companies cannot efficiently or
A nation-wide telephone system
is possible only through coordination ;
the license contract has provided the
coordinating link; the improved serv-
92
Bell Telephone Magazine
ice and lowered cost that have re-
sulted through the years have been of
great benefit to telephone users.
Unlike a purely investing company,
which exists simply to invest money,
and all of whose costs are incurred for
the benefit of its stockholders alone,
the A. T. & T. Company incurs its ex-
penses to improve and make more ef-
ficient the oj>erations of the telephone
companies in which it owns stock.
Like the wages of telephone opera-
tors, these expenses are necessary and
advantageous to users; they are a
worth-while expenditure in the con-
duct of the business.
The very ownership of the operat-
ing companies by A. T. & T. is the
end result of financing their needs for
capital to build telephone facilities.
In the early days, as we have seen,
local people who were starting tele-
phone exchanges obtained licenses to
use Bell telephones. Many of these
local companies found it hard to raise
capital to build plant, so the Ameri-
can Company raised money and ad-
vanced it to them, taking stock in re-
turn. Even then, a central source of
capital was needed to develop local
as well as long distance telephone
service.
Out of these beginnings, and out
of the need for centralized research
and for standardization of methods
and apparatus, the Bell System of to-
day developed. The financing activ-
ity of A. T. & T., the conduct of
research, the performance of the
centralized part of the over-all Bell
System telephone job, and the main-
tenance of a corporate organization
for these purposes, are all essential
services which cannot be eliminated
without seriously impairing the ef-
ficiency of the nation's telephone serv-
ice. They have been, in fact, of fun-
damental importance in giving this
country far more telephone service,
of better quality and value, than
exists in the rest of the world. Long
experience has demonstrated the need
for both centralization and decen-
tralization— for doing local work on
local problems, central work on com-
mon problems. And the license con-
tract, which grew out of the original
licensing of Bell instruments, has con-
tributed essentially to the unmatched
progress of the telephone in America.
The Thirty MilHonth Bell Telephone
Is Installed in Iowa
The thirty millionth Bell System tele-
phone was installed, last June 29, in Mar-
shalltown, la. It was installed, by the
Northwestern Bell Telephone Company,
in the home of Harold Bragg. Mr. Bragg
is a veteran of World War II and an en-
gineer for a furnace company in Marshall-
town.
The implications of the event are sig-
nificant.
It took the Bell System more than 45
years to attain its first ten million tele-
phones; it took not quite 20 years for the
second ten million ; it took less than six
years for the third ten million — of which
8,200,000 have been added since V-J Day.
In the last ten years, the number of Bell
System telephones in service has nearly
doubled: from 15,460,000 to the present
30,000,000.
Mr. Bragg placed the first call over the
newly-installed instrument to a brother,
W. G. Bragg, in Seattle, Washington.
Mayor Donald E. Taylor of Marshall-
town followed, and called his mother in
Brainerd, Minnesota.
Next came a three-way exchange of
greetings by long distance. Vice President
Clifford L. Sampson of the Northwestern
Bell Telephone Company placed the "con-
ference" call from the Bragg residence to
President Leroy A. Wilson of the Ameri-
can Telephone and Telegraph Company,
in New York, and to President Russell J.
Hopley of the Northwestern Company, in
Omaha. Messrs. Wilson and Hopley wel-
comed Bragg as a telephone subscriber.
Today's Bell System plant investment is
about $8,000,000,000. This is almost
double what it was 10 years ago. Nearly
two- thirds of this lO-year gain has been
made since the war. Similarly, there are
today about 675,000 Bell System employees,
or more than twice the total of a decade
ago. Stockholders of the American Tele-
phone and Telegraph Company, parent
company of the System, now total nearly
750,000.
The number of telephone conversations
completed daily in the Bell System now
exceeds 125,000,000, as compared to
around 70,000,000 per day ten years ago.
Today 115,000,000 miles of wire inter-
connect Bell System telephones. Ten years
ago there were 83,000,000 miles.
Harold Bragg makes the first call as
Installer Thomas Sorensen stands by.
On the telephone is a metal plate identify-
ing it as ''The thirty-millionth Bell System
telephone^ installed in the home of Mr. and
Mrs. Harold Braggy Marshalltown^ lowa^
June 2gj 1948"
Tke Bell System's Private-Line Services Enable the
Press Associations to Supply News Quickly and Fully to
Papers and Broadcasting Stations
The Wires Which Carry the
News of the World
Robert E. Moore
Behind the news which you read
in your daily newspaper and hear by
radio there are complex news-gather-
ing and news-writing and news-edit-
ing organizations, in part local and
in part nation-wide and even inter-
national. And behind all but the
local part of the job are Bell System
services which are at work day and
night to keep a continuous stream of
news flowing throughout the United
States and into Canada and Mexico.
These services — chiefly "private line"
facilities of the Long Lines Depart-
ment— require the use of about 600,-
000 miles of our circuits, more than
8,700 teletypewriters, many hundreds
of switchboards, and vast quantities
of other equipment.
Our customers who use all these
facilities in their specialized task of
gathering ajid distributing news are
the press associations, so called : The
Associated Press, the International
News Service, the United Press As-
sociations, and similar organizations.
Their customers are, in turn, the ap-
proximately 1,750 daily newspapers
of general circulation and the ap-
proximately 1,900 commercial radio
stations in the United States. There
are still others to the north and to
the south of our borders.
To the people of this country its
newspapers and radio stations bring
up-to-the-minute news of every sort:
not only local news but significant and
interesting accounts from every cor-
ner of this land and from many a
capital and focal point around the
world. Along with the news come
on-the-spot photographs of people and
events of importance or of special
interest.
The American people are among
the best informed in the world. They
are also among the most critical of
the timeliness of the news they get
and of the form in which it is pre-
sented to them.
The operations of the press as-
sociations may be divided into three
Wires Which Carry the News of the World
95
The main news room in New York of one of the press associations
broad categories : gathering the news
and assembling it at central points;
editing the news and preparing it for
use; and delivering the news to cus-
tomers— newspapers and radio sta-
tions.
It is this last function — transpor-
tation— with which the Bell System
is so importantly concerned. In
order to understand the System's
part, it is going to be necessary to get
a picture of the whole operation.
And although there are variations
among them, the operations of the
several associations conform in gen-
eral to the same pattern. That pat-
tern is of specialization and depart-
mentalization— of organizations so
complicated and yet so closely coor-
dinated as to remind one of assembly-
line production.
In just about every city in the na-
tion— with exceptions to be noted in
the next breath — are correspondents
• of the associations. They are experi-
enced reporters; they know what is
newsy, timely, of interest; they write
their stories either on their own ini-
tiative or on assignment — and send
them in to the regional bureaus.
In certain strategic cities — and
these are the exceptions just referred
to — there are regional offices or bu-
reaus having staff reporters who also
originate stories. And it is to these
bureaus that the correspondents send
their stories — stories from abroad as
well as from domestic correspondents.
That is a quick look at the first
operation: gathering and assembling
the news.
The editing and rewriting of the
news and the preparation of special
features are handled at the several
bureaus and the main offices of the as-
sociations. These editorial operations
are expertly done; the associations
have specialists in foreign affairs, na-
tional politics, sports, finance, and
other topics, who know what the cus-
96
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
tomcrs — newspapers and radio sta-
tions— want, and can supply it.
So now the product — news — is all
assembled and packed and ready for
shipment.
For shipment, in almost all cases,
over Bell System private-line circuits
which may be thought of as sort of
an endless belt arrangement for con-
veying news : with the bureaus adding
items as the belt moves past them and
the customers taking off the news as
it reaches them — although without
diminishing the supply.
Let's take a look, then, at the
process.
The teletypewriter private-line
networks of the press associations
usually consist of from two to six na-
In the center is the editorial department of a
tion office y where the news is prepared for
tion-wide main trunk line services
which interconnect the headquarters
and main bureau offices with other of-
fices at intermediate cities. These
trunk lines are used from i8 to 24
hours daily to disseminate all general
news reports. The news stories are
prepared on teletypewriter machines
in the form of perforated tape for
transmission over the private-line net-
works. This tape is fed into and op-
erates automatic teletypewriter send-
ing equipment, which transmits the
news over the private-line services to
newspapers and radio stations, where
it is received simultaneously at all
points in typewritten page form.
The headquarters office and the
bureau offices in the larger cities on
the trunk lines are equipped to trans-
mit and receive, although
the bulk of the transmis-
sion on these services
originates in the bureaus
in New York, Washing-
ton, Chicago, and San
Francisco. About 800,-
000 words of news, for
example, passes through
the New York bureau of
one of the press associa-
tions each day.
Regional wires, oper-
ating eight to 16 hours
daily, branch out from
cities where bureau of-
fices are maintained; and
here switching arrange-
ments are provided in
order to separate and
permit the transmission
of news of particular in-
terest to these areas in
more condensed form.
press associa- News originating at an
transmission outlying pomt on a re-
I
1948
fFires Which Carry the News of the World
97
gional circuit is sent to a bureau of-
fice, and if it is other than local in
character and of sufficient impor-
tance, it is re-transmitted on the trunk
system.
As the size or circulation of a news-
paper governs the quantity of the
news it requires, it is apparent that
a newspaper in a small city would be
unable to handle the entire wordage
from a main trunk news wire but
would be covered amply by the con-
densed report as carried by a regional
wire. These regional reports contain
the principal items of national and
international news together with full
coverage of news of particular inter-
est to the citizens of that locality.
In some cases the main trunk wires
are "duplexed." Nbr-
mally a teletypewriter
wire system operates by
means of one two-way
channel, while in duplex
service it is possible to
transmit in two direc-
tions simultaneously,
thus giving in effect tw^o
separate services.
A further develop-
ment of duplex service is
the "round robin," which
is so called because of
arrangements which pro-
vide two one-way chan-
nels, one clockwise and
the other counter clock-
wise, on a route which
covers a number of cities
and terminates at the
starting point. This en-
ables an operator at any
station on the circuit
which is equipped for
sending to transmit copy
to all the points around the "round-
robin" and receive an identical copy
of the material he sent on a receiving
machine located beside his sending
machine.
One particular advantage of
"round-robin" duplex service is that
the operator is immediately aware of
any circuit trouble; for it follows
that his received copy, having gone
around the entire circuit, will reveal
interruptions on the circuit as well as
any errors that may have occurred
during the transmission to the other
points. Further, in the case of serv-
ice failure to a point on one channel,
the arrangement of the "round-robin"
is such that important news flashes
can be sent out on the other channel
These teletypewriters of one of the press associations
transmit news at the rate of 60 words a minute
98
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
iecmsmo, t© the msmm^f to civ£ the sisssiikMs s* nmm mw to
ISLJ9E8ATE mtn THE SITOAtK^U
ATHB4S— TH£ SI?££JC ^i«f IS kTtkCKUQ THE EASfEM FUHK » trnMUltk
Ui THE SMI«<^ ^tMTAIl4S «EA8 f«E M»»«« l#< ' M>l©Et« STEPS
.w£ ^^tm T4KDi ic; ir«ocm^'« HfiuTY-fHatsMB SiHAsimiTs <F mzmt
mSM. C0'«-:UU5T-LEC SUESSILUS 3?JfcIf© TIK TORI'S »!.? mitk SUPFLf
Lt^lE FOm 8ATS ASO« ^02#^E IS THE H£AMmKTfI& Of THE GliEEK SEC«4»
yOKC
-mrjA^s t'ni£? ASSISTS? i£ n,munz to
^ic •• ^ , MHO C0!-/:'aw«M the
A^^wj- as received. Such dispatches by the hundreds are pounded out on
press association teletypewriters in newspaper and radio offices through-
out the country
and partial service be given the point
in trouble.
Supplemental service is another of-
fering of considerable value to the
press.
The general news reports have be-
come so complicated and the cover-
age so great that many items of news
have to be curtailed in order to sup-
ply a complete report. The result
is that many newspapers and radio
stations have demanded more detailed
news concerning sports, movies, busi-
ness, politics, social activities and
other items; and in order to meet
this demand, special wires are now
used for the purpose of supplying
this coverage.
By means of this supplemental
teletypewriter service, which may be
provided for a period of one or more
hours to any or all of the points al-
ready receiving service from a pri-
mary wire, additional or overflow
traffic may be delivered without loss
of time. For example, in the handling
of financial news over press serv-
ices, as the volume of sales of shares
mounts the summaries become greater
and, as the closing hours are reached,
the reports become so heavy that ad-
ditional services are needed to de-
liver the complete report as quickly
as is possible after its compilation.
Serving Radio
Radio stations receive their news
reports from the press associations
over both the general news wires and
special radio news wires.
From the general news wires, com-
mentators who present their broad-
casts in individual style edit the full
coverage report to suit their particu-
lar requirements. These commenta-
tors have large followings and are
very popular, and their presentations
are carried by the broadcasting com-
>
1948
fVires Which Carry the News of the World
99
panics over their network stations.
Over the special radio news wires
a "processed" report is sent on a
regularly scheduled basis, in some
cases every fifteen minutes, and the
"copy" is so prepared that the latest
report includes last minute news as
well as a resume of previous news.
This type of report is very popular,
particularly with small stations, since
there is no necessity for further edit-
ing before an announcer gives it over
the air.
The war period was responsible
for a great development in radio
news broadcasting. Before the war,
not all radio stations broadcast news,
and those which did offered only a
partial coverage. With the great
volume of war news coming over the
press wires continuously, an increas-
ing demand developed for more fre-
quent radio broadcasts of news. As
a result, the schedules were stepped
up, and many stations broadcast news
reports as often as once an hour —
with more complete reports every few
hours. This activity caused a consid-
erable development of the already
existing use of private lines for special
radio news, and was responsible for
establishment of new teletypewriter
networks.
To illustrate the rapid growth of
these services: — one network started
with one station receiving its report,
and has developed in about seven
years until it now involves about
68,000 miles of circuit and more
than 1,000 radio stations. This
network is nation-wide, and is pro-
vided with switches at sectional loca-
tions so that it may be split into sev-
eral networks or returned to a single
operating network as occasion de-
mands. On these networks the spe-
cial radio news is sent from press
association headquarters or from
bureau ofHce locations to the radio
stations.
A similar development has oc-
curred because of the increased public
lOO
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
interest in sports : the press associa-
tions have estabhshed special circuits,
operating lo to 12 hours daily, for
the sole purpose of disseminating
sports news in far greater detail than
would be possible on the general news
circuits. Although these sports serv-
ices have been established in their
present form only since late in 1944,
they now operate to a large number
of cities and extend into every section
of the country.
On occasions of special news events,
it is necessary for the press associa-
tions to supplement their regular
news service with temporary services,
either by adding stations close to the
news source or by establishing a sepa-
rate service from the news source to
a main bureau office.
Some of the more important events
covered in this manner are the na-
tional political conventions and the
national election, primary elections
A telephotograph operator prepares to
transmit a photograph by wire
This telephotograph transmitter is com-
pact and readily portable
each year in various states, and the
baseball world series.
Other events of a more extended
nature, such as major and minor
league baseball pennant races, college
football and basketball games, usually
require the rearrangement of exist-
ing facilities and the addition of ex-
tra hours of service.
Morse Still Used
The change from Morse (i.e., code
telegraph) to teletypewriter service
was natural, as the speed and depend-
ability of the teletypewriter and the
elimination of translation from tele-
graph signals to typed copy exactly
fitted the needs of press associations
and newspapers. However, Morse
service still has its place in the press
field, especially at locations where
power is not available to operate
teletypewriter motors and proper
protection against the weather is not
provided for the teletypewriter ma-
chines. Such locations are common
to baseball parks, football fields, and
1948
Wires Which Carry the News of the World
lOI
scenes of flood or disaster. Availa-
bility and portability are also factors
in favor of Morse equipment.
Prior to 1925 Morse service was
predominant in the press private line
field. Practically all this use has been
superseded by teletypewriter service,
although until about five years ago
it continued to be the most practical
service arrangement to obtain news
at temporary locations such as the
press boxes at football and baseball
stadia, conventions, and prize fights,
where the operation of teletype-
writer service was not feasible. How-
ever, the press associations have now
arranged for the use of modified
sending and receiving teletypewriter
equipment at improved and protected
locations so that the play-by-play de-
velopments of these news events may
be sent directly into their trunk sys-
tems.
The use of private line telephone
service by the press associations dur-
ing their early days was confined
principally to the use of short-period
telephone service. This service was
used extensively during the transi-
tional period from Morse to teletype-
writer private line serv-
ice. It is still used to a ":.": ^-"^^TT^
limited degree to de-
liver a brief news re-
port to small papers
which specialize in lo-
cal news and cannot use
or afford a general or
regional news report.
The service is usually
from a bureau office
which operates on the
main trunk or regional
teletypewriter system
and from which reports
are telephoned to from
one to three receiving newspapers.
The service is usually furnished for
three relatively short periods each
day, and enables the newspaper to re-
ceive, edit, and set in type as much of
the news as possible in advance and
then receive the latest developments
just prior to its press time. This type
of service is being replaced gradually
by teletypewriter exchange service
(TWX) and private line teletype-
writer service.
Pictures by Wire
"Pictures by Wire," better known
to telephone people as telephotograph
service, is the most exacting and spec-
tacular Bell System service used in
the press field. It is being greatly
expanded, because of the recognition
of the news value of spot news pic-
tures and the present-day trend to
publish a news picture with a brief
caption which conveys to the readers
a complete news story and requires no
further editorial or printed comment.
News pictures which are trans-
mitted by wire are handled for news-
papers throughout the country by
three large picture agencies which
Sajel This photograph was transmitted by voire bejore
being reproduced here. There is no apparent loss of
clarity and detail
I02
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
f% • • • •• • • • •••• • • • ^
• • •• •• • • • • •• * *i
•• ••• • ••••••• •••• •••• • • • • i
•• •• •••• • •••••• • • • • • •!
• • • • • • • •••• •» ••» mm (
Perforated tape such as this actuates the press service teletypewriters
are affiliated with the major press as-
sociations. Each of these agencies
operates its own telephotograph net-
work system, using Bell System serv-
ices. Their systems utilize channels
specially adapted for transmission of
picture material and also full-period
telephone service — which are chan-
nels normally provided for ordinary
telephone service. All of these are
leased on a contract basis for 24
hours daily.
Short-period telephone contract
services are also used daily on a part-
time basis, utilizing channels provided
for ordinary telephone service. By
means of such services, pictures are
sent to newspapers whose addition to
the network services is not justified
from the expense angle.
In addition to contract services,
these agencies are large users of toll
message telephone service for picture
transmission. This is used to cover
special news events which occur in
cities not on their networks. Such
picture stories are covered by sending
photographers with portable trans-
mitting equipment to the place where
the picture story occurs; after the
pictures are obtained, they are trans-
mitted over toll message telephone
circuits to the nearest network sta-
tion and from there sent throughout
the country.
The telephotograph network of
one of the press associations is now
beginning its 12th year of operation.
Since it was almost nation-wide from
the outset, the basic layout has not
changed to any great extent except
for the addition of other cities to the
basic network and the use of the
service by other newspapers in cities
already connected to the network.
With the increasing demand for
spot news pictures, the trend is to-
ward the establishment of regional
or state telephotograph networks.
This, if continued, will result in a
coverage for pictures closely paral-
leling the news coverage networks;
i.e., with the main trunk line for pic-
tures of national interest and the re-
gional or state circuits for pictures of
local interest.
Setting Type by Wire
An interesting use of another Bell
System service, private-line teletype-
writer service for teletypej^/f^r op-
eration, permits one of the large
weekly news magazines to edit every
issue in New York and yet print it
simultaneously in Philadelphia, Chi-
cago, and Los Angeles.
Teletypesetter equipment was de-
veloped to provide for the automatic
operation of typesetting machines.
The equipment consists of a perfora-
tor and a teletypesetter operating
unit, the latter being attached directly
to the typesetting machine. The per-
forator (keyboard) punches code
combinations corresponding to key-
board characters into a tape, which,
when fed into the operating unit in a
distant printing plant, will automati-
1948
Wires Which Carry the News of the World
103
cally operate a linecasting machine,
producing the lines of t^^pecast in type
metal from which pages are printed.*
News material is received in the
centralized editorial office from
branch offices, various press associa-
1 tions, wire services, staff writers,
I newspapers and foreign correspond-
ents. After being edited, the mate-
Irial is prepared in tape form for
transmission over a private-line net-
work to the printing plant. There,
by means of a reperforator, it is re-
ceived in the form of perforated tape.
This tape is then fed into the teletype-
setter operatmg unit.
Prior to transmission to the print-
ing plants, the editorial office pro-
cures a telet^T^e copy from the tape
for use in preparing a "dummy" or
working duplicate of the magazine.
Changes are made until the entire
copy is estimated to fit the space pro-
vided for it. This is done to insure
perfect transmitted copy, since the
final tape transmission operates the
typesetting equipment simultaneously
I in all three distant printing plants.
This operation makes possible the
publication of the complete magazine
in identical form in three strategi-
cally located cities for simultaneous,
economical, nation-wide distribution.
Press associations and large metro-
politan newspapers use Bell System
overseas telephone service for cover-
* Special teletypewriter equipment was de-
veloped which uses a six-unit code rather than
the five-unit code normally employed for tele-
typewriter service, because of the large number
of type characters involved in teletypesetter
i operation, including small letters (lower case)
as well as capital letters (upper case) and
figures (upper case) and other operations and
special combinations of letters peculiar to type-
casting. It also provides for typing in either
red or black for the identification of headings,
foreign characters, and special editorial in-
structions.
age of spot news events occurring in
cities throughout the world where
overseas telephone service is now
available.
In addition to random use of this
service, our overseas short-period
telephone contract service is employed
when it is necessary to transmit large
volumes of foreign news directly to
New York after it has been assem-
bled at a central point. It is then
telephoned to New York daily during
the contract periods, where it is re-
corded, transcribed, edited, and pub-
lished.
Of the country's English-language
daily newspapers, about 95 percent
receive their news from one or more
of the press associations by mearis of
Bell System private line teletypewriter
service. At least 90 percent of the
country's commercial radio stations
receive news — from 16 to 24 hours
per day — ^by the same means.
When it comes to telephotography,
newspapers representing 75 percent
of the daily circulation in the country
receive pictures which have been
transmitted over Bell System facili-
ties; and newspapers representing
about 60 percent of the total daily
circulation receive pictures from tele-
photograph equipment located on
their own premises or in the same
city.
Such facts make clear the impor-
tance of the Bell System's part in the
story which lies behind the news. Its
importance is, in fact, unique among
the industries to which the System
furnishes private-line services. For
it is by means of these services that
the press associations both assemble
the product which they sell and then
ship it out to their customers.
On the east balcony of Grand Central
Terminal in New York City is installed a
full-scale replica of a colonial New Eng-
and village called "Main Street, Southern
New England." Here the New York,
New Haven and Hartford Railroad has
H reproduced a white pillared church and
other buildings such as once stood about a
village green, together with displays of
products of modern New England.
The telephone was invented in Boston.
The first commercial telephone exchange
was in New Haven. It was from southern
New England that the telephone spread
across the nation and throughout the world.
Now there stands on the balcony, opposite
the white church, a telephone display which
is a cooperative undertaking of four Bell
System companies serving southern New
England: New England Telephone and
Telegraph Co., Southern New England
Telephone Co., New York Telephone Co.,
and the Long Lines Department of A. T.
& T. Co.
Southern New England and
The Telephone
The display is a model of the radio relay system which transmits messages between New
York and Boston. Music is actually broadcast between the miniature towers visible at
either side of the sign, and can be interrupted by passing a hand between them across the
radio beam. The sign invites one to pick up a receiver and ''Hear how Bell System's
Radio Relay transmits telephone conversations and radio and television programs between
New York and Boston." At the left is an illustration of the first New Haven switch-
boardy and at the right is one of Bell in Boston
104
The Methods of Employee Protection Adopted by the Bell .
System Companies in I^IJ Have Demonstrated Their Value
To Hundreds of Thousands of Telephone Workers
The Benefit and Pension
Plan Is Thirty-five
Charles J, Schaefer^ Jr.
Thirty-five years ago last Janu-
ary, the Bell System became one of a
small group of industries which were
pioneering in the establishment of
benefit and pension plans for their
employees. The plan then estab-
lished by the System was sound and
reasonable. It was entirely "non-
contributory" : that is, the entire cost
was borne by the company. It was a
balanced plan, designed to provide
help of several kinds to meet various
needs.
Today, 35 years later, the Bell Sys-
tem plan is still among the leaders.
When all the features of the sickness
disability benefits, the accident disa-
bility benefits, the death benefits, the
disability pensions, and the service
pensions are tallied, they add up to a
plan which ranks among the very
best.*
There is no yardstick which can
• This general discussion can be neither com-
plete not definitive. For a conoprehensive and
exact statement of the terms and provisions of
the plan the reader is referred to the pamphlet
"Plan for Employees' Pensions, Disability Bene-
fits and Death Benefits." The booklet "Facts
about the Benefit Plan" gives a simple expla-
nation.
measure the human values involved,
but a few figures will reveal some sig-
nificant facts.
During the first year of the plan's
operation, the Bell System companies,
including Western Electric, paid out
$1,153,128 for all the purposes
covered by the plan.
In the 35th year of the plan's op-
eration, 1947, the amount was $148,-
820,000. That sum was about 8/4
percent of the System's payroll.
During the 35 years ending De-
cember 31, 1947, the total paid out
under the plan has been $1,006,755,-
995. This sum is made up of the fol-
lowing items :
Sickness disability benefits .... $207,915,097
Accident disability benefits .... 26,116,448
Death benefits 46,140,1 18
Disabilit}' pensions 9.259,832
Service pensions disbursed 1913-
1927, and payments to Pen-
sion Trust Funds * 1928-
1947 717,324,500
♦These were established to accrue currently
the cost of future service pensions on an actu-
arial basis. At the end of 1947 the aggregate
Pension Trust Funds of the 26 Bell System Com-
panies, including Western Electric and Bell
Laboratories, stood at $826,475,000.
io6
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
Before igij
The Bell System's benefit and pen-
sion plan went into effect on January
I, 1 9 13; but it did not spring full-
blown into being overnight. A great
deal of research, of planning, of plain
hard work preceded its adoption.
At the time when our plan became
effective there were, in addition to
certain governmental plans, some pen-
sion plans in older industries — more
particularly the railroads. But by
and large, such plans covered only a
small proportion of the employees in
industry. For others, any forms of
protection, if provided at all, were
entirely discretionary, and there was
little assurance or uniformity of treat-
ment. With increasing industrial ex-
pansion, however, the need for such
protective measures for employees
was becoming more fully recognized.
Before 19 13, a number of the Eell
System companies had informal prac-
tices which provided certain financial
assistance in connection with disa-
bility and death and which assisted
in varying degree those long-service
employees who, because of age or
other infirmities, were unable to con-
tinue on active duty.
In other instances, some protection
was provided by mutual-benefit as-
sociations or through similar em-
ployee activities — with or without
company participation. A few of the
older companies had somewhat uni-
form practices in effect which pro-
vided some means of retirement pay
treatment pending the adoption of
the Bell System plan, and one com-
pany had adopted a formal retire-
ment plan as early as 1906.
Our plan, as adopted by each of
the Bell System companies, provided
uniformly substantial benefit and pen-
sion protection; and, through inter-
change agreements, it enabled em-
ployees to transfer between com-
panies in the System while continuing
to enjoy the advantages of the plan.
This was and has continued to be
distinctly advantageous to both the
employees and the companies.
In the past 35 years, the Bell Sys-
tem benefit and pension plan has been
amended on eleven occasions to meet
changing conditions, and these amend-
ments have meant a broadening of
the provisions of the plan, to the ad-
vantage of employees.
The effect of the System's benefit
and pension plan upon employees is
to cushion the blows of illness, acci-
dent, old age, disability, death. Its
economic and administrative justifica-
tion lies, however, in its ability to
maintain within an essential public
service an organization of sustained
spirit and vitality. Contributing sub-
stantially to these attributes are the
features of the plan which provide an
orderly program of retirement for
older employees.
The principles underlying the plan
are that it be designed to meet ef-
fectively, for the future as well as the
present, the needs of the business;
that it be financially secure; and that
it balance fairly the particular inter-
ests of telephone workers, telephone
users, telephone stockholders. These
three groups comfM-ise the telephone
business. If the plan is to continue —
and to continue to be sound — it must
recognize that their interests are in-
terdependent.
All of the plan's benefit and pen-
sion provisions are important in
achieving these purposes.
1948
The Benefit and Pension Plan Is Thirty-five
107
The sickness, accident, and death
benefits — which, like pensions, are
* provided at company expense — bear
a fairly constant relationship to wage
and salary payments, and so they are
paid out of current expenses as re-
quired. The terms and provisions of
these benefits and the provisions of
the pension plan are summarized on
the next two pages.
The Bell System Pension Plan
This plan is generally accepted by
pension authorities who are familiar
with its provisions as an exceptionally
good and indeed outstanding indus-
trial plan. It is financially sound, and
its eligibility provisions treat all em-
ployees alike on the basis of their
wages or salaries and the length of
their Bell System service.
It is a trusteed plan, for which
funds are provided on a sound ac-
tuarial basis so that pensions will be
available for all employees when they
retire. The pension bill of the Bell
System Companies to insure this is
estimated to be about $125,000,000
for the year 1948. Accruals as de-
termined from time to time will be
required yearly to pay future pen-
sions when the pension roll will be
many times its present proportions.
It is important — it is essential to
the best interests of every employee
— that the terms and conditions of
the plan be maintained in accordance
with sound pension practices. A pen-
sion plan is not something which can
be changed from year to year; pen-
sion planning is by its nature a long-
term proposition, and must be so rec-
ognized if it is to be more than a
temporary gesture.
Pension plans cost a lot of money.
In order to provide essential security
for the future, there must be reasona-
ble assurance of meeting the bill in
the years ahead — in good years and
bad years. Without such security, a
pension plan is an unreliable promise.
If it fails in this respect, resulting
hardship and distress come upon
those who looked forward to and re-
lied upon its benefits, at a time in life
when they may be unable to offset
such disaster.
A good pension plan must be
thoughtfully conceived, carefully de-
signed, fairly administered, and
soundly financed for the long pull.
Pensions should be provided in rea-
sonable amounts, but not in amounts
so great as to make their continuance
uncertain nor to make the over-all
cost of the pension plan extravagant
in the eyes of the public.
How the Bell System Pension Plan
Compares
In making comparisons between
pensions provided by the Bell System
companies and by other companies,
certain important factors should be
given due weight.
Our plan is non-contributory, and
its payments are provided without
any direct or indirect cost to em-
ployees; therefore, in making com-
parisons with plans to which em-
ployees contribute, it must be kept in
mind that a part of the pension un-
der such plans is purchased by the em-
ployees' own contributions. On this
basis it can be shown that the Bell
System pension compares most favor-
ably with the part provided solely at
company expense in these other plans.
Another point to take into account
is that while every Bell employee be-
gins, on the day he or she enters the
(^Continued on page iio)
Summary of Benefits and Pensions
Disability Benefits
Sickness Disability, including injuries
not arising in the course of employment
by the company:
Benefits begin with 4 weeks' full pay
and 9 weeks' half pay after 2 years' serv-
ice and increase at intervals of service
until they become 52 weeks' full pay
after 25 years of service.
Accident Disability, injuries arising in
the course of employment by the com-
pany : . . « ■
Employee becomes eligible immedi-
ately upon entering the service. For
total disability, the benefits are 13 weeks'
full pay up to 15 years' service; begin-
ning with 15 years' service and at 5-year
intervals thereafter the full-pay benefits
increase by 13 weeks until they are 52
weeks' full pay after 25 years' service.
In each instance, following the full-pay
period, half-pay continues for the dura-
tion of total disability.
For partial disability, the benefits
are icx) percent of loss in earning
capacity during the scheduled full-pay
periods and 50 percent of loss in earn-
ing capacity during the half -pay pe-
riods. Payments do not extend beyond
six years.
Death Benefits
The underlying purpose of death
benefits is to continue the income for a
definite period while dependent relatives
of deceased employees adjust themselves
to the changed conditions after earnings
or pensions cease. Death benefits are
paid to specified beneficiaries for definite
periods and under conditions which are
explained in the booklets already re-
ferred to.
Death Benefits, in cases of death re-
sulting from sickness or accidents not
arising in the course of employment:
Maximum benefits begin with 4
months' wages at 2 years' service, and in-
crease by I month's wages for each addi-
tional year of service until they amount
to I year's wages after 10 years' service.
Death Benefits, in cases of death re-
sulting from accidents arising in course
of employment:
Employee becomes eligible immediately
upon entering the service. Maximum
benefits are 3 years' pay, not exceeding
$10,000; but if a greater amount could
have been paid under the above sickness
death benefit schedule, the maximum is
increased to such amount. In addition
— funeral expense not exceeding $250.
108
Service Pensions
Amount of Pensions
Retirement on service pension is pro-
vided for employees coming under the
following classifications :
Class A — Employees whose age is 60
years or more (women 55 or more)
and whose term of employment has
been 20 years or more.
Class B — Employees whose age is 55
to 59 (women 50 to 54) and whose
term of employment has been 25
years or more.
Class C — Employees whose age is less
than 55 years (women less than
50) and whose term of employ-
ment has been 30 years or more.
Employees in Class A may be retired
with a service pension at their own re-
quest or at the discretion of the Benefit
Committee.* Employees in Classes B
and C, while not eligible to be retired
at their own request, may be retired with
service pensions if their cases are ap-
proved by the Committee. An em-
ployee 65 years of age is retired at the
end of the month in which that age is
reached.
Disability Pensions
After 15 years of service, employees
becoming totally disabled by sickness or
injury outside of employment become
entitled to disability pensions. After
expiration of disability benefits, disability
pension continues as long as the em-
ployee is prevented by disability from
resuming active service. Where an em-
ployee is also eligible for a service pen-
sion, that is granted instead of the dis-
ability pension.
One percent of average annual pay
for last (or highest) 10 years of service
multiplied by years of service. Mini-
mum pension is $50 per month, except
that it may be less in disability pension
cases based on less than 20 years of serv-
ice and in cases of part-time employees.
When an employee retired on service
pension becomes entitled to a Social Se-
curity Primary Insurance Benefit based
solely on Bell System employment, the
service pension otherwise payable under
the plan, is reduced by one-half of
amount of Primary Insurance Benefit
attributable to Bell System employment
and wages — the part which results from
the company's direct tax contributions.
Pension Funds
Service pensions are paid from the
pension trust funds, which are irrevo-
cably devoted to service pension purpose
only; they are not, and cannot become,
a part of the assets of any of the com-
panies.
Supplementary Assistance
Benefits outside the plan may be paid
as supplementary assistance in excep-
tional cases where there is a need. This
provides a degree of flexibility for the
proper administration of individual cases
when additional relief is required be-
yond that which can be covered under
reasonable uniform schedules having
general application.
*A Benefit Committee comprised of five
members is appointed by the Board of Direc-
tors in each of the Bell System companies to
administer its Plan. Each of the major de-
partments of a company is usually repre-
sented on its Committee.
109
110
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
business, to acquire credited service
for eligibility to the advantages of
the pension plan, many other plans
limit employee participation in terms
of age, of earnings, of length of
service.
A number of plans require, for in-
stance, that employees be 25, 30, or
even 40 years old before they can re-
ceive pension credits or participate
in the pension plan. According to a
recent analysis by the Bankers Trust
Company, the most common age re-
quirement is 30 years. If this were
done in computing Bell System pen-
sions, it would reduce most of them
by very substantial amounts.
Another requirement of some pen-
sion plans is a certain period of serv-
ice— usually from one to five years —
before an employee may participate
in the pension plan. This practice,
too, if applied to Bell System pen-
sions, would reduce them substan-
tially. If, for example, five years of
service were required before an em-
ployee began to receive pension
credits, the amount of the service
pension would be reduced, on the
average, by about 15 percent.
Some pension plans compute pen-
sions differently for employees in dif-
ferent wage or salary groups. In the
Bell System, all pensions are figured
on exactly the same basis for every-
body.
Another common practice in pen-
sion plans is to "discount" pensions
granted ahead of the normal retire-
ment age. In these plans, the normal
retirement age is usually 65 ; and for
each year of retirement before 65,
the pension as computed by the regu-
lar formula is discounted — that is,
reduced — ^by about Msth. On the
average, Bell System men retire at
age 62 years and women at 58. If
the discount feature common to most
plans were applied to our pensions,
men's pensions in the average case
would be reduced by about 20 per-
cent and women's pensions by almost
50 percent.
The Pension Plan and Social Security
Although it is customary in the great
majority of industrial plans to make
adjustments in pensions, directly or
indirectly, because of Social Security
benefits, this common practice has
been subject to considerable misun-
derstanding. Many incorrect and
misleading statements regarding such:
coordination of company pensions
with the contributory governmental
benefits have been made. In view of
the questions which sometimes arise,
it may be of interest to review briefly
the underlying principles regarding
the practice as it applies to the Bell
System plan.
When this plan was established,
thirty-five years ago, it was provided
that, if a governmental agency should
establish the payment of pensions,
the full amount of such pensions
would be deducted from the pensions
otherwise payable under the plan. It
never was intended or provided that
the full service pensions computed un-
der the regular one-percent formula
should be in addition to pensions or
old-age benefits which might later be-
come payable under the law.
It is important to keep this in mind,
since it is basic to a correct under-
standing of the method adopted for
the adjustment of the company's pen-
sions on account of the old-age bene-
fits which first became payable under
the Social Security Act on January i,
1940.
1948
The Benefit and Pension Plan Is Thirty-five
III
In view of the fact that employees
must contribute half the funds from
which their old-age benefits are paid
under the Social Security system, the
Bell System pension plan provisions
requiring the deduction of the entire
federal old-age benefit from the com-
pany pension did not seem proper.
After careful study, it was decided
that the fairest way of coordinat-
ing the pension plan with the So-
cial Security Act would be to de-
duct from the Bell System service
pension beginning at 65 only one-half
of the Primary Insurance Benefit
based on Bell System wages and em-
ployment : the half representing what
is payable on account of the Com-
pany's tax contributions for those
benefits. In consequence, the retired
employee now receives at company
expense after attaining 65 years of
age, just as much from the company
through the Pension Trust Fund and
through the Social Security law as he
would have received directly as a
company pension if there were no So-
cial Security law. On top of that, he
gets the half of the Primary Insur-
ance Benefit which results from his
own contributions under the Social
Security law.
Social Security old-age benefits re-
sult from a form of group insurance
as contrasted with benefits provided
on the basis of individual contribu-
tions. As is true of any insurance
system, the Social Security Act gives
the assurance of protection to all who
become eligible for payments, at the
general expense of all who contribute
in the form of taxes to the fund from
which the payments are made. The
total amount of Social Security bene-
fits which any individual may receive
bears no relation to the total of the
taxes which have been contributed
either by him or in his behalf. As
under all insurance systems, some
people stand to get more than others;
some will receive more and others
less than the total amount of taxes
which they and their employers have
contributed. This "averaging" is the
fundamental principle on which all
forms of insurance are based. Just
as it is inconsistent with the basic
theory of the Social Security Act to
relate the Social Security benefits re-
ceived by an employee to the taxes he
has paid, it is also inconsistent to re-
late the deductions from his company
pension to the taxes paid by the com-
pany in his individual case.
Social Security is no doubt here to
stay, and over the years companies
are expected to provide half the funds
from which such benefits are paid. It
follows that they must, over the long
pull, coordinate the pensions provided
under their private plans with Social
Security payments. Money paid to
the Government by the companies to
provide pensions for their employees
must be considered along with money
paid out to meet the expenses of their
private pension plans. Both of these
items represent real costs to the com-
pany; in the long run its pension plan,
to avoid duplication of pensions at
company expense and to be of a sound
and continuing character, must give
full weight to the fact that half the
Social Security payments are financed
by the company.
Most industrial pension plans to-
day either directly or through pen-
sion computation formulae deduct
one-half or all of the Social Security
old-age benefit. In other words, in-
dustrial pension plans both old and
112
Bell Telephone Magazine
new recognize the need for adjust-
ments based on the amount of Social
Security benefits. The Bell System
plan is similar in this respect to other
company pension plans.
Security of the Bell System
Pension Plan
Too MUCH EMPHASIS cannot be
placed on the prime essential of any
really good pension plan: security.
Unless there is security, employees
have no assurance of receiving the
pension to which they have become
eligible upon retirement. When an
insecure pension plan fails, it works
grave hardship on many employees at
a time when their earning powers
have decreased or ceased entirely
and when they will probably have
little chance to get going again to
provide for their later years. This
has been the unfortunate experience
in a number of other plans over the
years, especially during depression
periods.
The Bell System plan is outstand-
ing in respect to its security. The
pension funds trusteed under the
terms of the plan must be used solely
and entirely for service pension pur-
poses. Amounts accrued on an ac-
tuarial basis are paid into the funds
currently, to provide for payment in
full of the pensions as they become
due and for the continuation of such
payments during the remaining life-
time of the retired employee. The
amounts thus provided over the years
are sufficient to meet, by a substantial
margin, all matured pension liability;
and the balance in the funds, with
current accruals and interest earn-
ings, will provide for future pensions
as employees become eligible to them.
With such essential security, with
due recognition of important pension
principles, and with the use of good
judgment, the Bell System benefit and
pension plan will continue in the years
ahead to fulfill its important func-
tions, to the mutual advantage of em-
ployees, stockholders, and the public.
Who's Who & What's What
{Continued from page ys)
ment, and assistant vice president since
1939. Here he coordinates the lecture-
demonstration activities of the Associated
Companies, assists them in the prepara-
tion of semi-technical and popular talks
and demonstrations for various civic bodies
and public groups, and, upon invitation,
himself gives talks and demonstrations
throughout the country before universities
and colleges, professional and academic
engineering societies, and similar organiza-
tions. Dr. Perrine contributed several arti-
cles to the former Bell Telephone
Quarterly between 1925 and 1936, and
is an editor of the Bell System Technical
Journal.
ANNUAL ADVERTISING AWARDS
HONORABLE MENTION TO
AMERICAN TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH CO.
BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM
&
N. W. AYER & SON, INCORPORATED
FOR A CAMPAIGN IN NATIONAL MAGAZINES
ADMISISTRATIVE BOARD
fVRY OF AWARDS
Katmomb B. Bovbn Paiti m CinaiAN Icsm itu>«tii.
Let H. itemvi. Bwnr Kso >ohv ScM\ise^
At»»T Bkovm v. F. McKevhu Mai* ^f»AO
VMM Ei^xcTT %- A. HcNam T^icxoftz Snrats:!
TAMA. btrrixM. HiN-mr Oshmitu Romst I. t.>
Eswjoo a. BnoN Srvwr Pi.\ioaT Dcanc II Otkmwz
Celuj* Cauom Cumoxs nmcH
Thayu Co<md<c& f»mA.ti^
National magazine advertisements of
the Bell System during 1947 have won
an "Honorable Mention" for the A. T.
& T. Company and the N. W. Ayer &
Son, Inc., advertising agency. In pub-
lishing the awards, the trade magazine
Advertising & Selling said in part of
the A. T. & T. series :
"The Bell Telephone System be-
lieves that all business in a democratic
country begins with public permission
and exists by public approval. If this
belief is true, the company feels that
business should be cheerfully willing to
tell the public about its policies, its pres-
ent state of operation, its plans for the
future.
"This is not an easy task. The peo-
ple who make up the public are gener-
ally busy with their own affairs and are
not particularly prone to read about the
telephone business — or any other busi-
ness, for that matter.
"That the Bell System has succeeded
in overcoming this obstacle is shown by
its Informative Series of advertisement
which last year appeared in some 50
national magazines. . . .
"The Bell Telephone System, how-
ever, measures the effectiveness of this
campaign not so much by readership fig-
ures, but by the regard the general pub-
lic has for the telephone business, its effi-
ciency and courtesy, its standing as a
good citizen in the community,"
The first "Honorable Mention"
Award to the A. T. & T. Company was
made in 1939 for an informative adver-
tisement appearing in national maga-
zines. During 1943, 1944, and 1945
the regular awards were suspended and
a new series started called the War
Time Advertising Awards. The "100
Best War Advertisements" were se-
lected annually. During each of these
three years, two A. T. & T. advertise-
ments won places in this selected group
of advertisements.
"3
Graphic Representation Makes Many Kinds of Facts Easier
To Understand^ and Contributes Much to the Successful
Operation of Our Business
Charts at Work
Kenneth TV, Haemer
The telephone business is made
to order for the use of statistics — or
so it has been often said. One reason
why ours is a "statistical" business is
that efficient operation demands it.
Day by day, week by week, month by
month, year by year, we must make
careful and continuous measurement
of a great many different telephone
activities, to be sure that the progress
or performance of hundreds of tele-
phone matters is as it should be.
This enormous need for facts is so
important at all levels of the organi-
zation that if opportunities for their
collection were not inherent in the
business, we would have to find ways
to provide them.
Fortunately, the nature of our
business makes it relatively easy to
obtain many of the statistics we need.
Providing telephone service is a re-
tail business, involving millions of in-
dividual transactions daily, most of
which are recorded. These records
provide the feeder material that,
properly selected and summarized,
becomes one kind of statistics. In
addition, our business includes hun-
dreds of measurable operations that
go on behind the scenes, out of sight
and sound of the telephone user.
These measurements, too, are fertile
sources of valuable statistical data.
But although the nature of the job
has made an extensive use of statistics
both necessary and possible, they
would not be available for use unless
the people who carry on the business
recognized this need and did some-
thing about it. Without common
purposes and uniform operating prac-
tices throughout the Bell System, few
figures of any value could be gathered.
Without an acute awareness of the
importance of accurate, detailed data
on all phases of operation, many
valuable statistics would remain un-
reported and unused. This need for
timely information on all aspects of
the business was foreseen early in the
development of telephony, and it is
being met throughout the Bell Sys-
tem.
Charts at Work
115
Pioneering Charts for
Business Use
Charts — statistics in graphic form
— have been used in our business since
long before figures were dignified by
the name statistics. We were among
the pioneers in the development of
charts for business use; not only for
an occasional conference or special
study, but as a basic tool in the day-
to-day operation and management of
the business. We discovered very
early that this method of putting fig-
ures into picture form was very much
better, for certain purposes, than the
use of the same figures in tabular
form — or, for that matter, in any
other form.
Charts have the advantage of all
picture forms : they visualize the
story so that it can be seen at a glance.
They are forceful, dramatic, eco-
nomical of the reader's time, and less
likely to be misinterpreted than other
forms of presentation. Sooner or
later, every important measurable
fact about our business finds its way
into a chart.
A roll-call of even the more im-
portant uses of statistical charts in
the Bell System would be a long one
indeed. Many of these uses relate
to subjects so specialized that they
would not be appropriate in a gen-
eral article such as this. The ex-
amples shown on these pages were
selected to illustrate some of the
more common every-day uses to
which charts are put in our business.
One of the easiest charts to under-
stand is the pie chart. It looks sim-
ple and "non-statistical," and there-
fore is very useful for presenting
facts to readers untrained in the use
of charts. For this kind of audience
DISTRIBUTION of the
WORLD'S TELEPHONES-1947
BEU SYSTEM AND
CONNEOING IN U.S.
58.4 s;
NOT CONNECTING
WITH BEU
SYSTEM
3.8%
OUTSIDE U.
CONNECTING
WITH BEU SYSTEM
37.8%
Figure i
it is probably the best type of chart
to use for showing the component
parts of a single total. The example
in Figure i shows how the world's
telephones were distributed as of Jan-
uary I, 1947. It demonstrates at a
glance, in a forceful and direct man-
ner, that more than half of the
world's telephones were in the United
States and that of the remainder al-
most all could be connected with tele-
phones in the United States. Charts
of this type are used principally as
a means of explaining such facts about
the Bell System to employees, to the
public, and to the owners of the busi-
ness. Management's responsibility
to these three groups includes the re-
sponsibility of keeping each informed
about many such facts, and very often
a chart provides the best method of
transmitting the information.
Another simple chart form is illus-
ii6
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
trated in Figure 2. Although this
one looks a trifle more "charty" than
the pie chart, it is easy to understand.
This chart simply compares a series
of items placed side by side to facili-
tate measurement. The thickness of
the bars has no meaning; the bars
are merely lines thickened for empha-
sis and only their length is significant.
The example in Figure 2, borrowed
from "Telephone Statistics of the
World," shows clearly that there are
more telephones per 100 persons in
the United States than in any other
country in the world. It also shows
where each country stands in relation
to each of the others. Although this
bar type is most useful for such sim-
ple comparisons as this, it is also used
for summarizing comparisons that
are not so simple. For example, an-
other bar chart, looking quite similar
to Figure 2, might show, instead, a
comparison of the coefficients of cor-
relation between the volume of tele-
phone traffic and the volume of busi-
ness in a number of other industries.
This points up the fact that many
simple-appearing charts are not easy
to understand because the concept
contained in them is not a familiar
one. The picture may be clear, but
its meaning will not be unless the
reader is acquainted with the subject
and with the particular method of
measurement used to portray it.
Charts i and 2 show a cross-sec-
tion of how matters stood at a par-
ticular time. They are, in effect,
"still" pictures. "Moving" pictures,
showing the
TELEPHONES PER 100
POPULATION
li
January 1, 1947 ■
Unrtod Stotai
Sweden
Canada
New Zeoland
Switzerland
Denmark
Hawaii
Auftralia
Norway
1 5 10 15 20 1
^^^^^^
^^
"
^^^^
■
Finlond
Netherlands
Belgium
^
I
France
Argentina
Austria
Uruguay
^^■^
Czechoslovakia
■■■■i
Union of So. Africa
^^^B
Chile
I^^B
Eire
^^m
Spain
1^^
Cuba
■i^
Japan
^m
Portugal
^m
Mexico
^
Irozil
IB
Hungary
■
Romonlo
■
U. S. S. R.
^
1 Total World |
(
'•-'••'
Figure 2
changes over a
period of time, al-
though not quite
so simple, are of
great value in
tracing the trends
of the business.
Chart 3 is a good
example of such
an action picture.
This picture of
telephone growth,
viewed in 1 9 1 9
perspective, was
used in the A. T.
& T. Company
Annual Report of
that year. Al-
though the num-
ber of telephones
in service was
small by today's
standards, it rep-
resented an ex^
tremely rapid
1948
Charts at Work
117
DIAGRAM
SHOWING THE GROWTH IN
STATIONS
BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM
DEC 31. 1876- DEC. 31. 1919
^mmEZ^ TOTAL STATIONS
^■^■B BELL OWNED
\t/M•/////////^. BELL CONNECTING
On Dec 3i. 1919 there was one
8eu. telephone station to each 9
of the total population of the
UNITED States.
growth, and the
chart shows this
unmistakably.
The current ver-
sion of this chart,
shown in Figure 4.
proves that in
charts, too, all
things are relative.
Over a period of
about the same
number of years.
Chart 3 shows an
increase of about
12 million and
Chart 4 about 20
million telephones;
yet because it
started from such
a low point, the
12 million increase
seems greater than
the 20 million.
This impression is
further heightened
by the difference in
the shape of the
two charts, and
emphasizes the im-
portance of using
the same size and
shape for charts
that are to be com-
pared. What a
careful comparison
of the two charts
actually does show
is that the relative
increase was very
much greater during the earlier pe-
riod, although the absolute growth
was greater during the latter period.
Telephone development statistics,
such as were shown in the preceding
charts, are valuable over-all indica-
tors of how good a job we have
—■■■■■■■■I
nuiUll
12.000.000
11,500.000
11.000.000
lasoaooo
iaooo.000
Sksoaooo
9.ooaooo
9,500.000
8.000:000
7.5oaoeo
6w500.000P
6.000.0003
5.500.000 "
5.000.000
4.000.000
3.500.000
3.000.000
2.500.000
2.000.000
1.500.000
1.000,000
soaooo
1876 73 "80 -82 "84
•88 "90 "92 "M "96 "98 1900 \E W -06 tJS
DECEMBER 31st OF EACH YEAR.
Figure 3
been doing in providing telephone
service. If we were not doing a good
job, no such growth would have been
demanded by our customers. But to
make sure that we maintain the high
standards of service desired and that
the service is still further improved,
ii8
Bell Telephone Magazine
TELEPHONES -in millions
Connecting
35
1920
1925
1930 1935 1940
At End of Year
1945 1947
SUMMER
Figure 4
a constant check must be kept on shows that, for manual telephones,
numerous components of perform- only about four percent of all calls
ance. Chart 5 illustrates one such take more than 10 seconds before the
measure of performance. This chart operator answers. This current per-
MANUAL ANSWERS
PER CENT OVER 10 SECONDS
, , lit 2ikI 3rd 4lh
1 1910 1 O"- Qlr. Qlr. Qtt.
I'""'! 1947
r I .] I ' ■ ' ' ■ ' '
i F M A M
Figure S
1948
Charts at Work
119
formance shows a definite improve-
ment over the preceding months this
year, and is very much better than
the general level during last year.
However, it is still not as good
as the best previous performance,
achieved in the first quarter of 1939.
No other method of presentation
would tell this story as quickly or as
well as does this simple chart. To-
gether with many
other carefully
developed results
pictures, this
chart tells the
story of whether
or not we are do-
ing a good oper-
ating job.
In addition to
the many internal
checks made on
quality of service,
our business also
makes a continu-
ing check on what
our customers
think about the
service. Figure
6 is typical of the
charts used to pic-
ture the results
of the System-
wide Customer
Opinion Surveys
that are made at
frequent inter-
vals,* This chart
shows ver)' clearly
that most of the
people who use
telephone service
think it is 'Excellent" or "good," and
that the percentage who think so is
slightly higher now than during any
preceding survey in this series. Pub-
lic opinion information such as this
serves as a supplement to internal
service measurement. It helps to
explain when and how our customers
agree or disagree with our own esti-
mates of the kind of job we are doing,
CUSTOMER OPINION OF SERVICE
* See "Finding Out
What People Think
of Us." Magazine,
Spring 1946.
Figure 6
I20
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
TELEPHONE MOVEMENT and NET GAIN ■
IN BELL SYSTEM COMPANY TELEPHONES millions I
r
TOTAL INWARD MOVEMENT/
6
4
2
0
-2
A
^y
^.
..
*
Vv:
TOTAL OUTWARD MOVEMENT IN
, /^
NET GAIN
'~^
1
"-^
\
V
1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1
Figure /
and to point out the particular parts
of the job with which they may be
dissatisfied, or about which they may
have an unfavorable attitude.
Figure 7 is an example of a slightly
less simple chart variety. Going back
to the subject of telephones again,
this picture shows not only how much
station activity we handled but also
the net results of this activity. All
such net results, which are the differ-
ence between an adding and taking
away, can be presented in this sort of
cause-and-effect picture. It has the
advantage of telling both how we
stand and how we got that way. For
many internal management uses, this
type of chart is of unique value. The
inclusion of the background data
from which the net result was derived
gives it an entirely different slant
from any of the preceding charts.
One of the fascinating facts about
charts is that they are almost infi-
nitely variable. Although there are
only a few basic types of chart, each
can be modified and adjusted to serve
the specific requirements of the job
it has to do.
Figure 8 is a sample of the stand-
ard method of linking together a
series of cross-section pictures such
as the pie chart shown in Figure i.
This type of chart is not only a great
deal more compact than a series of
pie charts would be, but it is much
more useful for bringing out shifts in
the importance of each component
over a period of time. This picture
differs from the type of picture shown
in Charts 3 and 4 in that it shows
relative amounts : the size of each
component is not measured in abso-
lute terms such as dollars or tele-
phones, but only in relation to the
size of other components. This ex-
ample shows that in 1920 Land and
Buildings and Central Oflice Equip-
ment combined accounted for about
29 percent of the total Plant Invest-
1948
Charts at PTork
121
ment, whereas currently they repre-
sent about 43 percent of the Total
Investment.
At first glance, the chart in Figure
9 may seem a trifle forbidding; but
it is really simpler than it seems.
This ingenious chart does the work
of two charts. It shows first, by the
heavy unbroken curve, how many
telephones were gained each year,
and up to this point it is a simple
trend chart similar to some of the ex-
amples already shown. What makes
this a chart of distinction is the band
of light broken curves set behind the
net-gain trend line. This device
makes it possible to see at a glance
not only the number of telephones
gained each year — as shown by the
scales in the right margin — but also
how big each gain was in relation to
the number of stations already in
service. In other words, this chart
shows first how big a job was done in
terms of work performed and, sec-
ond, how important it was in terms of
expanding the service.
Similar charts are used to picture
other aspects of the business; for ex-
ample, to show income in relation to
plant investment, and other ratios in-
dicating the financial health of the
business. By such charts as this, the
managers of our business can see not
only what the results are but also can
view them in their proper perspective.
Moving a step further into the field
of statistical presentation, the chart
in Figure 10 illustrates a form of
analysis that has many useful applica-
tions in our business. It is generally
known as a semi-logarithmic chart be-
cause one of the scales is logarithmic
instead of arithmetic. This type of
chart is easily recognized by the un-
even spacing of the scale rulings.
The major purpose of this chart is
quite diflferent from that of any
PER CENT
1<
100
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF
TELEPHONE PLANT INVESTMENT
PER CENT
STATION EQUIPMENT
100
Figure 8
112
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
Other of the pre-
ceding types. In
one way or an-
other, all of the
other examples
pictured magni-
tude, that is, how
big something
was compared to
something else, or
compared to some
other time. This
chart, although
magnitude can be
read from the
scale, makes no
such comparison
because it does
NET TELEPHONE GAIN
AND RELATION TO TELEPHONES IN SERVICE
MIILIONS
4
NH GAIN DURING YEAR /'
P£» CEW OF TELEPHONES IN %lMKt^^
AT BEGINNING Of YEAR ^^
..I U.I
1940
1945
1950
not picture size. — ^^^^^—i
Instead, it pic-
titres speed of
growth. In the other examples, the
basis of measurement was the dis-
tance between curve and base line, or
between one curve and another. In
this chart, the basis of measurement
is the slope at which the curve moves.
It does not show, as it might seem to
a reader unfamiliar with this type of
chart, that extension telephones now
represent nearly one half of the total
number of telephones. It does show,
however, that recently they have been
increasing at a faster rate than the
total.
The special feature of this type of
presentation is that a given percent-
age growth always takes the same
angle, no matter where it occurs on
the chart. This is not true of arith-
metic scale charts, of which Figures
3-9 are typical examples. This type
of chart tells a story that no other
chart can tell. It provides still an-
other means by which management
Figure p
can evaluate results and can gauge
their significance.
Many other kinds of charts, on
many other subjects, and made for
many other uses, could be placed in
evidence to demonstrate how charts
do their part in helping to provide
good telephone service. The ten ex-
amples selected here are a representa-
tive few chosen merely for purposes
of illustration. Most of them appear
in recurring reports or analyses, and
all of them are actively used to pro-
vide a particular kind of information
to a specific audience. Although
most are extremely simple, and only
hint at the analytical uses to which
charts may be put, all of these exam-
ples tell a pertinent story about some
measurable fact of the business.
To the people who make charts,
and to many more whose knowledge
of the business and judgment of its
condition are aided by charts, all of
1948
Charts at fVork
123
\ this may be "old stuff." It is set
i down here to indicate to others,
' whose contact with graphic presenta-
tion may be limited, that the making
of charts — like many another activity
in the business — is a specialized art,
representing a considerable degree of
training and skill.
In almost every corner of the busi-
ness, at all levels of its marvagement,
ways have been found to measure the
task, to measure the results, and to
use these measurements as guides to-
ward doing the job even better. For
those many measurable facts of the
business, whether they relate to oper-
ating results, to accounting, to financ-
ing, to public relations, or to purchas-
ing, planning, or research, charts
provide an invaluable means of ex-
pression.
It is true that some subjects are not
suitable for chart presentation, and
that a great many chartable facts can
be shown just as well or better by
other methods of presentation. But
when a picture is wanted instead of
precise figures, and when the nature
and importance of the information
warrants the preparation of a picture,
charts are the answer. These in-
genious devices for putting figures
into graphic form are important tools
of management, and in the telephone
business these tools are widely and in-
tensively put to work.
MILLIONS OF TELEPHONES
50J)
10.0
5.0
1.0
0.5
/
^
^^^
/
_^^ ^^..''^
N^.^,^ -^ MAW
1^*^ ^
''
^
^
^
""^^
^
/
-^
^
EXIENSK
r
>N
jy
^
^
^
1 1 1 1
t 1 J 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
19
20 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 19
50
Figure lo
Twenty-five Years Ago in the
Bell Telephone Quarterly
Items from Volume II, Number 3, July 1923
The New Bell Flag
The presidents of the Associated Com-
panies of the Bell System met with the
executives of the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company for a five-day confer-
ence at Yama Farms, on May 26th. . . .
A feature of the conference w^as the adop-
tion of a Bell System flag ... to be flown
from hundreds of Bell-owned buildings, to
suggest the national character of the serv-
ice as well as the immense physical resources
of the Bell System.
A Privacy Radio System
for Catalina Island
The radio telephone system linking
Catalina Island, thirty miles off the Cali-
fornia coast, with Los Angeles, has been
equipped with a new development of Bell
System engineers which may be called a
privacy system for the radio telephone.
The new system was placed in service on
June 9, and the preliminary tests and actual
use in service show that speech is as good
in quality and volume as before its intro-
duction, and is not intelligible to those at-
tempting to listen to it with ordinary radio
receiving apparatus.
Not only does the wireless link connect
the island with Los Angeles but, through
the trunk lines of the Bell System, it puts
the residents of the island in telephonic
touch with every commercial center of the
United States. It was part of the longest
telephone circuit on record when, in the
opening of the Havana-Key West sub-
marine telephone cable, a circuit of over
5,000 miles was established, by radio, by
land wires, and by cable, between Catalina
Island and Cuba.
The A. T.&T. Company
Opens New Broadcasting
Studios in New York
The new broadcasting studios for use in
connection with Station WEAF of the
American Telephone and Telegraph Com-
pany were formally opened on the evening
of April 30. These studios are located at
195 Broadway, New York City, and em-
body important modifications adopted in an
endeavor to improve the quality of broad-
casting.
In July, 1922, the company began broad-
casting through Station WEAF with a
single studio located in the Walker-Lispen-
ard Building at 24 Walker Street. Al-
though this studio was designed in accord-
ance with the best practice known to the
radio art at that time, the experience of six
months indicated desirable modifications in
studio design. It was also found that the
location at Walker Street was not suffi-
ciently accessible for the many artists who
take part in the broadcasting programs;
consequently, the new studios are located
in the Telephone and Telegraph Building
at 195 Broadway. Special telephone cir-
cuits connect the studios with the radio
transmitting equipment at Walker Street.
The two outstanding improvements in
the new studios are: (i) means to elimi-
nate waits in programs by the use of two
studios, and (2) a more effective monitor-
ing equipment by the installation of a novel
announcer's booth.
A large studio is provided for bands,
orchestras, and glee clubs. A small studio
is used for soloists and speakers. While
an orchestra is being assembled about the
microphone in the large studio, a singer or
Twenty -five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone ^arterly 125
speaker is broadcasting from the small
studio. When the singer has completed a
number and the orchestra is ready, the
large studio is switched on without any
delay ; hence, it is possible to alternate from
one studio to the other without lapses in
the program. Artists may rest between
numbers, because the necessity of singing
six or seven numbers successively is elimi-
nated.
On the opening evening, a special pro-
gram covering a wide range of entertain-
ment was broadcast for the benefit of the
newspaper men, music and dramatic critics,
and the radio editors who attended. Mr.
Edgar S. Bloom, Vice President of the
American Telephone and Telegraph Com-
pany, opened the new studio and in the
course of his remarks gave a brief history
of the Company's broadcasting activities.
"The American Telephone and Tele-
graph Company began broadcasting on
July 25, 1922, on 360 meter wave length,
being on the air twelve hours weekly. On
October 2, 1922, we changed to 400 meter
wave length, which has been used since
that time and we are now broadcasting
about thirt}' hours weekly.
"During the nine months that we have
broadcast, nearly 200 of America's leading
statesmen and citizens have spoken to you
through WEAF, also many stars of the
first magnitude in the theatrical and mo-
tion picture world. Over 200 separate pro-
grams have been broadcast involving a
total of 3,000 people including artists. Ac-
cording to our best estimate, there are prob-
ably upwards of three-quarters of a million
radio receiving sets within the area easily
reached by our station, and, as these sets
will probably average not less than three
listeners per set, we have a possible audi-
ence of between two and three million
people."
The Bell Public Address
System
From the time of Stentor down to a pe-
riod within the last one or two years no
human being has ever possessed a voice
equal to this character of mythology. It
remained for the Bell engineers to turn
mythology into fact, and today through the
Bell Public Address System any man can
have the power not only of fifty voices but
of fifty thousand times fifty voices.
For outdoor occasions, the projectors are
connected to square wooden horns about
fifteen feet long and having a cross-section
which varies from an inch at the receiver
end to several feet at the mouth of the
horn. A battery of eight or ten of these
horns spaced uniformly around a circle,
when supplied with the highest power from
the amplifier, will enable a speaker's voice
to be heard by at least five hundred thou-
sand people gathered within a diameter of
half a mile.
Some time ago one of these high-power
"loud speakers," as they are sometimes
called, was installed experimentally in the
Catskill Mountains, and under favorable
conditions it was possible to hear the speak-
er's voice for three and one-half miles
through one of the mountain valleys. Not
since the days of Rip Van Winkle, when
the mystic crew of Hendrik Hudson were
reputed to play at ten-pins with thunder
clouds, have these peaceful valleys reverber-
ated to such a mighty volume of sound.
The Bell Public Address System has
been successfully used at many great gath-
erings, such as the inauguration of Presi-
dent Harding, the Arlington ceremonies at
the burial of the Unknown American, the
dedication of the Lincoln Memorial, and
other similar occasions.
Things May Be Temporal^ but Ideas Are Ktemal: The Great
Truths of Science Live and Are Preserved in the Minds and
Experience of Mankind
Ideas, Men, and Things
James 0. Perrine
The following paragraphs constitute the major part of an ad-
dress delivered at the seventh annual "Science for Everyone"
Congress sponsored by Hartwick College, Oneonta, N. Y., on
May I, 1948. — Editor.
The success of science involves a
number of observations and concepts
of a great many people : it is achieved
by cooperative human effort. It is a
story of the skills and talents of men.
Developments and achievements build
upon ideas and concepts dating back
through many years. There is no
black magic along the path of science,
no talisman secretly possessed by
scientists which vouchsafes success.
The scientist has no inner light, no
esoteric intutition. Sir Humphrey
Davy, one of the greatest of scien-
tists, who lived 125 years ago, said:
"Practically all of the contributions
it has been my good fortune to make
were suggested to me by failures."
In these days of great laboratories,
both industrial and university, involv-
ing elaborate and costly apparatus
and thousands of trained experts, it
is well to reflect that most of the
great heritage of science that is now
ours was achieved with crude, rudi-
mentary, and homespun equipment.
Volta, Davy, Faraday, Henry, Morse,
Bell, Franklin, and Edison made great
creative discoveries with simple equip-
ment. Galileo and Newton were able
to conduct experiments with very lit-
tle apparatus, in ordinary buildings.
Even in the nineteenth century Lord
Rayleigh was famous for the skill
with which he made observations of
the greatest precision with apparatus
which he constructed from pieces of
wire, wood, and sealing wax.
Sir Francis Bacon, born in 1561,
emphasized observation and experi-
ment, rather than blind acceptance of
tradition.
Aristotle's naive assumption that
bodies should fall with velocities pro-
portional to their weights was doubted
by Galileo. From the top of the
IdeaSy Men, and Things
127
Leaning Tower of Pisa, Galileo
showed by direct experiment that
Aristotle was wrong. For such doubt
— and other doubts about the world,
the stars, the sun and planets —
Galileo was arrested, threatened with
death, imprisoned for a while and
forced to spend the rest of his life in
seclusion.
The effect of Galileo's experiments
and astronomical observations with a
telescope was much greater than the
mere demonstration of a new fact
might be assumed to be, because it
tended to destroy the authority of
Aristotle and to teach men that the
validity of a fact is to be tested by
direct experiment instead of by quota-
tion of any authority, however great.
Amateurs and Accideiits
Great truths, great discoveries,
great advances are not always made
by experts. In many instances, im-
portant discoveries in many branches
of science were made and are now
being made by amateurs. Great ad-
vances in science have arisen from a
study of simple phenomena. New-
ton said, "Nature is pleased with sim-
plicity."
Brashear, the great lens designer
and polisher, was a Pittsburgh coal
miner, an amateur. He became a
distinguished scientist. Professional
astronomers oftentimes came to him
for expert advice.
Priestley was a devout minister,
not a trained chemist; yet he dis-
covered oxN'gen.
Michael Faraday, often called the
greatest experimenter of all time, and
one of the illustrous names in electri-
cal science, had no formal training,
no academic degrees. As a boy of
humble heritage he was a janitor and
bottle washer in the laboratory of
Sir Humphrey Davy. Davy once
was asked what was his greatest dis-
covery. Davy promptly answered:
Michael Faraday.
Furthermore, it is literally true
that many great discoveries were ac-
cidental. That is the way it has to
be. We must not attach any stigma,
any criticism, to the word "accident."
No one knows what is ahead in the
realm of basic truth and phenomena;
no one has any inside track to truth.
Of course, to have an accident hap-
pen— to discover something acciden-
tally in chemistry, biology, physics,
electronics, medicine, etc. — one must
not be looking at something but must
be looking for something: must be
alert, must have an open mind, must
be working, experimenting, testing,
in a laboratory or field; must have
a sharp wit to see the answer nature
is ready to reveal. Like Mr. Micaw-
ber in David Copperfield, one must
expect something to turn up.
To discover accidentally is not rep-
rehensible, is not an indication of lazi-
ness of body or mind, is not a bit of
good luck. A miner, a prospector
does not strike a bonanza while play-
ing gin rummy. He goes to the hills
and looks for gold, silver, coal, gas.
and oil. A scientist does not acciden-
tally— in the generally accepted sense
of that term — make a great discov-
ery while playing golf. After all,
Isaac Walton made no significant sci-
entific discovery while angling.
Oftentimes the very new appears
absurd or contrary to common sense.
We must not be too quick to scoff at
the seeming absurdity of a new idea,
lest we miss the possible validity of
that new idea. Both the quantum
theory of Planck and the relativity
128
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
theory of Einstein seemed to be
completely absurd when introduced.
Fowler wrote, in 1934: "Nothing
could have exceeded the apparently
wild extravagance of de Broglie's
first work on electron waves which
led directly to quantum mechanics."
What appears to be classical
through the years may be nonsensical
tomorrow. What appears to be
iconoclastic today may be eternal
truth tomorrow.
Mother Nature is not a garrulous,
kindly lady in lavender and old lace.
She is a sphinx; she zealously guards
her broad, basic truths, her elemental
phenomena. She locks them in strong
boxes. The jewels in her treasure
chest are not presented on a silver
platter. To find the keys, to unlock
the chest, the scientist must have
curiosity, determination, imagination,
and intelligence.
One example is often worth a
dozen arguments. I shall therefore
no longer recite generalities, but shall
offer some concrete examples which
are pertinent to the thesis, "Ideas,
Men, and Things."
Gregor Mendel and His Garden Peas
The story of the great research of an al-
most unknown Austrian biologist, a monk,
Gregor Mendel by name, is a thrilling one.
Mendel worked with edible peas which
he grew in the garden of his monastery.
He cross-bred the peas differing in one or
a few sharply contrasting characters. These
differences he followed through generations,
always counting accurately the number of
plants showing each character. He pub-
lished his findings in an obscure journal in
1866. His paper reported important facts
regarding the character of offspring as re-
lated to the character of the parents.
His article, "Distributive Mechanism of
Organic Inheritance," was sent to London
and elsewhere, but scarcely any one paid
any attention. A great truth, a great prin-
ciple, lay on the dusty shelves of the li-
braries of Europe for a long time. A gen-
eration later, in 1900, his paper was dis-
covered independently by three scientists in
different parts of Europe. One of these
was DeVries of Holland. It was at once
realized that a very important discovery
had been made, so important indeed that
the study of heredity is to this day often
called Mendelism. The laws of inherit-
ance were found to be not peculiar to the
edible pea but of universal application to
plants and animals, including man.
No one would have guessed that Men-
del's study of peas in 1865 would be of
utmost importance in the breeding of cat-
tle in 1948.
It takes so long for ideas to grow up.
JOSIAH WiLLARD GiBBS AND THE
Phase Rule
In the ROSTER of really great American
scientists there is a man whose name and
work are little known by the general pub-
lic, even though chemical and chemical en-
gineering careers are today the ambition of
many youths.
Josiah Willard Gibbs was a shy, retir-
ing, studious lad at Yale about 1858. He
loved the classics in Latin and Greek.
After a while his interest turned to chem-
istry, particularly to physical chemistry.
He did not like test tubes, crucibles and
malodorous gases too well. Theoretical
considerations challenged his talent more
than things in a laboratory.
In 1876 he published a paper in an ob-
scure journal of the Connecticut Academy
of Science. This paper was entitled "On
the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Sub-
stances." Few physical scientists knew of
the paper, and those who did know of it
did not recognize its real worth. A quar-
ter of a century passed. Then a German
chemist, Ostwald, in 1891 translated the
paper into German; and later, in 1900,
Roozeboom did experimental work carried
out on the basis of Gibbs' principles. The
I94B
IdeaSy Men, and Things
1 19
principle called the Phase Rule is now rec-
ognized as of the highest value in the great
chemical industries of the world today.
Salt, water and coal — three components
in a chemical plant — may be in different
phases such as gaseous, liquid, and solid
under different degrees of freedom such as
temperature, pressure, and concentration.
How various components, different phases,
and varying degrees of freedom must be
interrelated and controlled to produce an
alloy, a plastic, or a synthetic textile, is
specified by Gibbs' Phase Rule.
The really important aspect of Gibbs'
Phase Rule is not the things involved, but
the principles : the concept, the understand-
ing.
An idea tried so hard to be born in 1876.
A quarter of a century elapsed before
Gibbs' Phase Rule received the recognition
it so richly deserved.
Roentgen and X-Rays
1946 WAS THE 5OTH ANNIVERSARY of the
discovery of X-rays in 1896. That dis-
covery marked the brilliant dawn of the
present electronic era.
Prior to Roentgen's notable discovery,
Morgan, Faraday, Hittorf, Geissler,
Crookes, and Lenard had been studying
conduction of electricity through gases at
low pressures in glass tubes. As early as
1785, William Morgan, in a paper before
the Royal Society, referred to the glow
that could be obtained when electricity was
passed through an evacuated vessel.
The first systematic and thorough re-
search on electrical conductivity through
gases was that of Faraday, in 1836. In
1869, Hittorf published further investiga-
tions on electrical conductivity in gases.
Crookes did a great deal of research, and
called the cathode ra)rs in his tubes, now
accepted as electrons, the fourth state of
matter.
In 1896, Roentgen covered the Hittorf-
Crookes tube with a piece of black paper
in a study of the cathode raj^ — electrons,
as we call them today. When this was
done, something extraordinary happened.
Some fluorescent crystals glowed brilliantly.
The room was dark, paper covered the
Crookes' tube; yet some kind of light, a
new kind of light as it were, caused the
fluorescent crystals to glow. Then Roent-
gen noticed that the new kind of light pene-
trated the paper and pasteboard cover about
some photographic plates and blackened
them. The new kind of light had gone
through opaque material.
There was no theory that predicated the
existence of the X-rays. They were the
result of man's study of electrical phe-
nomena dating back many years. Perhaps
Morgan, previously mentioned, produced
X-rays one hundred years before but had
not realized it. Hittorf and Crookes cer-
tainly produced X-rays hundreds of times.
Crookes actually fogged a box of photo-
graphic plates in his laboratory about 1886.
At that time he wrote to the London firm
who had sold him the plates and complained
that the plates were defective. When he
heard of Roentgen's discovery, he realized
that the allegedly defective plates had been
blackened by X-rays from his own vacuum
tubes. He did not have the apperceptive
wit to observe the answer nature had laid
before him.
Roentgen had made a startling, a brand
new, a really momentous discovery. When
asked by friends: "What were your im-
pressions; what were your inward reac-
tions when you realized you had found a
new kind of radiation; what did you
think?" Roentgen cogently replied, "I
didn't think, I investigated."
The nature of the new radiation was
not known, and could not be fitted into
the pattern of contemporaneous knowledge.
Hence they were called X-rays. For many
years nature kept her secret, even though
skillful investigators kept pelting her with
questions. X-rays could not be bent, like
light waves, through a lens. They seemed
to defj' any attempts to be diffracted.
Then in 19 12 — two score years later —
Max von Laue used the closely packed and
regularly arranged atoms of a quartz crys-
IJO
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
tal as a diffraction grating. Then X-rays
became a member of the electromagnetic
family. They were very short waves.
Their longer brothers were ultra-violet
light, visible light, heat waves and radio
waves. Their wavelength was one five-
thousandth that of light.
For a hundred years men were on the
brink of discovery of X-rays. Ideas try so
very hard to be born; it seems that basic
discoveries need to be nurtured for many
years in the cradle of time.
Radio Waves and the Electro-
magnetic Spectrum
Newton, perhaps the greatest scientist of
all time, did a most beautiful experiment
when he sent a beam of light through a
prism. The white light was split into
seven lovely colors: red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo, violet. The beauty of
the rainbow, the raindrops separating the
sunlight into brilliant colors, took on an
even greater beauty: that of understand-
ing. Visible colors, ultra-violet light re-
vealed by fluorescent minerals, and heat
waves — all appeared to be members of one
family.
But what was the physical, the innate
nature of these waves? What was the
quality of this family?
The answer was supplied by J. Clerk
Maxwell in 1865. He studied mathe-
matically the propagation of electric and
magnetic forces in space, and found the
velocity of propagation to be identical
with the known velocity of light. He set
forth the brand new idea that light waves
were really electromagnetic waves; radio
waves, as we say today. Thus he con-
sidered visible light as a restricted portion
of a broad array of radiation of different
wave lengths and frequency. He pre-
dicted that longer waves might exist which
would be far too long to be seen by the eye
but which could conceivably be produced
and detected by other means, perhaps by
distinctively electrical techniques.
Here was a great question put to na-
ture, put to man to investigate.
Again, as in other fields of research, al-
most a quarter of a century elapsed before
the right key was found to unlock a par-
ticular drawer in nature's treasure chest,
which contained the jewel Maxwell
thought was there. In 1887, Heinrich
Hertz confirmed experimentally Maxwell's
theory. Radio waves are sometimes ap-
propriately called Hertzian waves. The
radio waves produced and detected by
Hertz were what we today call short
waves. His radio waves were ten feet
long, 100 million cycles per second in fre-
quency. Also he experimented with shorter
waves: about two feet long, 500 million
cycles per second in frequency.
Fifteen years after Hertz, very long
waves were used by Marconi. Medium-
long waves were used for broadcasting
thirty years after Hertz.
1887 to 1937 is fifty years. And this
half century had to be eked out before the
short waves of Hertz were put to use by
man for communication.
The electro-magnetic family is a great
family of vibrations ; there are about eighty
octaves of them. The entire gamut of
these eighty octaves has been experimen-
tally investigated. Long heat waves have
met short radio waves. Ultra-violet waves
have met X-rays and X-rays have met the
gamma waves emitted by radium. In the
realm of electric power and communica-
tions electric waves, thirty octaves of them,
ranging from 25 cycles per second to
30,000 million cycles per second, are play-
ing a role in the business and social af-
fairs of man.
Maxwell and Hertz, with their great
analytical talent and experimental skill,
had fashioned a great amphitheatre of un-
derstanding out of which opened many
doors.
It took a long time for the first short
radio waves ever produced to get into the
affairs of men and carry speech, music, and
television over land and sea.
Electronics M
More than a hundred and fifty years ago,
Dufay, in France, observed that an object
1948
Ideas, Men, and Things
131
charged with electricity — a piece of sulphur
that had been rubbed with a woolen cloth,
a glass rod rubbed with silk — lost that
charge more rapidly when hot than when
cold. Why this was true, no one hazarded
a guess.
When Edison was developing the in-
candescent electric light in 1880, he was
bedeviled with a strange phenomenon.
That the hot filament of his light was
actually boiling out billions of charges of
electricity was not ever dreamed of by
Edison, perhaps the greatest inventor of
all times. He was pestered by an unknown
phenomenon. He thought so little of the
annoying and seemingly useless effect he
encountered that he, a great inventor seek-
ing to patent everything he could, not only
made known his observations to a visitor
from England, Sir William Preece, but
also made some extra lamp bulbs and gave
them to Preece to take home and study at
his leisure.
It took two-score years for John Am-
brose Fleming to develop a useful electri-
cal device, the Fleming valve, taking ad-
vantage of the effect which had pestered
Edison. In the years to come, the Edison
effect, so called — the emission of electrons
by a hot object — ^which Edison did not
think enough of to investigate further,
will be considered one of his greatest dis-
coveries.
Prior to Edison's observation and Flem-
ing's making of an electronic rectifier,
charges of electricity had been pulled out of
a cold cathode by sheer brute force of a
high voltage. But Fleming, J. J. Thom-
son, and O. W. Richardson, at Princeton
about 1915, rationalized Edison's observa-
tion. It was discovered that incandescently
hot objects did in generous fashion what
Dufay observed over a hundred years be-
fore: electrons, negative charges of elec-
tricity, seemed to take their departure
spontaneously from the hot filament.
Before these observations and the ra-
tionalization of them, no one had the
imagination to predict that charges of elec-
tricity could exist as such, separate from
an atom of matter. The first device utiliz-
ing this brand new concept was the Flem-
ing valve, or rectifier. By it alternating
current could be converted to direct cur-
rent. It gave promise of being, like a
piece of natural crystal, a detector of radio
waves. Today, great electronic rectifiers
are used in telephony and broadcasting and
television to change high-voltage electronic
alternating currents to high-voltage direct
currents.
After Fleming and his two-electrode
valve, a diode, DeForest made his brilliant
invention of the three-electrode valve.
Following DeForest came the brilliant
researches of H, D. Arnold of the Bell
Telephone Laboratories and Irving Lang-
muir of the General Electric Company.
Greatly improved vacuum pumps made it
possible for Arnold and Langmuir to in-
vestigate, thoroughly understand, and con-
trol the performance of electrons, unham-
pered by association with molecules of gas,
in a very highly evacuated glass bulb.
Nowadays we have four-electrode valves,
tetrodes ; and five-electrode valves, pentodes.
We have greatly improved X-ray tubes,
cathode ray tubes, television tubes, and
millions of vacuum tubes in wire and
radio communications — all electronic tubes.
So years after the first observations in
1880, an annoying phenomenon, not under-
stood, turns out to be one of the really
great observations of all time in the field
of electricity.
There is no source of electricity in na-
ture except the intractable lightning flash
and the phenomenon of static electricity,
which even today have very little applica-
tion to the needs and wants of man.
But electrons — infinitesimally small,
negative charges of electricity — are made
to do our bidding in glass bulbs. Some-
times the bulbs are almost perfectly evacu-
ated; sometimes the bulbs are filled with
gases — neon, nitrogen, mercury vapor.
No idea, no field of understanding, no
principles, no know-how has spent a greater
period in the cradle of time than has the
science of electronics. No field of phjrsics,
132
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
of electrical engineering, has borne greater
fruits, made possible more and finer appli-
cation to the affairs of man than the open-
ing of nature's treasure chest which con-
tained the jewel of electronics. Many at-
tempts were made over a long period of
years by many men in many different coun-
tries to find the keys. Conspicuous success
has been achieved.
It seems that basic phenomena, ideas, and
techniques have to be nestled for so many
years before they even try their wings.
Piezo-Electricity
Electricity — positive and negative
charges — is present in all things at all
times; it is here, there, and everywhere.
Every substance and every object in the
universe consists of a vast and turbulent
array of electrical charges.
Electricity is not, in its own right, a use-
ful commodity in everyday life. It is not
like air, water, metals, food, flowers.
Rather, it is the amazing quality of elec-
tricity to enter into entangling alliances
with various forms of power and energy
that entitles it to be regarded as one of the
greatest servants of man. Electricity is not
power, not energy. Electricity has but one
role to play in the affairs of man: to act as
the number one intermediary in the various
interrelations of power involved in heat,
sound, light, chemical and mechanical
power.
In giant electric generators, mechanical
power derived from heat and water power
twists an armature round and round.
Power in an electro-magnetic form, really
in the form of electro-magnetic waves, is
thus available to be guided by wires to fac-
tory and home, to be translated back into
heat and work, and of course to produce
light too.
However, there is one most interesting
and striking method whereby mechanical
power can be changed directly to electrical
power. No intermediate apparatus, like
the generators of a power station or the
dynamic microphone of communication, is
necessary.
This direct manner of changing me-
chanical power to electrical power is pos-
sible because of the innate quality of many
types of natural crystal, like this quartz
crystal I have in my hand. If I give this
crystal a mechanical blow, a pull, a squeeze,
a twist, one face will be charged positively,
another face negatively. The Greeks had
a name for it, "piezo" or pressure elec-
tricity.*
Crystals were observed to have electrical
properties centuries ago. A history of elec-
tricity was written in 1767 by Joseph
Priestley, discoverer of oxygen. In this
history, Priestley talks about the electricity
of the tourmaline. Tourmaline is a natu-
ral crystal.
In 1828 Andre Becquerel described ex-
periments in which mechanical stress was
applied to quartz and other crystals to pro-
duce an electric charge.
Pierre Curie and his brother Paul stud-
ied piezo-electricity and published their
findings in 1880. It was they who first
thoroughly investigated and rationalized
the pressure-electric effect.
Another jewel, literally as well as fig-
* At this point an experimental demonstration
of converting mechanical energy to electrical
energy and vice versa was presented.
A rochelle salt crystal was given a heavy
blow with a mallet. A two-foot neon tube in
spiral form was momentarily lighted by the
electrical charge from the crystal.
The same crystal was then connected to an
amplifier and loudspeaker. A vibrating tuning
fork was placed on the crystal mounting, with
the result that its tone could readily be heard
by the listeners. The tick of a watch was made
audible to the audience.
The crystal was finally placed against the
throat near the vocal chords. The vibrating
vocal chords activated the crystal so that it
could serve as a microphone. Intelligible speech
was thus emitted from the public address system.
To illustrate the direct conversion of electrical
energy to mechanical, a vacuum tube oscillator
with its alternating charge was connected to a
quartz crystal wafer. Audible sound due to the
vibrating crystal was emitted. By touching the
crystal with a bit of cotton on a small stick of
wood, the sound stopped. The vibrating crystal
was thus illustrated to be the source of mechani-
cal vibrations, of sound. A tone of 2000 cycles
per second and another of 4CKX} cycles per sec-
ond were used.
1948
Ideas, Men, and Things
133
uratively, was now found in nature's treas-
ure chest.
Generally speaking, the piezo-electric ef-
fect remained a curiosity — a useless, inter-
esting phenomenon of the physicist's lab-
oratory— for thirty-five years.
Then, during the war of 1914-1918,
Langevin of France made some brilliant
attempts to use quartz crj'stals as a source
of sound in submarine detection by the echo
method under water.
In the 1920s, Professor Pierce of Har-
vard and Professor Cady of Wesleyan Uni-
versity made conspicuous contributions.
In recent years, a number of researches
in the Bell Telephone Laboratories have
resulted in a most comprehensive under-
standing of the properties and of the cut-
ting of crj'stals for communication pur-
poses. Synthetic piezo-electric crystals are
now made which, in some respects, have
characteristics comparable to natural quartz
crystals.
Synthetic crystals are grown from seeds
placed in a chemical solution. It takes a
few weeks or so for a crystal such as this
one in my hand to grow. It perhaps took
centuries for the seeds of quartz crystals to
grow in nature's own laboratory. Seeds of
observation and understanding were found
in connection with piezo-electric crystals
over one hundred years ago. It took a very
long time for these seeds to grow. Who
would ever have dreamed, one hundred
years ago, that a shimmering sheet of rock
would play a part in an electrical system
to keep almost perfect account of seconds?
Who, one hundred years ago, would have
had the temerity to predict that mechani-
cally vibrating plates of rock would play an
electrical role in the drama of sending
articulate speech and beautiful music to
millions of homes by radio broadcasting
stations and in helping to guide and dis-
tribute hundreds of telephone messages to
the proper person or business office after
they had traveled simultaneously over a
single pair of wires from a distant city?
Epilogue
The path to ideas, to understand-
ing, is not easy, is not rapid, is not a
royal road. In what I have told
about a number of great scientists
and the ideas they evolved, and the
things they helped produce in usable
form, you will readily subscribe to
the thought already stated several
times: "Ideas try very hard to be
born." It takes a long time for a
youth to grow up. It also takes a
long time for ideas to grow up. It
seems that so many ideas have to be
nurtured so very long in the cradle of
time. Sometimes ideas do not seem
ever to grow up.
You will agree with Browning who
wrote : "Ah, but a man's reach should
exceed his grasp or what's a Heaven
for?"
The really basic problem is one of
ideas, concepts, principles; of know-
how, of intangibles, imponderables.
The quintessence of the problem is
spiritual.
Mind you, I do not say theological.
I mean the deep and broad ethical
and spiritual values; I mean the
eternal verities.
To solve this problem effectively
means education, the promotion of
concepts of tolerance and forbear-
ance, of world-wide understanding —
a philosophy, if you will. We must
be right in our minds, in our attitudes,
to prevent all the physical things we
have made from becoming Franken-
stein monsters which destroy. They
can be blessings, which make for hap-
piness. What they are and what they
become depends on our spirit.
Things may be destroyed; struc-
tures may be broken down by storms
and earthquakes; trains may be
134
Bell Telephone Magazine
wrecked; airplanes may crash in fog;
bridges may be torn from their foot-
ings by a rushing torrent of water
and ice. Telephone cables and radio
antennas may be broken down by ice ;
a telephone central office connecting
thousands of subscribers may be
ruined by a fire.
These are all great disasters. But,
after all, only things are involved.
The knowledge, the know-how, the
principles of mechanics, the great
truths of design and manufacture, the
basic understanding of chemistry, of
electrical principles and of electronics,
are still in the minds and experience
of men. In the treatises and in the
books written and published by men.
These latter cannot be lost, cannot be
destroyed. They are permanent, dur-
able, everlasting; even more everlast-
ing than the hills.
The advances of electrical commu-
nication by wire and radio will not of
themselves make for better under-
standing among the races of the
world. If people are tolerant, con-
siderate, are disposed to be friendly,
World-wide communications may help.
But if races are disposed to be mad,
inconsiderate, obstinate, unwilling to
try to understand others, rapid com-
munication may excite more hatred,
stir more stubborn obstinacy, more
misunderstanding.
But scientists are basically opti-
mists. They, as well as other fine
folks in all walks of life — in business,
in education, in the professions and
in the church — have faith in man's
basic and innate goodness. The com-
munications research and operating
workers get a bit of a lift and heart-
warming satisfaction in realizing that
they have learned how to send, on
the fantastically swift wings of elec-
tric waves over wires and radio, the
words, the languages, the music and
the pictures of man to the far curves
of the world. They like to believe
with Pasteur that, in the long run,
through the years, ugliness and igno-
rance will be wiped out by beauty
and understanding.
The Greatest Communication Network
in History
The following statement of the special Bell System facilities
provided at the Republican and Democratic National Conven-
tions in Philadelphia earlier in the summer was made on the
Telephone Hour radio broadcast of June 21. — Editor.
Tonight the eyes and ears of the nation
are turned toward historic Philadelphia,
where in its huge Convention Hall an
event of importance to all Americans is
taking place — the national convention of a
major political party.
We'd like to tell you about a few of the
things the Bell System has done to pro-
vide for the Philadelphia conventions —
probably the broadest communications cov-
erage in our history. Millions of Ameri-
cans will hear the activities on their radios ;
hundreds of thousands will view them on
television sets; practically all of us will
read the latest reports in our favorite news-
papers.
Miles of wire, temporarj' switchboards,
cable, and other needed equipment have
been furnished by the Bell System to meet
the nation's requirements for television,
radio, telephoto, and press services, in ad-
dition to the usual heavj' telephone traffic.
All told, some 70 special or additional serv-
ices have been provided.
Months of preparation preceded today's
first session in Philadelphia's Convention
Hall. Hundreds of telephone people —
engineers, installers, linemen, operators —
working in close coordination, planned, in-
stalled and are now maintaining and op-
erating this complete system, one of our
biggest jobs of its kind in 70 years of tele-
phone service.
For television, the Bell System's radio-
relay-coaxial-cable network linking seven
East Coast cities, from Boston to Rich-
mond, h^ been augmented by additional
channels in the coaxial cables.
Reporters and commentators covering
the conventions are using private lines con-
necting Convention Hall with individual
newspapers and the press associations.
News photo services, with darkrooms in
Convention Hall, are sending pictures over
telephoto machines linked by special cir-
cuits with the picture service networks.
For radio, new circuits connect studios
and floor microphones in the Hall with the
four major networks and individual radio
stations.
Mobile public telephone trailers, addi-
tional switchboards, and a large force of
operators are already at work handling
local and long distance calls.
Helping to bring to the people of the na-
tion fast first-hand accounts of these great
events is another example of the many ways
in which the Bell System serves the public
need and interest.
^mtf 2^j^\ \.i^^^ i\umui^r irirct^ yiuiumn 1(J^6
MAGAZINE
Haw Western Electric Serves Telephone Users
Clifton W. Phalen
A Design for Living • Theresa E. Boden
Sorting Two-and-a-half Billion Tickets a Year
Fredric M. Biathrow and F. Raymond Brewster
Promoting Safety in Our Automotive Fleet
Erlb S. Miner
Most People Are Honest • H. Montague Pope
Telephones of the World • James R. McGowan
mcan^elephme Sr-^elembh Company 'Newwrk.
Bell TelephoneA/^^W
Autumn 1948
How Western Electric Serves Telephone Users,
Clifton W. Phalen, 141
A Design for Living, Theresa E. Boden, 148
Telephone City, 162
Sorting Two-and-a-half Billion Tickets a Year,
Fredric M. Biathrow and F. Raymond Brewster, 164
Promoting Safety in Our Automotive Fleet,
Erie S. Miner, 172
Most People Are Honest, H. Montague Pope, 185
Telephones of the World, James R. McGowan, 192
Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly, 202
^ Medium of Suggestion ^ a Record of Progress
Published for the supei-visory forces of the Bell System by the Information Department of
American Telephone and Telegraph Co., /p5 Broadway^ New Yo?-k /, N. Y.
Leroy a. Wilson, President; Carroll O. Bickelhaupt, Sec; Donald R. Belcher, Treas.
An inspector checks the adjustment of a unit of dial switching equipment to within
thousandths of an inch before it leaves Western Electric s Hawthorne Works. Such pre-
cision is an essential factor in enabling the Bell System's operating companies to provide
swift telephone connections and clear transmission over distances short or long. See the
article beginning on the opposite page
As an Integral Part of the Bell System^ Our Manufacturing
. And Supply Unit Has a Vital Share in Providing the Best
Telephone Service at the L^owest Possible Cost
How Western Electric Serves
Telephone Users
Clifton J4^. Phalen
The job of the Bell System is to
provide good telephone service — the
kind that causes people to say of it,
"That's good. That's fine."
To help carry out this job the
Western Electric Company — the man-
ufacturing and supply unit of the
System — furnishes to the operating
telephone companies most of the
equipment they use. Western Elec-
tric has been a part of the System
for more than 65 years.
How does this set-up contribute to
giving telephone users the kind of
service they want? One way to an-
swer the question is to list some of
the things that people have made it
clear they want, and then consider
Western's work in relation to each.
First of all, the average person
wants his service installed as promptly
as possible after he has ordered it.
When he uses his telephone, he
wants connections to go through
quickly.
He wants to hear easily regardless
of distance.
He wants dependable service —
steady and reliable.
He would like the service to show
continuous imptovement — to be "up-
to-date" and not behind the proces-
sion.
And of course he wants his bill to
be as low as possible.
Meeting these wants and expecta-
tions is naturally the purpose of all
branches of the Bell System. But for
the moment, let's just consider West-
ern Electric's contribution.
Providing Service as Promptly
as Possible
Having Western a part of the Sys-
tem has helped tremendously to get
service to people as fast as possible.
Experience since the war is a good
illustration.
In this post-war period the Bell
companies have faced an ov^erwhelm-
ing demand for service — the greatest
in history. And in response to this
demand they have added far more
142
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
As part of its post-war expansion to meet its responsi-
bilities to the Bell System, Western Electric doubled its
installation of cabling machines such as this, each
costing $iyy,ooo. The one pictured here is twisting i8
cable units into the core of an i8i8-pair cable
telephones than ever before — about
nine million in three years.
This is really a staggering achieve-
ment. To accomplish it, the compa-
nies have had to obtain and install
enormous quantities of central office
and outside plant apparatus and
equipment, in addition to the tele-
phones themselves. It is true that,
in spite of all our efforts, many cus-
tomers have had to wait. But it is
also true that we have served millions
of people far more rapidly than we
could possibly have done if the Sys-
tem had not had its own
manufacturing and sup-
ply company.
After the war a very
great — and very fast —
expansion of manufactur-
ing facilities was needed
to push the production
of telephone equipment
up to unheard-of quanti-
ties. Just suppose that
the System had had to
rely on outside manu-
facturers. They would
have had to weigh care-
fully the long-run risk
to themselves in ex-
panding to meet our cur-
rent needs. They would
have had to balance their
other opportunities, and
the wants of their other
customers, against the
wants of the Bell com-
panies. It is inconceiv-
able that they would
have been willing, to the
same degree or with the
same speed, to plunge
into the gigantic task
that Western Electric
undertook.
Western met the problem head-on.
It immediately expanded manufactur-
ing facilities and took all the risks
required to push production up. The
result was that it speedily broke all
previous production records by a
wide margin. By 1947 it was turning
out more than five times as much dial
central office equipment as in an av-
erage year before the war, nearly ten
times as many manual switchboards,
and more than three times as much
cable and wire. Such performance
has enabled the operating telephone
1948
How Western Electric Serves Telephone Users
143
companies to serve mil-
lions of people much
more quickly than would
otherwise have been pos-
sible. And if Western
Electric were not a part
of the Bell System, as
the right arm is part of
the body, it could not
have thus accepted its re-
sponsibility to take full
part in the telephone job.
Fast Connections and
Clear Transmission
When a person gets his
telephone, he wants to
be able to reach other
people quickly and hear
them easily, whether he
calls a neighbor across
the street or a cousin
across the country. How
does Western Electric
help him to do so? Let's
see.
Take the dialing of a
number. The housewife
who is calling the local
grocer probably hasn't
the faintest idea that by
the time she hears the dial tone —
even before she turns the dial — an
astonishing number of electrical con-
nections have been set up in perfect
sequence, and with remarkable speed,
so that she may proceed to make the
call. When the number is dialed, the
switching contacts established during
the next few seconds may run into
the thousands. The movement of
moving parts must be rapid, sure,
precise. Contacts must be perfect.
Control must be exact.
Since all parts of the telephone sys-
W est em Electric s ability to speed equipment to repair
the ravages of disaster contributes immeasurably to the
dependability of Bell System service. This picture
shows 15 tons of wire and other material being loaded for
delivery by air to a storm-stricken area
tem are interconnected, every part
must be in balance — in tune — with
every other. The telephone system
is like an orchestra with millions of
instruments.
On the housewife's local call, the
currents that flow through the train
of connections are infinitely delicate
and must be kept "just so" all along
the line — and this would be true
whether the call traveled two miles,
or for two thousand or more.
The way a pair of wires is fastened
on a pole 20 miles east of Boise,
144
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
Idaho, helps to determine how well
Mrs. John Doe of Walla Walla,
Washington, can hear her son who
is calling her from Tiptonville, Ten-
nessee.
When the temperature drops 20
degrees in Amarillo, Texas, the boy
in Los Angeles says to the girl in
New York, "Darling, your voice is
so wonderful" because a tiny device
that took years to perfect is built into
the line and is automatically compen-
sating for the effect of temperature
changes on the flow of current.
These examples illustrate the point
that to provide fast telephone serv-
ice, with good "hearability," the
equipment used must be of the high-
est quality and built to exact, uniform
standards. And as a practical mat-
ter, the design, manufacture and op-
eration of standard telephone equip-
ment can be best accomplished when
the designers, the makers, and the
operating people work closely and
continuously together on the same
team.
This might be less important if
the equipment needed were all very
simple, or were non-specialized in
character. But it isn't simple, and
it's highly specialized. To make it
rightly — to make it when and as
needed — to make it as economically
as possible — requires the undivided
interest and attention of the maker,
as well as his utmost skill. Likewise,
the equipment must be. economical to
use and easy to maintain, and the
manufacturer cannot cut corners on
quality for the sake of reducing his
costs or increasing profits. The full-
est and free-est exchange of informa-
tion between designer, maker, and
user — with nothing held back because
of differences of financial interest —
is an important part of the process.
This identity of interest and single-
ness of purpose assure the production
of high quality, standard equipment
as no other manufacturing arrange-
ments could. They are the best guar-
antee that Mr. and Mrs. Customer,
when they reach for the telephone,
will have at their disposal the kind
of apparatus needed for fast service
and easy-to-hear conversation.
Service That Is Dependable
Top-quality equipment is also of
the greatest importance in keeping
telephone service dependable and
free from interruption. In addition.
Western Electric plays a vital part
in maintaining and restoring service
when emergencies occur. Looking
back only a few years, we have had
hurricanes in the East and South,
devastating sleet storms from the At-
lantic Coast to the Northwest, tor-
nadoes, floods, explosions and fires
in the Middle West and Southwest,
floods on the Pacific Coast. In every
case, the work of Western Electric
in rushing equipment to the scene of
action has immeasurably aided the
task of restoring service.
This is partly because Western, as
a unit of the Bell System, maintains
a coast-to-coast warehousing and dis-
tributing organization which is set up
especially to meet the day-to-day
needs of the telephone companies for
apparatus and materials. These na-
tionwide stocks of supplies are in-
valuable when emergencies occur. So
too is the fact that Western Electric
equipment is standardized, and that
uniform methods for installing, re-
pairing, and operating it are known
to Bell System people everywhere.
1948
How Western Electric Serves Telephone Users
145
But important above all is this:
The organization that delivers the
equipment and the organizations that
deliver the service have the same in-
centives and the same goal, which is
to meet the needs of Mr. and Mrs.
Customer as well as they possibly
can. The Western Electric people
who fly a plane-load of wire halfway
across the country to a tornado-torn
city have the same idea as the tele-
phone men who install it — to do
swiftly and surely what the needs of
the service require. Trucks, tools, ca-
ble, wire, switchboards, poles, brains,
arms and hands — from coast to coast
— are all organized together to get
the job done. It is because Western
Electric and telephone people work
together as partners that this is so.
Helping to Introduce Service
Improvements
Telephone users expect their serv-
ice to improve as time goes along,
and so it has. The art of telephony
is constantly advancing. Despite the
problems caused by the war, our serv-
ice today is infinitely better, more ex-
tensive, more useful and more valu-
able than 20 or 25 years ago.
These Western Electric installers are at work on the world's largest No. 4 crossbar dial
installation^ in New Yorky which will enable long distance operators there to reach
subscribers' telephones in distant places directly , without the help of other operators along
the way. Operator dialing of toll and long distance calls is a major service improvement
146
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
As particular improvements are in-
troduced, a great variety of equip-
ment— some newer, some older —
must all work together in the tele-
phone plant. This means that the
manufacturer must be set up to pro-
duce many different designs of appa-
ratus. Most of these are made in
small quantities; only a few in large
quantities. To meet the Bell operat-
ing companies' needs, Western Elec-
tric turned out some 47,000 different
designs in 1947, and is ready at any
time to make almost as many more
for replacement or repair of appa-
ratus already in use. This is quite
different from the usual mass-produc-
tion set-up, though mass-production
methods are of course used in making
the large-quantity items.
The result is that the operating
companies can take full advantage of
the steady improvement in the tele-
phone art; they can continuously and
efficiently introduce new equipment
that fits in and works well with the
old, and can avoid making costly
large-scale plant replacements ahead
of the time when it is economical to
do so. These economies to the tele-
phone companies may mean a loss in
business to Western Electric — for
example, because fewer replacements
may be needed in the future, or be-
cause more service can be rendered
with relatively less equipment. But
in this way, Western helps the op-
erating companies to get the most out
of technological progress, and make
the maximum improvements and sav-
ings available to telephone users.
This process of change calls for a
great deal of very careful coordina-
tion, and as the telephone plant be-
comes more complex the need for co-
ordination increases all the time. For
instance, take the work that is now
being done to provide equipment for
operator dialing of toll and long dis-
tance calls between New York and
many other cities. At the present
time work is going ahead on 94 or-
ders for equipment in 46 central of-
fices in the New York area alone, and
on 190 more orders for equipment
scheduled for installation in 98 other
cities. All of this apparatus must
be engineered, manufactured, and in-
stalled to meet a cutover date. To
do this job, Western Electric must
have, and does have, intimate knowl-
edge of Bell System plant every-
where. And the end result, for tele-
phone users, is better service.
Keeping the Cost to the Customer
As Low as Possible
The last point in our list was that
people want their telephone service
to be reasonable in cost. The rela-
tionship between Western Electric
and the Bell System means that West-
ern shares in the System policy of
trying to give the best service at low-
est cost. In fact, the basic reason
why Western is a part of the System
is to insure that the manufacturer will
center on meeting the needs of the
customer, rather than on doing busi-
ness in the way that will be most prof-
itable to the manufacturer. Types of
equipment must be and are produced
that result in operating economies to
the telephone companies, and hence
in economies to the user. That is the
idea in a nutshell.
Western Electric's prices to the
Bell System companies are substan-
tially lower than the prices charged
by other manufacturers of telephone
equipment. It is interesting too that
1948
How Western Electric Serves Telephone Users
147
Western's prices to Bell customers
since the war have gone up much less
than the rise in prices generally. In
June, 1948, Western's prices on the
products it makes were up on the av-
erage only 16 percent over the aver-
age price level for Western-made
products in the years 1935— 1939.
This remarkably small increase is far
less than the average rise of 75 per-
cent in the prices of all manufactured
goods. And it has been accomplished
in spite of the fact that wage rates
and raw material costs have greatly
increased.
These facts point to the company's
good faith and efficiency in carrying
out a price policy that fits in with the
over-all Bell System objective of good
service at the lowest possible cost.
Still another test of the reason-
ableness of Western Electric prices
is the company's profit record.
Over the years the profits have
been reasonable — very reasonable.
In the entire period from 1925
through 1947, Western earnings av-
eraged 7 percent on its net invest-
ment. This is the average of the
good years, when earnings were
higher, and the poorer years, when
earnings were lower or losses were
suffered. Compared with Western's
7 percent average, in the same pe-
riod the 50 largest manufacturing
companies in the country, operating
in competitive markets, earned an av-
erage of 8.7 percent on net invest-
ment.
Another way to look at profits in a
manufacturing and distributing busi-
ness is as a percentage of total sales.
During the period 1925— 1947, West-
ern's earnings were only 3.5 percent
of sales, compared with 5.8 percent
for the 50 largest manufacturers.
From the record, it appears that
Western Electric profits have been no
more than reasonable, and that the
operating companies of the Bell Sys-
tem have obtained at reasonable
prices the equipment they need to
give good telephone service.
Summing Up
This country does have the best
telephone service in the world. One
of the reasons for this is that West-
ern Electric has so well carried out
its functions and responsibilities as a
part of the Bell System. Under this
arrangement :
— telephone service has been pro-
vided to the greatest number of
people with the greatest possible
speed
— equipment of the highest quality,
precision, and durability has been
manufactured to uniform stand-
ards
— the reliability of telephone service
has been enhanced and emergen-
cies have been met with unusual
speed
— full advantage has been taken of
scientific progress in an orderly and
economical way
— prices and profits of the supply
company have been kept reason-
able and the cost of service to the
user held down.
This has all been accomplished
through the operations of a manu-
facturing and supply organization
working not toward a separate end
of its own but as a unit of the Sys-
tem and toward the same end as the
telephone companies — the satisfac-
tion of people everywhere who use
our service.
A Program to Enable Bell System Women to Discover Within
Themselves Interests and Resources through Which to Enrich
Their Eives Is Actively in Progress
A Design for Living
Theresa E. Boden
Health is not merely the absence of illness. Body, mind, and spirit
form the whole being, and to be healthy, a person must be happy.
To be happy, an individual needs some variety of interests, and it
is toward discovering these that the Design for Living program is
directed. Through Design for Living may be developed a more
nearly self-sufficient person, free from the frustrations and emo-
tional imbalances which, we recognize today, contribute seriously
to many illnesses. We in the medical field believe that personnel
activities such as Miss Boden describes are an integral and impor-
tant part of a program of preventive medicine which should be
our greatest contribution to the business.
Melville H. Manson, M.D.
Medical Director, A. T. & T. Co.
The need for social growth of the The story of "A Design for Liv-
individual, and for the achievement ing — Program for Self-Develop-
of personal satisfactions, is being rec- ment" is the story of how the Bell
ognized today as a fundamental ele- System has pioneered in providing
ment in the sum total of life's fulfill- opportunity for its 400,000 and more
ment. Some individuals reveal the women to discover the talents and re-
need in a pattern of living which lacks sources within themselves which en-
zest, enthusiasm, and real happiness, able them to get more out of life and
Others bring their frustrations and to be successful in their relations with
conflicts to work with them. Some others.
are vaguely conscious of inner re- The program consists, in skeletal
sources but lack the incentive or outline, of a series of ten weekly
knowledge to explore. The search is meetings, at each of which a small
for a satisfying pattern of life. group of ten or a dozen persons sit
A Design for Living
149
Colorful publicity helps to get a Design for Living program off to a good start. The
poster and the enrollment card were used in the Ohio company; the leaflets ( from top to
bottom) in the New York, Chesapeake & Potomac, and Michigan companies
around a conference table with a
group leader and discuss a selected
topic of common interest. In the
process of discussion occurs the
search for, and appraisal of, individ-
ual potentialities. A plan for self-
development takes on additional
meaning and shape with each discus-
sion.
How enthusiastically our women
have responded to this program may
be gathered from some of the com-
ments overheard throughout the Sys-
tem.
Says a young commercial repre-
sentative: "So many ideas hatch and
are buried; enthusiasms lose them-
selves unless there is a means of ex-
pressing them and following them up.
Design for Living furnishes that
I50
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
Design For Living Activity Introduced
Group Leaders who recently attended a training conference held at the Shoreham Hotel,
Washinfton, D. C, under the direction of Miss Frances C. Greene of the American Tele-
phone and Telegraph Company take time oat to have their picture taken. These girls will
introduce The Design for Living Activity in their respective departments.
Standing, lef^u^^^^ess L. Murray, Washington, Dorothy^^.^igl|^£g8hington, Bild^
^^^^~" I ' if^fciiiltir— "-
trained which will make it possible to
take care of the large number of pend-
ing requests for enrollment when new
groups are started in the fall.
In addition, group leaders will be
available and anxious to assist any
i lembers who are interested in fur-
iicring their education on any of the
. n topics included in the Design for
i i\ing program or related subjects.
If you are interested in this pro-
gram or if you have any questions to
ask, consult your supervisor.
Want to see a dream of a dress?
See "To the Ladies," page 26.
The girls who were selected as Group
Leaders in the "Design for Living" activity
gave a tea at the close of their training con-
ference last month. Mrs. L E. Shaw, General
Accounting, Washington, is pouring while
C. W. Chaney, Accounting Personnel As-
sistant of the same department, looks on.
Others in the group are Miss D. A. Fiala,
Group Accounting, Mrs. H. M. Heaslej^
partroent, Charleston, W^
The introduction of a Design for Living program is usually announced in the company
magazine. This page from the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Companies'
^^Transmitter" is illustrative of that phase of publicity
means." A more exuberant business
office supervisor exclaims, "Why,
this is the biggest thing that ever hit
the Commercial Department"; to
which another group member adds,
"This program not only helps the
individual but also promotes better
employee relationships with all de-
partments."
An accounting supervisor said she
had joined A Design for Living
group because "I heard the other
girls say how much these discussions
had helped them to meet people more
easily, and to have more confidence
in themselves. It did that very thing
for me. Perhaps I show no improve-
ment as yet, but the feeling I have
within is certainly a satisfaction." A
ticket sorter's remark that "It has
given me a new outlook on life" rep-
resents the conclusion of several hun-
dred women who have been heard to
tell what the course has done for
them.
An operator plans to do more
reading because she "never knew be-
fore what books meant in life," and
she adds, "Now that I know how to
express myself better, I'm going to
be more at ease when I talk with peo-
ple and I'm going to enjoy meeting
people more."
And this comment from a plant
clerk seems to encompass the objec-
tives and realizations it was hopeu
the activity would provide : "The per-
sonal satisfactions which these discus-
sions have left me with have opened
up another world to me. Now I
want to do and see and go, whereas
before I just seemed to live out a
routine."
An explanation of the background
and objectives of Design for Living
I
A Design for Living
151
Ways of reflecting personality through home planning
and decoration have a strong appeal^ as these girls of the
New Jersey Bell Telephone Company make evident
will make clear why this program has
been so important to these women.
How It Began
In 1939, a small committee was set
up in the Personnel Relations De-
partment of the American Telephone
and Telegraph Company in New
York to consider the many requests
which were coming in from telephone
women in the operating companies
for courses of study which would pro-
vide for effective use of leisure time.
Women representatives
were brought together
from several of the
companies in which ex-
periments in self-devel-
opment programs had
already been started.
What employees were
searching for, this group
believed, were means for
discovering for them-
selves their real needs
and interests — a con-
tinuing plan of indi-
vidual self-development.
To meet this desire, a
program was developed
for a series of discus-
sions on topics which em-
ployee requests showed
to be of common inter-
est and value.
The Chesapeake and
Potomac's attractive
pamphlet "Let's Talk"
describes these topics:
Conversation : the
art of making others
feel "at home" with you.
Speech: how to say
what you mean; the im-
portance of choosing the
right words.
Reading: how to get more fun
out of the time you spend with books.
Appearance: how to look your
loveliest; ideas for choosing hats and
hair-dos; your part in the fashion
picture.
Etiquette : answers to your ques-
tions on the social rules.
Entertaining: how to be the
perfect hostess; planning parties;
menus that make a hit.
Home Planning and Decora-
tion : color harmony, fabrics, furni-
f y<'i*;
f^
n
'
:'rj
A
M
1^
^Pm^^
^Bl^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B''
^^5^-^^
^ jx
Wim^^U
.'V^^tf^
^hI
Color harmojiy and its part in harmonious living are an
absorbing topic for this group of Southern Bell Telephone
and Telegraph Company employees
152
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
ture; ideas for fixing
over your apartment or
home.
Money Manage-
ment: managing your
money — so you don't
spend more than you
earn.
Vacations and
Travel: vacation ideas;
when to go and what to
do with your holiday
weeks and week-ends.
Hobbies: share your
favorite with others, or
start something new.
It is important to note that discus-
sions, not lectures or talks, provide
the media for self-expression. A
group leader trained in the principles
of conference-method technique con-
ducts the discussions, and sound and
constructive thinking is emphasized
as the group members talk over their
problems and needs.
From September 1939 through Oc-
tober 1 94 1, 11,000 women employees
had completed the program. With
the entry of the United States into
Money management is a matter of first importance not
only to men but to many women also — including these
members of the Indiana Bell Telephone Company
Pleasing arrangement of furniture in a room is demon-
strated in miniature by this discussion group of Michigan
Bell Telephone Company women
the second world war, telephone
women temporarily set aside their
personal goals to give their free time
and effort to the many war activities
of those years.
Early in 1945, the program was
re-introduced throughout the System.
Objectives and long-range accom-
plishments were reconsidered in line
with the Bell System's policy of offer-
ing its resources to employees for all-
around development and progress.
The title "A Design for Living" was
selected to further the
idea that within this ac-
tivity might be found the
key to satisfying experi-
ences. Each participant
was to complete the de-
sign according to her
own needs and desires.
Good Publicity Sets
the Stage
Some company maga-
zines publicize the start
of this activity with a
well-illustrated article.
1948
A Design for Living
^S3
Conclusion of a Design for Living program is usually the occasion for an event which
offers gracious hospitality to invited guests. These hostesses for an evening are all
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company women
This is usually timed with glamorous
cover-girl "announcement" posters
for office and recreation room bulle-
tin boards. The pink and black "Do
You Have A Design for Living?"
from the Michigan Bell is an exam-
ple. In several instances the ideas
for posters and leaflets have been
suggested and developed by employ-
ees themselves.
When it is evident that the pro-
posed program will be attractive to
the employee group, the leader may
meet with groups and explain the
program with the aid of pocket-sized
folders which list the topics to be
covered. These are frequently min-
iatures of the poster, as in New
York's "What Do You Do With
Your Time?" A "Sign Me Up For
Your Design For Living" enrollment
card enabled Ohio Bell employees to
indicate acceptance and a preference
as to the time of meeting. The most
recent development of this company
has been the Commercial Depart-
ment's slide film, "Your Time and
My Time," which gives a quick pre-
view of the course, stimulates inter-
est, and helps to inform supervisory
people. The Chesapeake and Po-
tomac company confirms individual
enrollments with a reminder card giv-
ing day, date, hour, and room num-
ber of the first discussion. This is
signed by the group leader.
A Group in Action
Many different types and inter-
ests are represented in A Design for
Living discussion group. New em-
ployees, some only a short time out
of high school or college, exchange
ideas with telephone "veterans."
Some arc there because of their
interest in one special topic. One
supervisor, for instance, frankly ad-
mits she wants to improve herself
and a fleeting acquaintance with
Shakespeare reminds her to "mind
your speech a little lest it may mar
1^4
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
your fortune." Conversation, speech,
reading — each suggests to her the key
to further study, with the other seven
topics helping to round out her plan.
Other members in the group are
perhaps for the first time learning
that a good conversationalist is also
a good listener; that the rules of con-
versation as practiced are not limited
to social occasions but can be used
to express thoughts effectively at all
times.
Mending speech comes to mean ex-
actly that to each of the twelve par-
ticipants in this discussion. Each one
begins to piece together, repair, and
make as nearly new, whole, and per-
fect as possible, the speech which has
been damaged by carelessness, lack
of thought, or lack of knowledge.
Along with the mending comes the
development of poise, self-confidence,
and better judgment in forming opin-
ions. Here, too, begins the inter-
est in continued self-development
through later enrollment in English
classes, and in classes in voice culture
and public speaking. Dramatics and
choral work subsequently help pro-
vide further stimulus for speech im-
provement.
Some join a group to get better ac-
quainted with other employees and
to be with people. As discussions
proceed, these persons find a mutual-
ity of interests and needs which en-
courages and promotes desirable re-
lationships.
A young bride wonders if Money
Management will help her with her
responsibility for making ends meet
for two. .At the same time eleven
other members of the group begin
to see that the secret of wise spend-
ing is careful planning, and that fam-
ily or personal budgets which help
to establish financial independence
also help to strengthen character and
self-respect. From piggy-banks to
company savings plans, the group
talks over its rainy-day problems, be
they of today or tomorrow.
Older employees, becoming aware
of the narrow groove of living which
The qualities of leadership are fostered and developed during a two weeks' training course
of discussion-group leaders. These members of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph
Company represent all that company's areas
1948
A 'Design for Living
155
a routine of many years' standing has
established, hope to find the how and
where of new interests. Each one of
the group, hearing what the other is
doing, what she would like to do, be-
gins to recognize the possibilities
within herself for more satisfying ex-
perience. "I haven't enough time,"
"It costs too much," "I don't know
how to get started," are some of the
stumbling blocks which a group in
action help to solve.
In the discussion on hobbies, the
conclusion is reached that hobbies —
interests, whatever you wish to call
the wise use of leisure time — mean
interesting friends, the joy of creat-
ing, the satisfaction which comes
from the discovery and use of abili-
ties heretofore unrecognized: the
completion of a design for living.
And so it is with each of the ten
discussions. Appearance gives each
group member an opportunity to re-
late her progress in self-development
to sound standards of good taste in
dress and general appearance. How
to dress well on any budget acquires
meaning through the additional use
of attractive exhibits. Color, line,
and texture are experimented with
by each member — with group con-
sensus a powerful stimulus to accept-
ance.
Etiquette and Entertaining suggest
that a knowledge of good manners
under all circumstances gives one
poise and self-confidence. Consid-
eration for others is stressed. "How
should I introduce my supervisor to
my mother?" "What is the correct
way to interrupt a busy person?"
"How can I entertain in such a small
place without getting all 'fussed
up'?" "When I go to the theatre,
who goes down the aisle first?"
A look-in on one of the discussions,
with questions of this kind coming
thick and fast for group considera-
tion, reveals how tremendously im-
portant is the need to possess social
skills which help to establish what
These discussion leaders of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada have to bear in mind
the French and English cultures which exist side by side in many parts of the company's
territory
156
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
one group member defined as "that
certain manner."
At the concluding discussion of the
program — usually one covering the
topic of most general interest, such
as Hobbies or Vacations and Travel
— guests are invited. This provides
company executives with an excellent
and interesting opportunity to ob-
serve at first hand just what is being
accomplished with, and by, the group.
A Design for Living becomes some-
thing real and not just "another
course." Guests join the discussion.
Plans for follow-up activities begin
to take shape. A tea or informal
buffet provides a final setting in which
some of the newly acquired skills and
graces are revealed.
Group Leadership and Individual
Development
In a meeting of department heads
of an operating company in which
Design for Living has been a con-
tinuous activity since 1945, a general
commercial manager expressed the
opinion that the development of su-
pervisory people might advantage-
ously include training in and experi-
ence with group leadership In this
activity. He felt that the full-time
effort which a number of women in
his organization had given to this
work was being reflected in their at-
titudes, efficiency, and job relation-
ships.
In many companies, general traffic
managers have acknowledged the
contribution which group leader ex-
perience has made to the total effort
of developing latent ability and tal-
ent. Because of this, consideration
is being given in one company to hav-
ing potentially able women devote
several months to full-time work as
group leaders. These leaders take
an average of six or more separate
When several girts who had completed the Design for Living program of the Illinois Bell
Telephone Company expressed interest in Christmas gift-wrappings group leaders
obtained professional instruction and then passed along to their groups the skill they
had acquired
1948
A 'Design for Living
157
The ten discussions which make up the Design for Living ■program are often extended by
the members' own special interest in some one of the original topics. These culinary
enthusiasts of the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania were pictured during their
fifth cooking lesson
groups through a complete series of
discussions.
A recent comment received from a
newly appointed chief operator gives
further weight to the value which
some women have attached to their
experience as a group leader: "I am
so thrilled over my promotion. I
don't think I could do it if I hadn't
been a group leader; for it helped me
so much to know how to express my-
self, to use good English, and to give
me the confidence you need in a big
job."
During the past three years, 790
women representing twelve operating
companies and all departments have
received group leader training.
This training is received in a two
weeks' conference conducted by an
A. T. & T. Company representative,
or else by a company training leader
who has originally received her train-
ing from the A. T. & T. representa-
tive.
Training is concerned especially
with the general principles of con-
ference leadership, with study and
practice in using the technique. It
provides sufficient background infor-
mation on the content of the ten
topics of the program to enable
the leader to stimulate and provoke
worth-while discussion. It gives
practice in outlining and organizing
written material and lines of thought.
The leader receives an introduction
to the principles of the listening tech-
nique.
Since most group leaders must as-
sume also the responsibility for local
arrangements for introducing the ac-
tivity to both managerial and em-
ployee groups, the training confer-
ence includes detailed information
about and suggestions for publicity,
planning, recruiting, and arrange-
ments ior group meetings. This re-
quires a knowledge of lines of or-
ganization.
158
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
The use of community facilities
requires an understanding of good
public relations, judgment, tact, and
poise; for this involves visits or
other contacts with libraries, schools,
adult education groups, museums,
and other organizations, together
with the preparation of reference
material, exhibits, models, and other
visual aids for use during weekly
discussions. These qualities are en-
couraged and developed to every
possible extent during the initial
training of the leaders and later on
through a planned program of direc-
tion and guidance.
The coordination of the work of
department group leaders on a com-
pany-wide basis is usually one of the
functions of the woman member of
the general personnel staff.
The excellent performance and
leadership of the group leaders
throughout the Bell System have
been a major contribution to the suc-
cess of the program.
Following Through
In the Commercial Department
program of the Ohio Bell Company
this fall, for example, more than
twenty new projects and topics in the
company's out-of-hour activities' pro-
gram are under way. They give
proof of the variety of interests and
needs of the women who, in a two-
year period, have found through A
Design for Living new meanings to
life.
Their discussions on books and
reading, current events, public speak-
ing classes, book reviews, provide
continuing opportunity for those who
seek mental stimulation.
Other women are developing new
appreciation of the arts, and their
latent abilities in these arts, through
extended courses in music apprecia-
tion, dramatic expression, and vari-
ous group art work.
Classes in millinery, basic dress-
making, tailoring, silvermaking,
leathercraft, enable them to wear
beautiful and budget-minded crea-
tions of their own making and de-
sign and to augment their wardrobes
with attractive accessories.
Their homes are being enriched
with lovely and useful products of
classes in ceramics and with a new
knowledge of interior decorating.
Household tips and aids and flower
arranging help to give added interest
and charm.
Socially, many are finding new
poise and entertainment in bridge and
dancing classes. For the athlete,
golf, swimming, ice skating, and cal-
esthenics provide companionship and
recreation.
Many of these Ohio programs
draw upon the initiative and inge-
nuity of the telephone women them-
selves in addition to making full use
of community resources and facilities.
An employee who had worked in a
florist shop during school years con-
ducts the class in flower arranging.
Another teaches bridge; another, knit-
ting. Outside speakers lead the dis-
cussions on book reviews and conduct
the public-speaking classes. Expert
private instructors teach jewelrymak-
ing, leathercraft, and tailoring.
Last spring a highly successful
minstrel show illustrated in one pack-
age the many talents represented in
a Design for Living group. The
artists in the group contributed color-
ful posters and invitations. One per-
son with a literary bent wrote and
directed the show. Another trained
1948
A 'Design for Living
159
the chorus. Most of the
costumes were designed
and created by the girls
themselves. More than
thirty girls participated
— and they played to a
full house !
Much of what is tak-
ing place in Ohio is
being duplicated — with
some interesting varia-
tions— in the other com-
panies in which the pro-
gram is operating.
In the Southern New
England and New York
companies, local com-
munity adult education
groups and schools are
cooperating by arranging
special classes for telephone employ-
ees. Arrangements are made for se-
lected subjects of interest to tele-
phone people and at hours convenient
for their attendance.
In the Illinois Bell Company,
groups plan a program of adventures
with food by visiting out-of-the-ordi-
nary local restaurants, each time com-
bining a taste treat and fun with a
search for new ideas for entertaining.
Food preparation and planning dem-
onstrations have been a popular ac-
tivity in the Bell of Pennsylvania.
In Michigan, group leaders, in con-
sultation with various airlines, pre-
pared lists of vacation suggestions
and descriptive movies designed to
meet a range of interests, pocket-
books, and time allowances. One re-
sult was that fifteen girls signed up
for a ten-day trip to Havana at a
very attractive price.
In the New Jersey Bell Company,
demonstrations in hair styling and
cosmetic application and fashion
When these girls of the Ohio Bell Telephone Company
decided to carry on with lessons in dressmakings they
refused to be deterred by the fact that a Commercial office
was for the time-being the only available space where
they could receive instruction after business hours
shows have attracted widespread in-
terest.
In the Pacific Company, a tea and
reception for a retiring executive was
planned and arrangements were car-
ried out by Design for Living groups.
Three thousand people attended this
party. Many compliments were re-
ceived by the group for the delight-
ful and effective way in which the
affair was conducted.
The telephone women's clubs of
the different state divisions of the
Southern Bell Company have a mul-
tiplicity of activities. They serve
as a connecting link with Design
for Living by providing the chan-
nels through which most of the fol-
low-up activities develop and operate.
Among these are the choral clubs
which perform with local community
music groups. Study clubs draw
large enrollments each season. Ba-
zars which provide the funds for
many telephone charity projects and
call forth a great deal of individual
i6o
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
Mackgwund Keading
IHCKt.ROl ND hr\I)ING tht l')*-J" K<\i.i\% cuHrsc, has l).?cn ph!«K(i ixtause
of the mlttut uf f m uin'o (iffrtbt b t m hifitiirc.
This IS i M 21, vt< a Irtt of s n i ♦! f i t ii v .iioiis fi«!ds «f good teadicg. Hie)-
liHf Iue.nl!(«i )u<ii5 tfiiturtu a i!i„hU!ity.
I ft th i " 11 (r>i I, if (x' u will ^ on J ^he door to more i's;t<nisive reading of
! J. U 1 1' I \t d m t! I- tn I Ucitis< of I's !iittt«! length.
fh bP •' )> k , u \u !i to ri.d fino t>e fin»Kii>g!ists andcheckthcinontlte
ba k p I 1 <r Ihf 1 fT Old 'n p it ii. tlu f oruiMny mail with your ikusm- and
1' ompiin idi s 111 n ^ !1 * t ibif vu rex t^ the fjooks, one at a timi?, as they
Several company libraries
have integrated their ac-
tivities with the Design for
Living program
Here are the cover {right)
and introductory page
{above) of a booklet of
reading lists issued by
the Employees^ Library
of the Southern New Eng-
land Telephone Company
talent and ingenuity are a part of
tiie program.
In the Bell Telephone Company
of Canada, where French culture and
traditions are deeply rooted along-
side those of England, the Design
for Living activity has presented an
unusual challenge. Interest in con-
tinuing self-development has been
high. One interesting project has
been the preparation of a thirty-five
page French bibliography with an
English supplement, covering every
topic discussed in the program. This
was prepared by the Toronto and
Montreal public libraries in coopera-
tion with the supervising group lead-
ers.
Three other broad developments
which have received their chief stim-
ulus from this System-wide activity
have also attracted attention.
In 1947, arrangements were made
for the secretaries or hobby commit-
tee chairmen of the Pioneer chapters
to provide information and assistance
to group leaders in the development
of common hobby interests and ac-
tivities.
Integration of company library fa-
cilities with the Design for Living
activity has been accomplished in sev-
eral companies. The librarians of
the Pacific, Bell of Canada, and
Southern New England companies
have performed a great service to
employees of these companies in help-
ing them to develop good reading
habits. In Indiana, the Indianapolis
Public Library has provided the serv-
1948
A Design for Living
161
ices of a librarian who spends two
days a week on company premises.
The formation of small local com-
pany libraries in other parts of the
System is being encouraged because
of the needs of employees arising out
of the self-development activity.
Several independent telephone com-
panies have been interested in the De-
sign for Living activity. The train-
ing in group leadership as well as the
personal satisfactions arising out of
group member activity have been
mentioned as of particular interest.
Some of the Associated Companies
have cooperated with the independ-
ent companies by providing the initial
training of group leaders.
A Summing Up
The Design for Living program
is growing. It is the employees' own
program, designed by and for them.
A true evaluation of results must
recognize the weight of intangibles.
Some of these are the new horizons
which are being opened to many in-
dividuals whose desire for self-ex-
pression has been bogged down in
what it is now fashionable to call
frustration. People with interests
seldom have time to be frustrated.
Poise, initiative, self-confidence,
and self-assurance come from know-
ing the how, when, and what in vary-
ing situations. These are some of
the social skills which have been fos-
tered through group activity. Its
concomitant has been a high group
spirit.
Equally important has been the
small but nevertheless highly signifi-
cant contribution to the development
of sound, constructive thinking among
many individuals upon whom the
leadership of the future will in all
probability fall. It is trite to say
that the person who understands why
a thing is said is more likely to listen
to what is said. This is the kind of
understanding which these group dis-
cussions, regardless of topic, have
helped to develop.
Since 1945, 30,000 women have
sat around conference tables work-
ing out for themselves a design for
living. They are of the well-rounded
employee group who give day-to-day
proof that these activities can add
zest and richness to busy lives.
Telephone City
All the buildings in the im-
aginary city pictured on the op-
posite page are Bell System
buildings. What is more, they
are all either new, erected since
the end of the war, or buildings
to which major additions have
been made during that period.
Each is either already completed
or will be substantially com-
pleted— with one or two excep-
tions— by the end of this year.
There are 392 buildings in the
picture. Although the city is
imaginary, they are not : each
represents an actual structure,
and each is drawn to scale. In-
cluded are all the major build-
ing projects since the war; yet
those represented are only one-
seventh of the total number
erected during that time. About
2400 smaller structures are
omitted, simply because it wasn't
practicable to include them all.
Types pictured include cen-
tral-office buildings, toll build-
ings, community dial offices,
radio buildings, repeater sta-
tions, office buildings, headquar-
ters buildings. Those pictured
represent $175,000,000. This
is about 60 percent of the Bell
System's post-war building con-
struction program.
163
Method and Rfficiency Are Requisites of a Task Which
Constitutes the Largest Work-volume Job of the System s
Revenue Accounting Forces
Sorting Two-and-a-Half
Billion Tickets a Year
Fredric M. Biathrow and
F. Raymond Brewster
Almost every business, large or
small, has a problem of sorting. It
may be the simple job of sorting a
few hundred or thousand cancelled
bank checks or drafts received with
a bank statement; it may be sorting
department store charge tickets; in
the case of the banks themselves, it
may be sorting depositors' checks and
checks for clearing or transit. In
the telephone business, the Bell Sys-
tem operating companies are con-
fronted with the huge problem of
sorting 2^^ billion telephone tickets
annually. While this enormous quan-
tity of tickets does not pile up in any
one place or at any one time, the job
of sorting them requires currently up-
wards of three thousand Accounting
Department clerks to spend about
5,000,000 hours annually to get the
job done.
Each morning, telephone tickets
written at local and toll switchboards
for messages completed on the previ-
ous day are picked up according to
predetermined routes and schedules
by truck or messenger or are placed
in the U. S. mail, and are delivered
to the accounting offices, of which
there are now 93, located through-
out the United States and in the east-
ern part of Canada.
These tickets are not just slips of
paper. They represent cash : over
one billion dollars of it annually,
which is an important part of the
Bell System's annual revenue.
It is the billing of this revenue that
creates the necessity for sorting the
tickets into a definite order. It has
been found from experience that in
keeping the 26,000,000 customers'
accounts for telephone service, the
simplest and most economical plan
is to have the records arranged in
Sorting Two-and-a-Half Billion Tickets a Year
^' 165
telephone-number order separately
for each central-office designation,
e.g., Jonesville, Main 2, Market 3,
and so on. The customers' accounts
for each designation are then ar-
ranged in telephone-number sequence.
The sorting problem, therefore, is to
arrange the great volume of tickets
received each day into the same tele-
phone-number sequence in which the
accounts are kept, in order to per-
form the billing in the most efficient
manner.
Not only must this sorting job be
done, but it must be so planned that
the work will be completed and ready
for further processing so that the bill-
ing clerks may complete customers'
bills promptly according to scheduled
bill release dates. This sorting job
is the first step in a chain of opera-
tions that culminate with the mailing
of the customer's toll service state-
ment with his monthly bill. Ineffi-
cient methods or poor administration
of this job could result, obviously, in
the loss of many thousands of hours
of time and in wasted and fatiguing
effort.
In the early days of telephone his-
tory, the use of toll service was not
extensive. The relatively few toll
tickets required to record the out-of-
town calls made could be handled
without any special studies to deter-
mine the most efficient method of
sorting them. But now, with the ex-
tensive use of toll service, this one
operation is the largest work-volume
job performed by the revenue ac-
counting forces of the System.
Early in 1946 an intensive study
was made of two methods of sorting;
the so-called "desk method," used by
T)esk sorting of tickets requires the handling of each ticket four times: once for each digit.
The ''two-handed" method is shown here
1 66
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
most of the System companies, and
a method referred to as the "rack
method," which was followed by a
few of the companies; — including the
New England Telephone and Tele-
graph Company, where the rack
method had been developed to the
extent of producing outstanding re-
sults. As a result of this study,
which included the introduction of
the rack method in certain account-
ing offices of the New York Tele-
phone Company for comparative
tests with the desk method, the rack
sorting method and technique were
recommended for general use. All
System companies are now using the
rack method of sorting on all or part
of their ticket sorting job. It is esti-
mated that when the method is com-
pletely installed, it will have effected
a reduction of 2,500,000 work hours
a year — of which approximately one
million has already been realized.
In addition to this advantage, sort-
ing clerks changing from the desk to
the rack method generally report the
rack method more interesting and
less fatiguing.
The Desk- Sorting Method
In the early 1920s the sorting of
tickets began more and more to be
transferred from the Traffic Depart-
ment to the Accounting Department,
and the concentration of this opera-
tion became an increasingly impor-
tant segment of revenue accounting
work.
The method of sorting followed
an obvious pattern.
As a first step, certain types of tick-
ets which reached the revenue ac-
counting offices with two or more
central-office designations intermin-
gled required the simple sorting of
the tickets into the different designa-
tions.
The next step was the numerical
sorting for each central office; and,
since telephone numbers consist of
not more than four digits (with mi-
nor exceptions) and a party-line let-
ter (where used), the successive steps
in the numerical sorting were to sort
the tickets separately for each of the
four digits beginning at the left, that
is, by thousands, hundreds, tens, and
units. This was accomplished on an
ordinary desk or table by holding in
the left hand a small portion of the
unsorted tickets and picking them off
one by one with the right hand and
placing them on the desk or table in
a double row of five piles, one pile
for each thousand digit.
Thus, when the unsorted tickets
had been so processed according to
the first left-hand digit, they were in
order by thousands. These ten piles
were then laid aside and the tickets
for each thousand digit were then
similarly sorted by hundreds. Each
of these hundred digit packs was then
sorted by tens and each of the ten
digit packs by units. By sorting the
tickets successively according to the
digits from left to right, they became
sorted into complete numerical se-
quence.
The complete numerical sorting
process required not only handling
most of the tickets four separate
times, but also considerable picking
up of the ten piles in each of the
separate sortings and, where the tick-
ets for a given central office were
voluminous, a constant straightening
of the piles to prevent them from tip-
ping and becoming disarranged.
Under a later variation of the desk
method of sorting, a pack of unsorted
1948
Sorting Two-and-a-Half Billion Tickets a Year ,^ 167
Since each rack has 100 numbered pockets ^ the tickets need to be sorted only twice: by the
last two digits and then by the first two
tickets was placed on the desk directly
in front of the clerk, who, using her
hands alternately, picked the tickets
from the unsorted pack and placed
them in ten piles arranged around the
unsorted tickets and as close as prac-
ticable, to avoid an unduly long reach.
This process was repeated for each
of the four digits, as previously de-
scribed. It, too, required the han-
dling of the tickets four separate
times, but it utilized both hands
rather than only one hand in getting
the tickets from the unsorted pack to
the proper numerical pile.
This so-called "two-handed" sort-
ing operation looks complicated at
times, since it involves some cross-
hand movement when, for example,
the left hand is moving to the ex-
treme right to place a ticket on the
"9" pile while the right hand is pick-
ing up a ticket and starting it toward
the extreme left to place it on the
"o" pile.
The Rack-Sorting Method
The next improvement in sorting
methods was made by the Chesa-
peake and Potomac Telephone Com-
panies, and involved the development
and use of a rack to aid in the sorting.
They also developed a sequence of
sorting operations which is described
later. The original rack was made
by a local tinsmith and, while a num-
ber of refinements have been made in
construction, the present-day rack is
fundamentally the same as the orig-
inal.
The rack is comprised of two cabi-
nets, hung on either side of a stand.
Each cabinet consists of two 50-
pocket sorting sections, and one 10-
compartment section located above
the top row of sorting pockets and
i68
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
An instructor emphasizes the importance
unsorted tickets in the correct position i
of holding the
n the hand
used to store tickets awaiting sort-
ing and for overflow from individual
pockets. The lower section of each
cabinet can be closed and latched
against the upper section, thereby
providing an orderly and reasonably
safe method of temporarily storing
tickets prior to their removal from
the rack after the completion of the
sorting operation. The sorting sec-
tions, combined, have ten vertical and
ten horizontal rows of pockets. The
vertical rows are numbered across the
top from left to right, beginning with
zero. The horizontal rows are num-
bered up the sides and center of the
cabinet, the lowest numbers being as-
signed to the bottom row. Thus a
sorting pocket is provided for each of
the one hundred two-digit combina-
tions "oo" to "99."
For a considerable pe-
riod after the first racks
were put into use, the
technique of sorting fol-
lowed the hand move-
ment pattern of the
desk-sorting method first
described, A pack of
unsorted tickets was held
in the left hand while
the right hand picked
them off one at a time
and placed them in the
proper sorting pocket.
This involved consider-
able hand travel, and
also a constant shifting
of the eyes between the
unsorted tickets and the
rack pockets.
A study of this op-
eration, based on prac-
tices developed by the
New England Company,
showed that a substantial saving in
time and a considerable lessening of
eye strain and fatigue had been ac-
complished by having the two hands
move in unison; the left hand hold-
ing the unsorted tickets and the right
hand picking off the tickets and, with
only a short movement, placing them
in the proper pockets.
The first step in the rack sorting
operation is performed by referring
to the last two digits of the telephone
number, commonly referred to as the
"right-hand sorting number," The
sorting clerks soon become adept in
locating the rack pocket correspond-
ing to the right-hand sorting number
and in rhythmically moving from one
pocket to another, accomplishing the
sorting with considerable rapidity.
After all tickets for a given sort-
1948
Sorting Two-and-a-Half Billion Tickets a Year
169
ing assignment have been
placed in the rack pock-
ets in the manner de-
scribed, they are then
removed in reverse se-
quence order, i.e., "99"
to "00," and then sorted
according to the two left-
hand digits, referred to
as the "left-hand sorting
number." By beginning
the left-hand sort with
the tickets in this ar-
rangement and proceed-
ing in descending se-
quence to the double
zero, the tickets, when
removed from the pock-
ets after the completion
of the left-hand sort, are
in complete numerical se-
quence. The tickets are,
as a consequence, sorted
into complete telephone
number order with only two han-
dlings, as contrasted with the four
handlings under the desk method.
Sorti?ig for Billmg Periods
Thus far we have described the
sorting operation as it would be per-
formed if the tickets for a single
day's business were sorted into com-
plete numerical sequence. However,
it is not economical to complete the
sorting of tickets for each individual
day's business. That is because such
an arrangement would require sev-
eral rehandlings of all tickets, in a
series of special assembling opera-
tions, to bring together in chrono-
logical order for a full billing pe-
riod all tickets for each telephone
number.
Under the rack method, such
Proudly on her own! A new sorting clerk puts into prac-
tice her lessons on proper position of the hands
special assembling work is entirely
avoided for most central offices.
This is done by sorting each day's
tickets for a full billing period into
the same racks according to the right-
hand sorting number only. When the
last date in the billing period has
been sorted, the tickets for the earli-
est date are at the bottom in each
pocket. The regular secondary sort-
ing of these tickets according to the
left-hand sorting number then pro-
duces directly the required numerical
and chronological arrangement of
the tickets for the full billing period,
the earliest date being at the top, as
it should be for billing purposes.
For the larger central offices,
where the volume of tickets may be
too great to warrant deferring the
sorting by the left-hand sorting num-
ber until the end of the billing pe-
170
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
This photograph of the set used in shooting the motion picture ''Sorting Toll Tickets''
illustrates what goes on behind the scenes to counterfeit reality. The three pictures on
pages i6y, 168, and i6g are from this "movie" while the first picture {page i6§) is from
"An Orchid for Peggy"
riod, some intermediate sorting by
the left-hand sorting number may be
required — in which case some special
assembling work, would be necessary.
The rack method does, nonetheless,
reduce substantially the number of
times the tickets are handled, not
only because of the sorting of two
digits at a time but because of the
elimination or reduction of the
amount of special assembling time
involved.
Instruction through Motion Picture
The success of the racks is due net
only to the device itself but in large
degree to the use of the proper tech-
nique in the handling of the tickets.
It was first thought that this tech-
nique could be described in writing
with sufficient effectiveness to permit
instructors to teach it successfully to
sorting students. It soon developed,
however, that this could not be sat-
isfactorily achieved by depending on
text alone to convey the exact man-
ner of handling the tickets.
Even though classes for super-
visors and staff people were held with
instruction from people skilled in the
technique, it became evident that the
process of transmitting this skill to
the several thousand clerks required
1948
Sorting Two-and-a-Half Billion Tickets a Year
171
for this work, and to the added thou-
sands who would be employed over
the months to replace those who re-
signed or were promoted, would un-
duly defer the realization of the
important economies that could be
effected. It would also be difficult
to preserve the exact technique over
a period of time because of changes
in supervisory personnel.
Methods people in the A. T. & T.
Comptroller's Department had al-
ready had experience with sound-
motion pictures in meeting other tech-
nical training problems, and it was
decided to produce a picture which
would provide demonstration by
skilled sorting people. As a result,
a training picture entitled "Sorting
Toll Tickets" was produced with the
assistance of the Film and Display
Division of the A. T. & T. Informa-
tion Department and was distributed
to all Bell System companies. This
picture provides expert effective visual
aid for instructors' use in the account-
ing offices. An Instructor's Guide
was issued with the picture as an in-
tegral part of the training program
to assist instructors in the use of the
film. Also, a set of 12 still pictures
illustrating the key points in the sort-
ing technique was prepared as an
additional visual aid during training
and to assist supervisors in correcting
any sorting faults which might sub-
sequently develop. The motion pic-
ture has proved successful in provid-
ing the offices with uniform expert
instruction and demonstration of the
precise technique which will produce
the best results.
Motion pictures produced with
other objectives have been found use-
ful also in providing demonstration
of the performance of varfous op-
erations. The Accounting Depart-
ment film "An Orchid for Peggy"
included several scenes in which the
two-handed method of sorting tick-
ets was clearly demonstrated — al-
though the purpose of the picture
was primarily to show the accounting
clerks, especially those of short serv-
ice, through the medium of a story
treatment the importance of clerical
assignments, such as ticket sorting,
in the over-all job of giving telephone
service. Another Accounting Depart-
ment picture, "The Truth About An-
gela Jones," now in production, while
designed to bring out the need for
clerks to do a quality job and to ac-
cept the quality standards expected
by the public, will include a sequence
built around rack sorting and will
incidentally show clearly the tech-
nique of this method.
Future developments may bring
about changes in toll operations and
in the recording of toll calls. Never-
theless, as already stated, the present
requirements are that 2^ billion
tickets a year must be sorted numeri-
cally and chronologically. This is
in fact a stupendous job. Intensive
study has resulted in a substantial
saving in time and in making the op-
eration more interesting to the per-
sonnel, and it may be found by con-
tinued study of the sorting processes
that still further advances can be
made.
The Bell System s Motor Vehicle Safety Program Aims to
Eliminate Personal Injuries and Make More Rfficient the
Transportation of Men^ Tools, and Materials
Promoting Safety in Our
Automotive Fleet
Rrle S. Miner
The problem of fostering safe driv-
ing has become increasingly impor-
tant in the Bell System with the
growth in traffic on the nation's
streets and highways and in the num-
ber of telephone company motor ve-
hicles.
The Bell System automotive fleet
is the largest fleet of commercial ve-
hicles in the world. These cars,
trucks, and miscellaneous rolling
stock cover some 600,000,000 miles
a year. Traveling the normal dis-
tance apart on the highway, they
would make a continuous procession
across the country from coast to
coast.
It is no wonder, then, that the op-
erators of telephone company ve-
hicles who begin each day's work by
driving onto the streets, roads, and
highways from company garages lo-
cated in towns and cities throughout
the country recognize that they play
an important part in demonstrating
safe and courteous driving. It is a
tribute to the sincere efforts of these
employees, resolved to drive each
mile during each day alert to the haz-
ards of both vehicular and pedestrian
travel, that their success has been
demonstrated over and over again by
excellent safety records.
One widespread idea that has
made the prevention of accidents
unnecessarily difficult is the ground-
less belief that motor vehicle acci-
dents are the inevitable price we
have to pay for technological prog-
ress in transportation. Experience
has proved that such accidents are
preventable, and can be decreased by
intelligent planning — just as in other
fields.
As is generally known, organized
fact collecting, analysis, planning, and
practical application of findings have
made possible real progress in gen-
eral accident reduction in the Bell
System. The same approach is be-
ing applied to assure safe operation
of the Bell System fleet.
Promoting Safety in Our Automotive Fleet
^' 173
The Old Way ... and the New
Modern power equipment makes the telephone job less arduous, more efficient
and safer
The features which comprise such
a comprehensive safety program in-
clude :
( 1 ) Improved selection, training,
and supervision of drivers, and
the maintenance of their interest
and good attitude;
(2) proper care of the vehicles
through modern maintenance
methods, and;
(3) design of motor vehicles and
equipment to best meet the
needs of the business.
Selection of Drivers
The fleet consists of half-ton
trucks, of which the installation type
is representative; other trucks, rang-
ing in size from three-quarter-ton
load capacity up to 5- and even 10-
ton capacity; and passenger cars for
supervisors in the field. There are,
in addition, trailers, pole-hole dig-
gers, pole derricks, platform ladder
trucks, tractors, bulldozers, air com-
pressors, trenching machines, various
kinds of wire and cable plows, and
other miscellaneous types of vehicles.
All these require operators trained
and always alert to assure their safe
and efficient operation.
Most of the trucks and cars mak-
ing up the Bell System fleet have for
their main purpose the transportation
of men, tools, and materials; and, in
many cases, the provision also of
power-operated devices for work on
the job. Thus the employees who
drive vehicles generally do so as only
a part, but a very important part, of
their regular telephone jobs.
These employees are selected on
the basis of being physically and
mentally qualified after training to
174
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
Bad weather creates hazardous driving conditions, which require watchful driving to
overcome. Note the crew compartment behind the cab of this construction truck
perform safely all the telephone
tasks to which they will be assigned.
The amount of driving each day by
the many drivers necessarily varies
widely with geographic conditions,
job locations, and types of work.
Nevertheless, special emphasis is
placed on selecting employees who
possess proper physical and mental
qualifications and attitudes for devel-
oping into satisfactory drivers.
Physical examinations of new emr
ployees who are to drive cars gen-
erally devote special attention to eye-
sight, hearing, heart and blood-pres-
sure tests. Then initial road tests
are usually given to help determine
individual training requirements.
In several companies, it has been
found desirable to give drivers peri-
odic physical examinations and road
tests. Neither initial nor periodical
examinations and tests given have
been found to be a "cure-all" for mo-
tor vehicle accidents; their primary
purpose is to enable individuals to im-
prove themselves as drivers by com-
pensating for any weaknesses, not to
deprive them of the privilege of driv-
ing. Also, periodic testing of drivers
calls to their attention physical de-
fects which may be corrected, and,
furthermore, heightens their interest
in careful driving.
The relatively few chauffeurs and
drivers of the longer-mileage sup-
ply and delivery trucks are usually
given more rigid physical examina-
tions than the drivers who operate
vehicles shorter mileages as a part
1948
Promoting Safety in Our Automotive Fleet
175
of their regular jobs. Yet all ex-
aminations and road tests must be
sufficiently thorough to measure the
individual's driving knowledge, skills,
and attitudes, so that training and
remedial measures may be initiated
to offset any weaknesses revealed.
The same general procedure which
has been found to be essential in
determining the training needs of em-
ployees who are to become cable
splicers, linemen, installers, switch-
men, and other craftsmen, applies in
the same way to finding out training
requirements of the operators of the
automotive fleet.
Training Motor Vehicle Drivers
The most important part of the
fleet safety program, strongly justi-
fied from humanitarian and economic
points of view, is that of training.
The need for training in safety is
never ending. It begins when the
employee enters the business, and
should continue, as required, to the
day he leaves the service.
The method of training employees
to drive company vehicles is usually
governed by the number employed at
one time in a particular location. In
cities where centralized schools can
be organized, new drivers receive the
benefit of classroom instruction in
addition to road tests and supple-
mentary training under actual operat-
ing situations. Under other condi-
tions, all road tests and necessary
training are given by supervisors or
other qualified personnel. Many of
Thorough inspection and maintenance of motor vehicles, in company garages from coast
to coast ^ have a major share in the Bell System's safety program
176
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
the latter have completed supervisory
training courses on safe driving es-
tablished at over 30 colleges and
universities.
The complete training of drivers
is one of the major responsibilities
of the supervisor. He must know
what is taught at the Company
schools; he must be familiar with
each man's ability, attitude, and hab-
its as a driver; and he must see that
the training is done effectively if the
safety program is to be successful.
It is common practice to give "re-
fresher" courses on a periodic basis,
and seasonal reminders — being par-
ticularly careful of children going
to school and at play, and alert to
winter driving hazards. Again, the
method of giving this training de-
pends upon the number of employees
at a particular location. A usual
method is to provide a suitable class-
room and make full use of discussion
and visual aids. Many excellent
sound motion pictures and strip films
are available and have been used ex-
tensively. So have model demonstra-
tion boards with miniature trucks
and cars which portray in a realistic
manner the causes of accidents and
their prevention. Other training me-
The tough part of the motor ve-
hicle safety problem is that driving
smoothly and safely for a block, for
a mile, a day, a month, a year is not
enough. Each driver must practice
continuously the highest type of self
control, must keep alert, must adjust
his driving to meet traffic, road, and
weather conditions.
More than 60 percent of the System's motor
vehicles are half-ton trucks^ of which the
installation type is representative
dia include blackboard illustrations,
charts and diagrams, bulletin boards,
posters, company magazines, monthly
accident reports, and safety meetings.
Not only is it necessary to be
sure that regular operators of the ve-
hicles are fully trained, but the sub-
stitute drivers and the engineers and
other employees who drive cars oc-
casionally must also be safe, courte-
ous, and efficient. It is also necessary
to train construction forces in the
safe operation of all the auxiliary mo-
tor and power equipment — derricks,
winches, cable plows, trailers, pole-
hole diggers, tractors, trenching ma-
chines, and others — enumerated pre-
viously.
All this training of 75,000 regular
and occasional Bell System drivers
has further safety value, since it en-
ables them to operate their own cars
properly when off the job and thus
add to the over-all safety on the
streets, roads, and highways of the
nation.
It has been said that a supervisor
must be first of all a teacher. This
includes not merely initial instruc-
tion but "follow-up" — maintaining
the employee's interest and correct
attitude and many other things nec-
essary to get results. The impor-
tance of this is illustrated by one As-
1948
Promoting Safety in Our Automotive Fleet
^11
sociated Company division that made
a remarkable reduction in accidents
after the foremen and other supervi-
sors had been with their drivers on
the road for a sufficient time to ob-
serve the driving skills and habits
of their men and had then re-
trained them as required. This was
a real application of the Bell System
"Safety Observation Plan," * which
has for its purpose the detection of
unsafe practices and their correction
before accidents occur.
While the success of any safety
program is usually a reflection of the
interest maintained by management
in the prevention of accidents, it is,
after all, the first line supervisor or
foreman with whom the employee
comes in daily contact. It is the fore-
man who is actively engaged in di-
* See "The Bell System's Safety Observation
Plan,"' Magazine, Summer 1944.
recting the operations on the job and
it is, therefore, necessary that he be
properly trained to fulfill his obliga-
tions of seeing that his men drive
safely. The types of supervisory
training which are helpful to the
foremen in this endeavor include :
Vocational Instructor Training, de-
signed to teach the foreman how to
teach; Human Relations Course; and
Job Planning.
Creating Driver Interest
An employee may possess the nec-
essary skills and knowledge for safe
driving and yet be involved in acci-
dents unless he has the proper atti-
tude and always keeps his mind on his
driving when operating his vehicle.
The Bell System companies are
using many methods to create and
maintain interest and develop the
Plowing-in telephone cable presents potential hazards which call for careful planning of
the project and equally careful training in the necessary precautions
178
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
proper attitudes for safe driving. In
addition to the means already men-
tioned, a number of other projects in
the fleet safety programs are de-
signed primarily to create and main-
tain the interest and correct attitude
of drivers.
Safe Driver Award Plans
The companies have found such plans to
be of value in stimulating and maintaining
drivers' interest in safety. They vary some-
what in kind and method of presentation.
A usual procedure is to present at suitable
annual meetings card certificates showing
the number of years the employee has op-
erated a car without an accident. Some-
times it has been found possible to have the
State Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or
some other state or city official present upon
such an occasion. Photographs of these
meetings and further recognition to the out-
standing drivers often appear in the com-
pany magazines and safety publications.
Hundred-thousand-Mile Clubs
In addition to cards, special recognition
is given to drivers who have operated their
vehicles ten years (about 100,000 miles)
without an accident. The awards are pre-
sented by officials of the company at annual
meetings attended by the drivers or even all
the employees in a district. Upon the com-
pletion of fifteen or twenty years' safe driv-
ing, employees may be given further recog-
nition.
Safety Contests
In this activity the accident summaries
are used to engender friendly competition
and rivalry between districts and Areas.
Suitable plaques and awards are presented
to the winners.
Driver's Resolutions
Employees in some companies are given
opportunity to sign cards containing a reso-
lution to drive safely both on and off the
job during the coming year. The cards are
kept by the employees and serve as a re-
How accidents happen, and
how they can be avoided,
are shown on demonstra-
tion boards with miniature
vehicles
Vehicles on the board at the
right are maneuvered by
means of electrical controls
1948
Promoting Safety in Our Automotive Fleet
179
About 20yOOO safety posters^ -printed in
colors^ are used monthly in the Bell System.
Many are reminders to drive safely
minder of the safe driving precautions to
be observed.
Steering-Wheel Cards
These cards, about the size of an ordi-
nar}' post card, contain brief printed in-
structions or reminders and are placed on
the steering wheels of vehicles. New cards
with different wording are used each week
for perhaps 25 consecutive weeks. These
have a definite educational value as well.
FiRST-AiD Training
Experience has shown that persons
trained in first aid understand better the
seriousness of injuries and will do more to
keep from becoming involved in accidents.
It should not be assumed that all
these activities are under way at the
same time in all Bell System com-
panies. It is recognized that any
employee stimulation which becomes
monotonous loses its appeal. For
this reason certain projects may be
discontinued and others introduced
in the effort at all times to do things
which seem to be most successful in
developing smooth, courteous, effi-
cient drivers, always mindful of the
rights of pedestrians and other mo-
torists.
i8o
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
Motor Vehicle Accident Data
and Their Use
All kinds of records are needed
in the Bell System for efficient op-
eration. In order to determine the
effectiveness of the motor vehicle
safety activities, accident reports are
carefully recorded and summarized.
The summaries are compared with
the results for other periods, and
any trends which are developing are
noted. Thus information is provided
for the purpose of showing where
special attention might most profit-
ably be applied.
This information — the facts be-
hind the accidents — may indicate a
need for change in design of equip-
ment; change in practices; or the
introduction of special training to
correct unsafe acts or driving habits
— speeding, following too closely,
lack of concentration.
Accident reports and records are
not an end in themselves. They are
valuable if used to determine the
progress being made, conditions and
driving practices which cause acci-
dents, remedial measure to be intro-
duced to correct adverse trends : in
general, the basis for a sound motor
vehicle accident prevention program.
It is essential that drivers appre-
ciate the need for traffic laws as nec-
essary to both the movement of traf-
fic and the prevention of accidents.
Bell System drivers do understand
this; and, furthermore, they know
that drivers who disregard the rights
of others must be restrained from do-
ing so, and in extreme cases denied
the privilege of driving if they persist
in the practice. This makes for an
appreciation of the need for efficient
law enforcement and for measures
which are aimed at saving life and
property through the prevention of
accidents to other motorists and pe-
destrians.
To help this realization, the tele-
phone companies furnish their em-
ployees an illustrated booklet con-
taining the city and state driving
regulations, operating practices, or
rules for safe driving and procedures
to follow in reporting accidents if
they occur. Operating practices cov-
ered in the booklets are exemplified
by the following:
Traffic signs and Parking
lights Inattention
Traffic lanes Taking chances
Intersections Right and left turns
Following too close Passing
Weather conditions Use of horn
Fog, snow, sleet and Hand signals
rain Speeding
Pedestrians — chil- School buses and
dren trolleys
These efforts have resulted in
splendid cooperation between Bell
System drivers and city and highway
police. Evidence of this is the at-
tendance of city and state police of-
ficers at safety award meetings and
their commendations given for the
courteous operation of telephone
company cars. Bell System employ-
ees are often called upon, in turn,
to give police organizations the bene-
fit of Bell System first aid training
and safety experience, and often re-
ceive favorable publicity in the news-
papers for safe driving.
Modern Maintenance Methods
Promote Safety
In no other field of accident pre-
vention is it so evident that the in-
efficiencies which cause accidents are
the same as those which lead to other
production losses.
1948
Promoting Safety in Our Automotive Fleet
181
A trailer equipped with
motion-picture projector and
screen and with other display
items takes classroom safety
training to men on the job
in remote locations
Above: Inside the trailer^
men compare pictures of the
unsafe and safe methods of
performing a task. Right:
The mobile training unit
reaches a construction crew
out in the great open spaces
Experience has definitely proven
that safety and efficiency go hand in
hand. This seems particularly true
in providing adequately maintained
motor vehicle equipment that is safe
for employees to operate on the
streets, roads, and highways, through
all kinds of traffic and varying
weather conditions.
Preventive maintenance assures
that vehicles will be able to get safely
to their destinations and not be held
up for emergency repairs, reduces to
a minimum the possibility of acci-
dents caused by mechanical failures,
and maintains the condition and ap-
pearance of the vehicles so that driv-
ers will be proud of their vehicle.
Bell System companies have long
recognized the value of properly
maintained garages. A clean, or-
derly, good-looking garage, stock
room, and storage yard reduce the
possibility of accidents to the garage
forces and to motor vehicle drivers
while entering or leaving the garage
or yard. A properly maintained
garage can be an incentive for driv-
ers to keep their cars, tools, and
equipment in good condition and to
drive and work safely during the day.
Drivers are trained to understand
the fundamentals of mechanical con-
struction and operation of their ve-
hicle and equipment, and the value of
preventive maintenance. The value
of checking steering, brakes, horn,
lights, tires, and windshield wipers
before leaving. the garage each morn-
ing and reporting each defect at the
end of the day's work are included
in the training. This is because al-
most all motor vehicle failure is pro-
gressive, and many of the troubles
l82
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
which lead to eventual breakdown
can be discovered and reported by
the driver. This is another way of
preventing accidents before they hap-
pen.
Fitting Motor Vehicles for
the Work To Be Done
Motor vehicle equipment, like
telephones and switchboards and all
the other types of telephone plant,
is constantly being improved to meet
the particular needs of the service.
In this evolutionary process, one
of the main features always given
consideration by Bell System auto-
motive engineers is to build safety
into design and use of the equipment.
In addition to making equipment
safe to use and the work less burden-
some, it is designed with the comfort
and convenience of the employees in
mind. Examples include the devel-
opment of the crew compartment on
trucks behind the regular three man
cab, space for storage of lunch boxes,
heaters (when necessary), and drink-
ing water coolers.
In the use of motor vehicles and
the many kinds of construction ap-
paratus, employees are encouraged
to observe and report upon operat-
ing practices and upon design fea-
tures of the equipment which can
be improved from the standpoint of
safety or efficiency.
Improved and modern automotive
equipment has done much over a pe-
riod of years to make telephone work
less burdensome as well as safer.
This is the natural result of placing
special emphasis on all mechanical
devices which will save time and
promote efficiency. A few outstand-
ing examples illustrate the modern
method of utilizing automotive power
equipment rather than hand power:
digging holes with pole-hole diggers;
handling, setting, and moving poles
with power winches and derricks; us-
A lOOfiOO-Mile-Club dinner. The 12 men in the foreground have driven 20 years
each without an accident
1948
Promoting Safety in Our Automotive Fleet
183
THIS CERTIFIES THAT
HAS COMPLETED TEN YEARS OF SAFE DRIVING AND IS HEREWITH MADE
A MEMBER OF THE BEU TELEPHONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MILE CIU8
M*n>h*rihip No Awarded
THE BELL TELEPBOKE COMPAHT
or PENNSYLVANIA
Awards and certificates are presented to employees who have
established outstanding records for safe driving
ing power reels for taking down wire
and removing cable; and using pole
and cable-reel trailers. The use of
power winches for lifting heavy
loads, pulling in and removing aerial
and underground cable, and many
other operations has lightened bur-
dens and made telephone work easier,
safer and more efficient.
Printed instructions covering the
methods of using automotive equip-
ment and construction apparatus in-
clude safety precautions. The cable
splicer working with a truck equipped
with a platform ladder would have
a practice covering the raising and
lowering of the ladder. This prac-
tice contains such statements as:
"Before erecting the ladder, be
sure to learn and understand all
the safety and general precau-
tions involved."
". . . make sure that any signals
are thoroughly understood by
all persons concerned."
"Immediately after entering the
platform, attach both safety
chains to the D rings of your
body belt."
In the final analysis, the success
of the motor vehicle accident pro-
gram rests in the hands of the 75,000
regular and occasional operators of
the motor vehicle equipment. That
is the reason safety programs are
designed to utilize every possible edu-
cational method to develop in each
driver an understanding of the ap-
proved techniques of skillful driving,
as well as a feeling of his responsibil-
ities to himself, his organization, the
pedestrian, and other users of the
highway.
That this approach has been suc-
cessful is evidenced by the number
of times that telephone company em-
ployees who operate motor vehicles
have won high honors when they
have competed with other fleets op-
184
Bell Telephone Magazine
The National Safety Council reports
32,300 persons killed last year and
100,000 left with some permanent
impairment, due to motor vehicle ac-
cidents in the United States. The
estimated property damage was $l,-
100,000,000, plus an additional cost
of $1,550,000,000 for medical ex-
penses, overhead costs, and value of
services lost to the nation because of
these motor vehicle accidents during
the year.
erating in the same city or locality.
The good safety record of Bell Sys-
tem drivers as a whole parallels the
fine safety record of the employees
of the entire communications indus-
try shown each year in figures pub-
lished by the National Safety Coun-
cil. These figures continue to show
that the communications industry has
the best accident record in American
industry.
Although the employees in the tel-
ephone companies are justly proud
of their safety records, it is recog-
nized that the problem is a never
ending one. The general traffic con-
ditions probably will not improve
very rapidly as more vehicles fill the
highways. With this there will be
new drivers coming into the business,
and new types and designs of motor
vehicles and power equipment requir-
ing special training and attention.
Telephone service is essential in rain,
sleet or sunshine. The fleet of well
kept Bell System cars will be on the
road in all kinds of weather. Each
driver, trying to be courteous and
careful, knows that an extra measure
of caution and concentration goes a
long way in preventing accidents.
While the purpose of organized
safety is primarily to prevent suffer-
ing, heartaches, and financial losses
to employees, their families, and oth-
ers, a good record demonstrates that
steps have also been taken to improve
public relations, reduce costs, and
otherwise increase the eflficiency of
operations.
It makes sense — because by doing
things the safe way all are gainers.
M^ ma mwjsim
This creed is standard equipment on the
instrument panel of every Bell System
motor vehicle
Mechanical Prevention and Legal Penalties Det^ the
Minority IV ho Seek to Defraud the Telephone Companies
For Services Rendered at Coin Telephones
Most People Are Honest
H, Montague Pope
It was in the year 1889 that the
first public coin telephone was in-
stalled, in Hartford, Connecticut, on
the ground floor of the old Hartford
Bank, at the corner of Main Street
and Central Row. Other public coin
telephones soon were installed in
Connecticut, and were gradually in-
troduced in other sections of the
country.
The telephone industry in those
early days was a fast-growing one —
as, in fact, it still is — and with the
installation of the ever increasing
number of telephones in homes and
business concerns, the need for pub-
lic telephones became increasingly im-
portant. Compared with that first
public coin telephone, installed in
1889, there are now in service in
this country nearly 720,000 Bell Sys-
tem public and semi-public multi-slot
coin telephones, and more than 3,000
attended public telephones. In addi-
tion, independent telephone compa-
nies have about 75,000 public tele-
phones in service. In 1947, public
telephones produced approximately
$200,000,000 in revenue.*
Coin telephones have tempted
some people to beat the telephone
companies out of legitimate charges
for the services they furnish, through
the use of slugs in lieu of United
States nickels, dimes, and quarters.
Over the years, the use of slugs had
become increasingly prevalent, until
Bell System losses reached a peak in
1933-
It was a serious problem for the
telephone companies, for it was ap-
parent that losses would continue to
increase unless decisive efforts were
made to combat the fraudulent use
of slugs. The situation was can-
vassed, and consideration was given
to such steps as designing new coin
telephones, modifying existing coin
telephones, attacking the sources of
slugs, seeking the enactment of State
laws or the strengthening of existing
laws, and invoking existing Federal
laws.
The improvement of coin tele-
phones is, like the improvement of
all items of telephone equipment, a
* See "Public Telephones," Quarterly, Oc-
tober 1939; and "Public Telephones: They
Serve Everybody," Magazine, Spring 1948.
i86
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
The Gray Telephone Pay Sta-
tion Company' s first coin tele-
phone apparatus — minus trans-
mitter and receiver^ but with a
support for the left elbow. The
year was i88g
matter for continuing study. The
decision was, therefore, as a first
step, to alter and refine the arrange-
ments in present coin telephones for
detecting and rejecting slugs.
The metal box housing the coin
collection and rejection features of
the public telephone has been kept
as small as possible, and there are,
therefore, some limitations as to
what modifications can be made in
the existing telephones. Bell System
coin telephones have been made by
Western Electric Company since
1934, and engineers of American
Telephone and Telegraph Company,
Bell Telephone Laboratories, and
Western Electric Company have co-
operated in introducing new features
in the coin rejecting mechanism to
the extent possible in the space avail-
able. These new features have been
principally two.
The coin gauges at the top of the
coin box were formerly of nickel-
plated brass, while the new gauges
are of steel and made to more exact
specifications, with limits closer to
the sizes of coins. This prevents the
use of over-sized slugs, and mini-
mizes the wear on the gauges. The
coin-chute runways through which
the coins pass are now made to more
rigid specifications, thus increasing
the eflliciency of the rejecting features
of the mechanisms and making them
less subject than formerly to defor-
mation through wear.
Jurying Up the Sources
of Slugs
A DIFFERENT ATTACK waS upon the
supply of slugs that could be used
Instead of 5^, 10^ and 25^ United
States coins.
One of the first steps was to deter-
mine the sources of slugs and to take
such action as seemed appropriate to
reduce the supply to a minimum.
Many manufacturers of marking
devices made trade checks, tokens,
key tags, and similar Innocent items
in sizes approximating the sizes of
nickels, dimes, and quarters; and
many of them soon found their way,
through fraudulent use. Into coin tele-
phones. In the early 1930s the na-
tional trade association of the Indus-
try was approached and, when in-
formed of the fraudulent use of mem-
bers' products, heartily cooperated
with the Bell System. At an annual
meeting of members, the group unan-
imously agreed not to make such
1948
Most People Are Honest
187
products in sizes susceptible of mis-
use.
Not long thereafter, certain mem-
bers were requested to quote prices
on coin-size slugs in orders as large
as one-ton lots. To their great
credit, these members replied that no
member of their association would be
a party to business of such a ques-
tionable nature.
Another problem arose when legit-
imate manufacturers found it neces-
sary, in the course of making their
products, to create waste punchings
of metal which sometimes were of
coin sizes. In some instances these
punchings found their way into coin
telephones. The managements of
these factories, when informed of
what was happening, immediately
took steps to keep the punchings
from leaving the factories. Occa-
sionally it was difficult to determine
the source of the punchings, but
vigilance on the part of telephone
employees usually resulted in its dis-
covery and elimination.
There have been many instances
of business concerns distributing ad-
vertising discs of coin size — some of
which have subsequently been found
in coin telephones. Manufacturers
and distributors were interviewed,
and when informed that the slugs
were being used fraudulently, agreed
to destroy their supplies of such discs
and cancel pending orders for addi-
tional slugs. One interesting case
was a religious organization which
distributed 25-cent-size discs having
a brief prayer on each side. When
informed of the misuse of these
"prayer slugs," the organization im-
mediately canceled all orders for
additional discs.
Because of the cooperation of le-
gitimate manufacturers, slugs even-
tually became scarce. This appar-
ently suggested a lucrative field to
certain individuals and concerns, who
thereupon went into the slug manu-
facturing business in a big way. Some
of them had in their factories various
types of coin-operated merchandising
machines, including coin telephones,
presumably to enable them to design
slugs which these machines could not
reject. An idea of the character of
these concerns may be obtained from
the following excerpt from an adver-
tisement of one of them :
*'We are the leading supply house
for slot machine slugs. These are
A later Gray models with coin slot
in the big bell^ above the initials of
the Southern New England Tele-
phone Company
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTtJMN
sold for use only in gambling devices.
. . . They work just like real money,
oftentimes better. When money has
become worn it sometimes will fail
to work the machine. Our slugs
never fail. . . . These slugs are not
sold to be used in telephones or other
legal machines.'*
The last sentence of the quotation
was in large print, and in effect ac-
tually informed people that the slugs
could be used to operate telephones
or other legal machines.
There was in 1933, due probably to
general economic conditions, a definite
increase in slug usage not only in tele-
This Gray i)istru»ic)U had not
only an elbow rest but slots for
half-dollars and ''cartwheel" silver
dollars as well as J or the usual
smaller coins
phones but in coin-operated merchan-
dising machines, postage stamp ma-
chines, railway turnstiles, automats,
and similar devices; and the opera-
tors of coin collecting devices were
determined to combat this fraudulent
use.
The Bell telephone companies in-
tensified their efforts to reduce the
use of slugs. Analyses were made to
determine periodically the extent of
use at each coin telephone, and slugs
were classified by types. As new
types of slug showed up, their source
was usually discovered — although
that was often not easy to find.
Where the use of slugs in a given
coin telephone was heavy, the agent
on whose premises it was located was
interviewed and the situation was ex-
plained to him — including the effect
of such fraudulent use in reducing his
commissions. The agents cooperated
with the telephone companies on the
side of law and order, and sometimes
were able to point out probable sus-
pects. Their assistance resulted in a
number of arrests by city police, fol-
lowed by convictions in the courts,
and the newspaper accounts of the
convictions unquestionably contrib-
uted to the reduction of slug usage.
In some situations where all efforts
failed to reduce the use of slugs, the
coin telephones were removed and re-
established in other locations. Dur-
ing the last war, oddly enough, the
shortage of metal increased the diffi-
culty of slug makers, and as a con-
sequence contributed to the reduction
of slugs.
There is one case on record where
the user of slugs in a coin telephone
was apprehended through the use of
finger-prints. In this instance a long
distance call of several hundred miles
Most People Are Honest
1^9
was made; and immediately after the
call the plain brass slugs used were
removed by city police and taken to
headquarters, where they were photo-
graphed and the finger-prints identi-
fied. The user of the slugs and his
associate were quickly arrested, and
were later released after each had
put up $i,ooo bond. The two men
forfeited their $2,000, and their au-
tomobile was confiscated by the po-
lice, since it contained a sack full of
brass slugs similar to those used in
making the long distance call. Crime
does not pay!
Laws and Law-breakers
By 1933, the majority of states had
enacted laws to prohibit the use of
slugs and penalize the users; but few
statutes prohibited the manufacture,
sale, or distribution of slugs.
Soon thereafter, several states en-
acted laws to prohibit the manu-
facture, sale, or distribution of slugs
with fraudulent intent, or with knowl-
edge or reason to believe that such
slugs were for fraudulent use. Ex-
cept in a few cases, these state laws
were not very effective, for the rea-
son that it was too difficult for a dis-
trict attorney to prove fraudulent
intent. The manufacturer or distrib-
utor could always proclaim his inno-
cence and deny any attempt to de-
fraud.
While amendments to Minnesota
and Ohio statutes were being consid-
ered by the state legislatures, a sug-
gestion was made that the amend-
ments should include a provision that
"knowledge or reason to believe"
may be shown by proof tjiat any law-
enforcement officer has, prior to the
commission of the offense with which
the defendant is charged, informed
A modern coin telephone
the defendant that slugs of the kind
were being used unlawfully or fraud-
ulently to operate coin collecting de-
vices designed to be operated by law-
ful coins of the United States. Both
states in 1941 had this provision en-
acted into the law. In addition, the
Ohio statute has a provision to pro-
hibit the advertising of slugs for the
operation of illegal machines.
In a Federal District Court an in-
dictment was brought against a man
on three counts : ( i ) for possessing
500 falsely made and counterfeited
coins in resemblance and similitude
of the genuine five-cent coin of the
United States, all with intent to de-
fraud; (2) for the unlawful sale of
100 of said coins, with intent to de-
fraud; and (3) for unlawfully issu-
ing 100 tokens and devices of metal
190
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
and its compounds Intended to be
used as money for and instead of the
five-cent piece authorized by law, all
without being lawfully authorized to
do so.
The facts in this case, as brought
out by the district attorney, briefly
are as follows: The defendant op-
erated a novelty store where he sold
certain coin slugs to the public, pur-
chasing them at wholesale and sell-
ing them at some profit. Two types
of slugs were involved, one of them
selling for $1.00 a hundred and the
other, which the defendant called his
DeLuxe type, sold for $1.20 per hun-
dred. Thus for $1.20 one might ob-
tain from the defendant's store slugs
which if used for nickels would have
a "value" of $5.00. In this case the
Government presented a comparative
table of the contents of the genuine
nickel prescribed by Federal statute
and the contents of these slugs :
Genuine Nickel
75%
25%
Copper
Nickel
Coin Slug
Copper 63 %
Nickel 17.60%
The remainder
consisted of Zinc,
Cadmium and
Iron.
The comparative weight and size
of the genuine nickel under the Fed-
eral statutes and the coin slugs is-
sued by defendant were as follows :
Genuine Nickel
77.16 grains
Coin Slug
76.90 grains
There is a variance of weight al-
lowed by statute of 3 grains, so the
coin slugs were within the variance
allowed by law and may be said to
be exactly of the same weight as the
genuine nickel. The statute does not
fix the dimensions, but the standard
diameter and thickness of the gen-
uine nickel as compared with the coin
slug were as follows :
Genuine Nickel Coin Slug
Diameter .835 inch .833 inch
Thickness .078 inch .075 inch
The coin slugs had inscriptions on
one side reading "No cash value"
and on the other side "Good for
amusement only." The slugs in this
respect did not resemble the genuine
nickel, and obviously were not in-
tended to be passed physically from
hand to hand as money. The mode
of use in this case was to pass the
coin by a mechanical device which
cannot read, and therefore it was im-
material what inscription appeared
on the slug. In all other respects the
slug so closely resembled the genuine
nickel in size, weight, and metal com-
pound that it avoided detection by
the mechanical devices used in vend-
ing machines and coin telephones.
It was apparent that such slugs
were intentionally issued to be used
as and in place of genuine five-cent
coins. The defendant was found
guilty and penalized.
Another case of a concern manu-
facturing in a big way slugs identical
in size with United States coins re-
sulted in the factory being raided by
local police in cooperation with Fed-
eral authorities. In this factory were
found mechanisms of various coin-
operated machines, including coin tel-
ephones. All slugs were confiscated,
and the tools for making them; the
makers were subsequently indicted by
a Grand Jury, tried in a Federal
court, found guilty, and sentenced to
imprisonment.
There have been, on the other
1948
Most People Are Honest
191
hand, cases which Federal judges de-
cided not to bring to trial, appar-
ently believing the laws against coun-
terfeiting were not adequate. This
led to an amendment of the counter-
feiting laws making the manufacture,
sale, or distribution of slugs for
fraudulent use illegal. The amend-
ment was approved by Congress on
April I, 1944, and became Public
Law No. 278. The law is now in-
corporated in the revised Title 18 of
the United States Code, Section 491,
approved June 25, 1948, as Public
Law 772. In this amendment there
is a provision defining "knowledge or
reason to believe" along the same
lines as in the state laws of Minne-
sota and Ohio previously mentioned.
Public Law No. 772 should elim-
inate the manufacture of slugs as a
business venture, although it may be
that some will occasionally be made
in the kitchens of a few people, just
as counterfeit money is sometimes
made. To combat the manufacture
of slugs for fraudulent purposes
should now be much easier because
of the heavy penalties for violating
the Federal counterfeiting laws.
The combined effect, from the
standpoint of the Bell System, of all
these coordinated activities — includ-
ing the skill of the engineers in im-
proving the coin telephone, the coop-
eration of legitimate manufacturers,
and the assistance of State and Fed-
eral authorities — has progressively
lessened the slug problem. The
temptation to use slugs has been
largely eliminated, and the relatively
few who still try find it tougher go-
ing and with less and less likelihood
of success. Bell System losses from
slugs are now less than one-tenth of
what they were in 1933.
This article must not be construed
as reflecting on the American public
generally. Its author still believes,
despite the evidence here adduced,
that most people are honest.
"Our concern as applied to the telephone companies is not confined to its
financial ills as related to our investment needs, because we are free to and do
buy something else. We don't have to buy them. But there is another worry
there, and I daresay this applies to all business men in the community.
"In New England, to carry on a nation-wide competitive business, we need
the very best of service in competition with companies in New York and else-
where. We are situated at a disadvantage.
"The telephones are most useful, too, in the insurance business. We must
have excellent service to remain in a competitive position. Unless the tele-
phone industry can earn a fair return, business and wage earners in our State
are injured even more than is the company itself."
From a statement by Lee P. Stack, vice president of John Han-
cock Mutual Life Insurance Company in charge of finance and
investments, before the Department of Public Utilities of Mas-
sachusetts, September 28, ig48.
The Annual Bulletin of the A, T, &f T. Company Is the
Only Publication Which Regularly Summarizes the Number
Of Telephones in Service on This Planet
Telephones of the World
James R. McGowan
The bulletin "Telephone Statis-
tics of the World — January i,
1948," recently issued by the Chief
Statistician's Division of the Ameri-
can Telephone and Telegraph Com-
pany, shows that at the beginning of
this year there were 60,600,000 tele-
phones in service throughout the
world, or one telephone for every 38
persons. This compares with one
telephone for every 800 persons at
the beginning of the century. Dur-
ing the intervening years, the world's
population has increased by about 45
percent, while the total number of
telephones has grown by almost
3,000 percent. Twenty-nine years
after the telephone was invented,
the world had six million telephones
in service — which was the number
added to the global total in the year
1947 alone.
Telephone service has been so de-
veloped and improved in recent years
that the ideal of universal service
seems almost to have been attained.
Today, approximately 57,900,000
telephones — a communication net-
work comprising 96 percent of the
world's telephones — are potentially
within the reach of any Bell System
subscriber. Communications experts
have worked vigorously and continu-
ously through international telecom-
munications organizations to stand-
ardize equipment and operating
methods so that telephone subscrib-
ers of each country may be linked
with those of other nations, in their
homes and places of business, on
ocean liners, on coastal and harbor
craft, on trains, automobiles, planes.
At the beginning of 1948 there
were 34,867,000 telephones in serv-
ice in the United States, or 57.5 per-
cent of the world's total. During
1947 the United States had a net
gain of three and one-quarter million
telephones, which was more than half
of the increase in the world total.
The second largest national network
of telephone facilities, that of the
United Kingdom, augmented its tele-
phone total by almost 300,000, or
five percent of the world's net gain.
In the Western Hemisphere out-
side the United States, the gain in
telephones during 1947 amounted to
some 350,000. The combined area
of Asia, Africa, and Oceania, which
Telephones of the World
193
THE WORLD'S TELEPHONES BY CONTINENTAL AREAS
January 1, 1948 »
Areas
Total Telephones
Privately Owned
.Automatic
(or Dial)
Connecting with
Bell System
Number
%
of
Total
World
Per
100
Popu-
lation
Number
%of
Total
Tele-
phones
Number
%of
Total
Tele-
phones
Number
%of
Total
Tele-
phones
North America
(less United
States)
United States .
South America. . .
Europe
2,717,000
34,867,000
1,489,000
17,717,000
1,800,000
660,000
1,350,000
60,600,000
4.5
57.5
2.5
29.2
3.0
1.1
2.2
100.0
4.2
24.2
1.4
3.0
0.2
0.4
1.3
2.6
2,383,500
34,867,000
791,500
2,650.000
210,000
9,000
99,000
41,010,000
87.7
100.0
53.2
15.0
11.7
1.4
7.3
67.7
1,560,000
20,850,000
1,048,000
11,170,000
740,000
437,000
820,000
36,625,000
57.4
59.8
70.4
63.0
41.1
66.2
60.7
60.4
2,686,000
34,854,000
1,400,000
16,400,000
680,000
560,000
1,340,000
57,920,000
98.9
100 #
94.0
92.6
37.8
84.8
99.3
95.6
Asia
Africa
Oceania
World
' Partly estimated, all data having been adjusted to January 1, 1948.
# Less than 0.05 per cent do not connect.
in the aggregate is peopled by more
than three-fifths of the world's popu-
lation, added approximately 400,000
telephones to the total number for
those three continents. However,
more than one-half of this latter fig-
ure represents the net telephone gain
in Japan alone.
In a consideration of the world's
telephone gain by years subsequent
to World War II, it is well to bear
in mind the fact that much of the
so-called "gain" in number of tele-
phones in service throughout the
world, outside the Western Hemi-
sphere, comprises restoration of war-
damaged telephone plant. Such gain,
therefore, does not in all instances
represent new telephone expansion.
Europe, with four times the popu-
lation of the United States, has one-
half as many telephones as we have
in this country. By January i, 1948,
Europe, with 3.0 telephones per 100
of the population, had attained ap-
proximately the same telephone de-
velopment as that reached by the
United States in the year 1903.
Of all the countries of the world,
Belgium has the greatest population
density, with 719 inhabitants to the
square mile, and has 6.3 telephones
per 100 of the population. The
United States, with 48 inhabitants
to the square mile, has one-fifteenth
Belgium's population density but has
almost four times its telephone den-
sity.
A bulletin on telephone statistics
of the world has been published by
the A. T. & T. Company each year
since 19 12, except during those pe-
riods of World Wars I and II when
telecommunications data on a world
basis were not available. Certain of
the charts and tables presented in
the current publication are repro-
duced here.
The map reproduced in the bulle-
tin shows the radio network of the
Bell System as of January i, 1948.
Your voice can be transmitted from
any telephone instrument in the
United States to almost any other
telephone on any other continent.
Although spoken words were first
5g
« Ot^OC
p ro 0_ p ■^
p 00 0\ p 00 p p 00_ p 0 rt
P p CO p p CO p p
X
0
tS-S.
oddd^
d CO d d oc)
d d On d vd d d On d d ^"
d d CN d d <£qc)
u
t:&
0000000 000000
0 NO 00 0 t^ 0 NO 0 0 NO
oo^oc
0000
V
cu
0 a>
H
OCfl
-^oooc
0000 t-O
cNrt 00c
rt oOIr^O Ov
rt 0 0 00 NO 0 CO 0
1>_
^1
l-i
■^ 0 0 0 10 0 0 00 r<l 0
00Ti<OOC
OOOOCO
rtOOOOOO Ortrt<
2:!
t^-^OOO —
0_<OOn^O__0__
0 l:^ 0 "0 C
OnOcooOO
CO t^ 0 l^ 10 0 0 •rt
j3
oP9
s
ro fO ro •^ OC
(--'"cvr'^''.-rt— '
rt TjHrt On-:*
•^ 0 CO 00 CO
"o^coor- oortoo
U
lr5^^C^
ro T-i ro T^ PO
10 <>»rt Tt
cot^^
0 CO CN 10 •^
Tt^OOO
1
00 tN
CN
NO -^^rt
CO 10 CO NO rq rt
-
CO
«N
4-)
s
0
H a
■3
00 1-; 00 \q ""
OS 'O 00' tN '-
OS 0 "O 0 00
CN NO NO 00 C
CN t-~' (^' \r> ~ri
p (^ rt CO CN »-;
CN 10' ■^' CN 00 CN
■^t--cO'^iO cooOOn
>0 CN (N On d t--^ •rt' On
5
0
0)
•^ I"
W-) ID re 00 0\ 0 -^ vO ro
t~ t^ t^ NO C<-
•rt 00 l^J~~ 00
t^ t^ -^ 10 Tjt 10 10 "0
a<
H
On
E
oooo«^
VO 0 "0 t-~ 0
OOO-^C
OO"0 •^CNOO
t^t^OO^t^ t-^cO'-H
<::: 0 <:> ^ t^
-* OsCS — <o
oO °o_ot^
OUOO OC
0 0 ^ rt NO CN
(-<1 On 0 rt t^ -* 0 CO
0
0)
"-1^.*^.°°.°^
0 0 0_nO_^i/-
CN_r-)_oo_^0_^0 rt
CN On 0 CO CN
CN t^ CO
«-
3
o'-^'o'iooc
0" iO~vo"vo"
o'no'o'oo'o
•rt'-^^rt'co'co"
0" 00" CO 00" C
•^"loco"
M
>0 10 CN l^
\0 ^ --1
1:^ TtH>. ^
COlOTjf
CO 00 CN 0 ""
CO •^ NO
>H
3
00 i»
«— 1
■* CO
CN CO CS CN
'-*'^.
z
0^
CN
tf
-<(!
cs
£J
<
000 0 tN >-
oo^f 1^0
OOOOC
0 1 O"0O 1
1 I 1 1 «:
1 t^ 1
^
•DO OCN C
0 i^ t~- ra 0
OOOOC
0 1 OCOO 1
1 1 1 1 c^
1 W 1
^
d
t^ On !~0 CM J^
o_p_'*o_^o__
10 00 0 "0 c^
-* (Z)^^^'^^
NC
°9,
Q
rt
OOn-* ^ 0
•^''too'^'o"
00 t^l^ On •^
»0 CO'^rt'tC
NC
CN
O
>
VDfN CN 0\
ro ^ co^ph ^
*^ NO •rt CN
rt< rj<
oc
"0
'C
a,
00 0\
CO
CN
•«*rt
\r
CM
^
£
u
u
S
0
1 0000 1
00-* 1 0
^12 1"=
00 1 CNO"*
rt 0 t~ 00 OC
CONOO
1 OOl- 1
OOv^ 1 0
00 1 0 1 C
S On t^ CN *^
rt 00 •* 0 't
lOCO ■*
H
E
wo 0 »o
0 vO 10 PO
ID ID C
CO t^ CO t^ 0
t^ .rt •rt
a
rO On
(^•^^ ^
CN rt NO
■^ ^ ^-H ^-H Tf
lO^Tt oc
Ovoooo
o
1^
u
00 CN
t^ c<-
t^
0 CO T) to C
iOCNO
^
>
s
CN
10
COiO co„
CN
^
'
0
H
§1
a
CN •^^ 10 00 0
p 0_ 10 0\ ^-;
P CN p •rt^ l/~
CO -*_ ID CN ^H 00
■^_ CO 00 On oc
pONfN*
t3
11
-*' J-^ 0' •^ 0
CN ^
1— 1 •^ T-l 1— 1 0
Tt d -^ <N C
d d d co' rt d
^' no' d CN -*
CN NO »0
q
0
u
4J
4^
S
1
a
0
a;
3-0
•OI>.^t (N^t
■^ * * * »
-1* 00 <^.*
***'"'**
>0 On ^t NO C
^f lOlO
073
t-^ fO * d *
"0
Q * * * «
rt* 00*
* * * 0* *
0 d * d T-
* O'co'
eft
"cS
CL,
U
H
'Z
"(3
OOOOO'^
0000 »^o
CNO ooc
0 0 0 1^ 0 "*
•rt 0 t^ 00 NO
CO COO
0
"OOOO c
0000 CNO
000000
0 0 0 0 0 ^
rt 00^ 0 oc
IT) rt -^
1-1
*^'*1'^>°^*~'
0 t^ On 0 CO
0 00 10 10 C
0 OnO COOOJ^
CO t^ CO t^ •'^
t-Ort
(U
XI
VO (rTrO -n'o
1^ tJ* -rt ^H tJh
•rt !>. 00 On l^
0 -* CO COOO-*
10 Tf -f 0 I^
On" rt" 00"
6
O-huOOn
ro •rt CO ■^ >0
10 NO rt l/~
-^ ^t^^
0 CO 10 10 —
10 000
u
3
00_^<N
CN
NO •^ rt
CO 10 CO NO
CN ^
^
IS
^"cN
CN
H
-
rr>
H
2
1
<
i
s
<:
a^
■i->
.§
rt
C
rt
1
c
3
0
u
<
<
XT
H
CI
•c
a.
•1
c
s
<
Si
1
C
13
rt 0
rtCU
w
<
c
a
Drt
rt
rt
IS
E
c
rt
>
0
>
rt
a
N
0 <u
c
en
0)
0
.2
E
3
_2
'C
J?
) 0
t
U5 1-
0 a
•^ E
S
c
8
c
g
'5 cfl 0) 3 j:
, l^£^6
H
0
U 0 I- J=3 C
D rt <u >- <u -M
WPhCuP>0
tr 3 OJ 3 N *l
wE£
S
Oi
0
&
a:;
C^
W
194
OOOOOOCO f^OOOO OOt^
t~ 00 •^ O t~
O — -H O iO(S
00 O "^ t^rj*
^ o o> ^^ o\
0> O Ov 00 t^
0000\0'^'*«'5'~D
00^*~^00>00v>0
fTp^VO lO 00^ o^ >o o
t^ »-H 0^ trXT)
O «3D f^ <r) 00 t^ o o
©•^"iOvt^ 0» O O
O 00 >-i Ov •* 0< I'l o
f*5 -H cs O "^ -^ »0 00
^ ^ ^ ID T*< t^0»0
80000
oo o
f- >o rs «o
oooooo
t^ O 00 o o o
\00t~0 o o
O «^0 «'5 o
oooooo
00 o^ \0 .-^ Ti< 00 O O •^ 0\ 00 •^ O^ O 00 00
Tl<t^tS^OvCNo6o6
•D0\t^O00t^00>O
o^ ^ ■•-I tn t>-
vO -^ 00 <^ "-I 0\
lO O •'i '*5 «0
O^ r-i «-^ 00 •-«
•O Ov «0 t^ I-!
cT -^ i-^ c\^ t--r •^ i-^ ocT
O 00 CN NO •'J
O 00 O t^ vO
to On •^ "^ O
tN lO On NO •'J
•rt cc 00
fvi O O
•*o o
in in o
OnO"^
NO CN "^
C — ' — o c
O fN r^ C O
C_CN 00 0_0_
Oo'no'''* no"©"
r^ NO cs f*5 "O
•^ IT) •^
•* OnOnOCO
inoooNCO
NO O 00 PNi o ■*
00 O C ON o
ro ro *^ '— I O
■>*^t^00 •^ On
PC 00 1^
I PT) I I ^ 1 NO ^ <n 00
00 fO liO •-^ On O
I I
— 00
O O 00 NO I Tf u-> C<1
O C NO O- I m On On
o^c «~-:.no__ *^,^^-^_
cf^No'irT On lo o
m o -^ ^H t^ —<
NO PNI CnI I O
■^_^rN4_o •*_
tN •"^'"•^ 00
Oni-O ^
I I
i5 1^ I
o_ On_
cvT NO
OS
N „
Oi .fe§
t^OO
00 00 "+ TfO
O ^ rc ON O O
t-»
P^
„
.S— r:
•c "-5
On O O
(VI r^ ro ^ O
t^ -H lO p^i C O
«— t
m
f^
On«00
O tN -- .^ O
NO 00 lo t~ o •»*'
o
to
O
•!t ^O
tJ< m m <No O
m On NO On "^ O
ir>
o
■*
>< J CJ
rt<>nO
00 OnJ^ •^ •*
l^ On fC T-1 re 00
o
o
CC
i^* J
t^NOOO
■^ CN
CC
On
ro
■,* ^
«-t ■^ ■
PO 00 (M_ 00 -- 00 On O
roo-.-H^CNNOirjcN
00 •* 00 00 CM
d ^' d ■^ '-'
r<; ro *~~
vd osd
lo <r; CM J
On -^ to NO On ^
d d d d CM ^
On to to ^^ ^t
■^' t^ vO * *
0\ ^ CM , NO , O NO
fvJdd* •^* •^ d
<~c r<; CM 00 'i<_
d d d d <N
CM*-; O
Tt; c '-^ .
dcMd'^
•^ CM, ^^ ^^•^
do* * dd
COaovOi^-fto'C
OOnOO— toONO
CONf^NOOONOONtO
r^CMNOiOOOONiONO
tONOO^^to^-t^l^
Ir^ -H On lO (^
NO 00 rr re 00
to -^ lO CN 1^
^ 00 — ON -t
ON oo
On lO O
OOOO't rf O
CM re re — O
O (M — — O
0-*re OnOO
t^ — J to CM O O
NO 00 — t^ o »^
t^ \0 CM t~ O
c oioo^o
CM ^ t^ On O
On ■— (M C to
^„^lO^
^ ^o
^^lOO
t^NOOO
rf to to re O
■* On r^ ^ On
CM — CM
to On to O' to O
t~ On Tf ■— re 00
re
to CM O NO ■^
O OnO re
On re
— Tl<T-.
to'
i= 5 ^ nS >. 5J-C 5
-C biC 5
o.S
• he to
k -^ tr = ^ <y •-•r
o o o Q. ^
Pli Cl, c^ c/) CO
c/^DO
— /i; 1- u j-
— Q. rN — -^
' O 3 w
WHO
<<
5"
O (U
C/5 o
Co
oE
c a.o.2 S in
PO
.21 B.2
c
<
u v
— o
^O
T-l ST
.2 .^ «=;?
3 rt 4) j3 7j
<k;z;(i,o
195
196
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
TELEPHONES PER TOO POPULATION
•
January 1, 1948
COUNTRY AND
CITY
UNITED STATES
San Francisco
SWEDEN
Stockholm
HAWAII
Honolulu
CAh4ADA
Toronto
NEW ZEALAND
Wellington
SWITZERIAND
Geneva
DENAAARK
Copenhagen
NORWAY
Oslo
AUSTRALIA
Melbourne
ICELAND
Reykjavik
UNITED KINGDOM
London
FINLAND
Helsinki
BaGlUM
Brussels
NETHERLANDS
The Hague
FRANCE
Paris
AUSTRIA
Vienna
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires
GERMANY ®
Hamburg Altona
URUGUAY
Montevideo
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Prague
CHILE
Santiago
ITALY
Milan
EIRE
Dublin
^Wi-Srid
CUBA
Havana
JAPAN
Kyoto
PUERTO RICO
Son Juan
PORTUGAL
Lisbon
HUNGARY
Budapest
VB4EZUELA
Caracas, D.F.
A^EXICO
Mexko D.F.
BRAZIL
Rio de Janeiro
WORLD
) / 10 20 30 4
)
^iaiffl'ia
^^
|MiayjjuiJiiiMiii» ,
-i-H " ''"""""" ' ' "'"■1
■a:s:,i
„,„,,,,,,,„,
mmmmmmmsa \
:.::.r:::::::r:'^:^:::::x:::-H
BB
BBS
miffliiBP'*^^^ 1
""^^^^
Mi
ilMMiiilMIMMlkiL
|,,........^.».......— .irmmMi. ,
mm
llllliMlllil^^^^
1
wm
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH 1
' 1
V
■nm 1 {
' 1
m
i|i| 1 1
\^: .. :a
WM
i
MB
ma
mm
^u
\
m
r-
^
™" fi . ,
mi
1
wmm^
mm\
wm\
""m
-i
mmmnmm
■■{ ,
i 1
«J_^
mm...,|
m-n. ,
^
nr- 1 J
■4-
»i — .
^ J
■ 1
r — 1
0 Excluding lh« Russian Zon« of Occupation.
This chart shows relative telephone development of principal countries of the world
and certain major cities
1948
Telephones of the World
197
THE WORLD'S TELEPHONES
MILLIONS
70
TOTAL WORLD'S
TELEPHONES
NOT CONNECTING
WITH BELL SYSTEM
At End of Year
Growth of connecting telephones during the past two decades reflects the extension
of overseas service
lephones
3er 100
pulation
rOO Tfooo
\0>0
OS
VO to
lO tS O PO
00 00 00
lo lo •■-H o\
cs roO \OrO
o 00 tNt^ 0\
VOiO
vOOO-^fO
OVO— 1
(T) CN tJi
ir> t^ 00 OO
t^ 00 tJ< 00 t^
H
p^
^ o
E'o-g.
«N 00 \Ot^ O
rOt-rrjr\o"od
00 i-H t^ lO ^H
o
79,581
104,300
15,174
17,132
103,858
48,462
371,399
61,107
53,952
48,032
116,946
OOOOfN
CN vo fN t^ O
pg'"i>roo'"<rr>o
CO O O O CN
1-1 1— 1
0\ CN
. . ra ,_, q_) re
lO vo >o o
CN t^t^ CN
CN CN ro "O
*^ rH 0\
m 00 00
CC ■^ 00
CN Tj<\OtO
t^ Tfl CN O
CO O 00 CN VO
lO On 00 O ■*
•^ CN -^ CN ro
:s <u O
C/3
Q
rt
j- (U.O
H «) Ui c ' n
td oj 0) aj 3
NpQmON
C/5
o
Q
O
Wffl
t3
6
M^ ^ O
c -^ ~
H C tn op
•S^
.-=5 is. is
CQWOW
■^ i-i '^OVD
CO ■^ O 00 vo
lO lO OOJ:^ CD
<>4^0 Os^04^'-<__
CO ^"r^" CO vo"
Os t^ CN •^ t^
ovi CO T-i
CMO T^ T-H fVJ
■^ lo •^ 0\ >o
CN CN 0\ CO CO
I.|
o c
c a
s
2'
S
u
>
2 2
u
N
u
198
•^ (V5 "-I ■— I 00
t^ ro O 00 t-^
CN t-~ O Ov "O
OO IT) t^ rr> ^ ro
cAin -^ 0\0 oo
ooooo
CN t^ O 00 ro
t^ 00 oo_^o_«~-_
tooo o'o'os"
O 00 cs •<# CD
•rH t^ ^H
CN t^ ro O O
O 00 ■<* 00 f<0
oo'"vo'o'"oo'"vo
>0 On Tj* lO ■^
rti CO »~-. Tj< ro
»^ «N CN '-" O O
l-- t^ — I CN ^-H tJ<
!>._ 0_*~-__ '^. 00 ^
fN*" CT 00 >0 *>r lO
■^ T-i o> t^ <^ r<^
fn ■* <^ CS «S <N
CN tJi Ov -^ >0 rj<
CN t^ uo 00 vO -H
r<^ l^-T tjT cvf '-<'i--r
ICO o <r> '-I a>
t>» ,H ^H ^H •rt
3
t^ -H O tN 00
CN 0\ O On O
T^ rO OJ -^ lO
00 o o fo >o
00 o "0 -H <r>
00 t^ On fO O
ID OI vO 00 O O
lO -^ ro <^ O t^
rO On 00 *-~ NO lO
-H fvi o 00 ■* fN
lO t^ .^ lO t^*~
o
>.
a
3
o
U • (u
"2 :>.
>N ; c
..ti u o
-OS «
o c 2i «2
> § "i S «i
tft
< >
^^x;
c c
ca o
(U-O Sao"' P
u
d C t«
o o'O
'■5 bo 5
3^tU
c
•^ a
^a
en "*
«! C
S.9
<u'e
bo c
c <u
"J S
j= o
NO O
-H O
(O o
rt 5,
<u
u o
4) O
Mo"
. TO lO
^•S o
• -" >< *^
U a^o
™ m O
03
-CAl
S • ■_: 2<r)0 •
5 rt fc S o o-rtg.o
Oh P ( " -
ic55KO
03 O
nS a.
m
ctf o
4) O
bfio"
s^
o n
4) JS
o <u
I- c
"rt 2 o
o = *^
"3 S
T3 ,,-
rO t^ '-H Tf On
fS O -^' 00 On
t~- CN On On lO
(>J t^t^ On •<*
ON ro' CN (N irj
ro »* On tM lO
fc irj «N •rjJ <rj
— ON O -^O
(^ Tf "0 CN O
•^ 00 ID O O
00 00 On >n -^
O-H ^ ■* -<
PN| O t^ <^ O
tN lO fN 00 00
0_00_rO O O
^r<^iri ro vO
rO t^ tN O -H
O ON 00 Ot^
CO O (^ O ■*
i-H \0 On O lO
CI a
T, P
■ID ^^ jS
•^ O "O NO •*
"O ■^ Tt< ro ro
(M CS lO O t^
rc "^ lO On <»
irj o ro O Tf
C^ Tj< lO ■^ 00
<rJ" T-T
o
•^t^OO fO
o
t^ O CNI o o
lO
CO CN O O fO
■^ On On (N "O O
NO tN On lO 00 fO
NO O 00 O <r) 00
g o
art
:Q
U
4)
■ °
?*?
3 3-C
P-ju Zu4)c8i33
o
<
^
< 3
c?
OCQ
?;
z
O
D
K
K
..^;i: 03 o
O biO"5 ^
^l:: 03 o a> .. o >> 03 a o
a.ti
«-3
Sit
199
200
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
Problems other than those of a
technical nature have been encoun-
tered during the years of effort to
standardize international communica-
tion service. The Marconi Wireless
Company vainly sought in IQJI for
a Mohammedan who was an expert
radio engineer. A contract had been
signed with King Ibn Saud for the
construction of a radio station in
Mecca, but no one of a faith other
than Mohammedan was allowed to
enter the sacred city to carry out the
work. Thus was the sudden Arabian
leap from the archaic to the modern
— from the centuries-old methods
such as messenger on camel follow-
ing a time-worn trail — made compli-
cated. To solve the problem. King
Ibn Saud sent four of his subjects to
England for a course of instruction
in the new electronic methods of com-
munication.
successfully sent across the ocean in
19 1 5, another 12 years were needed
before overseas telephony was suffi-
ciently stable to be offered to the pub-
lic. When New York and London
were first connected for commercial
radiotelephone service, in January,
1927, the cost of a three-minute con-
versation was $75. Some 2,000 calls
were flashed across the Atlantic that
year. By 1939, the cost of a similar
call had been brought down to $12,
and most territories of the world
were within voice reach of the United
States. In 1947, half a million radio-
borne conversations were made be-
tween the United States and points
overseas.
Interesting problems are not in-
frequently encountered during the
process of gathering facts for a pres-
entation of statistics on world tele-
phone development.
Data in the bulletin are shown, in
so far as possible, as of the end of
the calendar year. However, many
of the large foreign administrations
make their statistics available as of
the end of their fiscal years, which
of course vary; and other administra-
tions do not make their official sta-
tistics available until eighteen months
after the end of the period under con-
sideration. Adjustments are there-
fore necessary in summarizing world
totals as of the beginning of the year.
Disparity in the time element requires
still other adjustments in arriving at
equitable development figures in com-
parison of telephones in respect to
population; for censuses, being time-
consuming and costly, are taken only
at long intervals. Attention must
be given to intercensal growth rates
coupled with annual official demo-
graphic statistics such as those per-
taining to birth and death rates; to
gains and losses through interna-
tional migration; to population shifts
due to changes in land areas; to long
and short-term economic factors; and
to other important considerations.
Official figures obtained direct
from foreign administrations or
companies are used whenever they
can be procured. Not only are some
400 foreign correspondents queried
by letter and questionnaire for statis-
tical data, but annual reports and
technical magazines published in any
one of several languages and issued
by the various administrations or by
private operating companies are read
and annotated, as are governmental
statistical abstracts and demographic
bulletins. Publications issued by the
1948
Telephones of the World
201
Bureau of the International Tele-
communications Union at Bern, Swit-
zerland, are read for items of cur-
rent interest, such as changes in the
personnel or the corporate structure
of telecommunications organizations.
An address file of all regular corre-
spondents is maintained.
In some cases estimates must be
resorted to, nonetheless, and, where
these are necessary, many factors are
taken into consideration. A file is
maintained on news items of those
events throughout the world which
may affect telecommunication or
population data. Widespread disas-
ters, such as hurricanes; innovations,
changes in ownership, traffic data,
conferences, new construction, war
damage, manufacturing output — re-
ports on all such are taken into ac-
count in an effort to arrive at fair
estimates. Official data published
subsequent to such estimates have
shown the estimated figures to have
been gratifyingly close.
Communicating with European ad-
ministrations is relatively simple, for
the majority of the telephone sys-
tems on that continent are under sin-
gle administrations and the informa-
tion is, therefore, readily available.
In some countries, however, many
organizations must be queried for
the required data. Telephone devel-
opment statistics of the some 5,800
non-Bell telephone companies operat-
ing throughout the United States, as
well as those of the Bell System, on
the other hand, are obtained without
difficulty. Standardized terms and
uniform systems of reporting tele-
phone development data in the
United States simplify the assembling
of such statistics for the total in-
dustry in this country.
Still other considerations compli-
cate the work of assembling tele-
phone data. Certain administrations
— fortunately they are few — are re-
luctant to supply information. One
or two reply that, to their regret, the
desired information is not available.
One or two, notably the U. S. S. R.,
have never replied at all. It may be
added that, possibly by way of com-
pensation, an occasional estimate af-
fably supplied is all too obviously
founded upon conjecture and facile
assumption rather than upon harsh
fact. Such estimates are apt to err
on the side of generosity.
In compiling traffic data, it is noted
that many foreign telephone systems
have various categories of calls, such
as those with Avis d'appel or Pre-
avis (messenger calls), "lightning"
calls, urgent calls, and fixed time
calls, which are charged for at higher
rates and have priority over ordinary
messages. In times of peace, all calls
in the United States are on a light-
ning or urgent basis, without priori-
ties, and are charged for at the nor-
mal or ordinary rate.
The annual survey of world tele-
phones published by the American
Telephone and Telegraph Company
is the only publication which sum-
marizes the number of telephones
throughout the world. Inasmuch as
warld totals of telephone develop-
ment do not appear in any other pub-
lication, this survey has, in the past,
been extensively reprinted and ana-
lyzed, both in the United States and
abroad.
Twenty-five Years Ago in the
Bell Telephone Quarterly
Items from Volume II, Number 3, October 1923
Dr. F. B. Jewett Addresses
Pacific Coast Meeting
from New York
On October 4TH, the Pacific Coast Con-
vention of the American Institute of Elec-
trical Engineers met in Del Monte, Cali-
fornia, to confer the Edison Medal, and
as President of the Institute at the time
the award was made, it was the duty of
Dr. F, B. Jewett to make the presentation
speech. The medalist this year is Profes-
sor R. A. Millikan of the California Insti-
tute of Technology. As Dr. Jewett was
unable to leave New York, arrangements
were made to transmit his speech over the
transcontinental telephone line. The Pa-
cific Telephone and Telegraph* Company
installed loud speaking equipment at Del
Monte so that the entire convention could
hear the speech.
From "Notes on Recent Occurrences."
World's Telephone
Statistics, 1922
During the year 192 1, 1,083,409 tele-
phones were added to the telephone systems
of the world, an increase of 5-2%, bringing
the total number of telephones in the world
on January i, 1922 to 21,948,960. Of this
total, 13,875,183, or 63.2%, were in the
United States, of which 13,380,219, or
96%, were connected to the Bell System.
The number of telephones in all the coun-
tries of Europe combined was 5,606,252,
or 25.5% of the world's total; all other
countries had 2,467,525, or only 11.3% of
the world's telephones. At the beginning
of 1922, the total number of telephones
in the world was equivalent to 1.3 for
each 100 of the world's population, as
against 1.2 at the beginning of 192 1. . . .
Over one-half of the total net gain in
the telephones in the world during 1 921
occurred in the United States; and this
despite the fact that the extent of telephone
service relative to population is very much
greater in the United States than in any
other country. In all Europe the gain in
telephones during 1921 was only 342,085,
as compared with 545,804 in the United
States. On January i, 1922, Europe still
had but 1.2 telephones per 100 population,
as against 12.7 in the United States on the
same date. The relative number of tele-
phones in Europe today is no greater than
that which existed in the United States in
1900.
From an article by Seymour L. Andrew,
former A. T. & T. Chief Statistician.
Beginning of Policy of
Selling Service and Not
Instruments
The greatest thing that Gardiner
Greene .Hubbard did in his administration
of the telephone was establishing the busi-
ness policy of the telephone on the prin-
ciple of renting telephones and not selling
them. As attorney for the Gordon Mac-
Kay Shoe Machinery Company he saw that
principle in practice. He realized that it
was the wisest principle on which to build
up the telephone business. As he was
Trustee, he was able to adopt it without
gaining first the consent of anyone, and he
held to it persistently against both the se-
vere pressure of lack of money and the
united opposition of all the others con-
Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly ,^ 203
cerned. Even Mrs. Hubbard, his own
wife, at one time went to Mr. Watson in
the shop to beg him to join them and to
add what influence he might have with Mr,
Hubbard to persuade him to sell telephones
instead of renting them, so much more
money would be received in that way and
they needed money so badly. But Mr.
Hubbard stood firm. He had the power
and nothing could move him from the
policy. And the whole business structure
of the Bell System is built upon his posi-
tion ; if he had yielded, it could not have
been. The renting of telephones led to the
licensing system, and the licensing system
led to the sale of service only. This indif-
ference to money, so characteristic of him,
was the concomitant of his far-sighted wis-
dom and his determination to bring the
right thing about.
From "Two Founders of the Bell Sys-
tem" by the late W . C. Langdon, A. T.
^ T. Historical Librarian.
Catalina Radio Telephone
\ System Superseded by
Submarine Cable
The radio telephone system which for the
I past three years has connected the Island
of Santa Catalina with the rest of the Bell
Telephone System was closed down on Au-
gust first. An enlarged service to the Is-
land is now being given over two submarine
telephone cables, which were laid to the
Island a few weeks before the closing of
the radio.
The passing of this radio system is of
more than usual interest, both from an
historical and a technical standpoint. It
was the first, and so far as known, the only
radio telephone system which has ever given
a commercial telephone service, meeting in
both transmission and signaling (although
not as regards secrecy or economy) the
ordinary requirements of wire telephone
circuits. . . .
Some six weeks before the radio was
taken out of service, a "privacy" system was
installed in connection with it. In this
system the transmission was sent out in
such form that the ordinary radio receiving
sets could not pick up the messages and
convert them into understandable speech.
The system was not "secret" in the sense
that one familiar with the methods used
could not construct a set which could listen
to it. Such a set, however, would be much
more complicated than the ordinary set,
and the added complication would be of
no value except for picking up transmission
over the system. It gave a degree of pri-
vacy, therefore, something comparable to
that obtained by a lock and key, which may
not prevent a property from being broken
into, but which does, in general, furnish a
high degree of privacy to it.
From "Notes on Recent Occurrences."
204
Bell Telephone Magazine
Who's Who & What's What
(Continued from page 139)
charge of a newly organized section of the
department, the position he now holds. His
previous contributions have been "Office
Standards and Costs as Applied to Public
Utilities," in the Bell Telephone Quarterly
for April 1930, and "Bills for 13,000,000
Customers," in this Magazine for Febru-
ary 1942.
Various assignments in the Plant De-
partment of the Southwestern Bell Tele-
phone Company, including central-office re-
pairman, division plant engineer, general
plan installation supervisor, and general
plant training supervisor, occupied Erle
Miner from 1922 to 1929, This experi-
ence gave him a first-hand view of the
System's training and safety programs from
both the practical and the administrative
standpoints. In 1929 he was transferred
to the Department of Operation and Engi-
neering of A. T. & T., to work on plant
training problems, and in 1937 he became
safety engineer — the position he now holds.
His most recent previous contribution to
this Magazine was "The Bell System's
Safety Observation Plan," published in the
Summer 1944 issue.
Born in Torquay, England, and educated
in that country, H. Montague Pope had
been engineer of outside plant construction
in South Wales for the National Telephone
Company before coming to the United
States in 1909. Here he became a plant
engineer for the former New York and
New Jersey Telephone Company. After
military service in World War I he was
transferred to the commercial engineer's
staff, and in 1921 he became a member of
the Department of Operation and Engi-
neering of the A. T. & T. Company. In
1933 he was appointed commercial prob-
lems engineer, and ran smack up against
the problems he discusses in this issue.
This is not his first contribution to this
Magazine, for his "Independent Tele-
phone Companies" appeared in the issue for
May 1941 ; but it is his last, for Monty
Pope retired from the company on Septem-
ber 30.
For the third consecutive year since the
war, and for the third time from the pen
of James R. McGowan, telephone statis-
tics of the world are back in the pages of
this Magazine. Mr. McGowan's eleven
years of A. T. & T. service with the Chief
Statistician's Division, devoted to studying
and reporting on the statistics and econom-
ics of foreign telephone development, were
interrupted by more than four years of
military duty, spent in statistical and ad-
ministrative work with the Signal Corps in
Washington and with the Economics Divi-
sion of Military Government in Berlin.
me js.js. V 1 1 'T^ 1 \umaer rour yy mit^r /y^o -^ y
13
Six Thousand Telephone Companies Serve U. S. ^^ffc ^,.
A. Roger Chappelka ^^8a^ ^'^
Bell System Patents and Patent Licensing • Keith S. McHugh ' '^f^
The Part Communications Play in Civil Defense
JuDSON S. Bradley
Toll Dialing by Operators Reaches Some 300 Places
Ernst J. Guengerich
Right-of-Way Comes First • Harry H. Hoopes
Installation by Western Electric Company • Alvin von Auw
Telephone Facilities for Railroad Reservations
Justin E. Hoy
mean
Telephone ^-Hm^rSj Company 'VewiorkA
Bell TclcphomM^m^
PF'inter 1948-49
Six Thousand Telephone Companies Serve U. S.,
A, Roger Chappelka, 209
Bell System Patents and Patent Licensing,
Keith S, McHugh, 217
The Part Communications Play in Civil Defense,
Judson S. Bradley, 220
The Millionth Bell Rural Telephone Since the War Is Installed, 226
Toll Dialing by Operators Reaches Some 300 Places,
Ernst J. Guengerichy 228
Fair Exchange, John Mason Brown, 238
Right-of-Way Comes First, Harry H. Hoopes, 240
Installation by Western Electric Company,
Alvin von Auw, 249
The Things Men Live By, Walter S. Giford, 259
Telephone Facilities for Railroad Reservations,
Justin E. Hoy, 260
25 Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly, 270
Bell System's Television Networks Connected, 271
^ Medium of Suggestion ^ a Record of Progress
'Published J or the supervisory forces of the Bell System by the Information Department of
American Telephone and Telegraph Co., /p5 Broadway^ New York 7, N. Y.
Leroy a. Wilson, President; Carroll O. Bickelhaupt, 4$'^^.; Donald R. Belcher, Treas.
Who's Who & What's What
in This Issue
Few people realize how many companies
are engaged in furnishing telephone service
to this country. Even fewer appreciate
the complexities involved in coordinating
the facilities and services of all these com-
panies in a nation-wide service which en-
ables "anyone, anywhere, to pick up a tele-
phone and talk to anyone else, anywhere
else, quickly, clearly, and at reasonable
cost." A. Roger Chappelka is well
posted on the situation, however, because
for the past six years he has headed an A.
T. and T. group handling inter-company
compensation matters. This activity has
included not only revisions of settlement
arrangements with connecting companies
but the development of arrangements with
them for coordinating new services, such as
mobile telephone service and community
dial operation. Joining the Ohio Bell
Telephone Company in 1921, he was a
division commercial engineer with that
company when, in 1926, he transferred to
the American Telephone and Telegraph
Company in New York, in the commercial
results and practices section of the Depart-
ment of Operation and Engineering.
A STATEMENT of the Bell System career of
Vice President Keith S. McHugh was
published in the issue of this Magazine
for Summer 1948, to which he contributed
a discussion and analysis of "The License
Contract."
Several Bell System officials have
had unusual opportunities to serve their
country in connection with the establish-
ment of the Office of Civil Defense Plan-
ning and the development of its program.
Its first director was Russell J. Hopley,
president of the Northwestern Bell Tele-
phone Company, who took a leave of ab-
sence of nearly a year, at the request of
Defense Secretary Forrestal, to organize
the enterprise from the ground up. Upon
his return to the Northwestern Bell com-
pany last November, Mr. Hopley was
A. Roger Chappelka
Keith S. McHugh
Judson S. Bradley
Who's Who & What's What
207
Ernst J. Guengerich
Harry H. Hoopes
Ah
m A\
awarded the first Certificate of Apprecia-
tion ever to be granted by the unified
National Military Establishment, for his
"exceptionally meritorious service."
The organization of the Office of Civil
Defense Planning has been kept small, but
its director was able to enlist the services
of executives in various branches of indus-
stry. From the Sj^stem, the chief of the
technical division was Horace H, Nance,
Engineer of the Long Lines Department;
and Allan G. Barry, operating vice presi-
dent of the Wisconsin Telephone Company,
served briefly as chief of the organization
planning division. Communications ad-
visor was Herbert J. Schroll, assistant vice
president of the New York Telephone
Company, whose length of service equaled
Mr. Hopley's, and who now, after his re-
turn to New York, is still retained as a
consultant. Members of the advisory panel
for communications services are Theodore
Berrier, A. T. and T. assistant vice presi-
dent, and John B. Rees, now operating
vice president of the New Jersey Bell Tele-
phone Company. Mr. Hopley has been
succeeded by Aubrey H. Mellinger, former
president of the Illinois Bell Telephone
Company and now retired from that post.
The communications aspects of the Civil
Defense program are reported in this issue
by JuDSON S. Bradley, who, after sev-
eral years of editorial and publishing ex-
perience, joined the General Information
Department of the Southern New England
Telephone Company in 1925. Five years
later he became a member of the corre-
sponding department of the A. T. and T.
Company, and he has been since 1943 the
editor of this Magazine.
Thirty-seven years in Traffic work have
given Ernst J. Guengerich a pretty
{Continued on page 272)
Justin E. Hoy
Long distance cables stride across the countryside on private right-of-way.
See '' Right-of-fVay Comes Firsty" beginning on page 240
Cooperation and Coordination throughout the Industry in
Working Out Common Problems Provide a Unijied
Telephone Service for the Nation
Six Thousand Telephone
Companies Serve U. S.
A. Roger Chappelka
About 6,000 separate telephone com-
panies join in furnishing our nation's
telephone service. Only twenty-three
of these are Bell companies. The re-
mainder are non-Bell, or "Independ-
ent"; in other words, they are in-
dependently owned and operated and
not a part of the Bell System.
A few round numbers will indicate
the size and importance of the In-
dependent group in the industry.
Eleven thousand Independent ex-
changes, scattered from coast to coast,
serve some 6,000,000 telephones.
The toll circuits connecting Bell and
Independent exchanges handle nearly
500,000,000 messages a year. The
annual revenue from these messages is
$250,000,000.
The Independent companies vary
considerably in size. The smallest
ones may serve fewer than a dozen
telephones, often connected to some
simple switching device on the wall of
a country store or an owner's resi-
dence. The largest Independent sys-
tem serves more than 1,000 localities
in 19 states. Some of the larger
cities served by Independent com-
panies are Erie, Pa., Fort Wayne,
Ind., Lincoln, Neb., Long Beach, Cal.,
Rochester, N. Y., Santa Monica, Cal.,
and Tampa, Fla.
The problem of coordinating the
operations of so many separate com-
panies— Bell and Independent — is
complex, and requires properly timed
action on many widely diversified in-
ter-company problems.
Bell-and-Independent Codrdi?iation
Independent and Bell people have
been for many years working to-
gether, thinking together, and plan-
ning together. Both recognize the
importance of maintaining two strong
groups in the telephone industry. The
effectiveness of the coordination be-
tween these two groups can be demon-
strated in many ways.
When you listen to your favorite
radio program, for example, you
no
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Toll offices of Independent telephone companies have been expanded and are working at
full capacity to keep pace with the increasing volume of calls
probably are not aware that Inde-
pendent companies may be providing
some of the network facilities. When
you talk with a distant toll operator,
you cannot tell whether she is a Bell
or an Independent employee. Even
when you drive along the highways,
it is difficult to tell whether the tele-
phone line at the side of the road is
Bell or Independent. Except to tele-
phone people, it isn't of any particu-
lar importance.
After half a century, what prob-
lems can still exist that require coor-
dination?
The answer to this question is two-
fold.
First is the day-to-day job of keep-
ing the facilities and operations
of 6,000 telephone companies ef-
fectively coordinated so that na-
tion-wide service is practical.
Second is the joint planning and
introduction of new services,
techniques, and methods which
make improved and added serv-
ices available to all telephone
users, whether Bell or Inde-
pendent.
The Day -to- Day Job
Of these two divisions of the work,
the day-to-day job may seem to be
the less spectacular. So let's look at
a few selected items to illustrate its
character and importance.
A good lead-off item is message toll
telephone service.
There has been a tremendous
growth in this business. The volume
of business over individual toll routes
fluctuates for such reasons as changes
in customer requirements, seasonal
1948-49
Six Thousand Telephone Companies
211
variations, and usage peaks caused
by special events. There is, there-
fore, a continuing job of following the
volume of toll business and taking
steps to insure that adequate but not
excessive toll facilities are maintained.
When a change in toll facilities is to
be made, it may involve either Bell
or Independent companies, or both.
Hence the need for coordinated plan-
ning by the several companies furnish-
ing the required facilities.
Another good illustration is the
continuing work associated with the
private line services.
Numerous extensive networks are
presently serving such customers as
the press, broadcasting companies,
pipe line companies, and government
agencies. Most of these networks
involve both Independent and Bell
facilities. Frequent changes in loca-
tions of stations are necessitated by
changes in customers' requirements.
The broadcasting companies and the
press in particular originate a sub-
stantial volume of requests for short-
term additions to their networks.
These added stations are used in cov-
ering news, sports, and other events
of special interest. The event may
take place in either a Bell or an Inde-
pendent exchange. In many of these
cases there is no chance for advance
planning. The news event breaks
and the service is wanted immediately.
Here again, prompt, effective action
on the part of the companies involved
is imperative.
There are occasions also when one
company may ask another for infor-
mation or advice on day-to-day main-
tenance problems, improvement of
traffic operating performance, or some
Independent companies recognize that good business-office service includes arrangements
for the comfort and convenience of their customers
212
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
similar matter, in order to promote
further coordination of over-all serv-
ice. On such occasions, for example,
a Bell plant man, if asked to do so,
would be glad to suggest how a spe-
cific central-office equipment problem
could be overcome; or a traffic rep-
resentative might have information
on Bell System operating experience
which would be helpful to an Inde-
pendent company in improving the
performance of its operating force.
The larger Independent companies
render similar assistance, of course,
to the smaller Independent com-
panies.
The negotiating of inter-company
agreements covering the division of
responsibilities and revenues on serv-
ices involving the use of both Bell
and Independent facilities, and the
handling of inter-company settle-
The entire telephone industry is actively engaged in ex-
tending rural telephone lines, to bring service to an increas-
ingly greater number of farms
ments, is another important phase of
the day-to-day job.
Coordination of New Services and
Projects
The introduction of new services,
new equipment, and better and more
economical ways of doing the job
requires close coordination between
Bell and Independent companies. To
demonstrate the importance of Bell-
Independent teamwork here, let's con-
sider the following projects.
Nationwide Operator Toll Dialing
This project provides that the toll
operator at the originating end of a
toll call will dial straight through to
the called telephone without assistance
of intermediate operators, whether
the call is to a neighboring town or
across the country.* The
T*'""' ™«»^— result is a faster and
/ more efficient toll service.
This is a fundamental
change. It requires the
highest degree of Bell-
Independent coordina-
tion, including both the
operating and manufac-
turing branches. It in-
volves such far-reaching
matters as establishment
of a universal numbering
plan for all exchanges,
use of matching dial
equipment at terminal
and intermediate ex-
changes, and a layout of
toll circuits designed to
provide the most efficient
arrangement of direct
and alternative routes.
See page 228.
1948-49
Six Thousand Telephone Companies
213
Community Dial Central Office
(CDO) Conversions
A CDO is a type of dial central of-
fice where the equipment is housed at
one location while the operators re-
quired to handle toll, information,
and assistance calls are located in
another office or even in another ex-
change. Plans for the next few years
include conversions from manual to
CDO operation in a large number of
smaller exchanges.
Past experience and present plan-
ning emphasize the need for coordi-
nation and cooperation on the part of
all companies, both Bell and Inde-
pendent, involved in a new CDO
project. For example, the engineer-
ing of a CDO requires consideration of
inter-company plans for toll plant lay-
out and operation as well as local re-
quirements. Actually, it may develop
that the most effective arrangement
is to handle the operator office work
(information, assistance, etc.) for a
new CDO in the nearby central office
of a company other than the one own-
ing the CDO.
An Independent company, consider-
ing for the first time the desirability
of introducing community dial opera-
tion in one of its exchanges, can often
benefit from the experience of other
companies which have dealt previ-
ously with such problems; and where
two companies may be involved in a
CDO project, there are important cost
and service advantages to both com-
panies in effective joint action.
Mobile Telephone Service
Another example of cooperative
Bell-Independent thinking and plan-
ning is the recent introduction of mo-
bile telephone service. It was clear
from the start that most careful at-
Several Independent companies are fur-
nishing mobile telephone service through
facilities such as this
tention would have to be given to the
problems of all companies to utilize
fully the limited number of available
radio telephone frequencies and to
secure participation by all companies
within reach of a mobile station.
Joint work of Bell and Independ-
ent people has made this service a
reality in many parts of the country.
On January i, 1949, Bell companies
were providing mobile telephone serv-
ice in 133 areas, and Independent
companies were providing service in
another eight.
The area covered by a mobile serv-
ice station is broad : approximately 20
to 25 miles in radius, on the average.
214
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
In many cases, therefore, it covers
the exchanges of more than one tele-
phone company. Thus the 133 Bell
service areas include about 1,500 Bell
exchanges and 1,000 Independent ex-
changes. Arrangements have been
made for participation by all com-
panies within such areas, resulting in
a uniform service offering to the cus-
tomers of all companies involved.
Complete and efficient mobile serv-
ice coverage of a highway requires
the spacing of stations without re-
gard to ownership of exchanges. All
companies along the highway work
together in the basic planning to de-
termine the most efficient location
of stations, and joint decisions are
reached regarding which companies
are to provide the equipment and op-
erate the various stations.
Television Networks
Television, which is rapidly devel-
oping in this country, introduces many
new problems which require Bell-
Independent coordination. Already
there are more than 50 stations on the
air. Another 400 are under construc-
tion or have applied for construction
permits. A dozen television stations
are presently planned in Independent
exchanges. It is reported that over
a million receiving sets are in use.
Broadly, the telephone company
participation may involve facilities to
meet administrative requirements, to
connect the studio with the trans-
mitter, to pick up local programs, and
to connect with networks. Careful
planning by Bell and Independent
companies together is often required
to serve this new industry adequately.
Extended-Area Service
Expansion of suburban areas, im-
provements in transportation, and
similar factors have substantially in-
creased the extent of many metropoli-
tan areas. The same factors have
likewise strengthened the ties between
adjacent communities. To meet cus-
tomer service requirements which re-
sult from these changing conditions,
it is often desirable to replace short-
haul toll service with flat-rate or mes-
sage unit calling. This service is com-
monly termed "extended-area serv-
ice."
Enlarged areas for extended-area
service, in a number of instances, in-
volve both Bell and Independent ex-
changes in a single project. In such
situations, the division of ownership
calls for joint decisions on such mat-
ters as determining the exchanges to
be made a part of the extended area
and developing the most appropriate
services and rates for each of these
exchanges.
Rural Development
The progress made since the war
in improving rural service and devel-
opment is another example of joint
Bell-Independent effort. Since V-J
Day, the Bell System alone has
added more than 1,000,000 rural
telephones.
One of the basic problems is ade-
quate coverage of the widespread
areas far from population centers,
and both Bell and Independent com-
panies are actively engaged in the
development of less expensive ways
of bringing telephone service to
farms. Stronger wire has been de-
veloped, permitting longer spans and
fewer poles; single pole-lines often
carry both telephone and power cir-
cuits; power-line carrier equipment
now permits telephone conversations
to ride electric-power wires under cer-
1948-49
Six Thousand Telephone Companies
215
tain conditions; even two-way radio
has been used in some cases to reach
farms in remote locations.
Such developments have contrib-
uted to the great progress since the
war. The program is a continuing
one, and Bell-Independent teamwork
and interchange of experience will
continue to make important contribu-
tions to the further progress to be
achieved by the industry.
Bell Organization for Coordinating
with Independent Companies
Cooperation between Bell and In-
dependent companies is necessarily on
an organized basis.
It is not possible to blueprint the
job and organization, however, be-
cause there is considerable variation
in requirements among the various
Bell companies. Some factors affect-
ing force requirements are:
The number and size of connecting
Independent companies.
The range and amount of day-to-
day work in coordinating Bell-
Independent operations.
The activity and interest of Inde-
pendent companies in dial con-
versions, mobile telephone serv-
ice, operator toll dialing, and
other new projects.
Rapid progress is being made among Independent companies^ as well as in the Bell
System, in the installation of dial equipment
2l6
Bell Telephone Magazine
The territorial characteristics of a
Bell company may affect the degree to
which the organization can be cen-
tralized. Bell companies operating
in a single state or compact area have
the greatest opportunity for centrali-
zation. Multi-state Bell companies
usually require one group at general
headquarters and other groups at
state or division headquarters. Fur-
ther decentralization is possible
through delegation of some responsi-
bilities to district managers and local
managers.
Maintaining liaison with connect-
ing Independent companies is a Com-
mercial Department responsibility.
The Commercial group charged with
that responsibility also arranges for
participation by other departments in
handling Individual problems as they
arise. Representatives of the En-
gineering and Traffic Departments
would participate in an Independent
CDO project, for example. An Ac-
counting representative might take
part in a discussion of how best
to maintain records covering inter-
changed business. Plant people par-
ticipate in cases involving mobile tele-
phone service and other services
utilizing facilities of both Bell and
Independent companies. Since sev-
eral Bell departments are often in-
volved in a single project, most Bell
companies have committees for coor-
dinating interdepartmental participa-
tion.
In most states the Independent
companies have State Telephone As-
sociations which are of assistance in
matters affecting the Independent
companies of that state. The Bell
companies work with their respective
associations on common problems.
The United States Independent Tele-
phone Association ("USITA") deals
with matters affecting the entire In-
dependent industry. Its activities in-
clude education and information and
it deals with legislative, regulatory,
and other matters of national impor-
tance to Independent companies.
Six THOUSAND COMPANIES are pro-
viding a unified telephone service for
our nation. The industry intends to
keep it so.
The Bell System Makes Available upon Reasonable lermsy
To All Who Desire Them^ Non-exclusive Licenses under Its
Patents^ for Any Use
Bell System Patents and
Patent Licensing
Keith S. McHugh
Inventions originating in Bell Sys-
tem companies play an important role
in the telephone business in this coun-
try. They also have extensive appli-
cation in other industries. This article
discusses Bell System policy in patent-
ing its inventions and in licensing
others to use them.
What is a patent, and why is it of
direct benefit both to the inventor and
the public? The granting of a patent
under our law is in principle a simple
exchange of values between the in-
ventor on one hand and the public on
the other. The public receives a clear,
permanent and open disclosure of an
invention which might otherwise be
kept secret. The inventor receives on
his part an exclusive right to his in-
vention for the duration of the patent
period (seventeen years in this coun-
try), which is intended to allow time
to develop the product, get it into
manufacture, market it, and derive a
profit from it. At the end of this
period anyone may use the invention
freely.
The Bell System's interest in pat-
ents comes about both by the nature
of its business and from the extensive
work of research and development
which it carries on in order to be able
at all times to furnish the public the
best possible telephone service. This
activity of research and development
is of long standing and is essential to
satisfactory and continuing progress
in the constant effort to find new and
better ways of doing the job in an in-
dustry involving intricate apparatus
and many complex operations.
Out of the research and development
work carried on by Bell System scien-
tists and engineers come many inven-
tions. These inventions contribute
significantly to the art of telephony
and improved service to the user.
Most of them originate in the Bell
Telephone Laboratories, the System's
2l8
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
research and development organiza-
tion. Some also originate in the
American Company itself, in the
Western Electric Company, the Sys-
tem's manufacturing organization, and
in other companies of the Bell System.
It is the practice to apply for United
States patents upon the more impor-
tant of these inventions so that the
Bell System's right to use its own in-
ventions in furnishing communica-
tions service may receive the assur-
ance provided by the patent laws.
Another reason for applying for
patents on these inventions is that a
patent establishes a right in an inven-
tion which enables the patent holder
to grant licenses to others and thus to
realize values of the invention in ad-
dition to the values derived from using
the invention himself. Bell System
patents often have a trading value in
acquiring the right to use inventions
of others which are needed in furnish-
ing the best possible communications
service; in fact, licensing others to use
the Bell System's patented inventions
is sometimes the only way by which
such rights can be obtained. Beyond
this, patents are valuable assets in
that others often are willing to pay
royalties for the right to use the
System's patented inventions.
Some 600 license agreements under
which rights are granted to more than
400 widely varied businesses are in
effect. Negotiations are in progress
with a number of other concerns, and
requests for licenses are coming in
steadily. Some of the important uses
for which licenses have been granted
under Bell System patents are tele-
phone instruments and switchboards;
submarine and other types of cable;
loading coils, repeaters, and carrier
systems; radio communications sys-
tems; broadcast transmitters and re-
ceivers; sound recording and repro-
ducing apparatus; hearing aids; pub-
lic address systems; and medical and
scientific equipment.
It is the Bell System's policy to make
available upon reasonable terms, to
all who desire them, non-exclusive
licenses under its patents, for any use.
In order to realize the value of the in-
ventions, it is necessary to employ dif-
ferent types of patent license agree-
ments in different situations, of which
the following are some illustrations :
(a) Licenses are exchanged with
other patent owners, either with or
without royalties, so that each gets
the particular rights he desires
under the patents of the other.
(b ) Licenses are granted to man-
ufacturers to make, use, and sell ap-
paratus to others on a royalty basis.
(c) Licenses are granted on a
royalty basis to those who desire to
use specified apparatus in their own
businesses (as distinct from those
who sell such apparatus to others).
Such licenses include the right to
have the licensed apparatus made
by anyone for the licensee.
Most of the System's license agree-
ments fall within (a) or (b) above,
or a combination of the two. For ex-
ample, licenses are granted to manu-
facturers covering telephone systems
and apparatus for sale to operating
telephone companies, both Bell and
non-Bell.
Where the proposed licensee has
patents upon inventions which the Sys-
tem desires to use in the communica-
tions business, a non-exclusive license
1948-49
Bell System Patents and Patent Licensing
•^ 219
under such patents is always expected
and any difference between values in-
volved is adjusted through royalties.
In all cases the System seeks to fix
the terms of licenses to others under
System patents, whether in the form
of royalties or licenses to it, or both,
in such a way as to be reasonably re-
lated to the value of the patented in-
ventions covered by the license.
What has been said above relates
to the licensing of concerns and indi-
viduals in this country. The same
general philosophy applies to patent
license negotiations with foreign con-
cerns, although there are different
conditions, such as patent and other
laws, trade and currency regulations,
etc., which must be considered in such
negotiations. Proposed patent license
agreements with foreign concerns are
reviewed with the State Department
to be sure that they are consistent
with our Government's foreign eco-
nomic policy.
For the general convenience of all
those desiring licenses under Bell Sys-
tem patents, the Western Electric
Company has been designated as the
agency to make agreements for rights
under all Bell System patents.
Have you ever stopped to ask yourself just what it is you really want
in telephone service? I expect, when you boil it down, it's about as
simple as this :
You want to get the person you are calling quickly, whether he's
around the block or across the continent. You want to hear his voice
clearly, and know that he is understanding you just as clearly. You
want — and expect — your telephone service to be available to you 24
hours a day, and in using that service you want to feel that you are
being treated in a friendly way by people who know their jobs.
And, of course, you want these qualities at reasonable cost.
Now the fact of the matter is, these are the very things we have al-
ways tried to give you. The aim of the Bell System has been — and is —
to supply you with telephone service that is high in value, low in cost.
We intend to keep making it better all the time, so that its value to
you will grow as your need for it increases.
An announcement on the Telephone Hour radio program.
^' Civil Defense for National Security" Reports on the Steps
Necessary to Minimise the Effects of Enemy Action Against
the Unarmed People of this Country
The Part Communications
Play in Civil Defense
Judson S. Bradley
The Selective Service law is in
effect. The Army, the Navy, and the
Air Force have been consolidated un-
der one head, and are being strength-
ened in both personnel and equip-
ment. A National Security Council,
a National Security Resources Board,
a Munitions Board, a Research and
Development Board have been estab-
lished and are functioning.
These steps are held to be essen-
tial, in this era of troubled peace, to
the defense of our country.
Another step is essential to com-
plete the nation's defensive organiza-
tion: a structure of c'wil defense, to
enable Americans to prepare to pro-
tect themselves and their productive
capacity in the eventuality that war
should ever be brought to these
shores. And the need is greater now
than ever in the past because of the
indiscriminate and incalculable blows
of modern warfare.
That step is in the process of being
taken. Already there is a plan: a
plan of Civil Defense for National
Security.
Communications hold a key posi-
tion, as would be natural, in the plan
and in operations under the plan.
But to understand their role, one
must first understand what the plan
includes, the organization it proposes,
and the methods and extent of the
organization's operations.
On March 27, 1948, the Secretary
of Defense created an Office of Civil
Defense Planning, and appointed to
it a Director, who was instructed :
"To prepare and to submit to the
Secretary of Defense a program of
Civil Defense for the United States,
including a plan for a permanent fed-
eral civil defense agency which, in
conjunction with the several states
and their subdivisions, can undertake
those peacetime preparations which
are necessary to assure an adequate
civil defense system in the event of
war."
Communications and Civil Defense
221
By last Fall the assigned task was
completed, and the Secretary of De-
fense made public on November 14
the 300-page document which the Di-
rector of Civil Defense Planning had
submitted to him.
Civil Defense the report defines as
"the mobilization, organization, and
direction of the civilian populace and
necessary supporting agencies to mini-
mize the effects of enemy action di-
rected against people, communities,
industrial plants, facilities and other
installations — and to maintain or re-
store those facilities essential to civil
life and to preserve the maximum
civilian support of the war effort."
The Civil Defense concept is es-
sentially that of self-help, placing full
responsibility for operation in the
States and their communities.
The basic unit is the individual.
Given information and training — first
aid, fire prevention, detection of con-
taminated areas, and such — he must
look out for himself.
The basic group is the family.
With some or all of its members simi-
larly trained, it too must take care of
itself.
The basic organization is the com-
munity. Making use of existing mu-
nicipal agencies, trained volunteers,
and available skills and experience,
it should, as a general proposition,
undertake to meet whatever emer-
gency befalls.
Only when confronted by a situa-
tion beyond its own capacity to handle
would a community call upon the
mobile reserves. These, set up on a
scheme of mutual assistance, could be
moved into an overwhelmed com-
munity from locations throughout a
state or adjoining states. A mobile
reserve unit would include provisions
Ill
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
for affording such services as rescue,
medical, fire fighting, debris clearance,
radiological defense, emergency feed-
ing, and repair.
A disaster beyond the combined
scope of the community and the mo-
bile reserves would necessitate, as the
ultimate recourse, calls upon the mili-
tary services for assistance.
Implicit in the Civil Defense con-
cept Is also the availability of the
organization for service in case of
peace-time disaster, whether fire,
flood, tornado, explosion, or other
catastrophe.
The Civil Defense Organization
The Civil Defense program con-
templates a nation-wide peace-time
organization which could be quickly
expanded and made effective in the
event of a national emergency. It
would function — broadly speaking —
along these lines:
A. There would be at the top a
national Office of Civil Defense. Its
head would be a Director, assisted by
a staff and by four principal aides.
The latter would be Deputy Directors
in charge of Plans and Operations,
Medical and Health Services and Spe-
cial Weapons Defense, Technical
Services (including Communications),
and Training. This national organi-
zation would be and could remain
small; it would exist primarily to fur-
nish leadership and guidance in or-
ganizing and training people for civil
defense tasks.
B. Regional offices, established per-
haps on a geographic basis paralleling
the Army Area Commands, would be
in charge of Regional Coodlnators,
who would be responsible for coor-
dinating Civil Defense matters be-
tween Federal and State organiza-
tions, and with the military and other
agencies which might be involved.
C. Within each State, the responsi-
bility for the operation of Civil De-
fense would rest with the Governor,
who would appoint a State Director
of Civil Defense. The latter would
be assisted by an organization rather
similar to that outlined in A above,
coordinated with existing state gov-
ernmental agencies; and his responsi-
bility would be both to direct civil
defense operations within the State
and to coordinate them with those of
other states and of the national or-
ganization.
D. The national and state organi-
zations exist primarily In order that
Civil Defense may function effectively
at the local level. For that is where
the blows of war fall: on people and
places. It Is Important that Civil
Defense make full use of existing
agencies of local government, coor-
dinating them with such added agen-
cies as are not ordinarily found in
normal peace-time local government.
It Is here, the report recognizes, that
all Civil Defense planning meets Its
ultimate test: the handling of emer-
gency conditions encountered at the
local level — in the community — dur-
ing actual operations. The local or-
ganization described In the report Is
intended simply as representative,
since local circumstances may cause
administrative needs to vary. As out-
lined there, the Mayor or comparable
civic ofliclal would be the responsible
head of Civil Defense at the level at
which It would actually operate. He
would establish an Advisory Council
of representative citizens, and he
would have reporting to him a Direc-
1948-49
Communications and Civil Defense
123
tor of Civil Defense, who would be
assisted by four deputy directors.
These four would exercise adminis-
trative supervision, respectively, over
the following division :
1. Communications, Engineering
and Public Works, Rescue,
Transportation, and Air Raid
Warning and Aircraft Ob-
servers;
2. Plant Protection, Warden Serv-
ices, Fire and Police Services,
and Mutual Aid and Mobile
Reserves;
3. Radiological, Chemical, and
other Special Weapons Defense,
and Medical and Health Serv-
ices;
4. Evacuation and Civilian War
Aid.
All of these are coordinated, di-
rected, and controlled by communica-
tions : communications of various
kinds in various quantities, but all
with a common requisite — adequacy
and reliability.
"Fortunately," says the report of
the Office of Civil Defense Planning,
"in the United States there is a com-
munications system of top efficiency
and adaptability ... all the varied
segments of the American communi-
cations system are available and are
willing to assist."
Communications' Role
For administrative purposes,
communications for Civil Defense are
grouped in three classifications: Gen-
eral Communications, Radio Broad-
casting and other Radio Services, and
Air Raid Warning and Aircraft Ob-
servers Communications.
Taking them up in that order, let
us think of general communications in
terms of its most essential local use:
at the local control center. The con-
trol center would be the place from
which civil defense operations are di-
rected in an emergency. Its com-
munication facilities should be of the
utmost efficiency and reliability, and
adequate to all needs.
From the control center, wardens
and emergency groups would be di-
rected, and to it they would make
their reports.
Here contact would be maintained
with control centers of neighboring
communities, to facilitate mutual as-
sistance, and from here local civil
defense units would be dispatched to
help in organizing assistance.
The local control center would
maintain direct contact with the local
fire and police departments (although
the departments should maintain
their communication systems for their
own exclusive use).
It would communicate with key
radio broadcasting stations; and it
would receive and transmit informa-
tion concerning water supply, public
utilities, transportation and evacua-
tion operations, and radiological and
chemical defense.
And it would receive and transmit
air-raid warning information to desig-
nated officials and perhaps operate
warning sirens and public address
systems.
In general, existing telephone, tele-
graph, and radio facilities and serv-
ices should be used insofar as possi-
ble ; but provision should also be made
for emergency means of communica-
tion. Those might include such
means as mobile radio telephone, air-
to-ground radio, walkie-talkie facili-
ties, and messengers. Some or all of
these would be essential during and
after major attacks which disrupted
124
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
other forms of communication; for
use during mass exacuation and by
mobile reserve units; and for both air
and ground reconnaissance after
chemcial or atomic attack.
All existing communications facili-
ties should be maintained by their
owners; and expansion, repairs, and
restoration should likewise be their
owners' responsibility, plus such co-
ordination and other assistance as
Civil Defense might need to give.
Throughout the entire discussion
of the vital importance of communi-
cations in the Civil Defense program,
emphasis is placed on using standard
equipment and arrangements wher-
ever possible.
Radio broadcasting is, of course,
an important means of one-way com-
munication.
Radio stations can be used in times
of peace to inform the general public
of its responsibilities under the Civil
Defense program. In time of emer-
gency, broadcasting of accurate and
believable facts, warnings, and other
information should contribute im-
measurably in maintaining morale and
preventing panic and confusion. Cer-
tain broadcasting stations would be
designated to serve as master stations
for the operational guidance of all
other broadcasting stations within a
given area. The use of broadcasting
facilities would depend, however, on
the extent to which and the conditions
under which radio silence might be
imposed for reasons of military
security.
Under a carefully organized plan,
amateur radio operators should be
capable of making important con-
tributions to civil defense, by provid-
ing supplementary emergency com-
munications channels — especially after
an attack. Study of this nation-wide
resource is proposed as a part of the
Civil Defense program.
The air-raid warning system of
the Civil Defense program would be
dependent upon the military air de-
fense for news of impending air at-
tack, which it would pass on in turn
to key individuals and, through its
local control centers, to the public.
Civil Defense could also make con-
structive contributions to military air
defense, particularly through civilian
aircraft observer activities.
The U. S. Air Force has estab-
lished an Air Defense Command, to
defend this country in the air. It will
have an air defense control center in
each of the air defense control areas
it will set up to cover the country; and
each such control center will have
communication facilities to connect it
with all sources of information about
air activity in the area.
The air defense control center will
be operated by the Air Force, but it
would also be the operating center for
a Civil Defense air-raid warning
chief. Because he would be right in
the middle, he would have instant
access to all information about air at-
tack, to pass on to Civil Defense or-
ganizations. To the extent that they
met his needs, each air-raid warn-
ing chief would make use of regu-
lar commercial telephone facilities.
Other possibilities include printer
telegraph equipment standing by to
transmit pre-punched warning codes,
and the transmission of secret codes
from radio broadcasting stations by
means of sub-audible frequencies.
Despite modern electronic warning
equipment, a supplementary system of
1948-49
Communications and Civil Defense
11$
civilian aircraft observers will un-
doubtedly be needed to assist the Air
Force in maintaining effective air de-
fense and air raid warning operations.
The local Civil Defense organization
should be ready, in cooperation with
the commander of the area air de-
fense control center, to recruit and
organize the aircraft observers and
to select the observation posts. Since
all this would have for its purpose the
instant reporting, to the proper air
defense control center, of aircraft
seen or heard, the means of communi-
cation would be of prime importance.
It would be the responsibility of the
chief of the communications division
of the Civil Defense organization to
determine what those means should
be and to see that they were planned
in advance and made available against
the need.
The Planning Goes Ahead
Pending submission of the report
"Civil Defense for National Security"
to the Eight)^-first Congress, the
small Civil Defense Planning group
which prepared it continues with the
preparation of plans and training
material.
Action by the Congress could
quickly create within the Federal gov-
ernment an Office of Civil Defense
which would make effective the rec-
ommendations of the report. This
organization would function on the
national level, as outlined earlier, in
assisting the states to establish their
own organization and thereby en-
couraging the local communities to
establish theirs.
As these steps were taken, com-
munications would come more and
more into the foreground of the pic-
ture. Until then they, like other
proposals of the report, rest largely
at the planning stage.
The planning has been serious and
realistic. Representatives of the com-
munications industries have been ac-
tive in the preparation of the report,
and numerous others have been mem-
bers of the advisory panel on com-
munications services. As a conse-
quence, the communications companies
are fully aware of their responsibili-
ties and prepared to meet them.
"The United States is fortunate in
having the most extensive and finest
communications system in the world,"
says the report of the Director of
Civil Defense Planning. Only a few
years ago, that system demonstrated
its capacity to assume vast burdens in
contributing to the military victories
of this nation. It demonstrated, at
the same time, its potentialities for
Civil Defense. They are even greater
now.
Newspapers throughout the coun-
try hailed "Civil Defense for Na-
tional Security" as a report of first
importance, and paid their respects to
the patriotic and disinterested Amer-
icans who devoted their time and
energy to its preparation. Perhaps it
will be sufficient here to quote from
the New York Times of last Novem-
ber 14:
"We commend [the plan] to Con-
gress and to all citizens as a reason-
able and important document. . . .
The sooner a Civil Defense act is
passed here and put into effect, the
better it will be. This is an act of
prudence that should not be long
delayed."
The Pacefarniy near Burlington^ North Carolina
The Millionth Bell Rural Telephone
Since the IVar Is Installed
The millionth rural telephone to be
added by the Bell System since the war
was placed in service by the Southern Bell
Telephone and Telegraph Company last
December i6 in the farm home of W. J.
Pace, in the bright-leaf tobacco section of
North Carolina, thirteen miles from Bur-
lington.
With the addition of these million new
telephones, there are now more than
2,300,000 Bell System telephones serving
rural areas: 65 percent more than there
were on V-J Day. As a result of the rec-
ord performance of the Bell Companies
and the active rural building programs of
other telephone companies, about 45 per-
cent of the farms of the country now have
telephone service.
The first call from the new telephone
was made to President Harry S. Truman
in Washington by U. S. Senator J. Mel-
ville Broughton of North Carolina, who
introduced Mr. Pace to the Chief Execu-
tive.
Other participants in the ceremonies at
the Pace farm included W. Kerr Scott,
governor-elect of North Carolina, himself
a farmer and dairyman, who spoke by tele-
phone with Leroy A. Wilson, president of
the American Telephone and Telegraph
Company in New York. Mr. Pace also
talked with Mr. Wilson. Also present
were other state government officials, agri-
cultural leaders, and representatives of the
telephone industry, including Hal S.
Dumas of Atlanta, president of Southern
The Millionth Rural Telephone
227
Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company,
and Frank S. Barnes of Rock Hill, S. C,
president of the United States Independent
Telephone Association.
During the ceremonies, Governor-elect
Scott characterized the installation as sym-
bolic of the progress being made in elimi-
nating the isolation of the farmer. "Good
roads, electricity, and telephones are not
luxuries for the farmer; they are necessi-
ties," he said.
Mr. Dumas said that the Bell Companies
would continue to push their rural expan-
sion and improvement program, but em-
phasized that large amounts of money
would be needed to do the job. "The
rural telephone expansion program,* un-
* See "More and Better Service for Farmers,"
Magazine Winter 1944-45 ; and "Progress in
Extending Bell Rural Telephone Service,"
Magazine Winter 1946-47.
dertaken by the Bell System in 1945 when
men and materials again became available
following the war, called for the addition
of a million telephones in rural areas
within five years," he said.
"This was the first postwar step in re-
suming the active extension and improve-
ment of service in rural areas. The job
has been done in a little over three years
despite serious shortages of supplies of all
kinds.
"To accomplish this task meant adding
rural telephones at the average rate of
more than 1,000 every working day — over
three times the rate of any previous period
in Bell System history.
"The attainment of the Bell System's
initial postwar objective does not mean
that the task of bringing service to rural
America is finished. The work will go
right on," Mr. Dumas said.
Mrs. Pace uses the new telephone as husband and p-anddaughter look on
operation of the New York and Chicago Toll Crossbar
Switching Systems Represents the Latest W^ord in Machine
Handling of Long Distance Trajic
Toll Dialing by Operators
Reaches Some 300 Places
Ernst J. Guengerich
The Bell System made its biggest
forward step in toll dialing with the
cutovers last December of the toll
crossbar systems in New York and in
Chicago.
These mechanical switching sys-
tems are like local dial offices in many
respects; but, instead of serving local
customers and handling local calls,
they serve toll operators and handle
toll calls. Outward toll operators in
New York and Chicago now dial
through their toll crossbar systems to
reach customers in distant cities. Op-
erators in distant cities dial customers
in New York and Chicago, and also
switch through the New York and
Chicago toll crossbar systems to reach
other cities. In other words, a toll
crossbar system acts as a tandem
board for outward calls, as an inward
board for incoming calls, and as a
through board for completing switches
through a switching center such as
New York or Chicago.
The name "toll crossbar" comes
from the use of the crossbar switch
for setting up connections and certain
distinctive toll features which distin-
guish this system from others, such
as step-by-step and crossbar tandem,
which also are used for toll dialing.
Toll dialing replaces the "ringdown"
method of handling toll calls, under
which an operator rings on a toll
circuit to attract an operator's at-
tention in the distant city, asks for a
local number or for a circuit to an-
other city, and, on through calls, rings
again at the end of conversation to
have the connection released.
Under the toll dialing method, the
operator dials or "key pulses" a series
of digits which actuate dial equip-
ment to reach the called number, and
all connections are released automati-
cally when the operator disconnects.
Historical Background
The study of an improved toll
switching system began shortly after
the end of World War I, to meet the
Toll Dialing by Operators
iig
States connected with the New York and Chicago crossbar toll dialing systems
urgent demand for better means for
handling toll traffic in the larger cities.
The first approach was a dial sys-
tem using panel equipment, and a trial
installation was made in Seattle,
Washington, in 1925. This system,
which is still in service, permitted
nearby points to dial Seattle numbers,
but the operation was slow and the
possibilities for general use did not
warrant further study.
A study was then made of straight-
forward toll circuits with high-speed
manual switchboards : an arrange-
ment similar to the trunking arrange-
ment between local manual offices in
a multi-office city. Under this sys-
tem, when an operator takes up a
trunk, a signal automatically lights at
the distant office; and when she dis-
connects at the end of conversation,
she sets a release signal. A four-
position switchboard similar to a local
B board was tried out in New York
City in 1935, and experience with it
showed that considerable improve-
ment could be made in manual toll
operation.
By this time it appeared, however,
that a dial system might be developed
which would not cost a great deal
more, and that the real answer lay in
complete mechanization. Develop-
ment was directed to toll dialing, and
the design of the toll crossbar sys-
tem as we know it today began to take
shape.
At that time, the range of toll dial-
ing was limited to a few hundred
miles and it was expected that ring-
down or straightforward operation
would continue for many years over
the longer circuits. Provision was
made, therefore, for handling traffic
230
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Operators at a toll switchboard in New York. The girl
in the foreground is using the keys which take the place
of the dial. Beside them is the bulletin listing the codes
for frequently called points
tion of calls to and from
manual ringdown and
straightforward trunks.
A No. 4 board was in-
cluded for handling calls
from the manual trunks
and for giving assistance
to operators in other
cities when difficulty was
met in dialing a number.
The toll crossbar switch-
ing systems now serving
New York and Chicago
are of the same type as
the one in Philadelphia
except that no No. 4
boards are provided.
Straightforward opera-
tion has been dropped,
dialing now is practical
over any distance, and
the program for convert-
ing ringdown circuits to
dial is expected to move
so rapidly that new No,
4 switchboards for ring-
down trunks would have
a relatively short life
and therefore would not
be justified.
from such manual circuits by develop-
ing the No. 4 switchboard as an aux-
iliary feature of the toll crossbar sys-
tem. Completion of development
work was delayed by the beginning of
World War II, and the first toll cross-
bar system was not placed in service
until the one in Philadelphia was cut
over in August 1943.*
The Philadelphia system provided
for completing outward, inward, and
through calls by operator dialing or
key pulsing, as well as for the comple-
•See "A Dial Switching System for Toll
Calls," Magazine, Winter 1943-44.
The Toll Dialt?ig Network
When the Philadelphia toll cross-
bar system was placed in service, it
was the center of a toll dialing net-
work of some 30 toll centers, the
most distant of which was Richmond,
about 250 miles away. Most of the
others were within a radius of 100
miles of Philadelphia.
New York, Chicago, and Phila-
delphia now are part of a greatly ex-
panded toll dialing network which
includes 125 toll centers, each of
which has a number of tributary com-
1948-49
Toll Dialing by Operators
231
munities also reached
by toll dialing. These
are scattered across the
country from as far
south as Miami and as
far west as Sacramento,
Cal., and Portland, Ore.
Operators in these 125
toll centers now are com-
pleting calls to a total
of some 300 cities and
towns within the net-
work by dialing over di-
rect circuits and through
switching centers.
In this network. New
York, Chicago, and
Philadelphia are the
key switching centers.
These tie together the
self-contained dialing
networks covering lim-
ited areas which have
been in operation for a
number of years in East-
ern Pennsylvania, Vir-
ginia, Ohio, and else-
where.
The No. 5 Switchboard, for handling calls which cannot
be dialed through the equipment. This type of board,
which handles calls from operators, corresponds to the
local DSA board for handling calls from customers
Equipment Features
A TOLL CROSSBAR SYSTEM COnsistS of
two basic parts.
One is a series of frames and cross-
bar switches on which are terminated
the various trunks which are to be
connected. These consist of tandem
trunks from outward positions, toll
Delayed-Call, and other assistance
operators. Paths or links are pro-
vided between these frames for con-
necting tandem trunks to toll circuits
on outward calls, for connecting toll
circuits to switching or operator
trunks for incoming calls, and for con-
necting toll circuits to other toll cir-
cuits on through calls.
An incoming and an outgoing trunk
on these frames, and the links con-
circuits to and from other cities, toll necting them, are in use until the end
switching trunks to local offices in the of a conversation. The frames and
city where the toll system is located, crossbar switches on which the trunks
and trunks for reaching Information, are terminated correspond to the an-
232
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
swering jacks and multiple of a man-
ual toll switchboard, and the links
between the frames correspond to the
cords used by an operator in establish-
ing connections.
II
In place of an operator, however, a
toll crossbar system has "control" ap-
paratus which establishes the connec-
tion. This control apparatus is the
other basic part of the toll crossbar
system.
It consists of controllers, senders,
markers, and other equipment whose
function it is to receive an order in the
form of electrical pulses, to set up
the required connection to the proper
trunk, and to pass along any further
information in the form of electrical
pulses which are needed to complete
the connection in the next office.
This equipment is in use only from
the time an operator takes up a
trunk to the crossbar system until the
connection is established. The length
of time a sender is held ranges from
about 8 to 12 seconds, and the hold-
ing time on controllers and on markers
is measured in fractions of a second.
As soon as the control equipment has
finished setting up one call, it is ready
for the next one.
This division of the toll switching
system into two basic parts — frames
with connecting links, and entirely
separate control apparatus — is neces-
sary in order to make most effective
use of the costly toll switching equip-
ment and to obtain the necessary
flexibility in operation.
In addition to the dial equipment
in the New York and Chicago toll
crossbar systems, special switchboards
known as No. 5 boards are provided
for handling calls which cannot be
dialed through the equipment.
The No. 5 board corresponds to
the DSA board used in local dial of-
fices for handling assistance traffic
from customers. The No. 5, how-
ever, has double plugs and twin jacks
in order to provide the same grade of
transmission on calls completed at the
switchboard as on calls dialed through
the machine.
Besides trunks from and to the dial
equipment, the No. 5 board has spe-
cial facilities by means of which an
operator can tell when all the toll cir-
cuits in any group are busy and when
one or more circuits are idle. This
indication helps the No. 5 operator
complete calls that have been delayed
by a "No Circuit" condition on which
an outward operator has requested
assistance.
Each position is equipped with a
key set of ten keys, numbered i to o
and bearing the same letters as on a
telephone dial. There is a separate
"key pulsing" key which is operated
first to connect the key set with the
cord the operator is using, and an-
other key which is operated after the
digits of the desired number have
been pulsed to indicate to the machine
that no more digits are coming.
These key sets take the place of the
dials generally used on the smaller
DSA boards.
How Calls are Handled
The cut-overs of the New York and
Chicago toll crossbar systems made no
change in the way customers place
their toll calls, but it did change the
method operators in these and other
cities use in completing such calls to
points in the toll dialing network.
When an outward operator in Chi-
J
1948-49
Toll Dialing by Operators
cago, for example, receives a call for
a New York number, such as PEnn-
sylvania 1-2345, she takes up an idle
tandem trunk to the machine and "key
pulses" the code "212" followed by
two letters of the office name and the
remaining digits, 1-2345.
The control mechanism in Chicago
uses the code "212" to select an idle
circuit to New York, and pulses the
called number forward into the New
York switching system.
The New York machine uses the
code "PE i" to select an idle trunk
to the PEnnsylvania i office, and
transmits the remaining digits to the
local office.
The dial equipment in
the local office sets up
the connection and starts
ringing the called num-
ber.
The key set on the
outward position with
which the operator key
pulses the code and num-
ber is similar to the one
on the No. 5 board al-
ready described. The
operator obtains the
code for New York,
"212," from a position
bulletin which lists the
codes for frequently
called points. If the op-
erator receives a call for
a point not on the po-
sition bulletin, she refers
to the route desk for the
needed information.
If the called telephone
is busy, the busy signal
is received by the Chi-
cago operator and by the
customer. The operator
disconnects and makes
another attempt a few minutes later.
When the Chicago operator discon-
nects from the tandem trunk, the
whole connection is released — includ-
ing the links in the Chicago machine,
the New York circuit, the links in the
New York machine, the switching
trunks to the PEnnsylvania i office,
and the equipment in the local office.
If the call had been placed without
the called number, the Chicago oper-
ator would have first reached the New
York information bureau. She does
this by key-pulsing the code "212"
as before to reach New York and
then "131," which is the universal toll
code for information. Having ob-
Dial senders and marker connectors: essential parts of
the control apparatus of a toll crossbar system
234
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
tained the number, the Chicago op-
erator disconnects and again pulses
the New York code followed by the
number. The procedure is the same
as when a customer dials information,
learns the number, hangs up, and then
dials the number.
When a Chicago customer reports
that he is ready to talk on an incom-
ing call by saying, for example, "New
York operator 68 1 is calling me," the
Chicago operator pulses the New
York code 212 followed by 11-681.
The New York machine on receipt of
the digits 11-681 connects with oper-
ator 681, who has the original ticket
and who will then complete the con-
nection. The digits "11" are pre-
fixed by the operator who handles the
report in all cases when a connection
is to be made to an outward delayed-
call operator.
A CODE, such as 2 1 2 for New York, is
assigned to each direct circuit group
connected to a toll crossbar system.
Dialing is not limited to direct cir-
cuit points, however, and codes also
are listed on the switchboard bulletin
for points reached over built-up cir-
cuits.
If a Stamford, Connecticut, opera-
tor receives a call for Chicago,
CAlumet 4-1234, she finds from the
bulletin that the route is "New York
312 + 2L." This tells the Stamford
operator that she should take up a
New York circuit and dial 312 fol-
lowed by two letters of the office
name and the called number. The
digits 312 are used by the New York
machine to select a circuit to Chicago.
The digits CA 4 are used by the Chi-
cago machine to select a trunk to the
CAlumet 4 ofl^ice, and, finally the
digits of the called number, 1234, are
used by the local dial system to reach
the desired telephone.
The Stamford operator actually
dialed the code and number, since the
Stamford switchboard is equipped
with dials rather than with key sets
such as are used in New York and
Chicago.
In the example just described, if
all of the circuits from New York to
Chicago had been in use, the Stam-
ford operator would have received a
slow flash called the "overflow" sig-
nal on a cord of her position. When
a circuit becomes free, the signal
changes to a rapid flash, called the
"re-order," and the operator discon-
nects and dials the code again. In
the event that all circuits again be-
come busy between the time the re-
order signal was received and the
Stamford operator dials the call
again, Stamford again receives the
overflow signal. Experience has
shown, however, that in a high pro-
portion of cases an operator does
secure a circuit after receipt of a re-
order signal.
The calls described so far have all
been between dialing points, but many
cities have not yet been converted to
dial operation or have not yet been
connected to the dialing network.
Arrangements have had to be made,
therefore, to connect toll oflfices
equipped for toll dialing with points
still reached over ringdown circuits.
For example, on a call from Stam-
ford to Pittsburgh, which can be
reached only over ringdown circuits,
the Stamford operator takes up a cir-
cuit to New York and dials the code
"122" as shown on her bulletin. On
receipt of this code the New York
machine connects a trunk to a manual
1948-49
Toll Dialing by Operators
-^3$
tandem operator in New York who
has direct access to the Pittsburgh
circuits in the multiple. When the
tandem operator is connected, the
Stamford operator hears an "order"
tone and passes the order for a Pitts-
burgh circuit. The tandem operator
connects to an idle circuit, which is
rung automatically; and when the
Pittsburgh operator answers, the call
is completed in the manner usual un-
der ringdown operation.
On a call in the reverse direc-
tion, from Pittsburgh to Stamford
3-1234, connection has to be made
from a ringdown circuit to a city
which can be reached from New York
only by dialing. In this case the Pitts-
burgh operator takes up a circuit to
New York, as indicated on the switch-
board bulletin, which shows the route
to Stamford as "Via New York."
When the New York operator is
reached, Pittsburgh asks for Stam-
ford and New York replies with the
phrase "Dialing." This indicates that
the New York operator dials Stam-
ford numbers. Pittsburgh gives the
Stamford number, 3-1234, to the
New York operator, and she takes up
a tandem trunk to the machine and
key-pulses the Stamford code 057 fol-
Frames with crossbar switches for terminating incoming and outgoing trunks in
crossbar system
toll
236
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
lowed by the digits of the called num-
ber.
The Stamford code and the fact
that Stamford is reached over dialing
circuits are shown on the switchboard
bulletin at the New York "through"
position. The New York machine,
on receipt of the code 057, connects
with a Stamford circuit and trans-
mits the called number 3-1234 to
the Stamford dial equipment, which
makes the connection with the desired
telephone.
At the present time, the New York
and Chicago toll crossbar systems are
limited to dialing a maximum of 14
digits, which is enough for all direct
and one-switch calls. When a call re-
quiring two or more switches and
more than 14 digits is involved, which
happens on two or three percent of
the traffic, it has to be passed to an
inward operator at an intermediate
office for completion. The "Inward
Operator" code "121" is used for
this purpose as well as for other cases
where an outward operator requires
assistance at a terminating or at an
intermediate office.
Advantages of Toll Crossbar
System*
The advantages of the New York
and Chicago toll switching systems in
speed of completion, dependability,
uniformity of service, and prompt re-
lease of circuits at the end of conver-
sation are similar to the advantages
of local dial service as compared to
manual operation.
On those toll calls which are com-
pleted by the toll dialing method
•See "Operator Toll Dialing: A New Long
Distance Method," Magazine, Summer 1944;
and "Operator Toll Dialing: The Coming
Way," Magazine, Winter 1947-48.
through these switching systems, ma-
chine handling of tandem, through,
and inward connections improves the
over-all speed of service by 10 to 30
seconds.
Since the cord connections inherent
with ringdown operation at the tan-
dem board and at distant offices are
eliminated, the hazards of accidental
interruptions or of cut-offs are greatly
reduced.
Service is more uniform, because
sufficient equipment is provided to
handle the calls expected during the
busy hours of the busy season and it
is all available 24 hours a day and
every day of the year to handle un-
expected peaks in off hours.
As the hang-up of the customer re-
leases the connection at once in local
dial operation, so the disconnect of
the outward operator on dialed toll
calls releases the toll circuit and all of
the equipment connected. The de-
crease in connection time and faster
release at the end of conversation is
expected to bring about a correspond-
ing decrease in toll circuit require-
ments.
In Chicago and New York, about
20 and 30 percent respectively of the
toll circuits are now connected to the
toll crossbar switching systems. These
percentages will increase rapidly as
other crossbar systems are installed
during 1949 in Cleveland, in San
Francisco-Oakland, and in Boston,
and toll dialing equipment of differ-
ent type is provided in other cities.
Further installations are planned for
future years.
Outlook for the Future
The New York and Chicago toll
switching systems at the moment rep-
resent the latest word in machine han-
1948-49
Toll Dialing by Operators
237
dling of long distance traffic. How-
ever, development of new features is
well under way, and it is expected
that in a few years a nation-wide toll
dialing plan can be placed in effect
which will do away with the present
limitations and ultimately will make
it possible for a toll operator any-
where to dial a telephone in any
other city in the country. These
new developments will provide auto-
matic alternative routing in case all
circuits on the first route are busy,
and will employ a nation-wide num-
bering plan which will greatly sim-
plify the routing of calls and reduce
the number of digits required for any
call to a maximum of 1 1.
When these new facilities are
placed in service, it is expected that
the handling of toll calls by operators
will be substantially as fast and as
convenient as the dialing of local calls
by customers.
Rural Telephones
The axxouncement that the
i,ooo,oooth Bell System rural tele-
phone to be added since the war has
been installed in a North Carolina
farmhouse calls to public attention
the speed with which the telephone
company has moved in recent years
to extend and improve telephone
service. Soon after the end of the
war in 1945 the Bell System set up
a goal of 1,000,000 rural telephones
in five years. The job has been done
in only a little more than three years
despite serious shortages of all sorts
of supplies.
Fulfillment of such a task meant
that rural telephones had to be in-
stalled at the rate of more than 1,000
every working day, more than three
times the rate of any previous period
in Bell System history. Vast amounts
of materials and equipment were re-
quired. One and one-quarter million
telephone poles had to be erected,
while the length of telephone wire
required — about 500,000 miles — was
enough to stretch around the earth
twenty times.
As a result of the work by Bell
System companies and the active
building programs of other telephone
companies the number of American
farm homes that now enjoy the bene-
fits of this service is impressive. It
is estimated that about 45 per cent
of the farms of the country have
telephones, more than at any time in
the nation's history. This compares
with 32 per cent at the beginning of
1945 and 25 per cent early in 1940.
Still the task is far from finished ;
the work goes on, and we are assured
that future progress will be rapid.
From the New York Times.
Fair Exchange
John Mason Brown
He had done it the year before with the
spring of a clock. By wire from one room
to another he had managed to transmit a
twanging sound. Then on March lO,
1876 (oh, noteworthy date which our chil-
dren often make regrettable), Alexander
Graham Bell took the next step forward.
Also by wire he at last succeeded in sending
his own voice from one room to another.
He was able to cajole his little contraption
into conveying a single sentence.
The sentence was full of urgency and
business, and as brief as all of us think
other people's phone calls should be. "Mr.
Watson, come here, I want you." That
was all. No hellos, no goodbyes, no talk
about the weather, no chitchat, no gossip —
the perfect, if abandoned, model for all sub-
sequent conversations transmitted by such
means. But the telephone was here to stay,
adding to the blessings of mankind and the
problems of parents. If its coming has
caused the world to shrink, it has also di-
minished the chances fathers and mothers
might have of talking to their friends, once
their young reach the age when they, too,
discover the telephone.
It is we, the parents, who speed this dis-
covery. For our vanity we pay heavily.
Moreover, we deserve to. When they, the
children, are what the garment-makers and
the whimsy-manufacturers refer to as tiny
tots (whose heads are as yet undersized for
telephonic needs), we think it cute to lift
them on our laps, to hold the receiver first
to their ears, then to cup the mouthpiece
to their lips, nudging them all the while
into terrified talk with Granny or Grand-
pop, with Uncle P. or Cousin Joe.
We do this wreathed in smiles, but prod-
ding arduously, prompting anxiously, on
feast days or on anniversaries when long
distance has annihilated geography. We
do this when such epigrams as "Mewwy
Chwistmas, Gwanny!" or "I'se fine. Is
you ?" travel a thousand miles, demanding
the services of how many linemen, opera-
tors, and technicians Walter Gifford only
knows. Little do we realize that, by hav-
ing done this, we have undone ourselves.
In contemporary life the mastery of the
telephone is a proof of the approach of age.
Like the first tooth, the last diaper, and the
formula no longer needed ; like those great
moments when rolling over is transformed
into crawling and crawling into perilous
steps ; like those releasing days when shoe-
laces and neckties can at last be tied and
handkerchiefs used with accuracy; like
those genuine occasions when the scooter
succeeds the velocipede and the bicycle ousts
the scooter ; when parents' freezing arms
are replaced by waterwings and waterwings
by breast strokes ; or when play school turns
into day school, and short pants into long,
the full uninhibited employment of the tele-
phone comes as a milepost on the difficult
path to growing up.
"He is very good at the telephone," we
say of a seven-year-older, meaning that he
can take messages with as much accuracy as
the operator of a hotel switchboard. Al-
though this may be true, all things consid-
ered it is the most niggardly of praise. The
stubborn fact is, however, that the children
we go to such pains to initiate soon take
over.
At breakfast or after school hours and
during the whole of their vacations when
they are home, they cannot be pried away
from the telephone. A receiver becomes
their third ear; a mouthpiece, their extra
Fair Exchange
239
lip. Where formerly they functioned as
ventriloquists' dummies for our guiding
whispers ("Say, 'How are you, Grand-
pop?'"; "Say, 'Thanks for the present'";
"Say, 'Love to Granny' " ; "Say, 'I had a
very nice time'"), they blossom suddenly
into filibusterers. They could not talk
with more relish, at greater length, about
less on the phone if they were adults. Be-
fore you can say Alexander Graham Bell,
they own the controlling stock in the house-
hold installation.
My younger boy, being seven, is not yet
an habitual dialer. Even so, he has his fun
with the telephone. It ranks high among
his toys. Our mounting bills indicate that
he has a train-dispatcher's interest in time.
Not time as it remains stationary on his
battered and unwound alarm clock. No,
time as it is considerately vocalized by the
telephone company for those without sun-
dials or watches. He never tires of the
voices, melodious or metallic, which merely
by dialing ME 7-1 2 12 can be provoked
into announcing, "When you hear the sig-
nal," etc. What is far worse from the
point of the family budget, he has long
since learned that he can get the same re-
sults by trying nervous. Luckily, his in-
terest in the weather has not as yet be-
come as great as his interest in time, and
WE 6-1 2 12 has not taken its place among
his private numbers.
He has his serious uses for the phone —
birthday parties, motion-picture dates, and
occasional, very abrupt conversations with
his contemporaries. These consist mainlv
of "Yes," "No," "Why," "Sure," and
"When." As a rule, in spite of all ad-
monitions, they end with the replaced re-
ceiver serving as a substitute for a more
courtly "Goodbye."
My eleven-year-old boy has, like his
friends, reached years of greater communi-
cation on the telephone. They call each
other incessantly at all hours on matters
which, to them, are never trivial. Subjects
as imperative as tomorrow's homework;
who has mumps, measles, or appendicitis;
who got what prize from what cereal ; who
listened to which radio program; who has
read what comic; who has heard from
Charlie Atlas; or how much fishing tackle
or bicycle equipment has arrived from
Sears-Roebuck — all these are topics of in-
terminable interest which keep me and the
wires burning.
Youngsters do not salute each other on
the phone the way their elders do or, for
that matter, the way their elders would
like them to. I can't help shuddering when
I hear my older son greet a friend with a
curt, "Hello, whadda ya want?" Nothing
more than that, though the friend may have
nothing more unfriendly on his mind than
to invite him for a week-end or to a birth-
day party. I shudder with equal violence
when, instead of mustering a "Thanks,"
he says, "Well, so long. I'm listening to
Henry Morgan."
My wife and I already sense that, so far
as our telephone is concerned, we are fight-
ing a losing battle. What we are now sur-
viving are, of course, only preliminary
skirmishes. Our telephone will not be en-
tirely lost to us until, one inevitable after-
noon, we hear one of our boys, in an un-
reliable voice, whisper "dearest" or "dar-
ling" into our phone.
We may regret it when our young have
sprouted to the point where our telephones
become theirs. But let any of us hear their
voices when, from a friend's house, they
are calling us at home, or we are long-
distancing from a journey, and all is for-
given. No letters, however eloquent, can
say what their young voices say merely
by being heard. When they speak un-
prompted ; when the talk is at last two-
way; when the interchange of ideas and
interests is genuine, then Bell becomes our
hero, and all those bills sent in by his com-
pany dwindle into insignificance.
Drama critic, war correspondent, essay-
ist, Mr. Brown is an associate editor
of "The Saturday Review of Literature"
— from which publication the foregoing
is reprinted in part, by permission.
Negotiations before Construction Provide Routes over
Privately-owned Property for the Long Lines Department' s
Nation-wide Telephone Network
Right-of-Way Comes First
Harry H. Hoopes
During 1947 the Long Lines De-
partment of the American Telephone
and Telegraph Company engaged in
purchasing rights of way in 17 States
for 25 new main telephone lines and
six branch lines which total 3,368
miles in length. The lines were
constructed generally on privately
owned land. To build a telephone
line on other peoples' property is
a privilege, certainly. How is that
privilege obtained so extensively?
It is obtained by men whose title
defines their work: Right-of-Way-
Men. For each individual property
crossed by the line, a separate nego-
tiation by a Right-of-Way man is re-
quired to secure the necessary right
of way. In the Long Lines Legal
Department are half a hundred of
these employees, working out of Divi-
sion Headquarters offices throughout
the country, whose responsibility it is
to obtain, as not only a privilege but
a purchased right, the essential per-
mission which must precede construc-
tion.
When a new line is to be con-
structed, the first step is the selection
of a tentative route by the Engineer-
ing Department, usually from road
and topographical survey maps. Nat-
urally, the shortest practicable route
between key cities is selected. After
it has been drafted on the maps, rep-
resentatives of the Engineering De-
partment drive over the roads near-
est the route, to make a preliminary
investigation of the physical nature
of the land.
If the selected route looks feasible,
aerial photographs showing the area
involved are usually ordered from
the Department of Agriculture,
which has an aerial survey of a large
part of the United States. There
are, however, some sections that
have not yet been photographed;
and if the route crosses the area
where photographs are not available,
or where existing photographs are
out of date, the company often has
commercial aerial photographers take
pictures of the section.
As soon as the aerial photographs
are obtained, they are turned over to
Right-oJ-Way Comes First
241
the RIght-of-Way Men, with the
tentative route indicated on each
print. The prints furnished are about
24 inches square and are photo-
graphed to a scale of 660 feet to the
inch, so that each print covers about
three miles of line. The detail on
these photographs is quite remark-
able, showing the roads, streams and
waterways, woodland, all intervening
fence lines, and buildings. Obviously,
they are a great help to the Right-of-
Way Man in negotiating for the
rights of way. The property owners
too are usually very much interested
in seeing an aerial photograph of
their property.
Fortified with these photos, the
Right-of-Way Man is prepared to
proceed with his job of securing the
rights of way.
Before approaching the owners,
the company makes a careful investi-
gation of the nature of the property,
land values, and other considerations,
in order to determine a fair and
equitable price to be paid for the
right of way. This price is based on
a certain sum per pole, if a pole line;
or per lineal rod (i634 feet), if a
buried cable. It is important to treat
all property owners along a given sec-
tion of a line alike. There are a few-
unusual circumstances which in some
A tentative long distance route as drawn on an aerial photograph. Even as reduced for
publication^ rivery roads^ buildings^ woods ^ and fields are clearly distinguishable
242
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
cases justify a different rate of com-
pensation.
Securing the Options
The first phase of securing the
rights of way is the "optioning."
It is the custom of the company to
take only an option on the initial
contact, jFor which a nominal consid-
eration is paid. This instrument
provides that, if and when the option
is exercised, the company will pay the
balance of the price agreed upon.
This practice was adopted as a pre-
cautionary measure; in the event that
the cable route is changed and the
property is entirely avoided, only the
nominal consideration paid for the
option is expended.
At the time the option is taken,
the Right-of-Way Man is just feeling
his way along. First, he must ascer-
tain the name of each property owner
and his place of residence, if not on
the premises. Then, when the owner
is located, in addition to securing the
option, he must obtain other informa-
tion regarding the location of prop-
erty lines, names of adjoining owners,
information regarding liens against
the property, and other data, if pos-
sible, for checking titles. The County
records are searched, to trace owner-
ship down to date on each property.
This search may, and not infrequently
does, disclose that there are outstand-
ing interests about which the Right-
of-Way Man was not informed.
After a substantial section of the
line has been optioned, the Engineer-
ing Department is advised, so it may
proceed with an investigation of the
physical nature of the land on each
property. In this way the most de-
sirable location for the line is finally
selected. Once this has been done,
the route is immediately surveyed,
measured, and staked. The meas-
urements are then converted into sta-
tion numbers, which are inscribed on
the stakes. From these station num-
bers the Right-of-Way Man can
ascertain the exact distance across
each property, thereby determining
the amount due each owner for the
right of way.
The job of having the final grants
executed represents a tremendous
amount of work. The complex titles
in many cases involve property in
which the fee is vested in unsettled
estates. Frequently, minors or in-
competents are involved. In such
cases guardians must be appointed,
and court approval must be obtained
for the guardian to execute the grant.
Locating and communicating with
non-resident heirs presents another
difficult problem; sometimes the ad-
dress of a non-resident is not known.
In addition to having the grants ex-
ecuted, there are releases which must
be secured from holders of liens
against the properties involved. Cer-
tificates of acknowledgment must be
executed by authorized officers for
each signature, so that the instrument
may be placed on record. In some
estates, from ten to twenty heirs may
be involved, and they may be scat-
tered throughout the United States;
nevertheless, all these persons must
be reached to execute the grant in or-
der to close one property of perhaps
only a few hundred feet.
Construction Begins
After the final grants are taken,
the construction work gets under way.
The first step is clearing the right of
way. For a typical coaxial cable job,
194B-49
Right-of-JVay Comes First
243
■ wlih ^^
cliilnir the rlKhu tn-rein prmnt^^^l^w^M^^WTifaotf
■tlon* fTwm lh» •urfaci- ttOd «ut«urf«c« of MM
aid itrlp th* utiti'Tsround v-mblat, mwi-*
ftouiidAry of Mid OR* rod Urtp »h»H b* K line iwmkt to und
pr tiK-atUn tndloktvd vpon aurfAcr mark«-r9 »rt at Inl^rv&iit <.n Th« land of tli« utittrriictieit *.
lU »^\\ JS .. .-. - -t sir .h»'.r», exe^-uloro, ad)n)nlalraiui>. suu««a!iors Ai-i ■ ^-.k:-'-. '-^
V> "nltted Ml »ald Hrlp. Th» >tsnl<><-> nKn-'- to juy (..r ■ijiu^fi to fencM atiJ k'
^n RfoMRtid »y»teni».
|R« land' i»i ■■■ Ul^ ^^1 aiiil from
and within avv«n r**l th«r(H>f, to Inmall Ka'*^'' in any fanca rrcaair-a
othrr I'omjtany. Tha flaStflrly
cir*:ii'J9 and api>urtcaan<>» of aiiy
ind f Its tMl OBiBi
h« nr.1 <«bl« laid. «h!i h .
I landa. Th« un4«r»i(n*d f-
,:!t il.i,; 1 „ utrj, tur. .hall
17,
CB3S3SS23?
.10 47 . .J. Fl^tte City, Missouri. «
STATE OF*MISSOURI,
PUtte
COUNTY
appeared ''**-*** *---»*v^vw.^, ^*»*w--, ->...-
single; IlnoTB McClaic sni ^er„'.le
husbanl^; IVrfa Ode and Valtcr C'.e,
Mgncd auibofitv. on thji
Alna Hancock, widov;' Vlr.f !
day person
-Id Scot
t.'K.
<kscribeti iii, aiKi
aztd acknowledged that .
husbfind; Johr. Hancock,
descnbed in, ar
A^liced ihat^"
free act aR<i deeii.
// took the signatures of ten persons having an interest in the property to validate this
grant of right of way
for Instance, this includes opening all
fences and installing appropriate
gates for the crews to use, cutting
down trees and pulling the stumps,
grading creek and road banks, and
digging pits on each side of hard sur-
faced roads for the purpose of driv-
ing pipes under the roads.
The cable reels are delivered at
their designated locations. The
rooter plow makes its run. The ca-
ble-laying plow lays the cable in the
slot. Splicing pits are dug, and the
cable is spliced and tested and made
ready for service. And the clean-up
crew sees that the right of way is
left in good workmanlike condition.
Following the construction, the
Right-of-Way Man is confronted
with one more task. A settlement
for crop or other damages resulting
from the construction work must be
made with each owner or tenant.
The damages which may arise from
the construction cannot be antici-
pated, so they must be adjusted after
the line is constructed. On many
jobs, the line is actually in service be-
fore the damage claims are settled.
When a new line is to be built, the
right of way must be acquired before
any construction activities can begin.
Actually, the entire project hinges on
the results of the Right-of-Way Man
in his negotiations with the property
owners. Rights for every property
must be secured. There can be no
missing links in the chain. For if
the Right-of-Way Man fails to se-
cure the right of way on one prop-
erty, this makes it necessary to re-
route the line to avoid the property.
244
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Such a change in the route may well
result in a substantial change in line
on several adjoining properties. Some
of the properties on which options
have already been taken may be
missed entirely. In such cases, the
Right-of-Way Man must reach the
owners involved, to arrange for the
new location. As well as causing the
Right-of-Way Man considerable ad-
ditional work, a change in the line
causes the engineers no end of trouble
re-surveying, changing station num-
bers, and changing the over-all length
of the line, which in turn involves the
loading layout and repeater locations.
Indeed, the failure of the Right-of-
Way Man to secure rights on a single
property could be serious.
Additional Duties
The Right-of-Way Man is not in-
fallible. There are at times instances
where he is not successful and the im-
portance of the project is such that
the company is forced to resort to
eminent-domain proceedings. But in
the past dozen years it has been nec-
essary to acquire rights through such
proceedings in only fifty instances.
This is but a tiny percentage of the
thousands of properties involved.
In addition to securing rights of
way for new lines, the Right-of-Way
Man does a great deal of other work
in connection with the maintenance of
existing lines. Replacement work
must be done periodically, and fre-
quently new poles or guys are added
to strengthen the lines. The cutting
of dangerous and interfering trees
must be attended to from time to
time. This maintenance work almost
always requires additional rights,
which the Right-of-Way Man must
secure. There is also the matter of
purchasing building sites for the con-
struction of repeater stations and
micro-wave radio relay stations. And
the settlement of claims against the
company and of claims of the com-
pany against others is included in his
duties.
While the Right-of-Way Man en-
counters a variety of difficulties, there
are compensating elements. Fortu-
nately, most of the people of our
country are fine, progressive, and
public spirited citizens. In most
cases, the owner does not wish to
stand in the way of progress, and it is
his genuine desire to cooperate, rather
than the payment he receives for the
right of way, that prompts him to
grant the company a right of way
across his property. Of course, there
are bound to be a few exceptions; but
a great majority of property owners
are extremely interested in the tre-
mendous development in the field of
communications today. Many of them
feel that in granting the company a
right of way across their land, they
are making an individual contribu-
tion toward the communication sys-
tem of the nation.
The Kind of Job It Is
Right-of-way work is a highly spe-
cialized job, and certain fundamental
qualifications are required.
First of all, a Right-of-Way Man
should have more than average
"P.Q.," * which is a measure of what
a person does about things and peo-
ple. It is a yardstick of the traits re-
quired to get along with people.
Really, his "P.Q." is more important
than his ''I.Q."
He must be somewhat of a vaga-
• I.E., "Personality Quotient."
1948-49
Right-qf-Way Comes First
245
bond, since a great amount of travel
is involved in the work. A Right-of-
Way Man drives his car from 25,000
to 30,000 miles in a normal year.
He should be quite willing to live a
good part of the time in hotels and
eat restaurant food — not to mention
an occasional lunch of cheese and
crackers plus a bottle of pop, which
is a popular country grocery store
lunch.
The ability to plow a straight fur-
row, milk a cow, husk a shock of corn,
or cut up a cord of wood at times
makes a very favorable impression on
a farmer.
Each job is in many respects like
each individual: no two are quite
alike. Many are rush jobs. The
physical nature of the land varies on
nearly every job. On one job, a
great deal of woodland is involved,
on another there are rugged moun-
tains to cross. Some lines pass al-
most entirely through wide open
spaces ; others, through numerous vil-
lages and towns along the route.
Some areas are composed of large
tracts; others, of very small prop-
erties.
All these conditions have some ef-
fect in the securing of rights of way.
For this reason, no two jobs of com-
parable length are completed in the
same amount of time. The time re-
quired to secure the rights of way on
a new line is quite unpredictable. In-
creasing the number of Right-of-Way
Men on a job does not necessarily re-
sult in the job's being completed in a
shorter time. Certain situations arise
on every job which take time to iron
out, and there are no short-cuts.
In spite of the complications in-
volved in securing rights of way,
many jobs — not only the rights of
way but the engineering and construc-
tion as well — are completed in fast
time. By way of illustration :
A few years ago a new line was to
be constructed between two key cities
over a distance of approximately
eighty miles. This was a super rush
job; so much so, in fact, that the right
of way was scheduled to be optioned
and paid off in six weeks. This was
a rather large order, but it was ac-
complished in six weeks from the day
the first option was taken. The con-
struction forces began work on part
of the line in less than four weeks
after the optioning was begun. The
Plant Department was able to pro-
ceed with its construction on the en-
tire line in six weeks to the day!
In addition to optioning the eighty
miles, twenty miles of the original
route had to be re-routed after it
had been optioned. This required
the optioning of an additional twenty
miles on the re-route, or a total of
100 miles optioned in the six-week
period. Six Right-of-Way Men did
this job, including the purchase of five
repeater stations sites.
Never a Thill Moment
Contacts with property owners
along the route of a line are not with-
out their interesting incidents.
Some time ago a construction gang
of a dozen men was digging holes for
the construction of a pole line, which
ran diagonally across a twentv-acre
field adjoining some farm build-
ings. The farmer and his wife had
already granted the right of way, of
course; but the farmer believed for
some reason that he should have been
paid a larger sum, and he decided not
to permit the line to be constructed
across his farm until he received ad-
246
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Since most Long Lines cables run cross-country^ much of the Right-qf-Way Man^s time
and effort are spent in rural areas — as in the instance pictured here
ditional compensation. So he ordered
the men out of his field. The fore-
man immediately got in touch with
the Right-of-Way Man, who tried to
reason with the owner. As a last re-
sort, the Right-of-Way Man told the
crew that it could go ahead with the
work.
The farmer then went to his barn
and turned out into the field a vicious
bull. In less time that it takes to tell,
all the men were out of the field and
some had put two or three fences
between them and the bull, which was
pawing up the earth and bellowing.
The Right-of-Way Man again at-
tempted to reason with the farmer,
and also exhibited to him the right-
of-way grant that he and his wife
had previously executed. To this the
farmer's response was, "Why don't
you show that paper to the bull?"
An example of how important it
is for the Right-of-Way Man to fa-
miliarize himself fully with the prop-
erties under negotiation was the ac-
quisition of right of way from a very
obdurate property owner in the South.
When the Right-of-Way Man
called regarding the right of way,
the owner virtually turned his back
and walked away and would not dis-
cuss the matter at all. From the re-
cords it was learned that the tract
in question was bounded on one side
by the run of Goose Creek. It was
observed from certain indications on
the ground, confirmed by local in-
quiry, that the creek had changed its
course. As a result, the tract had ap-
parently decreased in size approxi-
mately eight acres, which were not in
the possession of the true owner, the
individual from whom the right of
way had to be acquired. Armed with
this Information, the Right-of-Way
Man called on the property owner
and immediately asked whether an
agreement could be reached regard-
ing the right of way if he were shown
1948-49
Right-of-Way Comes First
247
that he was the true owner of eight
acres of land which he did not know
about. He agreed to the proposition
that, if the Right-of-Way Man could
prove the point, there would be no
further difficulty about the right of
way. Accordingly, he was shown
that the deeds under which his title
was derived had always referred to
the run of the creek as the boundary
line on that side, and that when the
creek had changed its course the old
boundary line continued to be the
true one.
The owner was delighted to obtain
this information and had a survey
made, which indicated that actually
some fifteen additional acres thus
rightfully belonged to him. Needless
to say, the right of way was obtained
without further difficulty.
Another trying, if rather amusing,
incident occurred several years ago
during the building of an important
re-route.
It was absolutely necessary that the
projected line cross the property' of
an old hermit. He heard that the
Right-of-Way Man intended to call
on him, and proceeded to hide out
every time he appeared. After sev-
eral attempts, the Right-of-Way Man
learned from neighbors that the old
hermit was an accomplished violinist,
who many years before had won an
old-time fiddlers' contest in a nearby
city. With this information, the
Right-of-Way Man managed to ap-
proach the old fellow one morning.
The hermit was ready to run, but
the Right-of-Way Man quickly told
him he merely wanted to hear him
play his violin. The hermit melted
somewhat and consented to play.
Prompted by the Right-of-Way
Man's praise, the old fellow pro-
ceeded to fiddle for some seven
hours. Being unable to approach the
business at hand, the Right-of-Way
Man finally stopped the old man, an-
nouncing that he was so pleased with
the performance that he wished to
take his picture. The fiddler was
delighted to pose for several shots
with his violin under his chin. By
this time, he had been completely won
over, and the grant was secured.
The Right-of-Way Man's report
to the office said "Mr. X signed up,
but he was damned liberal with my
time." This narrative will explain
what a Right-of-Way Man means
when he reports that he Is fiddling
around with a property owner.
Dealing ixtth People
One of the most important aspects
of a Right-of-Way Man's job is "Pub-
lic Relations."
Indeed, a Right-of-Way Man is a
public relations man. On his initial
contact, his most important respon-
sibility is to establish friendly rela-
tions with every individual with whom
he deals in his negotiations for rights
of way. Unless he succeeds in this,
he will be unable to obtain all the
rights he needs.
Once friendly relations are estab-
lished, it is most important that they
be preserved, and the Right-of-Way
Man exerts himself to the utmost to
see that this is done. Yet one act of
negligence, a discourtesy to an owner,
or lack of reasonable consideration
for his property, on the part of any
telephone employee, can ruin the
friendly relations previously estab-
lished.
The importance of good public
248
Bell Telephone Magazine
relations with property owners may
be illustrated by the following figures.
In 1947, the year in which most of
the right-of-way for 1948 construc-
tion was purchased, the A. T. & T.
Long Lines Department acquired
completed rights of way for 1,843
miles of new lines, crossing approxi-
mately 5,300 properties, obtained
861 mortgage releases, and pur-
chased 179 repeater station sites.
About 1,525 miles of new lines, cross-
ing approximately 4,600 properties,
were optioned; 1,027 grants were
taken for reroutes and maintenance
work and 18 repeater station sites
were purchased on existing lines;
2,265 claims for damages, arising
from plant construction and mainte-
nance, were settled. These activities
entailed negotiations by Right-of-
Way Men with some 27,000 indi-
viduals. Added to those were many
contacts with city councils, boards of
county commissioners, zoning boards,
and other governmental agencies.
The Operating Companies of the
Bell System also are actively engaged
in a great expansion program, and
their right-of-way problems are much
the same. This is particularly true
as regards the extension of toll lines,
which are constructed almost entirely
on private property.
Thus the number of individuals
dealt with in the acquisition of rights
of way is very large, representing a
cross section of our country. Every
negotiation or contact creates some
impression in the mind of the indi-
vidual. Whether it is good or bad is
up to the representative who makes
the contact. The Right-of-Way Men
are well aware of this, and endeavor
to conduct themselves and their deal-
ings appropriately.
The activities of the three groups
involved in constructing a new line
function somewhat as a football team.
The engineers act as the quarter-
back, selecting the route and laying
out the line. This might be consid-
ered calling the signals.
The Right-of-Way Men, who open
the holes, are the blockers, running
the interference, so to speak.
The construction forces are the ball
carriers, laying the cable and meeting
the service dates. This might be
termed making the touchdowns.
Of course the touchdowns win the
game, but the blockers do help make
it possible to march down the field.
Serving Bell System Companies from Coast to Coasts the
Men of Western Electric s Installation Division Form a
Mobile Force Which Is Unique in American Industry
Installation b}^ Western
Electric Company
Alvin von Auw
Between the supply and the de-
mand, between the high-level produc-
tion of Western Electric's factories
and the need of the Bell System's op-
erating companies for more central-
office facilities, stands the Western
Electric installer.
Meet the installer.
He is a member of a big and versa-
tile branch of the Bell System : West-
ern Electric. It manufactures for the
System companies equipment of many
kinds, and buys from others what it
doesn't make. It keeps quantities of
supplies at hand for those companies,
through its 28 distributing houses
from coast to coast. It installs the
central-office equipment it makes,
through which one telephone may be
connected with any other telephone
almost an}'where.
This last is what the installer does,
of course. He is a member of West-
ern Electric's Installation Division.
For more than three years now,
the installer has occupied a decidedly
important spot in the Bell System
scheme of things. For it is his job
to make ready for service the intri-
cate central-office equipment so vital
to the System's program of expan-
sion.
Western Electric's Installation Di-
vision is a force unique in American
industry. It is a mobile force, and a
competent one. It has to be. West-
ern's army of installers must be de-
ployed in widely scattered locations,
some jobs calling for man power run-
ning into the hundreds, some for as
few as two or three men. For every
type of manual, carrier, and dial equip-
ment Western Electric makes, the in-
stallation army must provide a match-
ing skill. And it does.
The Bell System maintains in this
country a force equivalent in size and
skill to whatever routine or emer-
gency tasks its public responsibilities
may require of it. The Installation
250
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Central-office installers don^t come ready made; their job takes training. In the face of
an unprecedented increase in its installation force^ Western Electric turned to classroom
instruction to supplement on-the-job training
Division is a part of that force : one
whose skill and experience in central-
office installation operations may be
applied at whatever points the needs
of the telephone system demand.
The Installation Division is an
organization in which youth and ex-
perience have joined forces to face
the heaviest construction program in
Bell System history. Long-service
installers have shared their knowl-
edge with the thousands of young
men who, since the war, have joined
the ranks of Installation. Today the
average installer is 25^ years of age.
Chances are he's a veteran, for about
67 percent of the Division's present
force saw service in World War II.
To the life many installers lead,
the word "routine" scarcely applies.
They're on the move, seeing new
places, new faces, and developing —
if, indeed, they do not already pos-
sess it — the self-reliance that comes
from meeting and overcoming a di-
versity of challenges, on and off the
job.
The post-war years have been the
most active in all of Installation's
history. On V-J Day there were less
than 5,000 people on the Division's
rolls; today there are some 22,000.
And the measure of the increase is
the measure of the job Installation
has been called upon to perform.
1948-49
Installation by Western Electric Company
251
Under the sharp eye of an experienced instructor^ a student installer practices the
connecting and soldering operation as one step in the far-reaching training program
In the campaign to reduce the
telephone companies' "held orders"
for service, the installers are shock
troops. During these strenuous post-
war years, the installer has kept pace
with the rising tide of production in
Western Electric's factories; he has
pared installation intervals in order
to provide more central-office facili-
ties for a telephone-hungry America.
For, month after month following
the end of the war, as more and
more Americans applied for telephone
service, the number of orders for
service unfilled because of lack of cen-
tral office facilities mounted — despite
Installation's progressively higher
levels of activity.
In the long run this sustained ef-
fort paid off. By mid-summer of last
year came the turning point : the curve
of orders held for lack of central-
office facilities turned downward from
a peak of 1,634,117 in June 1947.
At this writing, such orders stand at
something less than two-thirds of
that. There's still a big job ahead,
but installers may well take pride in
what has been done to date.
Post-war Trainifig
The man-power to meet post-war
installation demands did not come
ready-made. It took training. And
the training took planning.
Normally, "rookie" installers are
252
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
trained on the job through experi-
ence, in close association with expe-
rienced long-service installers. But
when, during the latter days of the
war, the Installation Division began
to take the measure of the peace-time
job ahead, it was immediately appar-
ent that on-the-job training of the
thousands of new men required would
be impractical, and would dilute the
experience level of the force to a dan-
gerous low. Against the day of
victory, then, the Division planned
an extensive program of classroom
training to supplement job training.
Courses were outlined in detail: some
to run for as long as 36 days, some
for as little as one. Textbooks were
prepared and training aids built.
At its peak. Installation's nation-
wide "vocational school" was com-
prised of some 100 branches in 80
Behind a manual switchboard: adding new central-office
facilities without interrupting service over existing lines
cities and towns. During 1946 the
average working day found 10 per-
cent of the field force in the class-
room; in 1947, six percent. Training
in 1947 accounted for approximately
381,000 man-days.
Training courses are divided into
three levels: "basic," "technical ex-
tension," and "supervisory." The
latter is especially important in an or-
ganization with a supervisory force
which today numbers approximately
75 percent of the total force which
existed on V-J Day. Today the train-
ing program in Installation has passed
its peak. The force is stabilizing and
for the most part — thanks to the in-
tensive instructional effort of the first
two post-war years — already posses-
ses the skills required of it.
Basic training continues for re-
placement personnel, and supervisory
training will go forward
as well. But the need
for organized class-room
training in advanced in-
stallation techniques has
largely passed, since
"graduates" of the train-
ing program have dem-
onstrated in sufficient
numbers that their in-
struction has given them
the fundamental know-
how which will enable
them to develop ad-
vanced skills on the job.
Getting the right man
to the right place at the
right time is no mean
feat even in normal
times for an organiza-
tion with the number
and variety of tasks In-
stallation faces. It is a
1948-49
Installation by Western Electric Company
253
problem enormously increased and
made more complex by the height-
ened tempo of post-war activity and
the seven-fold increase in the force.
Training and placement of a vastly
expanded force, however, are but
two of the problems Installation is
meeting and overcoming to reach its
unprecedented post-war goals. Some
of the difficult conditions with which
the installer has coped include ma-
terial shortages, building construc-
tion delays, transportation difficulties,
trucking and other strikes, and the
serious housing shortage which has
hampered assignment of personnel.
While the housing shortage cannot be
said to have been solved, installers
have found the necessary accommoda-
tions, thanks to advance surveys by
supervisors, the ingenuity of installers
themselves — some own trailers — and
the help and hospitality of telephone
company people. And whatever the
problems, installers have faced them
with the resourcefulness which has
evolved in this organization over the
years as a result of the widespread
nature of its work.
A look at the record will demon-
strate how effectively these problems
have been — in military parlance —
neutralized. A total of 2,052,000
dial lines and 7,471 new and re-used
local manual and toll switchboard po-
sitions was installed in 1948. These
figures are 40 percent and five per-
cent respectively over 1947, the sec-
ond of three successive years which
have seen previous installation rec-
ords shattered.
Installers are as "deadline-con-
scious" as newspaper reporters. Of
the 33,150 orders started during
1948, 95 percent started on original
schedule. Of the 33,507 orders
completed in the same period, 91
percent were completed on original
schedule.
Nation-wide, Unified, Flexible
The geography of the Installation
Division is nation-wide. Right now,
installers are working in approxi-
mately 1,700 buildings in about 1,500
different cities and towns from coast
to coast. The Division's operating
organization is divided into three
zones — Eastern, Central and West-
ern. To each zone manager, five
area managers report. The 15 areas
are further subdivided into districts,
headed by superintendents who, in
turn, direct the activities of area
supervisors stationed in centers of
heavy installation activity. Organi-
zation on this geographical basis per-
mits effective liaison with Bell tele-
phone company people from the
headquarters to the local level.
The flexibility feature of a unified
nation-wide installation force is an
important advantage to the Bell Sys-
tem. It is an asset clearly demon-
strated in emergencies. Take the
case of the fire in River Grove, Illi-
nois, a suburb of Chicago. In that
instance, installers from nearby and
from beyond the state's borders were
mobilized in less than 24 hours, and
proceeded with the hurry-up instal-
lation of an entirely new central of-
fice, a job which they completed in
the record time of 1 1 days.
As it is in emergencies, so it is with
the Installation Division's regular
line-of-duty contribution to Bell Sys-
tem service. The Division takes as
its province very nearly the entire
area of the Bell System. And within
that area, wherever the work is, there
you will find the installer.
^54
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
A 5 y -volume * ' Handbook ' '
Coordinating and servicing these
far-flung operations is the business of
Installation's "general staff," quar-
tered at 30 Church Street, in New
York, a stone's throw from Bell Sys-
tem headquarters at 195 Broadway.
Uniformity of policies and practices,
of installation techniques and stand-
ards on a nation-wide basis, are some
of the contributions this group makes
to the nation-wide telephone service
of the Bell System. It is this uni-
formity, made effective nationally
through common management, which
permits two installers from widely
separated points to be assigned to the
same job and go to work at once as
a team — and permits a supervisor to
get a job rolling promptly and effec-
tively with a crew in which he cannot
see a single familiar face.
This uniformity of practice is sym-
bolized by the installer's "handbook"
— not one volume but a veritable five-
foot shelf of installation knowledge
running to 57 volumes. Each job
supervisor is equipped with those vol-
umes pertaining to his assignments,
and may order additional volumes as
the need arises. For each type of
equipment the Division installs, this
encyclopedic work sets forth the re-
quirements, as established by Bell
Telephone Laboratories; the tools,
and the methods to be employed.
The "handbook" began, more than
40 years ago, as a pocket-size pam-
phlet. As central offices grew in size
and complexity the "handbook" grew
too, keeping pace with the develop-
ment of the art and substituting uni-
form practice for the "tricks of the
trade" that characterized early instal-
lation activity. Today its 57 volumes
incorporate the engineering develop-
ments and the accumulated experi-
ence of installers over a period of
decades — experience analyzed, codi-
fied, and disseminated through In-
stallation's central staff for the in-
formation and action of all installers
everywhere.
The handbook is a "how to do it"
manual. For the "what," the "where"
and the "how much" of each indi-
vidual job, installers look to the
Equipment Engineers for specifica-
tions and blueprints. For jobs engi-
neered by Western Electric, these
specifications and blueprints — and the
blueprints may run into the thou-
sands for each of the larger projects
— are supplied by the Hawthorne or
Kearny Works Equipment Engineers.
On orders engineered by a telephone
company, the specifications and blue-
prints— both telephone company and
Western Electric prints — are sup-
plied by the telephone company's
engineers. In either case. Installa-
tion's job is based directly upon the
requirements of the telephone com-
pany and — beyond the telephone com-
pany— the needs of the community.
Men, Tools, and Equipfnent
The tools it takes to do the job
are brought in by the crew, or are
provided by the area office from other
jobs or from Installation's central
stock-keeping organization at the
Hawthorne Works in Chicago. In-
stallation is a highly specialized ac-
tivity, and requires many tools of
special design not generally found in
other industries. With the growth
of radio and allied industries, how-
ever, many tools once exclusive with
Installation have become standard
and readily obtainable from outside
1948-49
Installation by Western Electric Company
255
sources. Nonetheless, of the tools the
installer uses today — from those in the
kit that hangs from his belt to the
most elaborate test sets — a large per-
centage were designed by the person-
nel of the Division itself, and repre-
sent the latest refinements in a process
of evolution over more than half
a century of installation work.
And with the installation crew
come not only the tools required for
the job but the furniture and fixtures
as well — the desks and files and
lockers. For when a job supervisor
takes over a new assignment, he
moves in and "sets up shop" in every
sense of the phrase. On or before
"start date," he and an advance guard
of installers set up an office and a
storeroom and arrange for the re-
ceipt of equipment.
Then the decks are clear
for the material to roll
in, and for the men who
will transform that ma-
terial into a fully opera-
tive nerve center for
speechways.
In case of a 10.000-
line crossbar dial ex-
change of the latest type,
the material may weigh
in at more than 300 tons.
Normal installing in-
terval for such a project
is 29 weeks. To make
it ready for active duty
will require a crew num-
bering loi men at the
peak and 56 on the av-
erage. The man-power
required for each suc-
ceeding phase of the op-
eration will have been
determined by reference
to Manning Requirements^ a manual
which details the number of men
needed for typical installations.
Three hundred tons of equipment,
then, and 10 1 men. To tell what the
latter do to the former involves some
sizable statistics. Before the job is
done, the crew will have run more
than 10,000,000 feet of wire in cable
and secured it to racks. They will
have soldered more than a million
wire ends, each to its proper terminal.
And they will have tested and checked
the adjustments of some 125,000
items of electromagnetic apparatus.
The installer's is the final respon-
sibility for seeing to it that all the
Western Electric products that go
into a central office — the coils from
Haverhill, the switches from Duluth,
An installer "fanning" switchboard cables at an office
linkframe
256
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Making ready: Members of Western Electric' s Installation Division are installing cable
rack and auxiliary framing before erecting frames for a crossbar central-office installation
the cabling from Tonawanda, the dial
and manual assemblies from Haw-
thorne and Kearny, the cords from
Point Breeze — that all, including the
material furnished by outside sup-
pliers, live up to the Bell System
standards when they have been as-
sembled as a working unit. Not till
every circuit has been tested and the
completed project "verified" in every
respect does Installation put the final
OK on Western Electric's product.
The roving engineers from the
staff of the Installation Division's
Engineer of Quality, Wage and Busi-
ness Practices constantly make quality
samplings of jobs in every area from
coast to coast. This quality control
organization supplies management
with a steady flow of information on
the quality level being maintained by
the field forces, thus insuring that
prompt action may be taken when-
ever necessary to uphold predeter-
mined standards of workmanship.
Installation's monthly Quality Report
sets forth the relative quality stand-
ings of all areas. Symbol of top
standing is the "orchid" awarded
each month with suitable notice in
The Observer, the Installation Divi-
sion's employee paper.
Installation's emphasis on quality
first, last, and always derives from an
ingrained sense of the direct relation
between equipment standards and Bell
System service standards. There is,
of course, strong logic in a relation-
ship between supplier and customer
which places responsibility for the
quality of equipment upon the manu-
facturer of that equipment. From
1948-49
Installation by Western Electric Company
ISI
The final stages of installation of a crossbar central office. Compare this orderly mass
of intricate equipment with the view on the opposite page
this viewpoint, installation can be
considered as an extension of West-
ern Electric's manufacturing process :
manufacturing which is completed on
the customer's premises. Thus, in-
stallation is the last link in the chain
of services Western Electric performs
in providing central office and PBX
equipment to the telephone companies
of the Bell System.
Time was when the cutover of a
100,000-line project like that de-
scribed above was an occasion for
celebration and speech-making by dig-
nitaries, both corporate and municipal.
Today there just isn't time. Installa-
tion assignments come thick and fast
these days and every assignment,
large or small, comes "Urgent!
Rush!" Nowadays, when a job has
been certified ready for service, the
installer cannot wait for dedication
ceremonies. He's off to a new job,
perhaps in the same town, perhaps a
hundred miles away.
That next job may not be a big
city project like the 10,000-liner.
This time you're just as likely to find
the installer crouched behind the
switchboard of a small town, adding
facilities to the telephone network —
and doing it without interrupting ex-
isting service. Or you may find him
at work in the desert or on a moun-
tain top, putting in repeater stations
on carrier lines or the equipment for
a micro-wave radio relay station.
Whatever the job, large or small,
today's conditions place a constant
demand on the installer's ingenuity
and resourcefulness. And he is meet-
ing the demand.
258
Bell Telephone Magazine
The ^^ Itinerant hist a Her"
of Installation
That's in the tradition of Western
Electric installers; a tradition that
goes back to the days of the "first in-
staller," Charles Brady, who worked
out of the Clinton Street Shop in
Chicago in the 1880s.
Installation was a one-man opera-
tion in those days, and so was equip-
ment engineering. In one corner of
the shop E. G. Hovey wrote switch-
board specifications; in another cor-
ner Charles Brady built and wired
the board to meet those specifications.
Then, the shop work completed —
history has it — Charles would pack
up his gear, set his derby at a rakish
angle, and sally forth to the installa-
tion on the customer's premises.
So much for history: now a little
about the "mythology" of Installa-
tion. What Mike Fink is to the
riverman and Paul Bunyan is to the
woodsman, the Itinerant Installer is
to Installation. And there are tales
told of the Itinerant Installer that
rival those of other heroes of Ameri-
can legend. The chronicler of the
deeds of the Itinerant Installer has
been silent of late years, and perhaps
there are men in the Installation Di-
vision now who have never heard of
him. Perhaps there are even some
who, having heard of him, do not be-
lieve. For such sceptics the chronicler
had an answer. To old installers he
counselled as follows:
"Tell 'em about the super-solderer
he was. How he tapped, laid,
webbed, clamped and tested a 10,500
multiple through 15 sections in two
hours and 17 minutes. Tell 'em how
he memorized every blueprint ever
sent out by Hawthorne or Kearny.
How he used to shoot trouble with
his special trouble gun. And never
missed. Give 'em the lowdown on
how he used to grab two handsful of
20-foot superstructure bars and put
up more ironwork in 12 minutes than
the shop could ship in two weeks.
He could sew cable with his bare feet
while he ran it with his hands. . . .
He began to live on that day in the
dim past when the first solder-slinger
wiped the tip of his gas-heated iron
with a horny thumb. He lives today
and will continue to live as long as
Crabtree Corners needs 20 more an-
swering jacks or a more urban center
needs another unit of crossbar. He
lives in the hearts of installers every-
where. . . . They know not whereof
they speak, those who say the Itin-
erant Installer never lived."
The Things Men Live By
Walter S. Gifford
The following are excerpts from an ad-
dress by the Chairman of the Board of
the A. T. ^ T. Company at the Char-
ter Night dinner, on November 5, 194S,
of the new Pioneer chapter named in
his honor.
Looking back over my years in the
business — fort}^-four and one-half, in
fact — I can think of no enterprise I
would rather have been in. This is not
because I became the top of manage-
ment, with its responsibilities, but be-
cause, as the years went by, while every-
thing wasn't always to my liking, I felt
that, fundamentally, management was
interested in fair treatment of employees
and in seeing that each made the most
of his or her abilities and that promo-
tions were made as they were earned.
Telephone Pioneers have not only
pioneered in the art of telephony but in
equitable treatment of employees. In
19 1 3, thirty-five years ago, for instance,
the Bell System pioneered in establish-
ing a benefit plan which provided sick-
ness, accident, and death benefits and
pensions without cost to employees.
How important that step was is seen
by the fact that the pension funds, paid
for entirely by the [Bell System] com-
panies, now amount to over $850,000,-
000.
Today, many unions are seeking such
benefits in other industries, and some
strikes have been called in trying to get
them. We got them thirty-five years
ago — not by strikes or threats of strikes
but because our management pioneered
in labor relations as well as in technical
developments — and it wasn't paternal-
ism, which I for one would have re-
sented. In putting the plan into effect,
Mr. Vail, who was then president of
the American Telephone and Telegraph
Company, said, "This is justice, and
without justice and sympathetic inter-
est we cannot hope to do a thoroughly
good piece of work."
So also have been the many improve-
ments in working conditions over the
years. In fact, it is hard to find any
business that offers as much — and I
think there is no business that offers
more — for those who have spent a sub-
stantial part of their lives in it or, in-
deed, for those who are just starting in
it . . .
We have all felt, over the years, the
inspiration of "the message must get
through." iVIuch of the joy of living
would be lost if the younger members of
our enterprise, who some day will be
members of the Telephone Pioneers,
fail to recognize the intangible thrill
that comes of loyalt>', not necessarily to
an organization, although that means
a great deal to those who feel it, but
loyalty to an ideal, to a job well done,
and particularly to a job well done that
means so much to the welfare and hap-
piness of so many. Those, after all, are
the things that men live by ; they are the
kind of things that make life exciting
and worth while. . . .
Our country leads the world today.
We in the telephone business will see
to it, I am sure, that our telephone serv-
ice continues to be the best in the world.
Effective Handling of the Sale of Pullman Space Depends
On Three Principal Factors: Traffic Volume^ People^ and
Telephone Equipment
Telephone Facilities for
Railroad Reservations
Justin E. Hoy
Editor's note: This article is based on information gathered for a talk
which the author was invited to present at the 1Q48 Annual Con-
ference of the Communications Section of the Association of American
Railroads, held at Colorado Springs, Colo., September 28— JO.
The use of telephone service In the
handling of space reservations Is a
subject of importance to both the rail-
roads and the telephone companies.
To the railroads, telephone service
is important because it is a vital link
in the sale of "space" — "uppers,"
"lowers," "roomettes," drawing
rooms, and other accommodations.
Providing the service is a major op-
eration requiring many people and
representing a sizable item of expense
to the railroads; and it involves a
great many contacts with the public
and thus affords many opportunities
for building good public relations.
The matter is of importance to the
telephone companies because for prac-
tically every unit of space sold at
least one telephone conversation takes
place, and frequently more.
For both the railroads and the tele-
phone companies, the problem of
handling reservations is of increasing
importance because, as time goes on,
more and more space is being made
available for reservation.
Railroads follow in general one
basic plan in handling space reserva-
tions at a centralized bureau.
The customer may either go in per-
son to a ticket office to make his reser-
vation or he may call the reservation
bureau by telephone. If he goes in
person to a ticket office, a ticket seller
telephones the bureau to secure the
space assignment. In this instance
one telephone call takes place.
If, on the other hand, he calls the
bureau, he is told that the reservation
will be held for him for a stated in-
terval, during which he must go to a
Telephone Facilities J or Railroad Reservations
261
An example of what railroad people mean by "space": an outside-looking-in view of a
new type of drawing room, with berths for four and seats for seven^ in a post-war
stainless steel sleeping car
ticket office to pick up his transporta-
tion ticket. When he appears at the
ticket office, the ticket seller confirms
the space by telephoning the bureau.
In this latter instance, two telephone
conversations take place.
While it is true that there are some
deviations from this basic pattern, by
far the majority of space sold follows
one of the two methods just de-
scribed.
Most of the larger railroads have
established centralized bureaus to
handle reservations, and it will be the
purpose of this article to discuss some
typical telephone installations, and
their operation in the bureaus which
control space assignments; the more
common problems being encountered;
and some of the steps which have
been taken to help solve these prob-
lems.
It is true, of course, that in many
cities the volume of telephone calling
about reservations is not enough to
warrant centralized reservation bu-
reaus. But to the extent that tele-
phone service is used in making reser-
vations, the underlying communica-
tion principles are the same. It is
also true that in many instances the
reservation job is only a part of a
larger operation in the centralized
bureau, which may also have other
functions : the handling of informa-
tion calls, the operation of message
desks where communication to out-
of-town points is concentrated. How-
ever, this article will stick to that por-
tion of the bureau definitely assigned
to the reservation job.
It may be helpful, along about
here, to take a look at the types of
space available for reservation.
262
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Originally, sleeping accommoda-
tions on trains consisted only of the
traditional "upper" and "lower."
Now these accommodations have been
expanded to include sections (a com-
bination of an upper and a lower
berth), roomettes (a small room con-
taining one berth and lavatory facili-
ties), bedrooms (larger rooms, usu-
ally having two berths), drawing
rooms, compartments, and even apart-
ments. In addition to sleeping ac-
commodations, many railroads are
expanding the practice of reserving
seat space in coaches.
To complicate further the job of
the railroad reservation people, Pull-
man cars themselves differ greatly in
make-up. One car may contain ten
sections and two drawing rooms.
The car next to it may contain eight
sections, one drawing room and two
compartments.
Again, many trains change in the
character of their make-up between
point of origin and destination. For
example, a train traveling between
New York and Chicago may pick up
or drop off Pullman cars at stated
points along the way. A certain car,
which, let us say, is to be dropped off
at Cleveland, is therefore suitable for
assignment to passengers traveling to
certain points between New York
and Cleveland, but It would not be
suitable for assignment to passengers
traveling beyond Cleveland.
All of this means that before the
train starts its run, railroad reserva-
tion people have had to assign par-
ticular space in particular cars to par-
ticular ticket holders who wish to
travel to a particular city at a particu-
lar time of the day.
The statistics in the box may help
visualize the size of the problem con-
fronting the railroads in handling
such space assignments.
Keservation Bureau Operations
Now let's take a look at the inner
workings of a reservation bureau.
Each item of space that is available
for assignment is represented by a
block on a card 9 inches long and 3^2
inches wide, and the type of space,
such as lower, roomette, and so on, is
designated in the block. Each of
these cards is called a diagram, and
one is maintained for each car that
contains reserved space. Since space
is sold in advance, a separate dia-
gram for each date is also necessary.
Usually all of the diagrams for one
car for, say, 30 consecutive dates are
made up in a pack.
The diagram packs for any one
train are usually closely associated in
a diagram rack. As reservations are
made, suitable notations are entered
Approximate
Figures
FOR Thirty-Day Period
AT Four
Typical Reservation Bureaus
Location of the
Number of Units of Space
Numb
er of Incoming
Reservation Office
Available for Reservation
Telephone Calls
New York
113,250
234,000
Cleveland
39,000
51,000
Chicago
36,000
51,000
San Francisco
90,000
108,000
1948-49 Telephone Facilities for Railroad Reservations
263
in the corresponding
blocks by the reservation
clerks to indicate that
the space has been sold
or is being held on reser-
vation. Each day, dia-
grams for that date are
removed from the packs
and forwarded to the
train and corresponding
diagrams representing
the 30th day hence are
added to the packs.
The volume of calls
received at a reservation
bureau requires a num-
ber of reservation clerks.
Since the clerks must
have access to the dia-
grams in order to han-
dle the calls, all of the
larger reservation bu-
reaus have to be set up
into different units, each
unit handling calls for
certain trains only. In
this way, reservation
clerks need access to only
a portion of the total
number of diagrams in
the bureau. Because
each clerk in any one unit
must have quick access to
all of the diagrams in
the unit, the physical design of the
diagram racks limits the number of
people who can answer calls in a
single unit to a maximum of about 12.
Two types of diagram racks are
most commonly used. One consists
of a series of open-ended pigeon holes
mounted in the center of a long table
accessible to clerks sitting on both
sides. The rack itself may slide up
and down the length of the table so
m^^mm^r^T^T^
ii*ff
It
fnt
R
D^r a
13 -
2
J
4" '
3
g ^' "
^'5
r~'
7
10
3
=^:i!i:"£
r. .-^'--z
There is a diagram such as these for every car which has
reserved space, for every day it runs
that each pigeon hole is within reach
of any clerk.
The other type is circular In design
and consists of a rotating drum around
which Is a circular table. The drum
Is made up of tiers, so that it can be
revolved in sections, and thus every
clerk sitting at the table has access to
the diagrams mounted In the drum.
In addition to the diagrams, the cir-
cular drums frequently contain a
264
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
series of peg panels, one panel repre-
senting each car for which there is
a corresponding diagram pack and
each peg representing a unit of space.
The pegs in the panels permit the
reservation clerks to tell at a glance,
without referring to the diagram
packs, what space is available. As
space is sold, the corresponding pegs
are removed from the panel.
Telephone Requireme?jts
From that brief description of the
bureau operation, the telephone re-
quirements begin to become apparent.
In the first place, where bureaus
are subdivided into units, screening
of incoming calls is necessary to de-
termine which unit should get the
call. This means that switchboard
service is necessary. This, in turn.
means that lines from the switch-
board to the answering positions
manned by reservation clerks are also
necessary. Further, since incoming
calls are received from ticket sellers
as well as from prospective customers,
lines from the ticket offices to the res-
ervation bureau are also necessary.
With respect to the answering
equipment at the reservation unit,
order turret equipment of some sort
is indicated. Many installations em-
ploy No. 4 order turrets, which are
small key boxes in which one incom-
ing line from the switchboard ter-
minates. In addition, there is an
overflow line which is common to a
number of positions. With this equip-
ment, the reservation clerks who are
ready to receive calls are indicated to
the P.B.X. operators by means of
These racks slide along the table, and the diagrams in the pigeon holes are available to
clerks on both sides. The flush-type key telephone equipments are No. 4 turrets
1948-49 Telephone Facilities for Railroad Reservations
26 s
The three iters 0/ this "drum" revolvCy the diagrams are between the panels^ and each peg
represents a unit of space. No. 100 key telephone equipment is at the left of each clerk
lamps at the switchboard and incom-
ing calls are completed only to these
positions. The presence of overflow
calls is made known to reservation
clerks by means of overflow lamps
at the key boxes and these calls may
be answered by any clerk in the unit —
usually the first one to become avail-
able.
Other installations employ different
types of order turret equipment, such
as the No. 2 turret, or 100 or lOi
key equipment. These types of equip-
ments permit clerks to answer any of
several lines (usually all the lines in
the unit) and are necessary in instal-
lations where lines from the ticket
sellers are separate from the lines
used to complete incoming calls from
the switchboard.
Regardless of the type of answer-
ing equipment employed, one of the
primary requirements in the way of
telephone equipment in reservation
bureaus is the provision of adequate
monitoring equipment. This appara-
tus may be designed to permit super-
visors to know which reservation
clerks are busy and which are ready
to receive calls; to know how many
calls are waiting at the P.B.X. and
for what units they are waiting; to
observe the handling of calls; and to
be able to assist reservation clerks in
handling certain calls. Proper cover-
age of answering positions within the
bureau as well as effective handling
of calls are two essentials to the suc-
cessful operation of a reservation bu-
reau, and adequate monitoring equip-
266
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Pit I if JWli i!ff TITTi it'P
^"*^.|TURRET lines! ^-"^
ITICKET SELLERl
Too few people within
the bureau to han-
dle calls even were
the telephone facili-
ties increased.
Enough people within
the bureau but not
enough people at
certain units to han-
dle the traffic.
Too many inexperi-
enced people in the
bureau.
Is the answer to these
situations more tele-
phone equipment?
Many railroad men
say, "No. We haven't
the people to answer the
lines we have now, so
why put in more?"
Is the answer more
people?
Many railroad men
say, "Yes, of course.
But there we're on the horns of a
dilemma. On the one hand, we're
selling all the space we have now
and more employees would only
increase our operating costs; they
couldn't possible increase our operat-
ing revenues. Yet, on the other hand,
we agree that poor service to the
customer is poor business for the rail-
road."
To arrive at a workable answer to
these problems, it has been necessary
for telephone people and railroad
people to join in exhaustive studies,
to determine the factors which give
tending between the switchboard rise to the problems and what might
and the bureau to handle. be done to remedy the situation.
Too few positions at each reserva- They have arrived at some answers.
tion unit to handle the calls di- Briefly, the situation boils down to
rected to it. a consideration of three main topics:
One arrangement of telephone equipment gives both cus-
tomers and ticket sellers access to the reservation clerks
over the same turret lines
ment helps bring about these two
essentials.
Operational Problems
What are some of the problems
which sometimes arise in the opera-
tion of reservation bureaus?
The most common seem to be
these :
Too many calls from the public at
certain times for the P.B.X.
trunk groups to handle.
Too many calls from ticket sellers
and the public for the lines ex
1948-49 Telephone Facilities for Railroad Reservation:^
267
Traffic. People. Tele-
phone Equipment.
With respect to the
traffic, it has been deter-
mined that the railroads
themselves can do many
things to reduce the
loads handled by reser-
vation bureaus. For ex-
ample, some roads fol-
low a plan which makes
it unnecessary for ticket
sellers to call the bureau
to confirm space assign-
ments when customers
pick up tickets after hav-
ing made a reservation
by telephone. This plan
naturally reduces the
number of calls directed
to the bureau. Other
railroads have been re-
designing diagram racks,
and by shifting the dia-
grams held in certain
units have decreased the
answering time and the holding time
on calls to the bureau.
With respect to people, the burden
of improvement to be made is again
on the railroad. Just as it takes coal
to fire a steam engine, fuel oil to run
a diesel, it takes adequate personnel to
run a reservation bureau. An adequate
number of people must be provided
to insure good service. However,
much can be done to improve the ef-
fectiveness of the people on the job
through proper training programs.
In addition, effective force program-
ming— i.e., having the right number
of positions occupied at the right time
— will result in better service without
necessarily involving force increases.
Another important item with respect
to people concerns supervision. It
jiff I if f-tfiiri ifitif ii m\
N ^^^ I ITURRET lines! i ^^^^ /
ISWITCHBOARDi
TICKET SElUr]
A different arrangement provides separate turret lines
for customers and ticket sellers to reach the reservation
clerks
is generally agreed that supervision
should be adequate to render assist-
ance where needed and direct the as-
signment of clerks to specific positions.
The task of determining what tele-
phone equipment and how much of it
is required to handle the traffic is
one which the telephone companies
have long been willing to assume.
With the assistance of Traffic Depart-
ment people, Bell System sales and
servicing representatives have for
years been designing "tailor-made"
telephone systems to handle individ-
ual reservations jobs most effectively.
While it is fundamentally the rail-
roads' responsibility to determine
what they want communications serv-
ice to do for them, nevertheless, tele-
phone company representatives fre-
268
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
quently are able to assist in working
out operations and routines which re-
sult in better service to the prospec-
tive traveler when he calls the res-
ervation bureau. Traffic Department
people have done much in working
out force requirements with the rail-
roads, and much has been done to de-
velop improved training methods and
procedures. Complete surveys and
studies of particular telephone re-
quirements are made from time to
time for the railroads operating res-
ervation bureaus in practically all of
of the larger cities throughout the
System.
Constructive Efforts
Response to the activities of tele-
phone company people on the part of
the railroads has been, in many cases,
highly appreciative.
Two examples may be cited here :
In Cleveland, the performance at
a particular reservation bureau was
not satisfactory. Reservation clerks
were slow in answering incoming calls,
and, when calls were answered, long
delays were encountered in complet-
ing transactions. In technical terms
this bureau was suffering from '*slow
answers" and long "holding time."
A survey pointed out the need for
( I ) a revised system of filing dia-
grams, (2) redesign of diagram racks
and seating arrangements, (3) a tele-
phone system which would direct in-
dividual calls to available clerks, and
(4) a training program for reserva-
tion clerks. All of the recommended
changes were made, and as a result
answering time dropped from an av-
erage of 42 seconds to 4 seconds and
the holding time from 280 seconds
to 120 seconds.
In Los Angeles, where another bu-
reau was rendering an unsatisfactory
grade of service, a survey revealed
among many things that ( i ) the num-
ber of reservation clerks on duty was
too low, and as a consequence unan-
swered calls were backing up at the
switchboard, (2) supervision was in-
adequate, (3) routines for handling
waiting lists and reservations on popu-
lar trains were causing serious bottle-
necks, (4) the high inexperience fac-
tor among reservation clerks called
for more extensive training, and (5)
a number of improvements could be
made in office layout and practices.
Corrective steps included the fol-
lowing: ( I ) the number of employees
in the bureau was increased to provide
full coverage of all positions between
8:30 A.M. and 5:30 P.M., (2) the
number of supervisors was doubled,
(3) a complete training course was
prepared and given to all employees,
(4) monitoring equipment was in-
stalled and hourly schedules of obser-
vation were established, and (5) spe-
cial diagram racks were constructed
and the telephone equipment was
changed to meet the new operating
requirements.
One result of these steps was a re-
duction in answering time on incom-
ing calls from an average of 45 sec-
onds to 18 seconds. In a letter to the
telephone company, the general pas-
senger agent of the railroad stated:
"This tremendous improvement has
only been accomplished through the
valuable assistance rendered by pro-
fessional advice received through the
presence of your representatives who
have been so generous with their time
and effort."
This job of studying telephone re-
quirements and designing telephone
facilities is not completed. Perhaps
I94^~49 Telephone Facilities for Railroad Reservations
26g
it never will be. On all sides is evi-
dence of change. The railroads are
streamlining; service to the passenger
is the key-note. Practices and rail-
road equipment which were good yes-
terday are not satisfactory today. In
like manner, telephone equipment ar-
rangements which were good yester-
day may not suffice today. It is a dis-
tinct challenge to Bell System people
to keep abreast of these changing re-
quirements, and to make telephone
service for handling the reservations
job most effective and most pleasing.
Despite popular interest in the failure of the polls to predict the elec-
tion, our interviewers report that public reaction to our questionnaire
seems to be as cooperative and friendly as ever. Apparently our cus-
tomers do not bracket the election polls and telephone company' surveys
together. Neither do we.
Our surveys do not attempt to forecast future action as did the elec-
tion polls. Ours are designed to give us more accurate knowledge of
what people are currently thinking about telephone matters. This
knowledge makes for sounder business judgment in cases where there is
uncertainty or difference of opinion about the attitude or the wishes of
the telephone users as to a specific policy, practice, or service.
One of the errors of the election polls seems to have been that their
measurement stopped too soon and failed to note a changing trend.
Telephone surveys are useful in establishing continuing trends by which
we may see whether the opinion of the public is changing for better or
for worse on the broad issues that affect our public relations.
From a letter transmitting results of a recent survey on "Trends of
Customer Opinion" to the Associated Companies of the Bell System.
Twenty-five Years Ago in the
Bell Telephone Quarterly
Items from Volume III, Number 1, January 1924
Bell System Ideals
Are High
Certainly the Bell System Is big; but
mere bigness is not necessarily great or
wholesome; and neither is it, as some peo-
ple seem to imagine, necessarily baneful or
menacing. Everything depends on its na-
ture, its ideals and purposes, in short, on
its spiritual quality. How does the Bell
System stand spiritually? Does it meet
the tests?
Men whom I greatly respect, outsiders
who have no reason to be biased and of
whose competence and independence I have
knowledge, have written to me and said to
me that the Bell System in their judgment
is the cleanest and best managed big busi-
ness in the world. I have had some oppor-
tunity to form a judgment in the matter.
And I am prepared to say that I know of
no other which can be rated above it. I
know of no other enterprise, private or pub-
lic, which has higher purposes or sounder
ideals of service. The Bell System has
seemed to me to be honest in its purposes
and endeavors and clean in its practices.
It is aboveboard and frank. It puts its
cards on the table. It welcomes govern-
ment regulation and cooperates cordially
with government agencies. It believes in
the integrity of American institutions and
in the honesty of purpose of American offi-
cial servants. It cooperates with them to
serve the public.
It seeks to be fair to its owners, its em-
ployees, and its consumers. It has as its
primary or guiding principles to keep its
business on a sound and conservative basis,
to give to its owners a fair return on their
investment, to render to its consumers the
best possible service at the lowest cost ; and
it succeeds in giving them a service which
is worth to them very much more than it
costs them.
The Bell service is public minded. It is
democratic in its responsiveness to public
sentiment and needs. It evidences in as
high degree as any other agency I have
known a concern for the public welfare.
Its personnel is animated by a spirit of
service.
From "The Achievement of Telephone
Pioneers" by former Vice President
David F. Houston.
The American Telephone
Historical Collection
The American Telephone and Telegraph
Company has started at its headquarters
building, 195 Broadway, New York, an
historical collection of pictures and papers
of all kinds, letters, note-books, documents,
to perpetuate the personalities and the rec-
ords of the men who have done vital work
in the development of the Telephone. It
has officially been given the name of the
American Telephone Historical Collection.
It is as the other half of the Bell System
Museum of instruments and apparatus at
the Western Electric building. The two
are intended to supplement each other, the
Museum emphasizing the technical side,
the consecutive development of the tele-
phone equipment; and this new Collection
emphasizing the human side, the collabor-
ating sequence of men in the telephone or-
ganization.
From an article by the late William
Chauncy Langdon, the first curator.
270
Bell System Coaxial and Radio Relay Networks Which Carry
Television Programs
Bell System s Television Networks Connected
The Bell System's east coast and mid-
western inter-city networks for television
transmission were linked on January 1 1 ,
bringing network television to the greatest
potential audience in television history: — a
fourth of the nation's population, living in
and about 14 major American cities.
The link connecting the Eastern and
Midwestern networks is the new Phila-
delphia-Pittsburgh-Cleveland coaxial ca-
ble, which was placed in operation last
fall for long distance telephone service.
The combined network includes television
stations in Boston, New York, Philadel-
phia, Baltimore. Washington, Richmond,
Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit,
Toledo, Chicago, Milwaukee, and St.
Louis.
The Bell System's combined television
network extends over 1,740 route miles of
coaxial cable and 370 route miles of radio
relay, and provides about 5,000 miles of
television channels. The network grew
from a 95-mile coaxial cable installed in
1936 between New York and Philadel-
phia. After the war, which interrupted
television development, regular network
television transmission between Washing-
ton and New York was inaugurated on
February 12, 1946, over Bell System fa-
cilities for use by broadcasters without
charge. Baltimore was added to this net-
work in October 1946.
Using radio relay. Bell System engineers
extended the New York- Washington net-
work northward to Boston in November
1947. Richmond was connected to the
network by a coaxial cable channel from
Washington a few months later. On May
I, 1948, free experimental service was dis-
continued and the Bell System television
network service was placed on a commer-
cial basis. On September 20 last year, the
Bell System brought inter-city television
service to a new region when it intercon-
nected seven major Midwestern cities.
The present combined network requires
large amounts of complex equipment.
Along the routes, for example, are 540
amplifiers, which maintain the energy of
the television signal as it travels from city
to city. Some 250 additional amplifying
devices in the television terminals in tele-
phone buildings in each city on the net-
work are used to put the broadcasters' pro-
grams on the channels.
271
1^1
Bell Telephone Magazine
Who's Who & What's What
{Continued from page 2oy)
good idea of what it's all about. He quali-
fies as expert, as a matter of fact, in such
abstruse matters as dial switching systems,
and for the last decade and more he has
directed most of his efforts toward traffic
requirements for toll crossbar and toll
step-by-step switching systems and the de-
velopment of toll dialing methods. Start-
ing with the Missouri-Kansas Telephone
Company as a student in 191 2, he was a
toll traffic supervisor with the South-
western Bell Telephone Company at St.
Louis when, in 1927, he transferred to the
Traffic division of the A. T. and T. Com-
pany's Department of Operation and En-
gineering, working on toll results. Two
years later he joined the group concerned
with peg counts and coefficients, and since
1938 he has been with the traffic operating
arrangements group.
When this Magazine wanted an au-
thentic description of the job of the Right-
of-Way Man, it turned to a member of
the Long Lines Department whose nearly
23 years of right-of-way experience include
assignments in Pennsylvania, the middle
West, the Rocky Mountain states, and
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. After
experience with the Bell Telephone Com-
pany of Pennsylvania and the Southern
Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company,
Harry H. Hoopes joined the Long Lines
organization in 1926, and was made a
rights-of-way supervisor in 1929. His base
is the division headquarters in Philadel-
phia, but proofs of his article were mailed
to him at Uniontown, Pa., and were re-
turned from Carlisle.
A member of the Public Relations Divi-
sion of the Western Electric Company since
1939, Alvin von Auw took time out to
serve as Air Combat Intelligence officer on
active duty in the Pacific Theater in World
War n, from which he was released as
Lieutenant, USNR, He resumed his for-
mer post as information supervisor, and has
only recently been appointed editor of
"WE," a new quarterly magazine for all
W. E. employees. He has contributed
several articles to this Magazine on vari-
ous company operations, the most recent of
which was "Distribution by Western Elec-
tric," in the issue for Autumn 1947.
From 1929, when Justin E. Hoy joined
the Southwestern Bell Telephone Com-
pany, to 1946, when he became a member
of the A. T. and T. Company's O. & E.
Department, he had been successively a
salesman of directory advertising; a sales-
man of exchange, toll, and PBX services;
and sales supervisor and sales training su-
pervisor. At the time he left Kansas City
for New York, he was supervising the
Southwestern company's servicing work
with large business firms in the K. C. di-
vision ; and he has since been occupied in
the sales and servicing section of the Com-
mercial division of A. T. & T. He con-
tributed "Helping Customers Improve
Telephone Usage Habits" to the issue of
this Magazine for Summer 1947.
Index to the
Bell Telephone
Magazine
Volume XXVIII, 1949
Information Department
AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY
New York 7, N. Y.
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE
VOLUME XXVIII, 1949
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPRING, 1949
Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs, by Leroy A. Wilson . . 5
Television Strides Ahead in Seven-League Boots, by Harry H.
Carter 9
Looking A-head with the Bell System 20
Merr}' Christmas in the Toll Offices, by Cyril K. Collins 27
You Can Tell by the Teller, by Arthur F. Leet 39
Purchasing by the Western Electric Company, by George deMare . . 45
Index Now Available 54
Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly 55
San Francisco's Chinatown "Goes Dial," by Wheeler F. Schall ... 57
The Winter's Toll \\'as Heavy from Texas to the Dakotas, by
Judson S. Bradley 66
SUMMER, 1949
Where Do We Go from Here ? by Harry Disston 83
The Bell Statue at Brantford 96
Helen Keller \'isits the Bell Lalxjratories 97
The Role of Communications in Red Cross Operations, by Wade
Jones 99
Progress of the Rural Service Program 108
Robert Devonshire's L^tterbook, by Ralph E. Mooney 110
Desert Isle Books 122
Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly 124
Bell Laboratories and Western Electric to Operate Sandia Labora-
tory for AEC 125
AUTUMN, 1949
A Look Around — And Ahead, by Leroy A. Wilson 133
Long Distance Finds the Way, by William H. Nunn 137
Pension Minimums Are Raised 148
3
BELL TELEPHONR MACAZLWE L\WEX. VOLUME XXVIII
War-Time Taxes on Conimiinication Services in 1949 149
Giving New Life to Old Equipment, by Philip H. Miele 154
Their Politeness Goes Deep 164
Private Line Services for the Aviation Industry, by Henry V.
Roumjort 165
Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly 175
WINTER, 1949-1950
Bell System Participation in the Work of the ASA, by Harold S.
Osborne 181
Carrier Is King, by Charles M. Mapcs 191
Mr. Gififord Retires 204
This Country Leads the World in Telephones, by Eli::abeth Wren-
shall 206
Service Aids for Home Owners, Architects, and IrJuilders, by
Adolph F. Michel and T. Hunt Clark 217
Some Early Long Distance Lines in the Ear West, by Walter
Black jord, Sr., and Joy F. Huff on 227
Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly 238
4;.
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE
VOLUME XXVIII, 1949
INDEX
A
Issue Page
"Advance Arrangements for Telephone Convenience" by Adolph
F. Michel and T. Hunt Clark— 7 photos Wi 217
American National Red Cross:
"The Role of Communications In Red Cross Operations"
by Wade Jones — 6 photos Su 99
American Standards Association:
"Bell System Participation in the Work of the ASA" by
Harold S. Osborne — 4 photos Wi 181
A. T. & T.— Construction:
"Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs" by Leroy A.
Wilson — 1 photo Sp 7
Annual Meetings:
"Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs" by Leroy A.
Wilson — 1 photo Sp 7
Annual Report, 1948:
"Bell System Taxes, 1948" Sp 38
"Telephone Service" . Sp 19
Awards :
"Bell System Film Receives Award" Au 147
B
Bell, Alexander Graham:
"The Bell Room at Salem" (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Su 124
"The Bell Statue at Brantford" — 2 photos Su 96
"Helen Keller Visits the Bell Laboratories" Su 97
"Robert Devonshire's Letterbook" by Ralph E. Mooney —
10 photos Su 110
"Bell Laboratories and Western Electric to Operate Sandia
Laboratory for AEC" Su 125
"The Bell Room at Salem" (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Su 124
"The Bell Statue at Brantford" — 2 photos Su 96
"Bell System Film Receives Award" Au 147
"Bell System Participation in the Work of the ASA" by Harold
S. Osborne— 4 photos Wi 181
"Bell System Taxes, 1948" Sp 38
5
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVIII
Issue Page
Bell Telephone Laboratories:
"Bell Laboratories and Western Electric to Operate Sandia
Laboratory for AEC" Su 125
"Helen Keller Visits the Bell Laboratories" Su 97
"The 'Transistor' " Wi 240
Biography:
Blackford, Walter, Sr. — portrait Wi 239
Bradley, Judson S. — portrait Sp 3
Carter, Harry H. — portrait Sp 3
Clark, T. Hunt— portrait Wi 179
Collins, Cyril K. — portrait Sp 3
deMare, George — portrait Sp 3
Disston, Harry — portrait Su 126
Gifford, Walter S.— portrait Wi 204
Hutton, Joy F.— portrait Wi 239
Jones, Wade — portrait Su 126
Leet, Arthur F. — portrait Sp 2
Mapes, Charles M. — portrait Wi 178
Michel, Adolph F.— portrait Wi 179
Miele, Philip H. — portrait Au 131
Mooney, Ralph E. — portrait Su 127
Nunn, William H. — portrait Au 130
Osborne, Harold S. — portrait Wi 178
Roumfort, Henry V. — portrait Au 131
Schall, Wheeler F. — portrait Sp 3
Wilson, Leroy A. — portrait Sp 2
Wilson, Leroy A. — portrait Au 130
Wrenshall, Elizabeth — portrait Wi 179
Blackford, Walter, Sr.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Wi 239
Blackford, Walter, Sr., and Joy F. Hutton:
"Some Early Long Distance Lines in the Far West" —
7 photos, 1 map Wi 227
Bradley, George L.:
Furnished telephone capital Su 118
Bradley, Judson S.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Sp 3
"The Winter's Toll Was Heavy From Texas to the Da-
kotas" — 16 photos Sp 66
Business Offices:
"You Can Tell by the Teller" by Arthur F. Leet — 4 photos . .Sp 39
C
Campbell, George A.:
Invented Electric Wave Filter — 1 photo Wi 195
"Carrier Is King" by Charles M. Mapes— 4 photos, 5 charts . . . . Wi 191
Carter, Harry H.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Sp 3
"Television Strides Ahead In Seven-League Boots" — 8
photos Sp 9
6
BELL TELEPHOXE MAGAZINE INDEX. VOLUME XXVIII
Issue Page
Cartoons :
"Fantastic or not. Gentlemen, we have just been chosen by
the Book-of-the-Month Club" Su 122
Charts:
The frequency bands used in the Bell System's wire com-
munication system Wi 198
Intercity circuit miles in Bell Sj'stem Wi 203
Radio frequency bands used by the Bell System Wi 199
Relative sizes of communication carrier "packages" Wi 193
Size of 12-channel Nl terminal contrasted with that of
12-channeI K terminal Wi 201
Cheever, Charles A Su 120
Civil Aeronautics Administration:
"Private Line Services for The Aviation Industry" by
Henry V. Roumfort — 8 photos Au 165
Clark, T. Hunt:
Biographical sketch — portrait Wi 179
Clark, T. Hunt and Adolph F. Michel:
"Advance Arrangements for Telephone Convenience" — 7
photos Wi 217
"Service Aids for Home Owners, Architects, and Builders"
by Adolph F. Michel and T. Hunt Clark— 7 photos Wi 217
Collins, Cyril K.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Sp 3
"Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices" — 8 photos Sp 27
Commercial Department:
"Where Do We Go From Here?" bj' Harry Disston — 13
photos Su 83
Cornish, T. E Su 120
Craig, Cleo F.:
"Progress of the Rural Service Program" Su 108
D
dcForest, Lee:
Invented Audion — 2 photos Wi 194
deMare, George:
Biographical sketch — portrait Sp 3
"Purchasing bj' the Western Electric Company" — 6 photos . .Sp 45
"Desert Isle Books" Su 122
Devonshire, Robert:
"Robert Devonshire's Letterbook" by Ralph E. Mooney
—10 photos Su 110
Dial Telephone System:
"Long Distance Finds the Way" by William H. Nunn —
6 photos Au 137
"Looking Ahead with the Bell System" Sp 20
"San Francisco's Chinatown 'Goes Dial' " by Wheeler F.
Schall— 8 photos Sp 57
I
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVIII
Issue Page
Directories :
Cartoon — "Fantastic or not, Gentlemen, we have just been
chosen by the Book-of-the-Month Club" Su 122
"Desert Isle Books" Su 122
Disasters :
"The Role of Communications In Red Cross Operations"
by Wade Jones — 6 photos Su 99
"The Winter's Toll Was Heavy from Texas to the Da-
kotas" by Judson S. Bradley — 16 photos Sp 66
Disston, Harry:
Biographical sketch — portrait . Su 126
"Where Do We Go From Here?" — L3 photos Su 83
Distributing Houses:
"Giving New Life to Old Equipment" by Philip H. Miele
— 1 map, 7 photos Au 154
E
Economics :
"A Look Around — And Ahead" by Leroy A. Wilson Au 133
"Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs" by Leroy A.
Wilson — 1 photo Sp 5
"This Country Leads the World in Telephones" by Eliza-
beth Wrenshall— 3 photos Wi 206
Engineering :
"Carrier Is King" by Charles M. Mapes — 4 photos, 5 charts. .Wi 191
"Private Line Services for The Aviation Industry" by
Henry V. Roumfort — 8 photos Au 165
"Advance Arrangements for Telephone Convenience" by
Adolph F. Michel and T. Hunt Clark— 7 photos Wi 217
"Television Strides Ahead In Seven-League Boots" by
Harry H. Carter — 8 photos Sp 9
"Where Do We Go From Here?" by Harry Disston — 13
photos Su 83
Equipment :
"Giving New Life to Old Equipment" by Philip H. Miele —
1 map, 7 photos Au 154
"Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices" by Cyril K. Collins
— 8 photos Sp 27
"Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs" by Leroy A.
Wilson — 1 photo Sp 7
"Television Strides Ahead In Seven-League Boots" by
Harry H. Carter — 8 photos Sp 9
"You Can Tell by the Teller" by Arthur F. Leet — 4 photos . .Sp 39
Exhibits :
"Looking Ahead with The Bell System" — 12 photos Sp 20
"Robert Devonshire's Letterbook" by Ralph E. Mooney —
10 photos Su 110
8
BELL TELEPHOXE MAGAZIXE IXDEX. VOLUME XXVIII
Issue Page
F
Finance:
"Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs" by Leroy A.
Wilson — 1 photo Sp 7
G
Gifford, Walter S.:
"Mr. Gifford Retires"—! photo Wi 204
"Giving New Life to Old Equipment" by Philip H. Miele — 1
map. 7 photos An 154
Gower, Frederick A Su 120
Grosvenor, Mrs. Gilbert:
"The Bell Statue at Brantford"— 2 photos Su 96
H
Haigh, J. Lloyd Su 120
"Helen Keller Visits the Bell Laboratories" Su 97
History :
"Robert Devonshire's Letterbook" by Ralph E. Moonej- —
10 photos Su 110
"San Francisco's Chinatown 'Goes Dial' " by Wheeler F.
Schall — 8 photos Sp 57
"Some Early Long Distance Lines in the Far West" by
Walter Blackford. Sr.. and Joy F. Hutton — 7 photos,
1 map Wi 227
"Television Strides Ahead In Seven-League Boots" by
Harrj- H. Carter — 8 photos Sp 9
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly,
April 1924" .Sp 55
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly.
July 1924" Su 124
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterh-,
October 1924" Au 175
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterh*.
January 1925" .Wi 238
Hubbard, Gardiner G.:
"Robert Devonshire's Letterbook" by Ralph E. Mooney —
10 photos Su 110
Human Relationships:
"A Look Around — And Ahead" by Leroy A. Wilson Au 133
Hutton, Joy F.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Wi 239
Hutton, Joy F. and Walter Blackford, Sr.:
"Some Early Long Distance Lines in the Far West" — 7
photos, 1 map Wi 227
I
"An Instrumentality of Service" (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Wi 238
9
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVIII
Issue Page
J
Jones, Wade:
Biographical sketch — portrait Su 126
"The Role of Communications In Red Cross Operations" —
6 photos Su 99
K
Keller, Helen:
"Helen Keller Visits the Bell Laboratories" Su 97
L
Leased Wires:
"Private Line Services for The Aviation Industry" by Henry
V. Roumfort — 8 photos Au 165
"The Role of Communications In Red Cross Operations"
by Wade Jones — 6 photos Su 99
Leet, Arthur F.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Sp 2
"You Can Tell by the Teller" — 4 photos Sp v39
Long Distance:
"Carrier Is King" by Charles M. Mapes — 4 photos, 5 charts. .Wi 191
"Long Distance Finds the Way" by William H. Nunn —
6 photos Au 137
"Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices" by Cyril K. Collins
— 8 photos Sp 27
"Private Line Services for The Aviation Industry" by
Henry V. Roumfort — 8 photos Au 165
"The Role of Communications In Red Cross Operations"
by Wade Jones — 6 photos Su 99
"Some Early Long Distance Lines in the Far West" by
Walter Blackford, Sr., and Joy F. Hutton — 7 photos,
1 map Wi 227
"A Look Around — And Ahead" by Leroy A. Wilson Au L33
"Looking Ahead with The Bell System"— 12 photos Sp 20
M
Mapes, Charles M.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Wi 178
"Carrier Is King"— 4 photos, 5 charts Wi 191
Maps:
Location of Western Electric Distributing Houses Au 155
The Mother Lode Country Wi 228
"The Meaning of Research to the Telephone Investor" (In
"25 Yrs. Ago") Sp 55
"Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices" by Cyril K. Collins—
8 photos Sp 27
Michel, Adolph F.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Wi 179
10
BELL TELEPHOXE MAGAZIXE JSDEX. J'OLU.UE XXVIII
Issue Page
Michel, Adolph F. and T. Hunt Clark:
"Advance Arrangements for Telephone Convenience" — 7
photos \Vi 217
"Service Aids for Home Owners, Architects, and Builders"
—7 photos Wi 217
Miele, Philip H.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Au 131
"Giving Xew Life to Old Equipment" — 1 map, 7 photos . .. .Au 154
"Mr. Gifford Retires"—! photo Wi 204
Mooney, Ralph E.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Su 127
"Robert Devonshire's Letterbook" — 10 photos Su 110
Motion Pictures:
"Bell S3stem Film Receives Award" Au 147
"You Can Tell b}- the Teller" by Arthur F. Leet — i photos . . Sp 39
"Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs" by Leroy A.
Wilson — 1 photo Sp 7
N
Nason, Rev. Elias Su 120
New York Times:
"Desert Isle Books" Su 122
Nunn, William H.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Au 130
"Long Distance Finds the Waj" — 6 photos Au 137
O
Osborne, Harold S.:
"Bell System Participation in The Work of the ASA" —
4 photos ; Wi 181
Biographical sketch — portrait Wi 178
P
Paintings :
"Rockwell Lineman Picture Given to John J. Toolan" —
photo Au 153
"Pan-American Radio Convention" (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Au 176
"Pension Minimums Are Raised" Au 148
Personnel — Linemen :
"Rockwell Lineman Picture Given to John J. Toolan" —
photo Au 153
Personnel — Operators :
"Long Distance Finds the Waj" bj' William H. Nunn —
6 photos Au 137
"Merrj- Christmas in the Toll Offices" bj' Cyril K. Collins
— 8 photos Sp 27
"San Francisco's Chinatown 'Goes Dial' " by Wheeler F.
Schall — 8 photos Sp 57
"Their Politeness Goes Deep" Au 164
"You Can Try, Can't You?" Au 174
11
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVIII
Issue Page
Personnel — Tellers :
"Vou Can Tell by the Teller" b\' Arthur F. Leet — 4 photos. .Sp 39
Planned Facilities:
"Advance Arrangements for Telephone Convenience" by
Adolph F. Michel and T. Hunt Clark— 7 photos Wi 217
"Service Aids for Home Owners, Architects, and Builders"
—7 photos Wi 217
Plant:
"Bell System Participation in the Work of the ASA" by
Harold S. Osborne — 4 photos Wi 181
Plant— Central Office:
"Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices" by Cyril K. Collins
— 8 photos Sp 27
Plant — Outside:
"Carrier Is King" by Charles M. Mapes — 4 photos, 5 charts. . Wi 191
Plant — Outside — Cables :
"Southern Transcontinental Line" (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Sp 55
"Television Strides Ahead In Seven-League Boots" by
Harry H. Carter — 8 photos Sp 9
Policies :
"A Look Around — And Ahead" by Leroj^ A. Wilson Au 133
"Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs" by Leroy A.
Wilson — 1 photo Sp 7
Preece, Sir William Henry Su • 120
"Private Line Services for the Aviation Industry" by Henry
V. Roumfort — 8 photos Au 165
"Progress of the Rural Service Program" by Cleo F. Craig Su 108
Public Relations:
"Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices" by Cyril K. Collins
—8 photos Sp 27
"You Can Tell by the Teller" by Arthur F. Leet— 4 photos. .Sp 39
Public Telephones:
"We Call Them Outdoor Booths" Wi 237
"Purchasing by the Western Electric Company" by George
deMare — 6 photos Sp 45
R
Radio:
"Carrier Is King" by Charles M. Mapes — 4 photos, 5 charts. .Wi 191
Radio — Amateurs :
"The Role of Communications In Red Cross Operations"
by Wade Jones — 6 photos Su 99
Radio — Mobile :
"The Role of Communications In Red Cross Operations"
by Wade Jones — 6 photos Su 99
Radio Relay:
"Television Strides Ahead In Seven-League Boots" bj'
Harry H. Carter — 8 photos Sp 9
12
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVIII
Issue Page
Rates — Telephone :
"Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs" by Leroy A.
Wilson — 1 photo Sp 7
Repair Shops:
"Giving Xew Life to Old Equipment" by Philip H. Miele
— 1 map, 7 photos Au 154
Research:
"The Meaning of Research to the Telephone Investor" (In
"25 Yrs. Ago") Sp 55
"Robert Devonshire's Letterbook" by Ralph E. Mooney —
10 photos Su 110
"The Role of Communications In Red Cross Operations" by
Wade Jones — 6 photos Su 99
Roosevelt, Hilborne L Su 119
Roumfort, Henry V.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Au 131
"Private Line Services for the Aviation Industrj" — 8
photos Au 165
"Royalty Visits Walker Street" (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Au 175
Rural Telephone Service:
"Progress of the Rural Service Program" b}' Cleo F. Craig. .Su 108
S
Sanders, Thomas:
"Robert Devonshire's Letterbook" by Ralph E. Mooney —
10 photos Su 110
"San Francisco's Chinatown 'Goes Dial' " by Wheeler F. Schall
— 8 photos Sp 57
Schall, Wheeler F.:
Biographical sketch — portrait : Sp 3
"San Francisco's Chinatown "Goes Dial'" — 8 photos Sp 57
"Service Aids for Home Owners, Architects, and Builders" by
Adolph F. :Michel and T. Hunt Clark— 7 photos Wi 217
"Some Early Long Distance Lines in the Far West" by Walter
Blackford, Sr., and Joy F. Hutton — 7 photos, 1 map . . . . Wi 227
"Southern Transcontinental Line" (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Sp 55
Storms:
"The Winter's Toll Was Heavy From Texas to the Da-
kotas" by Judson S. Bradley — 16 photos Sp 66
T
Taxes:
"Bell System Ta.xes, 1948" Sp 38
"War-Tinie Taxes on Communication Services In 1949" ...Au 149
Telephone Development:
' "Where Do We Go From Here?" by Harry Disston — 13
photos Su 83
Telephone Pioneers of America:
"The Bell Statue at Brantford" — 2 photos Su 96
13
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVIII
Issue Page
Telephone Service:
"Advance Arrangements for Telephone Convenience" by
Adolph F. Michel and T. Hunt Clark— 7 photos Wi 217
"Bell System Participation in the Work of the ASA" by
Harold S. Osborne — 4 photos Wi 181
"Carrier Is King" by Charles M. Mapes — 4 photos, 5 charts. .Wi 191
"The Future Holds Great Promise" Sp 26
"Giving New Life to Old Equipment" by Philip H. Miele
— 1 niap, 7 photos Au 154
"An Instrumentality of Service" (In "25 Yrs. Ago") Wi 238
"Long Distance Finds the Way" by William H. Nunn —
6 photos Au 137
"Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices" by Cyril K. Collins
— 8 photos Sp 27
"Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs" by Leroy A.
Wilson — 1 photo Sp 7
"Private Line Services for the Aviation Industry" by Henry
V. Roumfort — 8 photos Au 165
"Progress of the Rural Service Program" by Cleo F. Craig. .Su 108
"The Role of Communications In Red Cross Operations"
by Wade Jones — 6 photos Su 99
"San Francisco's Chinatown 'Goes Dial' " by Wheeler F.
Schall — 8 photos Sp 57
"Some Early Long Distance Lines in the Far West" by
Walter Blackford, Sr., and Joy F. Hutton — 7 photos,
1 map Wi 227
"Telephone Service" Sp 19
"Their Politeness Goes Deep" Au 164
"This Country Leads the World in Telephones" by Eliza-
beth Wrenshall — 3 photos, 3 charts Wi 206
"Where Do We Go From Here?" by Harry Disston —
13 photos Su 83
"You Can Tell by the Teller" by Arthur F. Leet — 4 photos. .Sp 39
Telephone Service — Foreign:
"We Call Them Outdoor Bootlis" Wi 237
"The Telephone's Part in Defense Test Day" (In "25 Yrs.
Ago") Au 175
Telephones — Statistics :
"Progress of the Rural Service Program" by Cleo F. Craig. .Su 108
"This Country Leads the World in Telephones" by Eliza-
beth Wrenshall— 3 photos Wi 206
"U. S. Now Has 40,000,000 Telephones" Au 136
"Where Do We Go From Here?" by Harry Disston —
13 photos Su 83
Telephotography :
"Transmission of Pictures Over Telephone Wires" (In
"25 Yrs. Ago") Su 124
14
BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVIII
Issue Page
Teletypewriters :
"Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices" by Cyril K. Collins
— 8 photos Sp 27
"Private Line Services for the Aviation Industry" by Henry
V. Rounifort — 8 photos Au 165
"The Role of Communications In Red Cross Operations"
by Wade Jones — 6 photos Su 99
"Television St-ides Ahead In Seven-League Boots" by Harry
H. Carter — 8 photos Sp 9
"Their Politeness Goes Deep" Au 164
"This Country Leads the World in Telephones" by Elizabeth
Wrenshall— 3 photos Wi 206
Training :
"Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices" by Cj'ril K. Collins
— 8 photos Sp 27
"You Can Tell by the Teller" by Arthur F. Leet — 4 photos. .Sp 39
"The 'Transistor' " Wi 240
"Transmission of Pictures Over Telephone Wires" (In "25 Yrs.
Ago") Su 124
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly,
April 1924" Sp 55
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly,
July 1924" Su 124
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly,
October 1924" Au 175
"Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly,
January 1925" Wi 238
U
U. S. Atomic Energy Commission:
"Bell Laboratories and Western Electric To Operate Sandia
Laboratory for AEC" Su 125
"U. S. Now Has 40,000,000 Telephones" Au 136
W
"War-Time Taxes on Communication Services in 1949" Au 149
Watson, Thomas A.:
"Robert Devonshire's Letterbook" by Ralph E. Mooney —
10 photos Su 110
"We Call Them Outdoor Booths" Wi 237
Western Electric Company:
"Bell Laboratories and Western Electric to Operate Sandia
Laboratory for AEC" Su 125
"Giving New Life to Old Equipment" by Philip H. Miele
— 1 map, 7 photos Au 154
"Purchasing by the Western Electric Company" by George
deMare — 6 photos Sp 45
"The Winter's Toll Was Heavy From Texas to the Da-
kotas" by Judson S. Bradley — 16 photos Sp 66
15
DELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE INDEX, VOLUME XXVIII
Issue Page
"Where Do We Go From Here?" by Harry Disston — 13
photos Sp 83
Wilson, Leroy A.:
Biographical sketch — portrait Sp 2
Biographical sketch — portrait Au 130
"A Look Around — And Ahead" Au 133
"Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs" — 1 photo Sp 7
"Television Strides Ahead In Seven-League Boots" by
Harry H. Carter — 1 photo Sp 9
"The Winter's Toll Was Heavy From Texas to the Dakotas"
by Judson S. Bradley — 16 photos Sp 66
Wrenshall, Elizabeth:
Biographical sketch — portrait Wi 179
"This Country Leads the World in Telephones" — 3 photos,
3 charts Wi 206
Y
"You Can Tell by the Teller" by Arthur F. Leet— 4 photos Sp 39
16
;r//^& U^.U^ V XXX' «^ X W t^/ft'UL^/ K^lt-K/^
't"^"^S ^VH-y
X
KS.
'**»;-»'»
0/
■<k
MAGAZINE
•s
Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs • Leroy A. Wilson
Television Strides Ahead in Seven-League Boots
Harry H. Carter
Looking Ahead with the Bell System
Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices • Cyril K. Collins
You Can Tell by the Teller • Arthur F. Leet
Purchasing by the Western Electric Company • George deMare
San Francisco's Chinatown "Goes Dial" • Wheeler F. Schall
The Winter's Toll Was Heavy from Texas to the Dakotas
JuDSON S. Bradley
j
mcan'Telephmc Sr-O'ekm-aph Ccrmpanv 'VewYoik.
Bell Tdd^ov[c}4am^
spring 1949
Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs,
Leroy A. Wilson, 5
Television Strides Ahead in Seven-League Boots,
Harry H. Carter, 9
Looking Ahead with the Bell System, 20
Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices, Cyril K. Collins, 27
You Can Tell by the Teller, Arthur F. Leet, 39
Purchasing by the Western Electric Company,
George deMare, 45
Index Now Available, 54
25 Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly, 55
San Francisco's Chinatown "Goes Dial,"
Wheeler F. Schall, 57
The Winter's Toll Was Heavy from Texas to the Dakotas,
Judson S. Bradley, 66
A Medium of Suggestion ^ a Record of Progress
Published J or the supervisory forces of the Bell System by the Information Department of
American Telephoxe and Telegraph Co., 795 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y.
Leroy A. Wilson, President; Carroll O. Bickelhaupt, Sec; Donald R. Belcher, Treas.
Who's Who & What's What
in This Issue
Leroy A. Wilson
The second of President Leroy A.
Wilson's notable statements to stockhold-
ers at the A. T. & T. annual meeting heads
this issue, his first having appeared here
just a year ago, not long after his election
to the Company presidency on February
1 8, 1948. That election climaxed a Bell
System career which had begun 26 years
before with the Indiana Bell Telephone
Company when, two days after graduation
from Rose Polytechnic Institute in Terre
Haute, in June of 1922, he reported for
work as a traffic clerk and student in In-
dianapolis. During his years with that
company he had direct charge of the tele-
phone operating forces in several districts
throughout the state before returning to
Indianapolis as district traffic superintend-
ent in 1927.
Mr. Wilson transferred in 1929 to the
Department of Operation and Engineering
of the A. T. & T. Company in New York.
His first work there was in the Traffic di-
vision, but he also gained experience in
dial equipment engineering and in related
fields. Ten years after his arrival in New
York, he moved from the Traffic to the
Commercial division of O. & E., where he
was placed in charge of the work on tele-
phone directories. The following year he
was made rate engineer in the same di-
Harry H. Carter
Cyril K. Collins
Arthur F. Leet
Who's Who & What's What
George deMare
Wheeler F. SchaU
Judson S. Bradley
vision, and in 19^2 he was appointed to
head the entire Commercial division.
It was from this post that Mr. Wilson
was promoted to an A. T. & T. vice presi-
dency in 1944, with the assignment to study
the revenue requirements of the Bell Sys-
tem ; and it was during this period that he
contributed "Reasonable Earnings to In-
sure the Best Service" to the Magazine
for Autumn 1945.
"Behind today's news are long yester-
days . . . that have brought television to
its present stage . . ." notes Harry H.
Carter at the beginning of his article. He
knows a good deal about those yesterdays,
because his term as General Commercial
Manager of A. T. & T.'s Long Lines De-
partment covers a period of 22 years. That
is less than half of his Bell System career,
which began in 1903 with the New Eng-
land Telephone and Telegraph Company
in Belfast, Maine. He had gained experi-
ence in both Plant and Traffic work by
19 10, when he was transferred to the
Commercial Department ; and had been
successively Division Commercial Superin-
tendent, General Sales Manager, and
Metropolitan Division Manager of the
New England Company before his transfer
in 1927 to become head of the Long Lines
Commercial Department in New York.
Few toll traffic men are popular with their
own families at Christmas, because they
spend so much of that festive day where
the twinkling lights are on the switchboards
instead of on Christmas trees. That is a
requirement of the job which they accept
not too unwillingly, however, because they
know their presence in the traffic rooms
may help other people's Christmas tele-
phone calls go through more quickly. As
chairman of the special Bell System com-
mittee to study the Christmas service prob-
lem, Cyril K. Collins spent a good part
of last Christmas Day at the Long Lines
Department in New York, and discusses
the problem with that — among other mat-
ters— freshly in mind. Joining the Bell
System in 1924, Mr, Collins had 16 years
of Traffic Department experience with the
New York Telephone Company and the
New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, be-
coming successively District Traffic Super-
intendent, Toll Results Supervisor, and
Traffic Methods Supervisor. In January
of 1 94 1 he was transferred to the Traffic
division of the Department of Operation
and Engineering in the A. T. and T. Com-
pany, where he headed the group concerned
with force adjustment, peg counts, and ex-
pense analyses. Two years later he was
{Continued on page $6)
'% r
:.- .-.^m
>'" t^
S»:
r-C^
/-'
// <:«/^/^ p/ow train negotiates a steep hill on the Harrisburg-Pittsburgh section of the
Philadelphia-Cleveland coaxial cable link joining the Bell System's Eastern and Mid-
Western television networks. See the article beginning on page p
In His Statement at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders
Of A. T. &f T., the Company s President Points Out the
Major Problems and How They Are Being Met
Moving Ahead on Two
All-Important Jobs
Leroy A. fVilson
During this post-war period, the
Bell System has been moving at full
speed and with utmost energy to ac-
complish two all-important jobs.
The first was to provide service to
all who were waiting for telephones
at the war's end — to meet the enor-
mous new post-war demand — and to
get the quality of service back to the
high pre-war level.
The great efforts we have made
have brought outstanding results,
though we fully realize that there is
still more to be done. We have in-
stalled over 10,000,000 new tele-
phones since the end of the war.
While there is still a waiting list,
those who are waiting have for the
most part applied for service in re-
cent months. We are filling the
great majority of all new applications
promptly and are continuing our ef-
forts to get on a basis where we can
serve every new customer without de-
lay. Over-all service quality, as was
pointed out in the Annual Report
mailed to stockholders in February,
is rapidly being restored to pre-war
excellence, and today I am glad to be
able to add that in some respects the
service is better than ever.
Our second continuing and essen-
tial post-war job has been to bring
about a proper repricing of telephone
service, to meet the steep climb in
operating costs and to insure the
financial good health of the Bell Sys-
tem in the face of the general infla-
tion of our national economy. Here
too we have made much progress —
and also have much more to do. I
should like to review this phase of
our efforts briefly with you at this
time, and think you may be inter-
ested first in some of the facts about
our increases in costs.
To ATTRACT and keep in the busi-
ness the kind and number of people
needed to meet our post-war service
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
obligations to the public, wages have
been greatly increased. Further up-
ward adjustments in wages made in
the latter part of 1948 and early this
year have increased expenses by more
than $100,000,000 annually. The
total effect of the three rounds of
wage increases in the Bell System
Companies since the end of the war
has been to increase expenses of the
System by over $380,000,000 a year.
In addition to wages, the System
in 1948 expended approximately
$175,000,000 for sickness, accident,
and death benefits to employees or
their dependents; for disability pen-
sions; for payments into Pension
Trust Funds; and for Social Security
old-age benefit purposes. The Bell
System has been a pioneer in this field
since 19 13, when our Benefit Plan
was established, and is in the fore-
front of industry generally with re-
spect to pensions and other employee
benefits.
Higher wages to the much larger
number of employees needed to care
for the increased volume of business
are not the only reason for the higher
over-all cost of operations today.
The System has been obligated to ex-
pand to meet the heaviest new de-
mand for service in history, at a time
when the prices of practically all ma-
terials, as well as the cost of labor,
have risen sharply. The increase in
revenues from the greatly increased
volume of business does not offset
the increase in expenses. On the con-
trary, while revenues have about dou-
bled since the last pre-war year, ex-
penses are now two and a half times
what they were.
Telephone companies are different
from most other businesses with re-
spect to the expansion of their serv-
ices. The average business can de-
cide for itself whether to expand, and
when, and how much. We, however,
render a public service, and in each
community where we operate every
person who wants telephone service
depends on us. He cannot get what
he wants from someone else. It is
our obligation, therefore, as well as
our wish, to do everything we rea-
sonably can to meet the public's
needs. That is our job, and the Bell
System is proud of its accomplish-
ment since the war in handling the
unprecedented demand for service.
Although expansion has already
been tremendous, still more is re-
quired to meet the continuing de-
mand. So far, as I have said, the
System has added some 10,000,000
telephones, including 1,100,000 rural
telephones, which we are continuing
to install at the fastest pace in his-
tory. We have also greatly in-
creased long distance facilities. In
order to do all this, the System has
increased Its capital from slightly
more than four billion dollars at the
end of the war, when we were serv-
ing some 22,000,000 telephones, to
nearly seven billion dollars today,
when there are 32,000,000 tele-
phones in service. While the num-
ber of telephones has gone up some-
what less than one half, the capital
required by the System has gone up
nearly 75 percent. The average new
telephone requires much more capital
than did the old, reflecting the higher
costs of materials and labor in the
post-war years.
Prices for telephone service are
subject to public regulation. In most
industries, companies change prices
1949
Moving Ahead on Two All-Important Jobs
themselves, in accordance with chang-
ing conditions of supply and demand,
fluctuations in operating costs, com-
petitive factors, and so on. In the
telephone business, however, when
price increases become necessary we
must apply to the proper regulatory
authorities for permission to put
them into effect. In most instances,
the hearings which are held have
been rather lengthy. As a result, al-
most without exception, rate increases
to date have been authorized well
after the time when they became
needed. It is of the greatest impor-
tance to the future of telephone serv-
ice that the moderate increases in
rates which are necessary be granted
by the regulatory authorities as
promptly as possible.
Since 1946, when the first requests
for higher rates were made by the
Bell System Companies, increases to-
talling $218,000,000 annually have
been authorized or made effective.
You will note that this is a great deal
less than the increase in expense of
over $380,000,000 a year resulting
from post-war wage increases alone.
The Companies have applications
pending for additional increases in
rates amounting to about $230,000,-
000 annually, and other applications
will be made. This is necessary be-
cause we must not only meet the in-
creased costs of labor and materials
and the depreciation charges on the
higher investment, but must also pay
to investors a reasonable return on
the almost doubled amount of capi-
tal needed to provide service.
Public regulation of the tele-
phone business and public utilities
was very properly initiated many
years ago to insure that the com-
panies would give good service and
President Leroy A. Wilson discusses a
point with a stockholder at the close of the
annual meeting. In the background is
Carroll 0. Bickelhaupt, Vice President
and Secretary
that their rates and earnings would
not be unreasonable. It was clear
that the companies should not be per-
mitted to take advantage of the
users of the service. It was also
clear that guarding against overpric-
ing and excessive earnings was not
the only responsibility resting on
those who regulate public service
companies. They likewise have the
responsibility to see that the com-
panies do not lose their ability,
through loss of credit or for any
other reason, to provide the service
the public wants; and along with this
they have a responsibility to see that
the savings which people invest in the
companies, in order that the public
may be served, are fully safeguarded.
Over the years, regulatory bodies
have recognized that earnings must
8
Bell Telephone Magazine
be adequate to attract and protect the
savings of investors, and it is impera-
tive in the interest of good telephone
service that they continue to do so.
In this post-war period, while in-
creases in Bell System telephone rates
have varied for different classes of
service in different places, the amount
of increases already granted, plus the
total amount for which applications
are now pending, comes to less than
20 percent of revenues. Additional
applications for increases will be nec-
essary in the future; but, assuming
no further rise In costs, we are hope-
ful that these can be held to a mini-
mum, and that in the long run the
over-all Increase In telephone rates In
this post-war period will amount on
the average to only a penny or so
per call.
This is of course far less than the
Increases generally in the cost of liv-
ing since pre-war years. It is far less
than the rise in telephone wage rates,
which have more than doubled. It
is far less, too, than the Increase in
the cost of raw materials widely used
in telephone equipment; copper and
lead, for example, have about dou-
bled and tripled in price, respectively.
Comparing such increases In costs
with the over-alh Increase In tele-
phone rates granted and asked for, it
is evident that a great deal has been
accomplished through telephone sci-
ence and the improvement of operat-
ing methods, to the advantage of em-
ployees, customers, and stockholders.
Further evidences of progress are
to be found in the new and improved
services which are even now fore-
shadowing the telephone art of to-
morrow. The plans of past year^
are being transformed into the reali-
ties of today — more dial service,
faster and more accurate handling of
long distance calls dialed straight
through to the distant telephone by
the operator, more service to auto-
mobiles and other vehicles, more
rural telephone service, television
transmission over coaxial cables and
radio relay, direct dialing by tele-
phone users of more out-of-town calls
over short distances, and so on.
This outlook again brings out the
great value of keeping the Bell Sys-
tem In a prosperous condition to
move ahead. A Bell System ready
and able to Invest largely in the bet-
terment of essential services is im-
portant to the prosperity of the na-
tion. An active construction pro-
gram on sound and useful projects,
and an accompanying high level of
telephone employment, are in them-
selves desirable. Most important of
all, they lead to the creation of fa-
cilities and services which the coun-
try can use to Its Increasing economic
advantage.
We are sure that, given the in-
creases in rates which are a "must"
to assure future progress, the Bell
System will be able to provide more
valuable service to the millions of
telephone users and greater oppor-
tunity for the employees who serve
them. We shall continue every effort
to accomplish the moderate and fair
repricing that the good of the service
requires; and we shall do this with
full confidence that wise regulation,
in the future as in the past, will
permit earnings that will provide a
steady and fair return to all who in-
vest their savings in this business.
Beli System Facilities Link Cities from the Atlanfic to
The Mississippi in a Network for the Transmission of Video
Programs by Cable and Radio
Tele^ision Strides Ahead
In Se\^en-Lea2:ue Boots
Harry H. Carter
A NEW COMMUNCATIONS WORLD IS
coming into being. In the present
state of television, nothing is static;
today's achievement is tomorrow's
commonplace. A fascinating vital-
ity, a headlong progress, is the dis-
tinguishing feature of this latest field
to engage the energies and resources
of the Bell System.
Television has occupied so many
headlines in the past year that it
would be easy to assume all these ad-
vances just happened, and quite re-
cently at that. But, as those wise in
the ways of scientific and commercial
development know, such is not the
case. Behind today's news are long
yesterdays of effort on the part of the
individuals and organizations that
have brought television to its present
stage and labor to push it forward
into a finer tomorrow.
The Bell System's connection with
television comes about in a manner
almost classic in the history of
the telephone company's relationship
with a new field of communication.
Television is communication, of
course. And communication is the
business of the Bell System. Q. E. D.
Since the birth of the telephone
some seventy-five years ago, each new
service has been an outgrowth of its
predecessor. Local telephoning . . .
long distance . . . then radioteleph-
ony to cities beyond the sea. . . .
Lately we have extended telephoning
to mobile vehicles, trains, and planes.
For more than a quarter of a century
a giant network of specal telephone
wires has sped programs between
radio stations. Recently, new values
have been introduced into our net-
works— this time their ability to
carry television programs both lo-
cally and from city to city. Striding
forward in the fresh field of video,
the Bell System nonetheless remains
within its familiar basic field: com-
munication.
lO
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
President Leroy A. Wilson of the A. T. and T. Company
was televised last January ii during the program on the
occasion of the linking of the Bell System's two major
television networks
Early this year, when we joined
our Eastern and Midwestern tele-
vision networks, programs could then
flash from the Atlantic to the Mis-
sissippi. An area where one-fourth
of the nation lives had been brought
within range of the Bell System's
inter-city channels. In the opinion
of the industry, this was a tremen-
dous milestone, and a portent of
larger television networks in the fu-
ture.
At the premiere marking the occa-
sion, many a telephone man fell to
thinking back over the years to the
research and commercial develop-
ment which preceded this important
event. On April 7, 1927, to begin
with, the Bell Telephone Laborator-
ies first demonstrated
city-to-city television
transmission by both
wire and radio. From
Washington by wire cir-
cuit, and from Whip-
pany, N. J., by radio
facilities, television pic-
tures of Herbert
Hoover, then Secretary
of Commerce, and of
an entertainment pro-
gram were seen in the
Laboratories headquar-
ters in New York by
Walter S. Gifford, then
President of the A. T.
& T. Company, and a
group of scientists and
journalists.
Although television
transmission remained
in the laboratory stage
until the present decade,
additional achievements
were announced periodi-
cally— some so special-
ized as to be significant only to scien-
tists, but others whose importance
was evident even to the average in-
terested person. Examples of these
developments appear in the box on
page 12.
As those listings indicate, the late
1930s hinted strongly that the era
of commercial usage was not far off.
Today's television networks grew
from a 94^-mile coaxial cable in-
stalled in the Fall of 1936 between
New York and Philadelphia. In the
next few years, many important ad-
vances in inter-city television trans-
mission were first worked out over
this cable. However, during World
War II, Bell System television devel-
opment was halted and the coaxial
1949
Television Strides Ahead
II
cable was returned to
general telephone com-
munication service.
Out of the Laborat07-y
With the war over,
the television industry
expanded rapidly and
our activities were re-
sumed. Since then, each
year has been marked
by an accelerated pro-
gram as the Bell Sys-
tem has made intensive
efforts to solve the diffi-
cult problems involved
in placing an extensive
network service at the
disposal of television
broadcasters.
Step One in this lat-
est phase took place on
February 12, 1946,
when network television
transmission between
Washington and New
York was inaugurated over Bell Sys-
tem coaxial cable facilities on an ex-
perimental basis, such service permit-
ting trial use by the broadcasters with-
out charge. Services at the Lincoln
Memorial were televised and trans-
mitted to broadcasting stations in
New York of the National Broad-
casting Company, the Allen B. Du-
Mont Laboratories, and the Colum-
bia Broadcasting System.
As the months passed, our service
was increasingly used — particularly
for programs originating in New
York and transmitted to Philadel-
phia and Washington — and in Oc-
tober, 1946, Baltimore was joined to
this network.
So far, coaxial cable had been the
Herbert Hoover^ then Secretary of Commerce.^ appeared
in Washington during the first public demonstration of
television given by the Bell Telephone Laboratories on
April 7, 79^7. His face was clearly seen in New York
type of carrier relied upon for such
television transmission, but now the
Bell System added a second string to
its bow: radio relay. Using this
system, which beams the signal
through the air from tower to tower.
Bell System engineers extended the
New York-Washington network to
Boston in November, 1947. A few
months later, Richmond was con-
nected to the network by means of a
coaxial cable channel from Washing-
ton. And so the situation remained
until May i, 1948, when free experi-
mental service was discontinued and
Bell System television network trans-
mission was placed on a commercial
basis.
Charges for inter-city television
12
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
Some Bell System Highlights in Television
Research and Network Development
April 7, 1927 Inter-city television
transmission first demonstrated to the
public by the Bell Telephone Labora-
tories. From Washington by wire
circuit and from Whippany, N. J.,
by radio facilities, television pictures
of Herbert Hoover, then Secretary of
Commerce, and of an entertainment
program were seen in the Laborator-
ies in New York by Walter S. Gif-
ford, then president of the A. T. and
T. Company, and a group of journal-
ists and scientists.
April 16, 1927 Both image and sound
(video and audio) were sent on the
same frequency band by a single radio
transmitter from Whippany to the
Bell Laboratories in New York.
May 23, 1929 Original Espenschied-
Affel patent application for coaxial
cable was filed. The application
specified the cable was to be used as
a wide band (wide frequency range)
long distance transmitting medium —
both for telephone and for television
transmission.
June 27, 1929 Color television first
demonstrated at the Bell Telephone
Laboratories in New York.
April 9, 1930 Two-way television in
connection with telephone demon-
strated publicly between the A. T. and
T. Company Headquarters building
and the Bell Telephone Laboratories
in New York. Persons in booths at
the two ends of the two-mile "line"
were able to both see and talk with
each other. The demonstration for
public and press was continued for
more than a year.
October 5, 1936 First coaxial cable in-
stalled between New York and Phila-
delphia, available for tests for multi-
channel telephone use.
November 9, 1937 Television trans-
mitted over coaxial cable from New
York to Philadelphia. The television
image contained only 240 lines, as op-
posed to the 525-line image of today.
May 21, 1940 Television images of
441 lines and using a frequency band
of about 2,700,000 cycles transmitted
over coaxial cable from New York to
Philadelphia and back to New York,
a distance of nearly 200 miles. This
demonstration was repeated before
audiences of scientists and engineers
twice within a year.
June 24, 1940 Republican National
Convention televised in Philadelphia,
and transmitted to the National
Broadcasting Company's studio in
New York for local television broad-
casts.
May 21, 1 94 1 Television images trans-
mitted 800 miles by connecting the
ends of coaxial tubes in a cable be-
tween Stevens Point, Wis., and
Minneapolis, so that the images were
sent uninterruptedly back and forth
in the cable.
1949
Television Strides Ahead
13
service follow somewhat the same
scheme as do those for radio broad-
casting network service. The rates
for either monthly or occasional serv-
ice are based on the air-line mileage
of the inter-city and local channels
involved, plus charges for station
connections. In addition, the rates
for the audio channels needed in con-
nection with television are those usual
for such service.
The Big Night
Thus far, our channels had paral-
leled the Atlantic, but on September
20 of last year a new region was
brought within the scope of inter-city
television service as the Bell System
linked together seven major Mid-
western cities : Buffalo, Cleveland,
Toledo, Detroit, Milwaukee, Chi-
cago and St. Louis. Finally came
television's biggest night to date :
January 11, 1949. Then it was we
connected our two networks, and
Americans in fourteen metropolitan
centers were given an opportunity to
view the same program simultane-
ously as it traveled over a Bell System
network extending 2,100 miles.
The Bell System and the four
great television broadcasting systems
jointly presented a 90-minute pro-
gram to signalize what Leroy A.
Wilson, President of the A. T. & T.
Company, described as a "fine ex-
The final splice is made in the coaxial cable between Pittsburgh and Cleveland which
united the Eastern and Mid-Western television networks
14
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
A radio relay station of the type now
being built to transmit telephone calls and
television programs
ample of effective teamwork" be-
tween Bell System people and those
in the television industry. This pro-
gram, broadcast by more than thirty
stations, featured notables speaking
from New York, Washington, and
Chicago; a new Long Lines Depart-
ment film, "Stepping Along With
Television"; and entertainment pro-
vided by the four networks. On this
occasion Mr. Wilson tied the Bell
System's work in television to its
basic responsibility, telephony, by
saying "The development of better
long distance service has resulted in
facilities which can carry television
programs, and therefore enable us to
help serve the public in this field."
From Washington, Wayne Coy,
Chairman of the Federal Communi-
cations Commission, compared the
joining of the two regions by tele-
vision to "those waves of progress
[which] took the form of the over-
land trails and national roads with
their covered wagons, the canals, the
railroads, the telegraph, the tele-
phone, the airplane.
"In the twenties it was the radio
networks.
"Tonight it is an electronic tele-
vision highway from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Mississippi River."
After touching on the years of re-
search represented and the size of the
network, Mr. Coy continued, "To-
night's linking of the East with the
Midwest instantly opens up a vast
new area of program resources for
the television set-owners in each sec-
tion— programs in the fields of edu-
cation, the arts and sciences, news
and entertainment — programs that
can deepen our understanding of de-
mocracy.
"Triumphant as this occasion is,
we know that it is only one more for-
ward step in television's march of
progress. This progress will go on
and on until . . . eventually, na-
tional television network service is
brought to every part of our coun-
try. . . ."
The presidents of the four net-
works then appeared on the opening
program to discuss various aspects of
the television industry. They were :
Allen B. DuMont, head of the Du-
Mont Laboratories; Niles Tram-
mell, of NBC; Frank Stanton,
CBS; and Mark Woods, ABC. In
addition, Vincent Impellitteri, presi-
dent of the City Council of New
York (representing Mayor William
1949
Television Strides Ahead
15
O'Dwyer, who was unable to be
present), and Mayor Martin Ken-
nelly of Chicago spoke from their
home cities.
The event attracted wide attention
in the trade and general press. The
New York Times commented edi-
torially on the extension of the net-
work: "Its importance as a technical
triumph, of which both the television
broadcasters and the American Tele-
phone and Telegraph Company may
be justly proud, was self-evident to
those in New York who watched
Mayor Martin Kennelly as he spoke
in Chicago, some 700 air miles
away."
The following day, regular com-
mercial service was available to tele-
vision broadcasters, and from Wash-
ington the next week all stations on
the enlarged Bell System network
broadcast the Inauguration.
Behind the Scenes
The performance challenged the
skill of every telephone man involved,
and one broadcasting company presi-
dent termed the Bell System part in
the premiere "a splendid job."
The television industry is so eager
to bring network programs to a
larger public that the Bell System is
expanding its facilities as early as
possible, and under such circum-
stances our technicians must often
work with somewhat limited equip-
ment and under less than ideal con-
ditions. The present television situ-
ation reminds old radio broadcasting
hands of conditions when their field
was very new. On the opening
night, for example, technicians oper-
ated the television network in tem-
porary control rooms in all but two
of the cities.
Preparations for the opening had
been going on for more than two
months, as the link between the two
networks — the newly-introduced co-
axial cable between Philadelphia and
Cleveland — was lined up and tested.
Such testing, which involves many
changes and adjustments, continued
until the initial program was to go on
the air.
And there were of course those
standard hectic moments which cause
people in show business to look upon
a bad dress rehearsal as essential to
a good performance. On the night
before the premiere, for example, a
pilot elimination filter failed in a re-
ceiving terminal at New York. Al-
though a new one was rushed in from
Western Electric, there still was a
joker : such filters take hours to warm
up to the temperature at which they
will operate without playing hob with
pictures on the television receiving
sets.
P.S. That trouble was ultimately
licked — and the picture d'td get
through.
Coaxial and Radio Relay
As SUGGESTED previously, there are
two types of facilities in the Bell Sys-
tem television networks — coaxial
cable * and radio relay.
Coaxial cables, which are some-
what larger in diameter than a silver
dollar, usually contain eight copper
tubes each about the size of a foun-
tain pen. Through the center of
each tube runs a copper wire, the size
of a pencil lead, which is held in place
by insulating discs. Since the tube
and inner wire have a common axis,
they are co-axial — which accounts for
the name given both the cable and its
* See page 23.
i6
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
tubes. To prevent either telephone
or television transmission from fad-
ing out over long distances, amplify-
ing stations are placed every eight
miles along the cable route.
Properly equipped, each of these
tubes carries high frequency signals
used to transmit hundreds of tele-
phone conversations or, when addi-
tional equipment is installed, a single
television program. (As each co-
axial tube only transmits in one di-
rection, two tubes are needed for a
telephone conversation.) Coaxial
cable is usually buried under ground;
and its installation is not only an ex-
acting job but it makes an exciting
scene, for the construction crews with
their mighty plows must conquer
timberland, rivers, boulders, and
mountain ranges.
Radio relay, the second medium,
is a means of communication in which
radio signals are beamed across the
country from tower to tower. Dif-
fering from ordinary radio, it uses
super-high frequencies called micro-
waves, which are about the length of
a cigarette. In this system, the sig-
nal beam can be focussed like a
searchlight and a clear line of sight
must exist between the relay build-
ings, which have directional antennas
and are situated about twenty-five
miles apart.
Along these routes and in the tele-
vision terminals of cities on the Bell
System networks are large amounts
of complex equipment. In the net-
work now in operation, for example,
770 amplifiers maintain the signal
energy as it travels from city to city
and some 340 additional amplifying
devices in the terminals in key tele-
phone buildings are necessary to put
the broadcasters' programs on the
channels.
Checking and More Checking
In addition to those telephone men
who were trained in handling local
phases of the program, several hun-
dred Long Lines and Associated
Company craftsmen were trained
during 1948 in the operation of the
inter-city television circuits.
Every day, in the control rooms
along the routes, the technicians who
maintain and operate the television
networks line up and adjust the fa-
cilities before broadcasts are sched-
uled to begin. Shortly before a show
is to start, test pictures and patterns
are also sent out to stations about to
receive a particular program, such
pre-broadcast tests being made to
check the fidelity of the transmission
signal. In addition, during the ac-
tual broadcast Long Lines and Asso-
ciated Company technicians observe
the picture and sound quality on moni-
toring equipment.
Above all, these technicians must
meet that conspicuous test of good
workmanship : the switch. This is a
swift re-arrangement of network
channels. Guided by the broadcast-
ers' schedules, the technicians must
be prepared to add or cut stations
from the networks as well as to shift
to whatever station is to originate a
program. In addition, these pre-
cisionists must test the performance,
coordinate, and switch the accom-
panying sound channels, which are
routed over separate circuits.
Finally, they give routine perform-
ance tests to the hundreds of ampli-
fying devices in the television termi-
nals and in the stations along the
1949
Television Strides Ahead
17
coaxial cable, to make sure they are
in proper operating condition. And
the radio relay equipment must also
undergo similar inspection and ad-
justment.
How much television broadcasters
use these inter-city facilities is illus-
trated by program transmission on a
typical recent day. Broadcasters used
our television channels between New
York and Washington on an average
of 30 hours per day, which is more
than seven times as much as when
service was first put on a commercial
basis in May a year ago. Between
New York and Chicago, such usage
averages about 25 hours per day —
more than four times that when serv-
ice on this route was opened last
Januai;y.
A Gro'wi?ig Service
Growth is the very theme of televi-
sion today. Plans for increasing our
facilities depend, of course, on the de-
velopment and needs of the television
industry. A highly fluid situation,
it is consequently under constant re-
view by the interested parties. The
Bell System position was stated by
Mr. Wilson when, in announcing
the inaugural program marking the
linking of our networks last Jan-
uary, he referred to our intention
of providing those inter-city facilities
"which will make it possible for the
television industry to bring programs
to a constantly expanding audience."
To implement this position, our
plans call for more television channels
along the existing main routes of the
Bell System television networks and
extensions as well from the present
network to additional cities. Under
the 1949 program, for example, more
cities in New England, New York,
Pennsylvania, and the Midwest, and
on the West Coast will be provided
with service. Extensions to still more
points are planned for 1950 and
The control room of a television transmitting station
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
A Bell System technician checks the quality of television
image and sound on monitoring equipment at a control
center along one of the television networks
later. More than that,
not only has the Long
Lines recently doubled
the number of channels
on Its main trunk route
between Philadelphia
and Chicago but it put
these channels into serv-
ice ahead of the date
originally set.
Such a revision in
schedule was no light
change to undertake, as
it raised a whole series
of problems in plan-
ning, timing, technique,
supply, construction,
and manpower. It is,
however, excellent evi-
dence of the Bell Sys-
tem's response to the
requirements of the tele-
vision industry as well
as a splendid example
of coordination on the
part of its various com-
ponents— the Bell Lab-
oratories, the Western
Electric Company, the
Associated Companies,
and the Long Lines De-
partment.
On the West Coast,
a radio relay circuit is
being built this year be-
tween Los Angeles and
San Francisco, which
will form the basis for
network service in that
area. And all during
1949, work is going for-
ward on the Important
radio-relay project
which will provide more
Some of the terminal equipment of the Bell System^ s long
distance micro-wave radio relay system in the Long Lines
building in New York
1949
Television Strides Ahead
19
television and long distance telephone
service between New York ajid Chi-
cago, and beyond to Des Moines next
year. In 1950, television service
from Des Moines will be extended to
Minneapolis and St. Paul by coaxial
cable.
Improved equipment, which in-
cludes a new vacuum tube developed
by the Bell Telephone Laboratories,
will mark this new radio relay system,
making it an advance over the facili-
ties between New York and Boston
introduced in November, 1947. To
speed the project, the Western Elec-
tric Company has established an
especially fast manufacturing sched-
ule for the new relay equipment to
go into the key terminals and the 33
intermediate stations along the route.
In addition to benefiting from the
experience already gained in operat-
ing other Bell System radio relay
systems, the new facilities will be
simpler to maintain, more reliable,
and will ultimately provide more
channels than any other micro-wave
system in service.
By its activities in the field of
television, the Bell System is playing
a role in the latest and most exciting
communications development. But
there is more to the story than that.
For as its projects come to life, they
make clear how the teamwork of
Bell' System men and women, busy in
scores of departments of the various
cooperating companies, can create a
new service for the benefit of the
public.
Neither chance nor mere good fortune has brought this na-
tion the finest telephone service in the world. The service
Americans enjoy in such abundance is directly the product of
their own imagination, enterprise and common sense. . . .
In this climate of freedom and responsibility, the Bell Sys-
tem has provided service of steadily increasing value to more
and more people. Our policy, often stated, is to give the best
possible service at the lowest cost consistent with financial safety
and fair treatment of employees. We are organized as we are
in order to carry that policy out. Bell Telephone Laboratories
leads the world in improving communication devices and tech-
niques. Western Electric Company provides the Bell operat-
ing companies with telephone equipment of the highest quality
at reasonable prices, and can always be counted on in emer-
gencies to deliver the goods whenever and wherever needed.
The operating telephone companies and the parent company
work together so that improvements in one place may spread
quickly to others. Because all units of the System have the
same service goals great benefits flow to the public.
From the A. T. £3° T. annual report for 1948.
Above^ dialing long distance calls. Operators use sets of keys on the switchboard shelf
to dial straight through to distant telephones. Toll dial networks now reach some joo
cities and are expanding. New equipment and methods make possible this important
step toward faster^ more accurate long distance service
Visitors to Bell System exhibit now touring the country listen to a demonstration of long
distance dialing. Other demonstrations of new telephone developments^ shown at the
exhibit, are among the pictures on the following pages
20
Looking Ahead with
The Bell System
New developments in telephone
service are shown in the pictures
on the opposite page and the pages
which follow.
They are new products of Bell
Telephone Laboratories, newly
made in Western Electric factories,
and they form an important part
of the Bell System's great post-
war program of expansion and im-
provement.
The list is impressive : direct
dialing of calls by long distance
operators . . . the automatic re-
cording of accounting details of
toll calls . . . more telephones in
cars, boats, and moving trains . . .
long distance calls and television
beamed by radio . . . new net-
works of an improved type of
telephone cable . . . crystals iden-
tical with natural quartz, but
grown artificially ... a new am-
plifier little bigger than a pencil
eraser . . .
Several of these recent develop-
ments of telephone research were
demonstrated to stockholders who
attended the Annual Meeting of
the A. T. and T. Company in New
York on April 20. An exhibition
of them is going on tour through-
out the country, so that telephone
workers and telephone users will
have opportunity to see the new
devices in operation.
Some are still in the experimen-
tal stage ; others are already being
put to use on a wider and wider
scale. But all hold out for the
future the promise of a tele-
phone service that grows steadily
in its usefulness and value to the
user.
21
Telephone customers in certain metropolitan areas can now dial calls to nearby places
in the same way that they dial local calls. An electrical ''brain" receives the dialed
number and completes the call^ while an Automatic Message Accounting system gathers
the information necessary for billing
Dr. Va)inevar Bush^ one of America s foremost scientists and an A. T. & T. Company
Director, views the Automatic Message Accounting equipment in the touring Bell
System exhibit. The machine punches coded patterns on paper tape to reco7-d all the
information necessary for billing thousands of toll calls
22
0-TEUV!S(0|
Exhibit visitors see a demonstration of how radio beams ^ relayed from station to station y
can transmit ''bundles" of telephone conversations andy in addition^ television programs.
Another means of accomplishing this is the coaxial cablcy shown below. A new develop-
ment will enable each pair of tubes in this cable to carry either 1800 telephone conver-
sations or 600 conversations and two television channels simultaneously
At lefty one step in fabricat-
ing coaxial cable in the Point
Breez€y Marylandy plant of
the Western Electric Com-
panyy the manufacturing
and supply unit of the Bell
System. A section of the
cable is shown below
^3
The transistor^ a new and amazingly simple electronic amplifier^ is demonstrated above.
The tiny equipment at the top of the display panel does the work of the bulkier arrange-
ment of vacuum tubes at the bottom. Transistors are based on an entirely new principle
and seem destined for many applications in telephony
The transistor' s importance to the future
of communications is far greater than its
tiny size would suggest. Two types are
shown above
With natural quartz hard to get, slices of
this synthetic crystal will be used in carry-
ing several conversations over the same
wires at the same time
24
Traveling telephones — the Bell System's new mobile service — are now in use in most
major cities and on many highways. The service^ first introduced in 1^46^ serves cars^
boatSy and trains. Above^ Miss Joan Blair, a great-granddaughter of Alexander
Graham Bell, uses a mobile telephone
Building for the future has called for the biggest Bell System construction program in
history. Here a telephone building is being enlarged to house additional dial equipment.
In less than four years, busy Western Electric factories have turned out enough equipment
and apparatus to serve 10,000,000 new telephones
25
Telephone service in rural areas is rapidly being extended and improved by Jast^ eco-
nomical construction methods and important new techniques. Power-driven pole-hole
diggers like the one above have helped the Bell System add a million telephones in farm
areas since the war, increasing the number of rural telephones in service by 6^ per cent.
The Future Holds Great Promise
The telephone is seventy-three
years old this year. Its develop-
ment within a single lifetime has
been a modern miracle. Yet this
is only the beginning. The future
will see greater progress than the
past has ever known.
The telephone's future is being
built on firm foundations: on the
ceaseless search for new and better
devices and methods; on the loy-
alty and skill of hundreds of thou-
sands of men and women who
build an'd operate the voiceways;
on the confidence of hundreds of
thousands of people in all walks of
life who invest their savings to en-
large and improve the telephone
plant.
These have given America the
best telephone service the world
knows today — and for tomorrow
they hold out the promise of still
greater things to come.
26
Forces Must Be Increased by as Much as yo Percent ^ Many
Circuits Re-arranged^ and Other Special Measures Taken^ to
Meet the Great One- Day Traffic Peak of the Year
Merry Christmas in the
Toll Offices
Cyril K. Collins
Merry Christmas!
The exchange of this greeting by
telephone with relatives and friends
in distant places is becoming, in more
and more American families, an event
looked forward to with as much
eagerness as is the decoration of the
Christmas tree by those gathered at
home. This widespread custom de-
velops a peak in long distance calling
at Christmas time which far exceeds
the capacity of the vast toll networks
of the country and presents the tele-
phone companies with one of their
most challenging service problems.
The volume of long distance calls
offered during Christmas Eve and on
Christmas Day is far greater than in
any similar period of the year. On
Christmas Day, the volume in many
cities is more than 50 percent higher
than on an ordinary day; in some,
the increase is 100 per cent or more.
The problem of handling this great
volume is complicated by the fact that
these holiday calls do not follow the
pattern of the normal traffic for which
the toll circuit layout — the great na-
tion-wide network of voice pathways
— is designed. As compared to an
ordinary day, Christmas calls to near-
by points are relatively light. On the
other hand, traffic to more distant
points increases tremendously. Inter-
state toll calls range up to more than
four times a normal day; calls be-
tween certain states increase as much
as eight to ten times; and over some
transcontinental routes the increase is
even more. This heavy traffic to
distant points results in severe con-
gestion on the longer-haul circuit
routes.
The situation on the telephone
highways at Christmas time is not
unlike that which exists on automo-
bile highways around many large
cities in the latter part of a beautiful
summer Sunday afternoon, when all
cars turn toward home. The local
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
streets, so busy on a weekday, are
nearly deserted. On the other hand,
the main arteries are congested, cars
are lined up bumper to bumper, and
hours are required to travel distances
which may be covered in minutes on
an ordinary day.
Christmas holiday traffic has
other unusual characteristics which
make the calls more difficult to
handle, and take more operating time
per call, than on normal days.
Calls fan out much more to small
communities, greatly increasing the
amount of switching involved.
More calls are placed without the
called number, people answer the
telephone more slowly, conversation
time is longer. More calls come
from public telephones, more "don't
answers" are encountered, than on
a normal day.
The time required to record calls
is increased because of the diverse
nature of requests and the necessity
for quoting delays and explaining the
situation to customers.
Additional operating time is con-
sumed in securing route and rate in-
formation to points infrequently
called.
The number of switchboard sig-
nals to be answered is increased by
requests from customers for informa-
tion about calls previously placed.
The net effect is that the increase
in requirements for circuits, switch-
boards, and operators is much greater
than the increase in calls.
Despite greatly expanded oper-
ating forces and the use of every
available toll facility, many calls en-
counter delay. Although the great
majority of calls are completed, some
are not. The customers' consequent
Every toll switchboard position is filled on Christmas Day. In this central office^ the
teams of girls at the temporary tables are helping to speed the calls by relieving the
switchboard operators of certain details
1949
Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices
29
Tickets for completed Christmas calls come to these positions for filing. Other tickets
are dispatched to delay ed-c all operators^ who try to complete the connections over the
the circuits to the called places
disappointment is a matter of real
concern not only to the operators who
have tried to put the calls through
but to the supervisory and executive
groups of a business which exists for
the purpose of providing such con-
nections promptly and satisfactorily.
The telephone companies take ex-
traordinary steps in preparation for
the holiday, so that the greatest pos-
sible number of people may exchange
greetings by telephone at Christmas
time.
They re-arrange existing and pro-
vide additional toll circuits. They
have supplemental operating posi-
tions installed.
They introduce special procedures
to utilize available facilities most
efficiently. They provide and train
a great many operators.
And they do a good deal of special
advertising so that people may
understand the situation.
Re-arranging Toll Circuits
The objective of holiday circuit
planning has been to re-arrange toll
circuits to meet as closely as possible
the flow of traffic, and to relieve
large switching centers where the
switchboard positions are inadequate
to handle the tremendously increased
work load under the conditions that
exist on Christmas.
As long as 20 years ago, long-haul
circuits were re-arranged, and some
circuits terminating at switching
offices were "patched" * together
to provide temporary direct circuits
and thereby decrease the amount of
traffic which otherwise would have to
be handled at the switching offices.
At first, re-arrangements involved
primarily the shifting of some of the
* Two circuits may be "patched" together at
a test board to become one direct circuit, by
connecting them with a "patching" or connect-
ing cord.
30
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
Operating forces in toll offices across the country last
Christmas were increased on the average about yo percent.
These force clerks in a toll office are preparing assign-
ments of operators for the day
transcontinental circuit terminations
from congested centers to smaller
offices. As time went on, this activ-
ity was extended until, in 1940, 60
percent of the long-haul circuit
groups were involved in re-arrange-
ments and some 200 temporary di-
rect-circuit groups were established
in order to decrease switching.
During the war years, however,
circuit re-arrangements for Christ-
mas were largely limited to those
providing all possible facilities for
training camps, embarkation points,
and military hospitals, so that the
men and women in the services could
talk to their families or sweethearts.
Following the war, re-arrange-
ments of circuits for the holiday were
resumed, and reached an all-time high
in 1948. The Traffic
Department circuit con-
trol bureaus — in New
York, Chicago, Cleve-
land, and San Francisco
— issued orders to es-
tablish over 900 tem-
porary direct-circuit
groups for last Christ-
mas.
Such re-arrangements
are a very large under-
taking. An immense
amount of preparatory
work has to be done by
the Long Lines and As-
sociated Company cir-
cuit people to deter-
mine, from studies of
traffic of the previous
Christmas, which new
direct-circuit groups
would be the most
helpful.
The over-all patch-
ing requirements are
then worked out among the compan-
ies involved, and the total number of
circuits to be removed from normal
groups in order to make up the tem-
porary direct groups is determined.
The various plant testboard groups
are queried to determine the specific
circuits and associated facilities to be
used for the patches. The entire net-
work is then reviewed to determine
possibilities for additional circuits for
the more seriously overloaded groups
and replacements for the circuits used
to create temporary direct groups.
Final circuit plans are then trans-
mitted to toll line engineers of all the
Associated Companies, listing the
new direct groups, the type of traffic
to be handled, and instructions as to
any routing changes involved.
1949
Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices
31
And, before Christ-
mas, a complete check
is made to see that all
planned re-arrange-
ments have actually
been completed.
The execution of the
circuit patches and re-
arrangements requires
quite a plant organiza-
tion job and an in-
crease of the plant
forces on duty. Phys-
ically, it is possible to
patch any circuit to any
other circuit. How-
ever, where different
types of circuits, termi-
nal arrangements, and
signalling facilities are
in use, extra work is
required to make such
circuits work properly
when patched. In ad-
dition, amplifying ad-
justments are required
in many cases to insure that the two
parts of the new circuit will work to-
gether as though they were one.
Careful coordination in all these
changes is required among the test
men at all offices involved.
Throughout the holiday period,
special consideration is given to force
coverage in the traffic circuit control
bureaus and in the plant test and ter-
minal rooms, to insure prompt action
in case of trouble with the equipment.
Linemen and cablemen are on duty
where the situation requires, and ar-
rangements are made so that those
not on duty may be reached if the
need arises. Plant administrative of-
fices are also covered as required.
It is fortunate that, in recent years,
there have been no storms of serious
Use of teletypewriter circuits to advise toll offices of
delays at an important switching point enables operators
to give correct information to customers and also leaves
voice circuits free for talking
proportions over a wide section of
the country on Christmas. There
have been, however, a number of lo-
calized storm troubles which have
added to the difficulties of the day.
Supplemental Operating Positions
and Other Special Facilities
In most toll offices, the number
of switchboard positions installed is
not sufficient to meet the requirements
on Christmas, because of the in-
creased volume of holiday traffic and
greater work time per call. This is
particularly true at large switching
offices. Much development work has
been done, and local ingenuity exer-
cised, in an effort to provide "relief"
32
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
With operating requirements at a peak,
most toll operators work on Christmas
day and do so cheerfully, realizing that
they are making a vital contribution to
the holiday happiness of the American
public. They appreciate that a Christ-
mas message is one of the most impor-
tant of the year; if calls cannot be com-
pleted, they are as disappointed as the
customer. Absence on Christmas is con-
sistently lower than on an average day,
showing the additional effort operators
make to overcome obstacles of all kinds
in order to be on duty. It is a tribute
to their spirit of service that many vol-
unteer to work beyond their normal as-
signment when the need is indicated.
short of installing regular positions
for this one-day peak.
All possible work auxiliary to the
actual establishing of connections is
removed from the switchboards and
handled on temporary tables equipped
for this purpose — including recording
calls from customers and orders for
circuits from other operators, sorting
and filing delayed tickets, and giving
reports to customers about the prog-
ress of their calls.
Local dial office switchboards
which are not heavily loaded on
Christmas are adapted for handling
long distance calls.
Outward toll positions are ar-
ranged for handling inward and
through calls, where advantageous,
to balance the load between boards.
A number of offices have installed
arrangements for making posted de-
lay information available to opera-
tors promptly by means of distinctive
tones which are associated with the
circuit groups involved.
Special Operating Methods arid
Procedures
Over the years, many special oper-
ating methods have been used in an
effort to make most efficient use of
the available facilities. While these
methods differ in various details, they
all have the general objective of util-
izing a higher percentage of the avail-
able circuit time for conversation by
reducing the amount of operating
work that has to be done over the
circuits.
One method was the "utility"
method, whereby a team, consisting
of a circuit operator and two report
operators for dealing with customers,
is used at each end of a circuit group.
There was also an "operator per cir-
cuit" method, under which one oper-
ator is assigned at each office for each
circuit. Then there was the "con-
centration" method, where special op-
erators have control of one circuit
group.
Under these methods, the same op-
erators handled outward, inward, and
through calls. A teletypewriter was
sometimes used with these methods,
to reduce further the amount of op-
erating work done over the telephone
circuit.
All of these special methods were
helpful in obtaining more efficient cir-
cuit usage; but they did so, necessar-
ily, at the cost of greatly increased
requirements in switchboard positions
and operators. As the number of
circuit groups over which calls had
to be handled on a delay basis in-
creased, it was more and more diffi-
cult to provide the necessary facilities
and operators. Also, these methods
required a very high degree of co-
ordination and teamwork between the
1949
Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices
33
operators involved at both ends of
the circuits, and this coordination
could be obtained only by means of
intensive training and actual practice.
In the over-all, it was not found
practicable to train the number of op-
erators required in the more compli-
cated methods for use only on one
day in the year.
For these reasons, special-method
operation has been used in the past
few years on only a relatively small
number of the most congested circuit
groups and has been limited generally
to the "concentration" method, which
is the least complicated of the special
methods and requires the smallest
number of positions for a given num-
ber of circuits.
There are, nevertheless, special
procedures of a super-
visory and management
nature which are used
to facilitate call han-
dling and improve com-
pletion and speed of
service under the un-
usual and difficult con-
ditions at Christmas
time. Many of these
special procedures are
of a technical nature re-
lating to the application
of the operating prac-
tices. Others are more
general and include
such features as the fol-
lowing :
— providing posted
delay information to
selected built-up points
by means of telet}'pe-
writer networks be-
tween toll centers, so
that operators need not
go to intermediate of-
fices on every call to learn of the
situation;
— providing additional ready-ref-
erence routing material and called-
place directories to expedite handling
of calls;
— cancelling alternate routes which
would be ineffective in periods of con-
gestion ;
— dividing circuit groups direction-
ally, and rotating the use of some cir-
cuits among several originating of-
fices, to facilitate the movement of
traffic;
— re-arranging the position layout
to provide more positions for han-
dling delayed calls.
Special precautions are taken to in-
sure that emergency calls are recog-
nized and promptly handled.
''Patching" two circuits together creates a direct circuit
to by-fass a switching office. Some patches are made at
Traffic switchboards^ as herCy and others at Plant test-
boards More than ^o were made last Christmas
34
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
The attitude and manner of the op-
erators have a definite effect on cus-
tomers' opinion of the service when
calls cannot be handled promptly.
Particular care is exercised that at-
tentiveness and courteous considera-
tion be shown on all calls. When a
call cannot be completed on Christ-
mas Day because of a circuit delay,
the operator is prompt to offer to try
to complete it the following day. Af-
ter Christmas, chief operators often
call or write to express their regret
to customers whose calls could not
be completed on the holiday.
The Operating Force
Obtaining and training the neces-
sary people to meet the greatly in-
creased operating requirements for
the holiday period is a major prob-
lem.
Adequate forces must be provided
at all switchboards and temporary
tables to insure prompt answer to sig-
nals, to apply the special procedures
in effect, and to use the available cir-
cuits efficiently.
Good answering service is particu-
larly important at inward, through,
and delayed-call positions in toll of-
fices, and at toll switching and infor-
mation positions in local offices, since
slow service at these points has a far-
reaching and cumulative effect on the
service in other offices.
The magnitude of the force and
training task is indicated by the fact
that operating forces in toll offices
across the country this past Christ-
mas were increased on the average
about 70 percent.
Estimates of Christmas traffic and
force requirements have to be made
sufliciently in advance to insure ade-
quate time in which to carry out the
plans for securing additional people,
completing the required training, and
installing any additional operating fa-
This display board in the Long Lines circuit control office in New York gives a visual
record of the status of all long distance circuits out of the city^ including those temporarily
''patched" for Christmas traffic
1949
Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices
3S
cilities to be provided. Judgment,
and experience with previous holiday
conditions, are needed to allow for
unusual local circumstances and to
compute separately the force needed
for each different class of work.
There Is always the danger of under-
estimating the force requirements,
since work time per call Is so much
higher than under normal conditions.
In order to provide the required
number of people, every available
source must be drawn upon, includ-
ing, in addition to the regular force,
former employees, clerical forces, em-
ployees from local offices, and em-
ployees borrowed from other depart-
ments, and still a good deal of
overtime work Is necessary.
The advance training for the
holiday is a big undertaking. It is
necessary to review with all toll cen-
tral office people the operating prac-
tices related to the handling of calls
under congested circuit conditions,
which they use only infrequently; to
retrain many of the force for operat-
ing at a different type of switchboard;
and to provide special training for
those who will be involved in a spe-
cial-method operation or work at a
temporary table position. Basic
training must be given to the large
number of temporary people who
have had no previous toll experience.
All this must be started many weeks
before Christmas, to cover the entire
force and to allow time for the prac-
tice which is needed to develop skill
and efficiency.
As Christmas Day draws near,
telephone buildings take on a festive
appearance, with Christmas trees and
decorations skillfully arranged, usu-
ally by the girls themselves. In build-
Preparations among the employees for
Christmas are not exclusively concerned
with the problem of handling telephone
traffic — recognition also is given to the
spirit of the holiday season. Tradition-
ally thoughtful of others, groups of op-
erators and other telephone women com-
bine their efforts to provide a merrier
Christmas for the unfortunate. Thou-
sands of dolls are obtained and dressed
for distribution to underprivileged chil-
dren; some groups of telephone men and
women "adopt" needy families and send
clothing and baskets of food; others send
gifts to wounded veterans; some spread
their cheer through churches, institu-
tions, and charitable groups.
Ings large enough to have cafeterias,
attractive and appetizing food awaits
the employees in plenty, whether their
needs be a complete Christmas dinner
or merely a refreshing snack.
Independent Companies
The task of completing toll calls
during the holiday season requires
the closest cooperation and teamwork
in all the nation's telephone ex-
changes. Bell or Independent. There
are approximately 6000 independ-
ently-owned telephone companies in
the country, serving some six million
telephones.* These companies play
an important part In moving holiday
toll traffic, and the service they ren-
der on interconnecting calls has a
large bearing on the over-all quality
of service. Every year, as a part of
the Christmas planning, meetings and
discussions are held with the Inde-
pendent companies to review the sig-
nificant holiday practices and pro-
cedures.
* See "Six Thousand Telephone Companies
Serve U. S.," Magazine, Winter, 1948-49.
36
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
\Ve let mote
\wi distance caUs
atchtlsimas
ttancaniolhtouih
^^''90isi
'"''^^flshitthe
otChri:
TOP
stniQs
i'^'»^J^ !;;"■""'*« to'
r^-*^
«^v
■^f^rcl "•'"*
;-»'"
■i*'*
""Ml, ,
*»•"
'" '"■»•.,
t^^
^^
*v**"'
V»"«
//^^r^ tfr^ a/^w examples of how the telephone companies fulfill their obligation to keep
the public informed about the traffic situation on Christmas Day
1949
Merry Christmas in the Toll Offices
37
Overseas Calling
There is also a tremendous increase
in calls to overseas points at Christ-
mas time.
The first overseas Christmas call
took place between the United States
and England in 1927; from the 44
Christmas messages handled on a
single circuit that first year, the vol-
ume has grown to more than 3400
messages, reaching out to 80 coun-
tries. Overseas calls in 1927 were
handled on three switchboard posi-
tions in New York; now over 150
positions and 550 operators are used
in the four cities where the radio cir-
cuits are terminated: New York,
Miami, San Francisco, Seattle.
Christmas-day calls
completed number about
twice those of an aver-
age business day. In or-
der to accomplish this,
many preparations are
required. An estimate
is made of the total
number of calls which
can be handled in both
directions over the
maximum facilities
which can be provided.
An agreement is reached
with' each foreign coun-
try as to the maximum
periods during which
each circuit will be op-
erated on Christmas.
Calls are booked at
each end, in accordance
with the service sched-
ules agreed upon and
the capacity of the cir-
cuits provided. Circuit
usage is divided on the
basis of relative book-
ings at both ends, and calls are com-
pleted in the order of booking.
Ninety percent of the Christmas over-
seas traffic is booked in advance, and
in some years booking has com-
menced as early as the preceding July.
One of the chief difficulties in com-
pleting overseas calls lies in the fact
that only 15 percent of the calls orig-
inate or terminate at the city where
the radio circuit is terminated. An
additional 20 percent involve cities
reached by direct circuit, leaving 65
percent originating or terminating in
cities requiring one or more switches
on this continent. Thus the circuit
delays encountered on land traffic also
handicap the completing of overseas
calls.
Despite the pressure of so many calls ^ the Christmas spirit
pervades the telephone buildings, and there the operators
can obtain a turkey dinner — or just a snack during a
relief period '
38
Bell Telephone Magazine
hiforming Our Customers
The telephone companies have
long recognized that a wide public
understanding of the toll situation at
Christmas time is very helpful.
Use is made of advertising, and
other media such as bill inserts and
radio announcements, to inform the
public in advance of the holiday that
( I ) toll calling on Christmas Eve and
Christmas Day is at a peak and those
who call may encounter delays, (2)
the telephone companies are stretch-
ing their facilities to the limit to put
calls through but no amount of dili-
gence and effort can prevent some de-
lays because of the tremendous vol-
ume of calls on these two days, and
(3) calls made before December 24
or after December 25 will avoid the
rush and get faster service.
The tolerance and cooperative at-
titude of customers whose calls are
delayed indicate that they appreciate
that the telephone companies are do-
ing their utmost under difficult con-
ditions.
Considering the tremendous in-
crease in volume and the other un-
usual characteristics of the traffic, the
problem of giving the American peo-
ple good service on their long dis-
tance calls at Christmas time is one
of the most difficult ever presented to
the men and women of the Bell Sys-
tem. It is being attacked with vigor
and imagination, and considerable
progress has already been made.
Nevertheless, much remains to be ac-
complished. And all who are con-
cerned with the problem are continu-
ing to seek better ways to use the
available facilities, so that more and
more people can talk to anyone, any-
where, at Christmas time.
Taxes paid by the [Bell System] Telephone Companies in
1948 amounted to $292,477,000, and Federal excise taxes paid
by customers and remitted by the Companies to the United
States Treasury came to $406,000,000 — a total of about
$700,000,000, or nearly $2 a month for every telephone in
service. Telephone excise taxes paid by customers are more
than double the increase in telephone rates since the war. Taxes
paid by the Telephone Companies and Western Electric ex-
ceeded the total amount which remained available for interest
and dividends.
From the A. T. ^ T. annual report for 1948.
A Hundred Million Personal Contacts a Year IVith
Customers Give These Young Women Great Opportunity
To Ram Good Will for Themselves and Their Companies
You Can Tell by the Teller
Arthur F. Leet
The operating companies of the
Bell System believe that you can tell
by the teller the character and spirit
of the organization she represents.
The teller is the pleasant young
woman in the telephone business office
to whom customers pay their bills;
and, as in the case of the organization
itself, she must be accurate and
prompt in attending to customers.
But efficiency is not enough. In deal-
ing with customers there must also be
courtesy, understanding, a sincere in-
terest in trying to please, and evi-
dence of a helpful attitude.'
The opportunities the teller has to
demonstrate this spirit of the organ-
ization are important for two rea-
sons. First, it is fitting that a cus-
tomer coming to an office to pay us
his good money should be made to
feel that his patronage is appreciated.
Second, there are about 100,000,000
contacts a year with customers who
come to the public offices to pay their
bills.
To make this idea of pleasing serv-
ice a reality requires special attention
to selecting for tellers women who
will be both efficient and qualified to
do a good customer relations job. It
also requires giving the tellers proper
training and providing working con-
ditions, arrangements, and supervi-
sion to carry forward the idea. The
results have been gratifying. This
concept of the tellers' responsibilities
makes the job more interesting to
them. The response of the public in-
dicates appreciation. It does not take
any more time to be courteous and
try to please customers, experience
shows, than it does to be indifferent.
The company selects for public-
office teller positions personable
young women who are alert and ac-
curate, with quick minds, poise, ready
smiles and good voices, and with the
ability to express themselves. Prefer-
ably they should show promise of ad-
vancing to even better jobs. These
tellers usually are chosen from women
who have been trained and have had
at least several weeks' experience in
handling payments received by mail.
They are, therefore, proficient in
40
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
The teller personifies the character and spirit of the organization she represents
1949
You Can Tell by the Teller
41
many clerical operations which they
will perform on their new jobs as
public office tellers.
Training and Supervision
Before beginning to work as public-
office teller, each candidate receives
three to five days' classroom instruc-
tion. While most of the training
concerns the principles of the job,
much of it consists of practicing the
handling of payments at a "dummy"
payment counter, with the instructor
acting the part of the customer. Con-
tinuously during this training, special
emphasis is given to the customer re-
lations aspects of the job, along with
the procedures for the proper han-
dling of money and the associated rec-
ord work. In teaching, the instruc-
tors use a written manual covering
theory and details of practice cases.
Very effective use is made of a Bell
System motion picture entitled "You
Can Tell By The Teller." This
movie, which shows customers paying
their bills at a business office, illus-
trates the value of the customer re-
lations aspects of the job as well as
efficient clerical procedures.
Tellers are taught to greet the cus-
tomer with a friendly smile and a
cheerful "Good morning," "How are
you?" or other appropriate saluta-
tion; to use their "Paid" stamp
quietly; to avoid giving customers an
unwanted bulk of change and to
count out the change into the cus-
tomer's hand; to notice the name on
the bill and thank the customer by
name if the name appears to be his.
Of course, the tellers' training also
includes clerical proficiency. They
are taught proper methods and hand
motions, and how to recognize im-
mediately the various types of stand-
ard United States paper money and
coins and what to do if some one
presents to them what appears to be
non-standard money. Effective use
is made here of the well-known mo-
tion picture "Doubtful Dollars,"
which shows how to distinguish be-
tween good and bad money.
The student is coached until she
is ready to meet her public. Then
she is assigned to a position at the
payment counter in a public office to
receive actual payments from cus-
tomers. The instructor stays at her
side as long as necessary to dev*elop
her proficiency in all aspects of her
new job. Then and only then does
the instructor deliver her protege to
the supervisor who will guide and
coach the new teller in her daily
work.
It is a part of the job of supervis-
ory people to maintain the interest
of their forces and inculcate a pride
of accomplishment in the way their
people do their jobs — from the
standpoint of both efficiency and
"overtones." So strongly is this idea
ingrained that many supervisory offi-
cials, when visiting business offices,
have developed a habit of always
making a sample count of the number
of contacts a teller has and seeing on
how many she smiles and puts the
change in the customer's hand. The
tellers are kept informed of the im-
pressions of supervisory people re-
garding their work and of the com-
ments of customers.
Office Quarters and Equipment
The Associated Companies further
promote good payment service by
seeing that the offices where people
42
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
Before her assignment as a public-office teller, each
candidate receives three to five days' classroom instruc-
tion. Much of it comes at a ''dummy'' payment counter,
with an instructor playing customer
come to pay their bills are convenient
for customers and employees and are
well designed and appropriately fur-
nished and decorated. This in-
volves, first, care in establishing and
equipping offices, taking into consid-
eration such matters as population
growth, location of shopping centers,
and transportation; and, second,
good taste in office design, selection
of furnishings, and decorative treat-
ment.
The companies also try to plan
layouts, arrangements, and construc-
tion details to keep the offices quiet.
Tellers' cages with grills or un-
sightly barriers between the tellers
and customers generally have been
replaced with open payment count-
ers or desks. Over the
years, many changes in
the design of payment
counters have been in-
corporated to make
them still more con-
venient for customers
and tellers. The
changes included a
more convenient height
of counter; reduced
width of the counter,
making it easier for
tellers to pick up bills
and money and to pay
out change into the
customer's hand; and
improved ventilation at
tellers' positions. Tell-
ers are equipped with
foot stools and com-
fortable "posture-type"
chairs. All these things
are done to assure good
working conditions and
give the tellers the
proper tools to make their jobs easy
and attractive.
What the Public Thinks
"This story sounds fine," some peo-
ple might say; "but is the kind of
service described here actually being
given in the business offices — and
does it pay off?"
In answer to the first question —
all of the Associated Companies rec-
ognize the importance of good over-
tones as well as good techniques in
handling public-office payments, and
the ideas and training procedures
here described have spread fast
among them. As regards the sec-
ond question — sincerely trying to
please customers has brought Its re-
1949
You Can Tell by the Teller
43
ward through apprecia-
tive comments from
many. Here are a few
samples :
A customer in an
Eastern city wrote to
the telephone company:
"I want to compliment
you and your courteous
employees. It was a
real joy to be spoken
to and dealt with so
politely. I am sure
there are many who
agree with me and in-
deed you have much to
be proud of."
A lady called a Mid-
western business office
to ask, "Where does
your company get the
lovely girls for cash-
iers? They are such
nice girls, as well as
efficient. I certainly
think your company
uses good judgment in selecting these
girls. I just want the girls and the
management to know it."
A vice president of a Midwestern
advertising agency said, "I am al-
ways impressed with the personal
and courteous service rendered by
the telephone company in this busi-
ness office. Your charming girls
make it a pleasure for me to pay my
bill. I like the way they greet me
with a smiling 'Hello,' take my bill
and money and tell me it is $4.58 out
of $10 and then give me my change
with a 'Thank you, Mr. Davis.'
That kind of service is so far su-
perior to anything I have seen that I
cannot leave without telling you how
I feel."
Tellers are trained to count the change^ aloud^ into the
customer s handy so that he can verify the accuracy of the
amount and be free to leave with his money in his hand
A man approached a supervisor in
a Western business office and said,
"When I got up this morning I
thought it was going to be a bad day
for me and I thought it would be a
good day to pay my telephone bill.
But when I got to the cashier's
counter, she greeted me with 'Good
morning' and a smile. After giv-
ing me my receipt and change, she
thanked me by name. I wanted you
to know about it, because I feel it
will change my entire day for me."
The sales manager of a packing
house was so pleased at the payment
service he received when he paid his
bill that he suggested to men at his
table at a Chamber of Commerce
banquet that they should visit the
44
Bell Telephone Magazine
Modern payment counters are both convenient for the transaction of business
and attractive in appearance
telephone company business office and
study the tellers' methods.
Other customers have said such
things as: "We don't mind paying
when we get such a pleasant smile" ;
"My but the service here is marve-
lous" ; "I always like to pay my phone
bill — you girls have such a delightful
manner."
What the Tellers Think
Many tellers have voluntarily made
to their supervisors comments which
indicate that tellers enjoy real pride
of accomplishment in their customer
relations and find the work of han-
dling payments pleasant and inter-
esting. For example :
A teller in an Eastern office re-
marked, "I now have a swell time
walking out to lunch because it seems
as if everybody on the street speaks
to me."
Another teller in a Midwestern
city commented on her discovery that
a pleasant voice and a smile caused a
similar reaction in the people whom
she greeted; and said that to her
amazement, when she tried it out on
her friends, it worked as well as it
did in the office.
In one office, a customer walked
away from the counter with a big
smile on his face, and the teller said
to the other girls in the group,
"That's why I like my job: I smile,
the customer smiles — why we might
get all the people in town smiling."
Experience in this work of receiv-
ing payments affords another demon-
stration that in many different types
of activity there are real opportuni-
ties to contribute to good service and
good customer relations, even though
these opportunities may not be self-
evident at first sight. Receiving a
payment seemingly is a minor opera-
tion which takes, on the average,
only 22 seconds. But the number of
payments is so large that in total the
person-to-person contacts with cus-
tomers are an important factor in
satisfactory customer relations.
From 2J^OOO Suppliers Come the Raw Materials and the
Stocks of JOyOOO Different Items Needed for Operation and
Maintenance of the Bell System
Purchasing b}^ the Western
Electric Company
George deMare
This is the fifth in a series of articles describing the Western Electric
Company's operations and its place in the Bell System organization.
See in the Magazine the following: "Nassau: The Bell System's
Conservation Specialist," Winter ig46—47; "Distribution by Western
Electric Company," Autumn 1947; "How Western Electric Serves
Telephone Users," Autumn 194S; "Installation by Western Electric
Company," Winter 1948-49. — Editor.
As THE manufacturing and supply
unit of the Bell System, the Western
Electric Company plans and executes
one of the largest and most complex
procurement programs in industry.
The Bell System's intricate and
delicately balanced $8,500,000,000
plant requires year-in and year-out
sustenance in the form of raw mate-
rials of all types, from steel to acid
soda, from aluminum to mercury,
from molybdenum to zinc, to be con-
verted by Western into plant equip-
ment; and it also requires accessory
finished products from other suppli-
ers that range from paper clips to
hea\T trucks, from moisture-resistant
silk to porcelain knobs, from light
bulbs to nylon yarns — some 30,000
different items.
The responsibility for procuring
this raw material and these finished
items falls mainly upon Western Elec-
tric, and more particularly upon
Western Electric's Purchasing Divi-
sion. The logical and successful pro-
gram by which Western has largely
undertaken purchasing operations for
the Associated Companies is based on
the inherent advantages and savings
of scientific centralized purchasing.
The story of this scientific centralized
purchasing operation for the System's
23 Associated Companies is, in the
main, a story of impressive economies
together with assured high standard
of quality and dependability of supply
of the items procured — advantages
which for several decades and partic-
ularly during times of emergency and
46
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
war have been demonstrated again
and again.
The instrument which lies at the
foundation of this centralized pur-
chasing operation is the Standard
Supply Contract which each of the 23
Bell telephone companies has entered
into with Western Electric. This
contract requires Western Electric to
do everything it reasonably can to
supply the Bell telephone companies
with whatever they may want, when
they want it; but it does not bind the
telephone companies to purchase ex-
clusively from or through Western
Electric. The fact that the telephone
companies look to Western for such a
large proportion of their material
needs is evidence that they find it ad-
vantageous to do so.
Some of the advantages of this sys-
tem may become even more apparent
by considering what the cost of pur-
On this circular file at one of Western Electric' s Works
are the names and addresses of thousands of suppliers
from whom Westerrfs Purchasing men buy
chasing operations would be if there
were no Western Electric purchasing
and distributing units for the Asso-
ciated Companies. Each telephone
company or group of companies
would then have to maintain its own
purchasing and stores organizations
and be obliged to purchase in smaller
quantities. The cost to each company
of maintaining its own purchasing and
stores organization would obviously
greatly increase the cost of procuring
and distributing the materials. It
was such a situation, in fact, which
brought about the present program of
centralized purchasing by Western
for the whole System.
A Billion Dollars' Worth oj
Shopping
The magnitude of this job under
ordinary circumstances is quite appar-
ent, but in a time of expansion it be-
comes truly impressive.
Since V-J Day, West-
ern's Purchasing people
have spent more than
$1,000,000,000 in buy-
ing raw materials and
supplies for the Bell
System from 27,000
firms in more than
2,600 cities and towns
throughout the 48
States as well as in sev-
eral foreign countries.
These purchasing op-
erations fall naturally
into two major cate-
gories : first, procure-
ment of raw materials,
machinery, and supplies
for use by the Company
itself in manufacturing
the equipment it pro-
duces for the Bell Sys-
1949
Purchasing by the Western Electric Company
47
tem; and, second, the
procurement of finished
items which Western
does not manufacture
but which it is called
upon to supply to the
telephone companies to
fill their varied needs.
Last year alone. West-
ern's Bell System pur-
chases— both raw ma-
terials and finished
products — totaled ap-
proximately half a bil-
lion dollars.
To purchase these
raw materials and the
thousands of items em-
braced in the classes of
finished products re-
quires more than just
going to the corner
store and giving an order. West-
ern is committed to make every rea-
sonable effort to supply what the Bell
System wants when it wants it at
the lowest price consistent with qual-
ity and service. This means that
three factors must be considered:
(i) finding and developing reliable
sources of supply; (2) setting up
standards of quality and insuring that
the quality of the materials purchased
meets those standards; and (3) get-
ting the best price obtainable under
the circumstances for the product.
Finding Reliable Sources of Supply
Finding and developing reliable
sources of supply is one of Western
Electric Purchasing Division's main
jobs. And it is a complex one. Pur-
chasing specialists travel by plane,
train, bus, and automobile as many as
100,000 miles a year to secure needed
When Western Electric goes shopping for the thousands of
items the Bell System useSy it does so in orderly fashion
by means of contracts such as this
materials and supplies for the Bell
System. One Western Electric buyer
made a single trip of 7,000 miles
through the Northwest and Mountain
States areas to secure additional
lodgepole pine telephone poles,
while another traveled throughout
the south in search of additional
southern pine poles, and still another
cruised the locust-tree country from
Virginia to the Mississippi to dis-
cover new sources of supply for locust
insulator pins.
Developing reliable sources of
supply often requires special effort
and ingenuity.
Take the case of zinc. Zinc was
one of the raw materials so urgently
needed during the recent expansion
in Western's telephone instrument,
strand, and pole-line hardware pro-
grams, to help the Bell System meet
the backed-up demand for telephone
48
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
In a typical post-war year, the W. E.
Purchasing group bought millions of
dollars' worth of raw materials from
suppliers in the United States and all
over the world, including about 90,000
tons of steel, more than 100,000 tons of
copper, more than 100,000 tons of lead,
7,000 tons of cable paper, 6,500 tons of
wood pulp for cable insulation, 7,000,-
000 pounds of cotton yarn, and 2,000,-
000 pounds of acetate rayon yarn.
service. Zinc is chiefly used in West-
ern's manufacturing operations for
die casting, galvanizing, and in the
brass mills at Hawthorne Works.
When these programs were ex-
panded, Western required almost
double the amount of zinc ordinarily
needed. And this came at a time
when one-fourth of the zinc industry
was shut down by labor disputes and
zinc was at the height of its demand.
By intensive negotiations, West-
ern's purchasing men not only broad-
ened their domestic sources but also
managed to secure supplies of the
metal from the Hudson Bay region
and British Columbia, to borrow
from a commercial die caster while
supplies were being developed, and
to ease the brass situation in the
Hawthorne Works by purchasing
300,000 pounds of scrap brass cart-
ridge shells.
In addition, by arranging for sup-
pliers to hold impurities below their
normal maximum limits, substitutions
of more plentiful grades were made
for the scarce grades on which West-
ern was previously dependent.
Western's purchasing specialists,
accustomed to meeting such situa-
tions, took this one in their stride as
almost a routine assignment.
In the case of many finished items,
however, it is sometimes necessary to
assist suppliers in one way or another
to enable them to meet Western's re-
quirements. For example, in order
to interest printers in making the
large expenditures required for addi-
tional equipment needed in publishing
the ever-growing Bell System tele-
phone directories, Western found it
necessary to negotiate long-term con-
tracts with certain of its printing con-
tractors covering periods up to ten
years. Three such contracts were re-
cently made involving a total of $1,-
250,000 in new equipment, plus
$500,000 in new buildings. These
arrangements insured a shortened de-
livery period for telephone direc-
tories, and gave the telephone com-
panies better directories at a lower
cost per thousand printed pages.
Another case involved the produc-
tion of steel wire. It appeared that,
owing to the steel shortage, Western
might fail by 25 per cent to meet the
Bell System's requirements for one
recent year. Western's established
suppliers had excess wire drawing fa-
cilities, but were unable to obtain rod
from the rolling mills — which in turn
were unable to obtain billets. To
solve this problem. Western pur-
chased 9,000 tons of special billets
from one mill, had them converted
into rod by another, and had the rod
delivered to the suppliers who had
extra facilities for drawing it into
wire. This was a costly procedure;
but it gave the telephone companies
desperately needed wire not other-
wise obtainable, and enabled them to
expedite telephone service to thou-
sands of new subscribers.
Still another instance indicates once
more the advantages of having a cen-
Purchasing by the Western Electric Company
1949
tralized purchasing unit capable of
making unusual arrangements to se-
cure vital raw materials. In one year
the Bell System expansion program
required up to 50,000,000 duct feet
of clay conduit. This exceeded the
productive capacity of the four plants
producing clay conduit after V-J Day.
It was thus necessary for Western to
assist, in financing the rehabilitation
of three plants which had been shut
down for many years, to have another
plant completely rebuilt, and to in-
crease manufacturing facilities in ex-
isting plants.
These are a few of many examples
which demonstrate the unusual efforts
which Western must make to keep
the world's greatest communications
system supplied with sufficient mater-
ials for its efficient functioning — ef-
forts which it would be difficult for a
number of smaller competing pur-
chasing units to match.
49
Maintaining Bell System Sta?idards
Having found and developed sup-
pliers capable of producing the ma-
terials in sufficient quantities. West-
ern must concern itself with the qual-
ity of the products.
To insure the high quality required
by the Bell System, specifications for
most items are prepared by A. T. &
T., Western Electric, or Bell Labo-
ratories engineers, and these specifica-
tions may indicate not only the stand-
ards considered essential for each
item but frequently even the method
of manufacturing it. In the case of
such items as lead sleeving, telephone
poles, directory paper, and galva-
nized steel strand, for example, the
quality must often be unusual. Stand-
ards of durability, weight, thickness
and, in the case of paper, bursting or
tearing strength as well as other qual-
ifications must conform to precise tol-
erances in order to meet the heavy
From factories such as this^ Western Electric obtains raw and finished plastic materials
in dozens of forms for making telephone products
i
50
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
duty that will be imposed upon the
product.
These standards are carefully in-
sured by Western's Supplies Inspec-
tion organization, which has 165 in-
spectors throughout 35 states in over
350 towns and cities in the country
inspecting items for Bell System use.
Such items as timber products, pole
line hardware, power plants, and
over 4,000 others must pass the tests
given them by Western's Telephone
Division supplies inspection group be-
fore they are delivered to the Asso-
ciated Companies.
Such exacting requirements are
usually included as specifications in
the contracts entered into between
Western Electric and its suppliers.
Best Obtai7iable Price
Purchasing for the Bell System at
the lowest obtainable price, with due
regard for service and quality, is of
course a primary and ever present ob-
jective. To secure the lowest price,
Western's purchasing men must be
conversant with the fundamental fac-
tors that control cost movements.
They must know the costs of raw ma-
terials, labor, and overhead necessary
to produce the material and still al-
low the supplier a reasonable profit.
They must also know the relation-
ships between supply and demand.
Favorable prices are then secured in
the main by buying in large quantities,
consummating purchases under fa-
vorable market conditions, and ne-
gotiating contracts which are fair to
the supplier as well as to Western.
Perhaps a clearer picture of the
operations involved in purchasing for
the Bell System may be presented by
following a typical purchasing opera-
tion from estimated requirements to
delivery.
This is one step in the process of producing copper in a refinery. It is then cast into
bars before being purchased by the Western Electric Company
1949
Purchasing by the Western Electric Company
51
Through conferences with the tele-
phone companies, Western's Distrib-
uting Houses gather estimates for
materials expected to be needed for a
year ahead. In addition to the an-
nual estimates, the telephone com-
panies furnish Western with quarterly
forecasts of anticipated requirements
for certain major items. These fore-
casts, covering the immediate future,
are reconciled by the Distributing
Houses as necessary because of their
stock conditions and past experience.
They are then forwarded to the Pro-
gram Planning Department of West-
ern's Telephone Division, which uses
them as a basis for determining the
quantities of material currently re-
quired to be manufactured or pur-
chased, long before any actual orders
are received from telephone com-
panies.
After these forecasts have been
carefully analyzed they are converted
into "authorizations to purchase" is-
sued to the Purchasing Division.
It is then the responsibility of the
Purchasing Division to determine the
best method for making these pur-
chases and meeting these require-
ments. Shall it be a single contract
for the entire quantity over a speci-
fied period? Shall the quantity be
divided between two or more sup-
pliers? Shall the contract period be
long or short? Who shall be asked
to bid and on what basis?
Take an item like inked ribbons.
Western purchases well over $100,-
000 worth of inked ribbons a year
for the Bell System. They are used
for typewriters, tabulating machines,
adding machines, etc. Excluding all
insufficiently established or inexperi-
enced companies, there are some 41
In an average year, Western's Pur-
chasing people comb the Nation for the
thousands of finished products essential
to the Bell System's proper functioning.
These include such items as thousands of
motor vehicles, 124,000,000 pounds of
telephone directory paper, 750,000 tele-
phone poles, 1,125,000 crossarms, 35,-
000,000 feet of clay conduit, 31,000,000
pounds of steel line wire, 140,000,000
feet of steel strand, and 36,000,000
pounds of pole-line hardvv^are — as w^ell as
abrasives, building materials, ceramics,
chemicals, fuels, office supplies, paints
and varnishes, textiles, tools, wearing
apparel, leather products, furniture,
and hospital, laboratory, and restaurant
supplies.
suppliers of inked ribbons having suf-
ficient production capacity. Careful
study of these suppliers by purchas-
ing experts reduced the list to 10.
Now came the work of soliciting
bids for the different varieties of
inked ribbons to be covered by con-
tracts, each with its individual price.
Finally, when the bids came in, com-
parisons had to be made with the re-
sults of laboratory tests for each type
of ribbons and also to see whether
saving could be effected by dividing
the business among different suppli-
ers. The business was then split be-
tween two sources which were capable
of meeting the requirements as to
quality and at the most economical
price.
Or take an item like floor wax.
The Bell System's bill for floor wax
is some $200,000 per year. But that
is not all. More important than the
original cost is the maintenance cost
and the possible damage to linoleum
floors, if the wax is inferior. The
cost of linoleum in use in the Bell
5^
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
Steel from factories like this enters into the manufacture
of various items of telephone equipment
System exceeds $10,000,000. A. T.
& T. has figures to show that the
maintenance cost of linoleum is some
$3,500,000 per year. The figures
also show that improvements in wax
developed by Bell System engineers
over a period of 15 years and now
specified in suppliers' contracts have
saved the System some $1,000,000
per year in reduced maintenance costs.
It can thus be seen that the original
cost was not the only or the most im-
portant factor in this purchase but
that, as in many other similar in-
stances, years of cooperative effort
between the supply specialists of A.
T. & T., Western Electric's purchas-
ing specialists, and the suppliers were
required to evolve the present stand-
ards and produce current results.
Finally, let us take
an item designed espe-
cially for Bell System
use, requiring special
tools and techniques.
Such an item would be
the truck bodies for
vehicles.
There are a number
of important different
body designs for Bell
System trucks. These
range from the small
installation truck, with
its specially designed
body with drawers and
compartments for in-
stallers' equipment
mounted on a half-ton
chassis, to the big con-
st ruction trucks
mounted on 2- to 5-
ton chassis which are
equipped to pull line
wire, dig pole holes,
and perform other op-
erations. These truck bodies are not
easy to manufacture, and suppliers
who can produce them in strict ac-
cordance with A. T. & T. specifica-
tions, and at the same time produce
them economically, are difficult to
find. This is particularly so when
the demand is heavy and old-line sup-
pliers have more orders than they
can handle, with the result that new
suppliers must be developed. To se-
cure such bodies with the present steel
shortage. Western entered into
agreements with three suppliers to
produce aluminum bodies.
These examples illustrate some-
thing of the complexity of purchasing
for a delicately balanced and highly
intricate nation-wide telephone sys-
tem.
1949
Purchasing by the Western Electric Company
SZ
The Purchasing
Organization
The 600 people of the
Purchasing Division
who perform this major
task are organized Into
four groups.
They are : ( i ) the
group responsible for
the procurement of raw
materials and supplies
used in Western's manu-
facturing plants, such
as copper, lead, steel,
brass, lumber, machin-
ery, apparatus, tools
and equipment; (2)
the group responsible
for Bell System outside
plant materials, includ-
ing such items as tele-
phone poles, crossarms,
insulators, clay conduit,
motor vehicles, and
tools; (3) the group
responsible for the procurement of
Bell System inside plant material,
covering such Items as paper, printed
matter, office and janitors' supplies;
and (4) the group responsible for
recommendation of procedures for
coordinating purchasing activities,
supervision of clerical methods, and
studies of markets and material costs.
Reporting to each purchasing agent
within each group are the assistant
purchasing agents responsible for the
work of the buyers under their super-
vision. Each assistant purchasing
agent, with his group of buyers, is ex-
perienced in handling a particular
group of related or analogous prod-
ucts, such as automotive equipment,
which includes items like trucks, pas-
senger cars, gasoline, batteries, lubri-
These logs are on the way to become telephone poles.
Western purchased more than y^Ofioo poles in 1948
cants, tires and tubes; or building
equipment, which Includes such items
as fans, paints, and commercial re-
frigerating equipment; or the ceram-
ics group, with such items as clay con-
duit, insulators, porcelain tubes, and
pipe.
But efficient purchasing requires
that the men not only know their ma-
terials, suppliers, and markets, but
that they understand and be familiar
with local markets also. And for
that they must be on the spot — at the
Works, at the 28 Distributing
Houses, and in the field.
For this reason, purchasing units
are stationed at each of Western's
manufacturing plants to buy for their
respective locations, while local buy-
ers are also maintained at the Distril)-
54
Bell Telephone Magazine
uting Houses. Each local buyer is
actually a member of the Distributing
House organization at which he is
stationed, and his duties are to assist
in the proper placement of orders on
contract suppliers, to purchase miscel-
laneous non-contract material, and to
represent the Purchasing Division in
the field by giving information on lo-
cal conditions and potential sources of
supply.
The purchasing activities of all dis-
tributing houses except those on the
Pacific Coast are coordinated by the
headquarters supervisor of Distribut-
ing House buying. In addition, there
is a Pacific Coast purchasing agent
who acts as a general representative
of the Purchasing Division and assists
the Distributing House managers in
that area with their local buying
problems. He also negotiates cer-
tain contracts for such materials as
are required from coast suppliers and
coordinates his activities through a
headquarters purchasing agent.
These purchasing men know their
markets, know their materials, know
their suppliers. They understand
their suppliers' problems and by their
knowledge, ingenuity, and skill have
through war and emergencies not
only uncovered many reliable and val-
uable sources of materials and sup-
plies for the System but also helped
Western's suppliers meet the Bell
System's requirements.
Thus, year after year Western's
purchasing job means keeping open
hundreds of raw material and main-
tenance supply lines to the System it-
self. From thousands of cities and
towns, from 27,000 suppliers — a
cross section of American industry —
Western's Purchasing men continue
to gather the tens of thousands of
items needed in the maintenance and
operation of the Bell System.
Index Now Available
An index to Volume XXVII (1948) of the Bell Tele-
phone Magazine may be obtained without charge upon re-
quest to the Information Department of the American Tele-
phone and Telegraph Co., 195 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y.
Twenty-five Years Ago in the
Bell Telephone Quarterly
Items from Volume III, Number 2, April 1924
The Meaning of Research
To the Telephone Investor
In forecasting problems and supplying
their answers, the development and re-
search staff functions as a reconnaissance
agency which thoroughly investigates the
future, keeping the operating and service
branches of the telephone army which are
to follow supplied with exact information
as to the technical and industrial terrain
over which they will pass. In this way
the objectives of the future can be planned
and attained with much greater facility
and economy than would otherwise be pos-
sible.
Research helps to give not only better
service at a reduced cost to those who use
the telephone but also increases the variety
of services offered. It is important, there-
fore, not only to the executives of the Sys-
tem but to the telephone user because if as-
sures him the best service our knowledge
of natural laws makes possible. It fur-
thermore safeguards the investor and as-
sures him that those spending his money
have the broadest view of what science
holds in store and that, as new" discoveries
are made, they will be woven into the
plant, which his money has built, with the
maximum of efficiency and economy and
in such a way as to yield the best returns.
There are several methods of depicting
a corporation's business and financial stand-
ing. One of these, and perhaps the one
most usually appealed to, is the balance
sheet. But the balance sheet tells of the
past while research forecasts the future;
and the Bell System, while proud of its
balance sheet, faces the problems and op-
portunities of the future with the largest
research and development staff in the world,
with a successful record of achievement
behind it.
— From an article by R. W.
King and G. C. Southworth.
Southern Trans-
continental Line
The new Southern Transcontinental
Line — a through route from Denver to
Los Angeles by way of El Paso, Tucson,
and Phoenix — was placed in service on
the afternoon of December 22, 1923 and
a Chicago-Los Angeles circuit connected
up just in time to carry its share of the
heavy holiday traffic to and from the south-
western section of the United States.
This circuit . . . 2937 miles in length,
is the longest through circuit in the world.
It is more than 500 miles longer than the
Chicago-San Francisco circuit, more than
1200 miles longer than the New York-
Havana circuit, and more than 1 500 miles
longer than the New York-New Orleans
circuit. The longest known through cir-
cuits in any country of Europe, from Berlin
to Essen, 342 miles, and from London to
Glasgow, 418 miles, do not compare with
it in length.
The engineering and construction of
these long circuits was a notew^orthy
achievement. For a greater part of the
circuit the wires were run on existing pole
lines, but two long stretches of entirely
new poles were required, one covering
seventy-five miles between Denver and
Colorado Springs and the second, about
ninety miles in length, between San An-
tonio and Rincon.
Among the most serious of the problems
56
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRINGi
encountered, from the construction stand-
point, was the difficulty of transporting the
large amount of materials required. The
varied topographical and climatic conditions
met with in the course of the work may
be understood when it is remembered that
at one point — Raton Pass, near the Colo-
rado-New Mexico border — the altitude is
7,600 feet ; while at another — near Salton,
just over the California boundary fromi
Arizona — the line dips into a depression 2001
feet below sea level. In building the line,!
the telephone construction trucks had toi
make their way over mountain roads, des-i
ert sands, lava beds, cactus country andi
arid lands reclaimed by irrigation.
— From Notes on Recent
Occurrences.
Who's Who & What's What
(Continued from page 3)
moved to the group handling toll service
results and central office training ; and in
1945 he became Traffic Results Engineer.
In June 1949 he was transferred to the
Commercial division as Sales and Servic-
ing Engineer.
Joining the Bell Telephone Company of
Pennsylvania at Pittsburgh in 1923,
Arthur F. Leet transferred two years
later to the Commercial Results section of
the O. & E. Department of A. T. & T.
There his work has included the develop-
ment of coin telephone collection procedures,
analysis of business office results, and esti-
mates of Commercial expenses. At present
he is engaged in the improvement of bill
forms and billing procedures, of business
office methods in connection with custom-
ers' payments, and in the safeguarding of
collections.
Seven years as associate editor of Collier's
Magazine are reflected in George de
Mare's organization of the article on the
Western Electric Company as purchasing
agent for the Bell System and his exposition
of how the Company executes that complex
function. Leaving Collier's in 1943, he
joined the Public Relations division of
Western Electric, and is at present man-
aging editor of JVE, Western Electric's
new quarterly publication.
With the Pacific Telephone and Tele-
graph Company since 1924, Wheeler F.
ScHALL has spent the ensuing quarter cen-
tury in publicity, information, and advertis-
ing activities in the Information Depart-
ment— except for four years in the business
offices of the Commercial Department. He;
is now staff supervisor in the Company's!
Northern California and Nevada Area in-
formation office, and writes of the passing,
of San Francisco's most famous central
office with all the familiarity of an "Old'
China Hand."
Last winter's storms are long since past,
but their severity was so extreme as to take
JuDSON S. Bradley on a brief trip into
Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas
to observe their effect upon telephone serv-
ice. In Omaha he was able to learn from
Gen. Lewis A. Pick, director of "Operation
Snowbound," and from Mr. Donald
Stout, assistant manager of the Red Cross
Mid-western area, something of the part
which the telephone played in their wide-
spread rescue operations. In the sleet area
to the southward, he had opportunity to ob-
serve the progress of service restoration and
to talk not only with the men from many
states who were rebuilding the lines but
with others who were directing operations.
Joining the Information Department of the
Southern New England Telephone Com-
pany in 1925, after several years of edi-
torial and publishing experience, he trans-
ferred five years later to the corresponding
department of the A. T. & T., where he
has been for the past six years editor of
this Magazine.
Only Chinese Telephone Central Office outside of China
Yields to Progress as Switchboard Is Removed and Unique
Building Becomes Business Office
San Francisco's Chinatown
"Goes Dial"
IVheeler F. Schall
San Francisco's picturesque China-
town telephone central office, estab-
lished in 1894, and the only Chinese
telephone office outside of China
itself, has "gone dial."
At an early hour on January 22,
1949, the final cutover of all tele-
phones in Chinatown to dial opera-
tion was accomplished by the Pacific
Telephone and Telegraph Company,
without incident or public ceremony.
The telephones of 700 subscribers
had previously been changed to dial
service in November 1948. The
second cutover, involving an addi-
tional 1,400 subscribers, completed
the conversion project, and old
CHina 5 officially became YUkon 2.
While to many San Franciscans
the change marked the end of an
interesting chapter in local his-
tory, Chinatown's 12,000 inhabitants
looked on the transition as another
milestone in the Americanization of
their colony. Despite their deep
regard for tradition, San Francisco's
Chinese are forward-looking citi-
zens, keenly interested in civic prog-
ress and advancement of Western
culture.
Switchboards are being removed
from the pagoda-roofed telephone
building at 743 Washington Street,
and its ornate interior will be con-
verted to business-office purposes.
Equipment for Chinatown's new dial
service is housed in the company's
main operating building on nearby
Bush Street. The Chinese opera-
tors have been offered work oppor-
tunities in other central offices.
The history of the China exchange
requires a flashback to the begin-
nings of Chinatown, on a foggy
morning in February 1849, when the
sailing vessel Eagle, back from a
cruise in Far Eastern waters, dropped
anchor in San Francisco Bay at the
foot of Clay Street. The Eagle
carried in her hold a cargo of tea and
silk — and three Chinese : two men
58
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
and a woman. This trio had heard
in Canton of the discovery of gold
in Gum Shan, or Gold Mountain,
as the Chinese called America. They
had come to San Francisco to ac-
quire a fortune of a few hundred
dollars each. After that they would
return to China to live out their lives
in comfort, die in state, and be buried
among their ancestors with ceremony
befitting Chinese of high social rank.
These three persons were the first
Chinese immigrants to set foot in
San Francisco — or in California,
for that matter. Strangers in a
strange land, forlorn and disconso-
late, they trudged off the wharf
under the weight of their bundled
possessions and slowly climbed the
muddy trail which led to the Plaza.
Here they attracted a lot of atten-
tion with their oriental dress and
"pig-tails."
As trading vessels carried the news
of the gold rush around the world,
it was not long before the "cousins"
of these Chinese pioneers began to
arrive in increasing numbers. In-
coming ships brought at first a few,
then a score, and by the end of 1850
they were arriving in droves. Cali-
fornia needed the manpower, and
the Chinese were not only welcomed
but were urged to induce their coun-
trymen to come. By 1852, the
Chinese male population of Cali-
fornia was estimated at 22,000.
A majority of these immigrants
went directly to the gold fields.
There they were not so kindly re-
ceived as in San Francisco. They
worked long hours, found profit in
The Chinatown central office in San Francisco which was removed from traffic service
early this year. The golden dragons sprawled against a rose background near the roo/y
and the elaborate gilded wood carvings^ have been retained as the building is converted
to business-office use. At the desk in the center of the picture sits Loo Yee Kern^ China-
town manager. Behind him to his left are R. f. fVood, traffic chiefs and Florence
ChoWy then chief operator
1949
San Francisco's Chinatown ''Goes DiaP*
59
The operating room oj the Chwatown central office which was destroyed in the fire of igo6.
In the foreground stands Loo Kum Shee^ first manager and father of Loo Yee Kern
"diggings" which the white miners
had abandoned as worthless, and
lived frugally, hiding most of their
earnings away for the great day of
return to China.
In the meantime, a minority of
Chinese, mainly merchants and deal-
ers in coolie labor, remained in San
Francisco. These were the found-
ers of the settlement in the heart of
the city which eventually became
known as "Chinatown."
* * Invisible Spirits' '
The Chinese were quick to adopt
American machines and inventions
— except one. The exception to the
rule was located on Bush Street near
the southern end of Chinatown, in a
telephone office. There, by the early
'eighties, one could go and talk to in-
visible spirits of persons far away —
even as far as Sacramento. Now,
the Chinese were not afraid of most
machines, because they could see
how they worked. But talking to a
little black box on the wall and hav-
ing it talk back, sometimes in a for-
eign tongue, was surely the work of
evil spirits, and they would have
none of it.
However, one by one, the bolder
merchants and labor contractors
ventured to use the public telephone
in the Bush Street telephone office.
With no bad luck befalling them,
they repeated the experience until
superstition gradually disappeared
and the telephone became a factor
in the daily business activities of
Chinatown's business men. It was
several years, however, before it was
accepted in the Chinese home for
social use.
Most of the early Chinese tele-
phone business was conducted over
long distance lines. Practically all
of the calls were placed from points
outside of San Francisco by farm-
ers having produce to sell, and by
persons seeking Chinese laborers.
These calls would come into the Bush
Street office of the telephone com-
6o
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
Switchboard and operators of the Chinatown central office in igoi. Chinese men
continued to serve as operators until igo^-o^
pany with the request to have a par-
ticular Chinese merchant or labor
contractor in Chinatown called to the
telephone.
The company maintained a corps
of messenger boys to hunt up Chinese
wanted on the telephone. Finding
the right person in a settlement of
some 20,000 was no easy chore, but
the boys gradually learned to know
their customers' names and favorite
haunts. If the person wanted was
not found in his usual place of busi-
ness, the messenger would track him
down and send him to the Bush Street
office to answer his waiting call.
A Chinese customer seldom liked
to go to the telephone office alone.
When summoned for a call, he would
round up a coterie of his country-
men to go along — placing his faith
in the safety of numbers, even
against the designs of evil spirits.
Thus they would come in such num-
bers, many perhaps out of curiosity,
that before long the office became a
sort of community house.
Eventually, a public telephone was
installed at a more convenient loca-
tion, in the office of the Chinese
newspaper Mun Kee. This was
sometime prior to 1891 — the exact
date is not known. Thereafter, all
Chinese telephone business was trans-
acted there.
As the Chinese became more fa-
miliar with the telephone, they real-
ized its value in business and began
to ask for service in their stores and
offices. In 1894, a small switch-
board was installed in a building at
the corner of Washington and Du-
pont streets. (Dupont was later
renamed Grant Avenue.) This ex-
change served 37 telephones in
Chinatown, but was not connected
to the San Francisco system.
The Chinese became increasingly
enthusiastic about telephone service,
and applications mounted steadily.
Soon it became necessary to provide
a new switchboard and expand cen-
tral-office facilities. The new instal-
lation was placed in service in 1898,
with 200 business stations connected.
949
San Francisco's Chinatown "Goes Dial*
6i
This was the first Chinatown cen-
tral office to be connected with the
i Pacific Telephone and Telegraph
Company system serving the rest of
San Francisco, and provided exclu-
sively for the use of the Chinese.
A Chinese manager was placed in
charge. He solicited subscribers,
kept accounts, collected bills, and
hired and paid his own operators.
Subscribers talked exclusively in Chi-
nese. This custom gave San Fran-
cisco the unique distinction of having
the only telephone office in the world
conducted in an alien tongue.
The First Manager
Chinatown's first telephone man-
ager was Loo Kum Shu, a native
Californian, born near Marysville in
1864. His grandfather was among
the first Chinese immigrants to land
in California, arriving soon after
gold was discovered by Marshall at
Sutter's Mill. Loo Kum Shu's
father was employed by the Pacific
Mail Steamship Company until, on
an ill-fated voyage, he was lost at sea.
Loo Kum Shu, then eight years
old, was placed in the home of Mrs.
Florence Bokee, an American mis-
sionary, who taught him to speak
English and raised him as her own
son. He received his elementary
education in the Chinese Mission
School, at Jackson and Dupont
streets, where Mrs. Bokee was a
teacher. He continued his schooling
at the University of California, where
he was graduated.
Loo Kum Shu managed the China-
town telephone exchange for 28
years. The office early became one
of the show places of San Francisco,
and welcomed thousands of visitors
from all parts of the world. A
genial host, Loo Kum Shu made
many friends, and became one of the
best-known, best-liked citizens of the
community. He died December 8,
1926, at the age of 62. His funeral
was one of the largest ever held in
This group of Chinatown operators represents a total of i/f/ years of service
62
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
An operator at the Chinatown central office switchboard
Chinatown. The service, a quaint,
age-old ceremony, was held in the
open air in historic Portsmouth
Square.
Offices Old and New
The Chinatown telephone office
remained at the corner of Washing-
ton and Dupont streets until 1902.
In that year the company purchased
a building at 743 Washington Street,
and remodeled the interior especially
to accommodate an exchange which
would be unique in every respect and
worthy to become a showplace of
San Francisco.
The switchboard was ebony-fin-
ished, and above it two golden
dragons sprawled against a rose back-
ground. The ceiling was softly
tinted and richly embellished with
gilded wood carvings of intricate de-
sign and exquisite work-
manship. Walls were
done in black lacquer
trimmed with red and
gold. By night the of-
fice was illuminated
with huge Chinese lan-
terns, the most elab-
orate to be found in all
Chinatown. By day it
drowsed in the soft
mellow light that fil-
tered through quaint
oyster-shell windows.
And from the depths
of a richly tapestried
shrine near the en-
trance, a Chinese god
kept watch over the af-
fairs of the little office.
This ornate exchange
was destroyed in the
great San Francisco fire
of 1906. Nothing was saved but a
part of the underground plant. The
ruins had not yet ceased to smoulder
when plans were under way for ^a
new telephone system for Chinatown,
complete with a central office, larger
and better than the one destroyed.
The company erected its new Chi-
nese central-office building on the site
of the one razed by the fire, and in-
stalled an eight-position switchboard
of the latest design. The new office
was placed in service in August 1909,
with approximately 800 telephones
connected. This office served China-
town continuously under manual
operation until the system was con-
verted to dial.
The new China office was con-
structed along true oriental lines to
harmonize with its surroundings, al-
though the interior was not as ornate
1949
San Francisco's Chinatown "Goes Dial"
63
as that of its predeces-
sor. It was unique,
nevertheless, and re-
mained a showplace of
San Francisco, welcom-
ing thousands of visi-
tors every year.
Chinese
Operators
Most of the 25 Chi-
nese operators who
worked in the central
office followed tele-
phone work as a family
tradition. Employment
there gave a mark of
standing in the commu-
nity, and, as such, was
passed from parent to
child. In fact, several
of the operators were
daughters and grand-
daughters of men operators who
handled calls in the old China ex-
change of 50 years ago. Mothers
who operated the switchboard saw to
it that their daughters were properly
trained and educated for the work.
Each was made an accomplished
linguist, who spoke not only impec-
cable English but also five Cantonese
dialects : the Som Yup, Heong San,
Gow Gong, Say Yup, and Aw Duck.
Calls to China telephone subscrib-
ers were made in the usual way from
San Francisco telephones. How-
ever, some of the old-time subscribers
persisted in asking to speak to Lin
Yung or Ah Wong without giv-
ing the telephone number. Conse-
quently, a new operator spent a part
of her first three weeks' training
studying the names, addresses, and
telephone numbers of some 2500
A service representative accepts a customer s payment
subscribers listed in the China tele-
phone directory. Within a few
weeks the new operator was usually
able to recognize the party wanted,
whether asked for in English or in
Chinese. Little wonder, with serv-
ice like that, the practice of calling
by name instead of telephone number
continued to the last!
Choy Chan was one of the first
women operators to replace the men
who originally staffed China office.
As a girl, she was a messenger whose
duty it was to summon Chinese cus-
tomers to the telephone to answer
long distance calls. When Choy
Chan's father, Chan Yung Lai, one
of the first men operators, retired,
she took his place at the switchboard.
As late as 1901, in the days of the
Manchu Dynasty, Chan wore a
queue which he wound in a coil
64
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
around his head to keep it from
tangling with the switchboard keys.
With the creation of the Manchurian
Republic, queues of the Westernized
Chinese were doffed. Today, the
granddaughters of Chang Yung
Lai's contemporaries sit at their
switchboards wearing up-to-date
dress and hair styles like other
American girls.
Chinatown's unique telephone di-
rectory might be called America's
only "hand-painted" directory, since
all names, addresses, and numbers
were lettered by hand in Chinese
characters. The China directory
was set up by street addresses rather
than alphabetically, because the Chi-
nese language has no A-Z alphabet
The first Chinatown central office switch-
board of the Pacific Telephone and Tele-
graph Company, which handled 50 lines.
This picture, taken about i8g5, shows
Suey Sing Ching, operator; Chan Yung
Lai, standing; and the latter s son, Albert
Bew Chan, ready to summon a customer
to receive a long distance call
as we know it. Approximately 2800
of these books, which were exclu-
sively for Chinatown users, were de-
livered. For other San Francisco
telephone users, the Chinese names
and numbers are printed in English
in the regular city telephone direc-
tory.
The lettering of the Chinese direc-
tory was done by a young Chinese,
and required about two weeks to
complete. The finished pages were
then made into engravings ready for
the regular American printing proc-
ess. The expert letterer used a thick
sepia ink called "mock" taken from
the ink bag of a cuttlefish caught
in the ocean near Monterey. Pur-
chased in dried pieces and ground in
a mortar, the ink was mixed with
water and poured over a sponge
which served as an inkwell. The
letterer used a small brush called
"put."
Telephoning in Chinatow?i
Telephone habits of the Chinese
are quite different from those of
other San Franciscans, since they keep
their shops open until late at night
and sleep most of the morning. The
peak calling hour of the day comes
from 3 to 4 P.M., when numerous
social conversations are carried on.
A secondary peak calling hour is
from 1 1 A.M. to noon, when China-
town's late risers begin to stir and
start the day's business. These call-
ing habits make an interesting con-
trast with the peak hours for San
Franciscans in general, which are
from 9 to II A.M., 4 to 5 P.M., and
6 to 8 P.M.
Life in Chinatown is full of activ-
ity. Chinese operas occupy the at-
tention of many from 7 to 12 every
1949
San Francisco's Chinatown *'Goes DiaP*
6s
evening. Immediately after the
opera, it is the custom to return home
and telephone for food and refresh-
ments. Chinese telephone users fre-
quently retire at midnight when, sit-
ting up in bed, they call up friends
for lengthy conversations. China
exchange operators were not sur-
prised to find calls continuing from
midnight until four or five o'clock in
the morning. Chinese women, like
their American sisters, often market
by telephone, and excel in making
innumerable calls to bargain for the
lowest possible prices. This tele-
phone bargaining, of course, makes
for a high number of calls per day.
Tong wars used to make life inter-
esting for the telephone operators in
the old days. When such a conflict
arose, every member of the staff was
subject to immediate call to duty.
The echo of the first shot had scarcely
died before every position on the
switchboard was filled. This would
be none too soon, for the telephone
calling rate soon shot up fantastically
as the Chinatown populace rushed to
warn relatives. As tong wars were
always scheduled to start at the same
time in all cities, there would be a
deluge of long distance calls to China-
towns through the United States.
These, and the local calls, far ex-
ceeded the capacity of the boards and
the ordinary daily calling rate of
10,000. Delays piled up while
anxious relatives pleaded and the
operators, queues bobbing, worked
at top speed. Quite a contrast to the
peaceful Chinatown of today.
Quong Lee, a Chinese merchant in
the heart of the oriental colony, was
among the first 150 subscribers on
the Pacific Coast, and the first Chi-
nese telephone subscriber in the
Exterior of the former China 5 central
office in San Francisco
world. His name appears in the ini-
tial San Francisco telephone directory
dated June i, 1878, and his grandson
is still a subscriber with the same
name in the same location.
Loo Yee Kern, son of the original
manager Loo Kum Shu, is the pres-
ent manager of the China telephone
exchange. Kern took his first tele-
phone job at the age of eight, when
he and his brother distributed Chi-
nese telephone directories in a little
pushcart which they wheeled all over
Chinatown's 14 blocks. He learned
to operate the switchboard at the age
of 13. Florence Chow, his sister, was
the chief operator.
And even though the telephone
traflSc of the Chinese no longer has
its crossroads at 743 Washington
Street, the little pagoda-roofed "doll
house" still beckons to visitors,
proud of its part in San Francisco's
colorful Chinatown.
Freakish Weather^ Bringing B/izzards in the North and
Sleet further South^ Tests the Bell System s Telephone Plant
and Its Recuperative Powers
The Winter's Toll Was Heavy
From Texas to the Dakotas
Judson S. Bradley
Nature laid a heavy hand last win-
ter on much of our country's central
West, from the Canadian border al-
most to the Gulf. Extending from
the Rocky Mountains across the high
plains to the middle of Nebraska, the
blizzards were the severest within
the memory of man. Further south,
a series of sleet storms cut a wide
swath across Texas, Oklahoma, Ar-
kansas, Kansas and Missouri to cre-
ate one of the major service disasters
of Bell System history. And while
that is by no means a roster of all the
weather that occurred — as Southern
California, for example, can testify —
it was upon the territories of the
Northwestern, the Mountain States,
and the Southwestern Bell Tele-
phone Companies that the major and
most extensive storms fell.
The winter's storms are here
spoken of collectively, which may be
misleading. For not only were they
different in calendar and geography,
but they were different in kind and
hence in effect. And it is a bit of a
paradox that in the north, where
day after day of dry snow driven
by bitter winds brought damage,
suffering, and death in a vast area,
telephone plant stood up well and
telephone service was a carrier of
important tidings and a bringer of
needed help; while further to the
south the ice and sleet caused nothing
much more serious than inconven-
ience to the people in the affected ter-
ritory and yet laid low telephone
plant which it is costing about $io,-
000,000 to restore.
Spring follows even the toughest
winter, and all repairs were made
and service was fully restored long
since — thanks to the Bell System's
nation-wide resources and the flexi-
bility of its organization. But a
good many people are going to think
and talk for years to come of the
Blizzard of '49 as old-timers do of
JVinter^s Toll from Texas to the Dakotas
67
Traffic on U. S. Highway jo was completely blocked^ but traffic over the voice highways
beside the road flowed freely
the Blizzard of '88; and others fur- The gravity of the situation in the
ther to the south will for years to northern Plains States, and the heroic
come make only half-jocular refer- measures required to meet it, at-
ences to the Ice Age of 1949. tracted wide attention when, at the
This picture was taken from in front of the Northwestern BeWs business office on the
main street in Chadron^ Neb.
68
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
There is no hill here. These two North-
western Bell traffic people are standing in
front of a snowdrift on level ground
end of January, General Lewis A.
Pick, Corps of Engineers, U. S.
Army, was assigned to take charge
of "Operations Snowbound" — a res-
cue operation on the grand scale in
territory comprising 177,000 square
miles. General Pick, then Missouri
River division engineer, was builder
of the Ledo Road from India into
China during World War II, and is
now Chief of the Corps, with head-
quarters in Washington.
But the storms had a long head-
start.
The first one had hit the territory
of the Northwestern Bell toward the
end of last November, and was fol-
lowed by others early in December
and after Christmas. They did more
than a million dollars of damage to
telephone plant; but they were "nor-
mal" winter occurrences and could
be— and were — coped with.
January brought the real trouble.
Swept in on mile-a-minute gales, snow
swirled and piled up and swirled again
over the countryside almost continu-
ously for a month. Record-keepers
identify the storms of January 3—6
and January 22—23 ^'^d January
27—28; but the wind seldom stopped
its mad dance with whirling snow for
partner, and the plains for hundreds
of miles were overwhelmed. Most
of January was, in effect, one continu-
ous blizzard.
The consequences were disastrous.
In parts of Nebraska, North and
South Dakota, Wyoming, and Colo-
To clear a case of trouble here, this
binationman had to dig down to the
on top of 20-foot poles
corn-
wires
1949
PVinter^s Toll from Texas to the Dakotas
69
rado, mobility all but
ceased. Highways,
roads, farm lanes were
impassable. People
in cars and trucks fled
them and found shel-
ter— or missed it and
perished. Trains
were blocked for days
on end. Cattle froze
or starved by the
thousands. Not only
farm homes and
ranches were isolated
and imperiled, but
whole communities.
Often a thread of
wire — a telephone line — was the only
source of comfort and reassurance,
the only link with aid or rescue.
By and large, the telephone held
up against wind and snow. "The
telephone was our life line," said a
Nebraska rancher.
The telephone served in two major
ways. In hundreds upon hundreds
of individual instances, it brought
Stretcher case. Men of the Fifth Armyy the Red Cross y
and the State Patrol cooperated to bring this patient to
safety with an Army "weasel"
These men of the Mountain States Telephone and Tele-
graph Company^ and others not pictured^ used their
''snow buggy" to save several lives in the Cheyenne^
Wyo.y area
help — food or medicine or evacu-
ation or just a snow-ploughing bull-
dozer— to people whom winter had
immobilized. And — the other half
of the picture — the telephone di-
rected not only the responses to such
appeals but the large-scale operations
of local and state authorities, the
Army, the Red Cross.
The scene is large and the details
are many. There is
no full record, for ex-
ample, of the number
of babies who were
born in hospitals be-
cause the telephone
summoned a weasel
(light tractor-mounted
Army truck) or ski-
mounted plane to get
the mother there
ahead of the stork;
nor of the babies who
were born "by tele-
phone" so to speak —
with the guidance and
encouragement of the
doctor's voice coming
over the wire — be-
70
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
cause no vehicle could get through.
Three neighboring towns, all snow-
bound, had no doctor, so the Red
Cross stationed one at a point central
to all three, where a telephone sum-
mons could bring him air-borne to a
patient's bedside. Just about every
individual rescue — and there were
thousands — whether by Red Cross,
the Army, a community group, or a
telephone man in a heavy construction
truck, came as the consequence of a
telephone call.
The primary mission of General
Pick's "Operation Snowbound" was
to open roads in an area bigger than
all New England and a couple of
other states too. His forces un-
blocked more than 115,000 miles of
roads, and thereby gave many fami-
lies access to food, fuel, cattle feed,
and other necessities. His headquar-
ters were established in Omaha, and
two main field offices were opened in
Nebraska, two in South Dakota, and
one in Wyoming. These were sup-
plemented by more than 30 smaller
offices throughout the territory.
Thousands of men and hundreds of
pieces of heavy equipment were lo-
cated— most of them by telephone —
and dispatched with all possible
speed, and the telephone played its
vital part in bringing reports and
conveying directives throughout the
vast area.
Said General Pick, "Operation
Snowbound relied constantly upon
the telephone and other speedy
means of communication. Without
the telephone and the fine coopera-
tion of telephone people and switch-
board operators, our task would have
been much less speedily accomplished
and relief longer delayed."
"Operation Snowbound'': the general Headquarters office in Omaha
1949
Winter s Toll from Texas to the Dakotas
71
Flying Doctor. A telephone call to the Red Cross brought him to a patienCs bedside by
helicopter or by plane equipped with skis
The primary mission of the Red
Cross took up where the Army left
off. It was to meet all basic human
needs of an emergency nature : food,
fuel, medicine, evacuation of the eld-
erly and ill and injured. So close was
the coordination between the two that
Mr. Donald Stout, Assistant Man-
ager of the Red Cross Mid-western
area, set up his headquarters in the
same Omaha building with General
Pick and his staff, and consultation
was frequent and effective.
While the scope of the disaster
called for the assistance of national
Red Cross representatives and na-
tional funds, most of the work was
performed by Red Cross local chap-
ter volunteers. Canteens fed block-
aded travelers, 348 air force and pri-
vate planes flew Innumerable mis-
sions of mercy, 644 persons were
evacuated by air arid others by vari-
ous types of land vehicles.
The telephone, said Mr. Stout,
"was invaluable in practically every-
thing we did. By telephone we were
able to dispatch directives quickly, to
route our planes and personnel, order
relief supplies, make surveys. . . ."
Many a telephone operator, hav-
ing reached the central office against
a snowy blast, could not venture
home again for days, and stayed
either at a nearby hotel or on a cot
in the telephone building until the
fury of the storm abated. In some
places they could get out for meals,
elsewhere food was sent in, and in
still other places where the traffic
load was heav>% snowbound Plant
and Commercial men cooked meals in
the Traflic kitchenettes and even did
"KP" afterward.
72
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
'••kf*''
No traffic moves on this Missouri highway because the glistening ice on its surface is
three inches thick and quite unnavigable
Operation Snowbound
The Score
115,138 miles of road cleared in four
states.
243,780 marooned people reached by
road clearance operations.
4,010,000 head of livestock provided
with access to feed.
i>559 reconnaissance trips made by
air and ground vehicles.
14,565 Red Cross services provided
by air and ground vehicles.
876 ill and aged persons evacu-
ated, two-thirds by air.
11,130 families aided through Red
Cross services.
17,419 meals served in Red Cross
canteens.
Telephone men took on extra duty
in getting operators to and from
work in company cars and heavy
trucks; and in Colorado and Wyo-
ming, men of the Mountain States
Company, which has specially
equipped snowmobiles for traveling
off the roads, responded to urgent
summons and saved the lives of sev-
eral men, women and children.
One operator spoke for all these
blizzard-beleaguered telephone peo-
ple when, after battling her way to
the central office, she said, "Sure it
was tough getting down here. But
if there is any romance in the tele-
phone business, it is in times like
these when everyone is trying to
make a call of some kind and you
never know how much that particu-
lar conversation will mean to the
customer."
1949
Winter s Toll from Texas to the Dakotas
73
fFhat the sleet did to this Dallas-St. Louis line near the Texas-Oklahoma border is
typical of the destruction over a wide area
Farther to the south, Kansas and
Oklahoma had likewise been plagued
by November storms. They were
just curtain-raisers, however, for
what the New Year brought.
What it brought was storms in se-
ries ; wind, rain, floods, sleet — mostly
sleet. For the last three weeks of
January, a good part of the territory
of the Southwestern
Bell Telephone Com-
pany was subject to a
succession of sleet
storms which added up
to the costliest and
most extensive catas-
trophe in that com-
pany's experience.
From the western
border of Texas in a
wide band to the north-
and eastward for 1500
miles, clear to the up-
per edge of Missouri,
and including a large share of Okla-
homa and corners of Kansas and Ar-
kansas, trees went down, poles went
down, wires went down.
Before the sleet of the January 10
assault had melted, forces were ral-
lied to the pressing task of restora-
tion. But it was a Sisyphean under-
taking; for a crew which rebuilt and
Some icicles were as much as six inches long
74
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
restrung an open-wire pole line and and power lines suffered too. The
left it firm and secure might be called stoppage of light and heat and
back a few days later to pick it up power brought floods of emergency
out of the road where it had been telephone calls, yet many could not
flung by a second crushing load of be completed over broken wires.
ice. In some places such heartbreak- Emergency generators were pressed
ing occurrence actually happened into use, operators in scores of cen-
three times in a row before the tral ofllices worked by candlelight,
storms left off bedeviling that part of and in some places they had to resort
the world. to hand ringers. More than one
By that time, the score for South- chief operator looks back on that
western Bell, and for the Long Lines combination of heavy calling and
Department of A. T. & T., which of limited facilities as the most trying
course operates through the same ter- period of her career.
ritory, was staggering. Of the for-
mer's outside plant alone, 24,000 tele-
phone poles were down, 36,000 cross-
arms were broken. There were more
than 200,000 breaks in toll wire
alone, 53,000 telephones were dead.
Some 200 communities were isolated
and 4800 long distance circuits were
knocked out.
It was not only telephone poles
and wires that fell. Electric light
This chicken house provided shelter for one half of a pair of portable radio telephone
units which gave temporary service between Eldon and fefferson City^ Mo.
1949
Winter s Toll from Texas to the Dakotas
IS
The great needs were,
of course, two: mate-
rials— supplies and
equipment — to replace
what was destroyed or
useless; and men, to
build the materials
bacic into the plant and
restore the service.
Both were forthcoming
— fast.
All Southwestern
Bell's own crews were
summoned and assigned
to storm repair, natu-
rally. But because the
Bell System operates as
just one unit when exi-
gencies require, help
came from neighboring
Associated Companies
not so storm-stricken —
Illinois Bell, Southern
Bell, Mountain States
Tel. & Tel. And Long
Lines sent in crews
from 1 8 states. To see
telephone trucks from Florida and
Colorado and Pennsylvania and
Michigan and many another state all
concentrated on the one task, and to
know that the men can work effi-
ciently, no matter where their home
base, because methods and materials
are the same everywhere, is to get
some concept of what the Bell Sys-
tem is and what its single aim means
for the nation's telephone service.
So the outside crews came a-run-
ning. They were most welcome, and
preparations had been made to wel-
come them. For men need places to
sleep and food to eat; and when
many men suddenly descend upon
sparsely settled areas, with commu-
Me7ty trucks, and supplies combine to bring about this
swift restoration near Durante Okla.
nities small and perhaps many miles
apart, they pose a problem to which
an answer must be found with no
delay.
Southwestern Bell plant men found
many answers. They practically
took over such hotels and motor
courts as met the need. They ob-
tained rooms in private homes, they
found temporary accommodations in
Veterans' Hospital, National Guard
Armory, school dormitory, other un-
usual quarters. Many a hotel chef
got up earlier, many a dining-room
proprietor called in more waitresses,
many a lunch-room operator doubled
and tripled his orders for supplies to
care for the appetite of the new-
76
Bell Telephone Magazine
SPRING
Temporary restoration near Abilene ^ Tex.:
a broken pole reset to get the toll lead back
into service
comers. But all were housed and
fed, so that they could and did go at
their tasks with energy.
Soon after the sleet-fall, in some
places the ice under foot was a haz-
ard. At times the trucks could not
be used because they could not be
controlled on the sheer glaze, and
when men attempted to walk or to
carry materials they could scarcely
stand and could make no forward
progress.
On some days chilly rain fell. The
men were clad against it, but it was
disagreeable, and as they worked they
prayed that it would not freeze.
The greatest villain — after the
sleet — was mud : sticky, heavy
gumbo, the kind that won't come off.
Even four-wheel-drive trucks with
chains on all four wheels bogged
down, and when a driver gave full
power to wheels that the mud
gripped fast, an axle was likely to
snap. More than one crew, loaded
with crossarms or wire or hardware,
had to walk miles through mud which
grew heavier with every step because
no truck could negotiate the mire
which halted direct access to the line.
The point is, of course, that de-
spite many handicaps the men got to
where they were needed. Once
there, they pitched right in, and by
virtue of long days, expert skill, and
capable direction, got the job done.
The circuits were quickly back on an
emergency basis, while more perma-
nent restoration followed where
necessary.
Even before the wires could be put
back. Bell System emergency radio
telephone equipment brought stop-
gap service to break many towns'
isolation. To supplement South-
western Bell's three two-way sets,
others were quickly obtained from
the Wisconsin, Illinois, Mountain
States, and Southern Bell companies,
and Long Lines, and between the
middle of January and early Febru-
ary almost 1300 toll calls were han-
dled by these portable sets. Over
one of them the average was 100
calls a day for four days.
Urgent as was the need for resto-
ration, safety of every man was the
first consideration. Falls and power
lines were the big hazards, and
against these the Plant Department
took special precautions. Standing
poles, no matter how firm they
seemed, were pike-tested before men
climbed them; and lines were pre-
checked for contact with dangerous
1949
IVinters Toll from Texas to the Dakotas
77
power lines before the men were per-
mitted a near approach.
Cooperation between telephone
men and power company men was
cordial and effective. The foremen
gave priority to power company dis-
patching circuits, so that the power
companies could send emergency
crews to repair dangerous line
breaks, and those crews made it their
first business to free telephone wires
of "power crosses."
Even as telephone men poured in
from more than a score of states lo
meet the crisis, so did telephone sup-
plies— thanks to the scope, the or-
ganization, and the emergency ex-
perience of the Western Electric
Company, the manufacturing and
supply unit of the Bell System.
As the extent of the damage in
Southwestern Bell territory became
apparent, Western Electric went into
action, following the pattern which
experience has proved so effective in
Bell System emergencies over a pe-
riod of many years. Emergency or-
ganizations, set up before the win-
ter storm season commenced, were
alerted. Within hours of the first
damage reports, badly needed sup-
plies were rolling into the storm
areas by plane, truck, and train.
Key personnel of Western's Dis-
tributing Houses, Merchandise and
Supplies Service organizations, and
Traffic Division remained on the
alert 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, to expedite shipments of mate-
rials. The demands for supplies to
restore service presented the severest
test of Western Electric's emergency
resources since the New England hur-
ricane of 1938. From January 12
until storm requirements were ful-
filled, shipments of copper line wire
alone amounted to 2,100,000 pounds.
Among other items delivered in very
large quantities during this period
were 9,800,000 feet of drop wire,
241,000 pounds of copper tie wire,
108,000 pounds of steel line wire,
720,000 feet of strand, 1,771,000
copper tie splints, 1,469,000 sleeves,
Texas mud greatly complicated the progress of restoration
No Wonder We Won a War
Durant, Oklahoma
February i, IQ4Q
The Telephone Hour
N. B. C, Radio City
New York, N. Y.
To Whom It Will Be of Most Interest:
This is the right time to tell the Bell
Telephone Company some of the nice
things we know about them.
Last week we were without a tele-
phone, due to the ice-storm that envel-
oped this district, a continuation of one
that developed in west and north Texas
early in January. Unless one witnessed
it, it is impossible to believe! The tops
of tall trees lay on the ground, under
tons of sheet-ice — the telephone and elec-
tric lines were as large around as a man's
forearm and of course were eventually
a mass of tangled wreckage. For sixty
hours the noise of falling wires and tim-
ber was like a barrage in battle — in fact,
one facetious fellow's last call before his
phone went out, was to the newspaper
and the single word "T-i-m-b-e-r !"
Our telephone went out Tuesday — by
Saturday hundreds of men from this and
surrounding states — telephone crews —
were working feverishly to restore serv-
ice. In the block behind my home it
took hours to beat the ice off the fallen
wires, put up new poles and cross-beams.
I did not see one man (and I had a
good observation post) hesitate or waste
time in this work of restoration — altho
the temperature stood for hours at 3
degrees to 10 degrees above zero.
Those men climbed the poles and
worked as if it were a pleasure — singing
and joking and laughing — not a gripe!
At dark last night when I could no
longer see, two men were still on top of
a telephone pole just back of my house.
I don't know if they "observe hours" —
but service was certainly the first objec-
tive with them, I can assure you! (No
wonder we won a war.)
When night came we tuned in to "The
Telephone Hours" as we always do — I
hoped some reference would be made to
the loyalty and efforts of these men (but
we are so small and so far away from
Radio City) but I was not disappointed,
only the half was not told : Nor could it
be! Like this reference I must make to
a youngster, not more than twenty years
old, I'm sure, who lifted and attached
our personal service wire. The pole
with the saw on it was heavy, a heavy
limb was across the wire and the long
line was heavy and the boy cold — so —
he lost control of the pole and it fell,
striking him across the face and head,
staggering him, and knocking his cap to
the ground. I felt like saying a bad
word for him, as he didn't, but without
hesitation he grasped that instrument
again with an air of "I'll show you who
is boss," and finished his job. Then
when he came in to check my 'phone, he
observed that my cord was worn so he
volunteered "I'm going to report your
cord in bad condition and you'll get a
new one soon." (Just that extra ounce
of service.)
Yes, your program and music is won-
derful and your organization a miracle
but a miracle brought about by the loy-
alty and interest of men like that boy —
Thank you for both.
Sincerely,
Mrs. W. C. Riddle
78
Winter s Toll from Texas to the Dakotas
79
81,700 crossarms, and over 15,000
poles.
All told, a total of 52 different
classes of items were shipped from
Western Electric Distributing
Houses, factories, and suppliers in
72 cities and towns in 24 states and
delivered to the Southwestern Bell
Telephone Company at point of
need. Despite the magnitude of this
emergency job, there was no sacrifice
of quality in the materials supplied.
Western Electric supplies inspectors
saw to it that the same high stand-
ards were maintained in the emer-
gency shipments that apply in every-
day operation.
Focal points for the distribution of
these large quantities of materials to
the affected areas were Western Elec-
tric's St. Louis Distributing House
and the Houses located at Dallas,
Kansas City, and Houston. Supplies
were sped from these Distributing
Houses and direct from suppliers to
the telephone company repair crews
in the field as fast as needed. Dis-
tributing House stocks were immedi-
ately replenished from Merchandise
stock at Western's Works locations
and at suppliers' plants or from mate-
rial specially manufactured by West-
ern Electric and its suppliers. Ship-
ments were also made to the Houses
in the affected area from Western
Electric Distributing Houses in Min-
Day and nighty the supplies were loaded aboard trucks at Western Electric distribution
houses for the storm area. This picture was taken at the Houston House
8o
Bell Telephone Magazine
neapolis, Denver, New Orleans, and
Atlanta.
At factory locations, normal ship-
ments of critical items were diverted
to the storm areas until emergency
requirements were filled. Many
items were manufactured on a highly
accelerated basis. One such emer-
gency assignment was an order for
some eight miles of toll cable to re-
place cable destroyed by an overload
of ice on the main pole route between
Dallas and Oklahoma City. By giv-
ing the job the highest priority.
Western Electric's Point Breeze
Works made and delivered the cable
in one week. A short time later,
four miles of toll cable for emergency
replacement near Denison, Texas,
was turned out by Point Breeze in
four days.
At one point, to keep pace with the
demand for copper sleeves. Western
Electric had the raw materials
shipped by air express from Rome,
N. Y., to Chicago. The shipment
arrived at 7 p.m. on a Saturday and
was taken to Western's Clearing and
47th Street Plants for processing.
Finished sleeves were on their way to
the St. Louis Distributing House by
noon next day.
Many times, storm orders came
through late at night. For just such
situations. Western Electric main-
tains an emergency directory of
Western Electric personnel, sup-
pliers, and transportation companies,
which gives the home telephone num-
bers of individuals delegated to han-
dle emergencies. Suppliers' repre-
sentatives were frequently located at
their homes — one was even called out
of a barber's chair while being
shaved — by members of Western
Electric's Supplies Service organiza-
tion and requested to get material
ready for shipment. Meanwhile,
members of Western's Traffic Divi-
sion telephoned trucking companies,
airlines, railroads to arrange for the
routing of the cargo to the storm
areas by the fastest means possible.
Delivery of such large quantities
of materials In such quick time Is pos-
sible because Western Electric's long
experience with the needs and prob-
lems of the Bell companies permits
advance planning, because Western
Electric's nation-wide facilities may
be called upon at a moment's notice
night or day, and because Western
Electric and telephone company peo-
ple are accustomed to working to-
gether in emergencies and In day-to-
day operations as a closely Integrated
team.
Call them one storm or many, they
presented a challenge to the Bell
System. And in both areas, north and
south, the System's men and women
— and, yes, organizations — have
again shown their capabilities. They
may properly be proud of the special
service which they have rendered to
many people over large sections of
our country.
ime Y^:XN\\\'^ Number I wo
iSummer ig4Q
Where Do We Go From Here? Ka.n^lX^
Harry Disston
The Role of Communications in
Red Cross Operations
Wade Jones
Robert Devonshire's Letterbook
Ralph E. Mooney
nn'ieiepnone
Bell Tele|)iione/kw^
Summer 1949
Where Do We Go from Here? Harry Disston, 83
The Bell Statue at Brantford, 96
Helen Keller Visits the Bell Laboratories, 97
The Role of Communications in Red Cross Operations,
fVade Jones, 99
Progress of the Rural Service Program, 108
Robert Devonshire's Letterbook, Ralph E. Mooney, no
Desert Isle Books, 122
Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly, 124
Bell Laboratories and Western Electric to Operate Sandia
Laboratory for AEC, 125
Who's Who & What's What in This Issue, 126
A Medium of Suggestion ^ a Record of Progress
Published for the supervisory forces of the Bell System by the Information Department of
American Telephone and Telegraph Co., /p5 Broadway^ New York 7, A^ Y.
Leroy a. Wilson, President; Carroll O. Bickelhaupt, Sec; Donald R. Belcher, Treas.
The ironze statue of Alexander Graham Bell unveiled in Brantjord^ Untario^
last June i8. See also page g6
Commercial Engineers Study the Pasty Survey the Present^
and Consider the Future in Order to Make Forecasts of the
Demand for Telephone Service
Where Do We Go
From Here?
Harry Disston
How MANY PEOPLE in the Alpha
Telephone Company's territory will
want telephone service? What kind?
When ? Where ? How much ?
A broad answer to those questions
is the starting point for a host of tele-
phone activities. These primary
questions lead to a number of others.
If the "demand" for telephones in
the next year is such-and-such, what
will it be in three years? What will
be the relation of telephone gain to
the demand for telephones? How
many people will move — within a
given city and away from it? How
many rural families will want tele-
phone service?
What will be the trend in discon-
nection of service over the next sev-
eral years? How many orders will
be held for lack of facilities at the end
of the year, and what will be the
"melt"? In what proportion will ap-
plicants ask for one-, two-, and four-
party service, and how soon shall we
be able to increase the proportion of
individual lines to the high percentage
existing just prior to the war?
The answers to those questions de-
pend in turn upon answers to others
— many of which are provided by
various departments.
What is the business outlook — the
trend and level of personal income,
industrial activity, employment?
What will be the trend of consumer
credit and prices? How will the
trend of telephone growth coordinate
with business conditions — will it lead
or lag behind?
What is the outlook for residential
construction? What will be the an-
nual increase in population? Will
people marry at an older or a younger
age during the next ten years? What
will be the average size of the Amer-
ican family — in urban and in rural
areas?
Has the telephone moved perma-
nently higher on the list of the aver-
age man's necessities? Have we
reached a new phase in the long-term
84
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
This picture and the one opposite represent a "'crystal ball" problem. The aerial
camera found little but highways and empty fields in the Spring of i()4'J
trend of telephone growth? How
will growth in business telephones
compare with growth in residence
telephones? To what extent will cus-
tomers' desires for individual-line
telephones rather than party line serv-
ice increase?
Of course, nobody knows the an-
swers to all of these questions — but
thought must be given to all of them.
The forecaster — the Commercial En-
gineer— does not attempt to evaluate
quantitatively each of the various fac-
tors he considers in making his for-
ward look, but he must be aware of
each and evaluate them qualitatively.
Into the estimate goes a good deal of
experience and judgment and, if you
like, a certain "feel" for the figures.
The Commercial Engineering peo-
ple do not attempt to come to their
forecasting conclusions alone. The
Company Statistician helps analyze
and forecast probable business con-
ditions. The Sales and Servicing peo-
ple advise on promotional plans.
The Engineering and Plant men ad-
vise on the extent and nature of the|
construction program and where fa-
cilities existing and obtainable are
short of customer demand. Man-
agers and district managers provide
the local background and point of
view which are so important in ap-
praising correctly the probabilities of
customer requirements for telephone
service in a given community.
Based on these sources and on re-
view of a variety of reference ma-
terial, the Commercial Engineers as-
semble and coordinate all the perti-
nent facts and viewpoints and set
them down as assumptions on which
to make their forecasts — after the as-
sumptions have had executive ap-
proval.
1949
Where Do We Go From Here?
85
Eighteen months later, this is what the aerial camera saw. There are now some 6000
* houses in total in this enormous privately financed housing development
Importance of the Answers
The plans of the Bell System Com-
panies are intimately keyed to one
primary piece of information: — ap-
proximately how many telephones a
company, a city, an exchange, or even
a portion of an exchange, will have
to serve at some specified time in the
future. Or, put another way, what
the growth requirements, the "net de-
mand," will be over or during a cer-
tain period. This is the primary an-
swer which all the questions just cited
must provide.
The Engineers need this informa-
tion so that they may plan new build-
ings, new central offices and additions
to old ones; plan basic cable layouts
and additions to existing cable; and
determine the extent of such projects
and the time when they should be
initiated.
All of the operating departments
— Plant, Traffic, Commercial, Ac-
counting— need the information so
that they can estimate the amount of
work expected of them and provide
adequate trained forces to handle it.
For the forecast of telephone growth
gives a good clue to the number of
additional calls, visits, and letters the
business-office people will be required
to care for; the approximate number
of calls for "Operator" and for "In-
formation"; the amount of mainte-
nance to be required for dial equip-
ment and switchboards; the number
of bills to be processed; and the size
and number of directories to be
printed.
The Sales people need the informa-
tion to determine their markets and
to plan their programs.
Those concerned with the financial
aspects of the business need it in esti-
86
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
mating the amount of money required
to finance new construction.
THE RECENT PAST
The post-war years posed a partic-
ularly difficult problem for the fore-
casters. Here was an unusually high
demand for telephone service, in 1946
about four times the highest year
prior to the war. How long would
this continue? Even with the greatly
expanded production of the Western
Electric Company and the help of
other manufacturers and a large in-
crease in force, how many telephones
could be added? And to complicate
the problem, there was an acute short-
age of materials. Those who pre-
dicted that the unprecedented demand
would continue for several years were
right. The Bell System gained as
many new telephone customers in each
of 1947 and 1948 as during the 11-
year period from 1930 to 1941!
There were as many telephones added
in the three-year period from Janu-
ary I, 1946, to January i, 1949, as
in the preceding ten years !
TYPES OF TELEPHONE GROWTH FORECASTS
Forecasts of telephone growth are
made for a variety of purposes, but
the greatest activity in this respect is
in connection with forecasts made as
a basis for engineering central office
relief or additions; for engineering
extensions of the outside plant; and
for fundamental long-range planning
— buildings, new central offices, con-
duit layout, and similar projects.
These forecasts of telephone
growth are also important, of course,
in planning and carrying out the com-
prehensive activities of the Associated
Companies for extending and improv-
ing telephone service in rural areas.
More than 80 percent of the families in this area of a New England city have telephone
servicCy and about half of them have individual lines
1949
Where Do We Go From Here?
87
Even in this temporary housing development^ more than 60 percent of the families have
telephone service or have applied for it
In each case, there is some varia-
tion with respect to the period cov-
ered, the area included, the amount of
breakdown by classes of service, the
amount of field inspection, and, of
course, the frequency with which the
forecasts are made. Such forecasts
are generally initiated by a request
from the Plant, Engineering, or Traf-
fic Departments when a construction
project is being considered.
A Typical Forecast
Let us see briefly how a typical
forecast is made — one to be used, for
example, as a basis for engineering
underground cable "relief" in a single-
office city.
First, the characteristics and his-
tory of the exchange are studied.
Tables and charts showing yearly and
monthly data regarding growth in
total telephones, main telephones, and
lines are studied. So are the propor-
tion of various classes of service, and
other such factual data summarized
from Company records and from pre-
vious studies and forecasts. Perti-
nent newspapers clippings, building
reports, and other like information
made available by the local manager
are also reviewed. A study of these
past trends and the current informa-
tion are then checked against similar
trends for the area as a whole.
Next, an engineer, in the Commer-
cial Engineer's organization, makes a
field inspection of the exchange — in-
cluding not only the urban sections but
any rural areas covered by the ex-
change. He takes with him a map of
the entire exchange, subdivided into
the areas served by each of the main
feeder cables and further subdivided
within these areas into homogeneous
sections.
88
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
This semi-permanent housing project near a large mid-Western tuy LOrUuins j/oo units.
In them are iioo subscribers to telephone service^ and there are about 200 held orders
On the outskirts of the same city these jo houses were built in one block. At the time the
picture was taken, 2j had been sold and 24. orders for telephone service had been placed
A homogeneous section is one in
which the income characteristics of
families, and therefore the telephone
growth probabilities, are similar.
This normally would be a relatively
large area, characterized in residen-
tial sections by similarity in quality
of dwellings, uniformity and density
of dwellings, uniformity in the indi-
cated income status of the families,
and telephone development. These
homogeneous sections are termed
"forecast sections."
The general classification in broad
1949
Where Do We Go From Here?
89
boundaries of each forecast section is
reviewed with the local manager (in
the larger cities with the District or
Division Manager). The manager,
as a continuing activity, keeps himself
posted as to the local outlook for
growth through his contacts and dis-
cussions with local realty people and
civic and business groups. He is also
in touch, of course, with the telephone
equipment and plant situation through
his Plant and Traffic coordinates.
The engineer, frequently accompa-
nied by the local manager, then makes
an on-the-ground inspection of the
area for which the forecast is re-
quired, noting particularly its charac-
ter and the probabilities and indica-
tions of growth and increased tele-
phone development. The forecast
sections within the area are viewed
to ascertain that the boundaries, indi-
cated on the map, encompass a por-
tion of the area which is actually ho-
mogeneous.
Having finished his inspection of
the area, the engineer, with the as-
sistance of the manager, notes basic
assumptions with respect to the
growth of the area — that is, the "de-
mand" for telephone service — in the
next few years. Such assumptions are
based on current economic conditions,
the results of inspection of the area,
and the views of the local people.
DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION
Telephone growth in a homoge-
neous section of an exchange results
from two basic factors : an increase in
the number of existing families with
service, commonly expressed as "per-
cent development" ; and an increase in
the number of families in the area.
For engineering purposes, the
Plant and Engineering people must
Even in this rather run-down section near the city's lousiness center^
telephone development is 50 percent
90
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
know the number of lines required to
serve these families. The number of
lines depends, of course, upon the rel-
ative numbers of subscribers who
want one-, two-, and four-party serv-
ice (commonly expressed as "percent
distribution").
In order to forecast future devel-
opment and distribution, it is desira-
ble to have some indication of what
the development and distribution are
currently, in each of the forecast (ho-
mogeneous) sections within the area.
Records of distribution are available
from Company records only for ex-
changes and sometimes central offices;
and since development is associated
with families, it is not available at
all from official Company records.
Therefore, the engineer must deter-
mine these two items in the field — on
the ground.
The engineer carefully counts the
number of families in a sample area
and then, from Plant assignment or
street-address records, determines the
number of families who have tele-
phone service and what grade of serv-
ice they have. In determining the
number of families who have service,
any held orders are included. From
these data he computes the percent
development (families with service)
and the percent distribution (individ-
ual, two-party and four-party).
THE CRYSTAL BALL
Armed with a knowledge of the
general business outlook and the out-
look for the area for which the fore-
cast is to be made, a study of past
trends, and a thorough on-the-ground
review of the area, the engineer esti-
mates for each forecast section what
he believes the future development
will be.
Based on the number of lines as
furnished by the Plant Department
and ratios developed from the sam-
pling, the number of main telephones
in each forecast section is computed,
and a forecast is made of the develop-
ment in the future. This percent-
age is applied to the current main tele-
phones to indicate the number of tele-
phones the present families will have.
The difference between this figure and
the current number of telephones in
the area is the growth : the installa-
tion of telephones in the homes of
families who presently do not have
service; penetration of the unsold
market.
The number of additional families
who will move into each of the fore-
cast sections is then forecast. This
estimate is based largely on the re-
sults of the field inspection, during
which were observed the type of
dwelling, current building, and vacant
lots. The building contracts let in
the area and the plans of the local
realtors are studied. Estimates must
also be made of what percent of these
new families will probably have serv-
ice. The development among the new
families may be the same, poorer, or
better than that estimated among ex-
isting families — although generally it
is estimated to be the same. From
these factors, the growth in tele-
phones expected from the new fami-
lies is computed.
Adding the growth expected from
increased develooment and that from
new families indicates the total tele-
phone growth to be expected in the
section over the forecast period.
In this example, we have assumed
a continued growth. Under some cir-
cumstances there might be, of course,
1949
Where Do We Go From Here?
91
Left: Five years agOy tele-
phone development in this
section of a southern city
was less than ^o percent;
today it is 75 percent or
more
Right: Pie-war telephone
development in this ''cot-
tage" area was yo percent.
Now the few houses with-
out telephones will have
theyn when facilities are
available
a loss of families and a decrease in
development.
We have also assumed that the
area was residential. Normally, and
especially where there is a community
shopping and service center in or close
to a residential section, the expected
growth in the business section is de-
termined by its relationship to the
residential section: — so many busi-
ness main telephones per 100 popula-
tion, per 100 families, or even per
100 residence main telephones, de-
pending on which of these data, from
experience in the local area, are sig-
nificant and available.
The forecast of main telephone
growth is converted to line growth —
the information desired by the Plant
Engineers — through a simple arith-
metic computation. The forecast of
two- and four-party main telephone
growth is divided by feasible "line
fills" determined by consultation with
the Plant Department.
Although, in our example of a resi-
dential area, there may be few mis-
cellaneous lines, in many sections
there might be a considerable number.
These are needed for signaling, wired
music, radio and video wire channels,
alarm systems, off-premise extensions,
private lines, and such. The Sales
and Servicing people will indicate the
probabilities of future demand for
these miscellaneous lines.
Now we have the total growth
forecast during the desired period,
and consequently the line require-
ments.
But this is not enough.
The specific periods to be covered
by a forecast vary, depending on the
92
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
time, the place, local conditions, the
use to be made of the forecast, the
nature of the engineering problem in-
volved, and other such considerations.
Having determined the picture for
the period ahead, estimates are made
for intermediate periods by a combi-
nation of interpolation and the same
considerations that controlled the
longer view.
And still the job is not done. The
almost completed forecast — the line
requirements in each of the homoge-
neous sections — must be looked at in
perspective, must be examined to see
if it is logical. The rule of reason
must be applied.
The rate of growth for each of the
forecast sections is compared with the
rate of growth for the exchange as a
whole, and the result is viewed from
the standpoint of whether the fore-
cast section would be expected to lead,
lag behind, or approximate the views
formerly made for the exchange as a
whole. The section for which the
forecast has just been completed is
also compared with other similar sec-
tions elsewhere and with expected
rates of growth for the state or area
as a whole, if such forecasts have been
made. If these checks indicate the
forecast may not be a sound one, the
engineer sharpens his wits and his
pencil and reviews the job to see just
where he may have gone off the
beam.
Finally, the job is done, and the
forecast is sent to the Plant Engineer.
CURRENT AND ACCURATE
From the foregoing, it may appear
that making a forecast is not too diffi-
cult. And that, once it is made, there
is nothing more to do but provide the
plant to take care of the predicted
growth and everything will be serene.
You will recognize, however, that we
have been discussing only the proced-
ure. The tough part of the job Is, of
course, the judgment, based on ex-
In this residential area^ only 65 percent of the families had telephone service before the
Today the development is 100 percent
war.
1949
Where Do We Go From Here?
93
perience, that makes the forecast;
makes it a good one or a poor one.
An important part of the forecast-
ing job is keeping forecasts up to date.
The periodic records of gain and de-
mand— usually monthly — are re-
viewed frequently to determine
whether the forecast still appears to
be sound. If the actual net demand
for service (roughly the number of
people who request service, less those
disconnecting their service) is such
that it is clear the forecast is either
too high or too low, it is revised.
In addition to the trend of actual
growth, revisions are made when
some special occurrence indicates the
need for doing so. Such special situa-
tions might be the announcement of a
new real estate development project,
the establishment of a main or branch
headquarters of some large business
organization, plans for a new factory
or industry, completion of improved
transportation facilities, or other
major change.
Occasionally. Commercial Engi-
neers are asked how accurate their
estimates are. That's a hard one to
answer. It depends, in general, on
the size of the area and the period
covered. The larger and shorter, the
more accurate is the forecast. Over
the years, however, it is evident that
commercial forecasts of growth used
as a basis for engineering have
proved sufficiently accurate for a good
job in the planning of equipment and
plant additions.
Development — On the Record
It is interesting to note the change
in telephone development — that is,
the percent of families who have serv-
ice— over the years.
In areas served by the Bell System
from 1929, twenty years ago, to
1 94 1, just prior to the war, the per-
cent of families with service remained
almost constant at about 40 per cent.
But now, after eight short years (on
This suburban area had about jo percent telephone development five or six years ago.
At present the development ranges between jo and 85 percent
94
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
Right: Two years ago^ this
area^ not far from a siz-
able city, was given over
to truck farming or to
scrub growth
Left: In the past two
yearsy about 2000 houses
have been built in the
locality y the big school in
the background is new^
and 5p percent of the
families have telephones
January i, 1949) the development is
almost 66 percent !
By cities, the change is even more
dramatic. Twenty years ago, only
three large cities (over 50,000 popu-
lation) had a development of 70 per-
cent and over (i.e., in only three cities
did 70 percent or more of the families
have a telephone). Ten years ago
(on January i, 1939), the number
of cities with a development of 70
percent and over had increased only
two, to five. In 1941 there were
seven such cities (out of a total of
188, or about 4 per cent) . And now,
on the first of this year, after an in-
terval of only eight years, there are
112 cities in this classification — 52
percent of the cities over 50,006 popu-
lation have a development of 70 per-
cent or more.
Looking at individual localities, we
find some with unusually high devel-
opment. For example, on January i
of this year, three cities exceeded 90
percent development. In Evanston,
a suburb of Chicago, 99 per cent of
the families had telephones; in New-
ton, a suburb of Boston, 94 percent
of the families had telephones; in
Kalamazoo, Mich., the development
was 91 percent. In Oak Park, out-
side of Chicago, it was 88 percent;
and in Brookline, near Boston, it was
89 percent.
Such high development is not, how-
ever, confined to suburban residential
areas. In Tulsa, Okla., and Madi-
son, Wis., 90 percent of the families
had telephone service; in Lansing,
Mich., the development was 88 per-
cent; in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Cedar
Rapids, and Dayton, it was 87 per-
cent as of the first of this year.
Times have changed. A substan-
tial increase in average family income,
'49
Where Do We Go From Here?
95
rhe sustained high demand for tele-
phone service, the marked increase in
roll usage, and the apparently greater
necessity" of telephone service to
many individuals since the war, have
materially changed the views of fore-
casters concerning future telephone
vievelopment. Bear in mind also that
any of them are now contemplating
.;i their views of future development
a proportion of homes with two lines
per family — one for the exclusive use
of their "teen-agers."
T/ie Future
This is a difficult time for forecast-
ers. Taking a forward look at tele-
phone growth for the next year or so,
and for the longer periods sometimes
required for engineering purposes in
specific localities, presents some dif-
ficult problems.
It is a well recognized human trait
that recent occurrences influence us
most and that the past is quickly for-
gotten. Forecasters are human.
The telephone growth during the war
was, of course, most abnormal. The
three years following the war were
unusual, different from anything we
have had in the past, and pre-war
years appear to be far too long ago.
The war and post-war years are fresh
in everyone's memory and it is diffi-
cult to keep them from influencing
one's thinking.
The problem in forecasting growth
today, then, is to take into account not
only the experience of the recent past
but also to weigh realistically the
possibilities of changes in past trends
which may develop because of changes
in fundamental economic conditions.
The forecaster today, even to a
greater extent than in the past, must
appreciate the vital part his estimates
play in the provision of facilities
which will meet the requirements of
customers as they develop and at the
same time keep additional investment
and expense at a minimum level.
Night photograph of the statue in place
The Bell Statue at Brantford
A BRONZE STATUE of Alexander Graham
Bell was unveiled on June 1 8 in Brant-
ford, Ontario, Canada, the city where he
lived when he first came to America and
where he conceived the idea of the tele-
phone. It is the work of Cleeve Home,
Canadian sculptor, and stands in the
portico of the new building of the Bell
Telephone Company of Canada at Brant-
ford. The memorial to the telephone's
inventor was made possible by the raising
of $10,000 in voluntary contributions by
members of the Charles Fleetford Sise
Chapter, Telephone Pioneers of America.
A photograph of the statue is reproduced
on page 82.
Among those who took part in the cere-
monies were Mrs. Gilbert Grosvenor,
Bell's daughter, of Washington, D. C. ;
Mr. Frederick Johnson, President of the
Bell Telephone Company of Canada; Mr.
Thomas N. Lacy, President-elect of the
Telephone Pioneers of America and Presi-
dent of the Michigan Bell Telephone Com-
pany; and Mr. H. A. G. MacKinnon,
President of Charles Fleetford Sise Chap-
ter of the Pioneers.
The statue is a heroic figure eight feet
in height. It portrays Bell seated and
wearing academic robes signifying the hon-
ors which were bestowed upon him for his
accomplishments. The inscription on the
plain stone base reads simply:
Alexander Graham Bell
1847
1922
On the adjacent wall are the words:
/// grateful remembrance of the inventor
of the telephone. Erected by the Charles
Fleetford Sise Chapter, Telephone Pio-
neers of J m erica, 1949
Helen Keller Visits the
Bell Laboratories
Helen Keller, whom Alexander
Graham Bell had aided in her child-
hood,* visited the Murray Hill in-
stallation of the Bell Telephone Lab-
oratories last June, and, following
her trip, wrote to Dr. Oliver E.
Buckley, President of the Labora-
tories, the letter which is quoted here.
Helen Keller's life story is well
known through her remarkable at-
tainments as lecturer, writer, and par-
ticularly as champion of handicapped
people. After losing her own hear-
ing and sight at the age of 19 months,
she later learned the art of vocal ex-
pression with the patient help of de-
voted teachers.
It was Alexander Graham Bell
who obtained Anne Sullivan (Mrs.
Macy) as Miss Keller's first com-
panion-teacher. Dr. Bell was Helen
Keller's firm friend, and her host on
many occasions. Miss Polly Thom-
son, who has been Miss Keller's com-
panion for many years, succeeded to
Mrs. Macy's role. Miss Thomson
accompanied Miss Keller to the Lab-
oratories, and they were in constant
communication during the Murray
Hill tour. Miss Thomson swiftly
conveys messages by means of pres-
sure signals on Miss Keller's palm,
and in some instances. Miss Keller
reads Miss Thomson's lips by plac-
•See "Helen Keller and Dr. Bell," Maga-
zine, Spring 1947.
ing the ends of her fingers lightly
upon them. Miss Keller spoke back
readily or, with her sensitive touch,
carried out some action suggested by
the demonstrators during the tours.
This is the letter Miss Keller
wrote :
Dear Dr. Buckley:
Truly it was a day of wonders which
Miss Thomson and I spent at Bell Tele-
phone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New
Jersey, and my thanks to you, who made
it possible, can be measured only by my
lifelong affection for Dr. Bell and proud
sense of oneness with him in the growth
of his work. Deeply I regret not meeting
you there. It would have been easier to
speak my* pleasure to you than to write it
in a letter, but the glow of your kindness
will always remain warm in my memory.
Gratefully I recall how freely Dr.
Bown, Dr. Walker, Mr. Honaman, Dr.
Fry and others gave of their time to tak-
ing us around or showing me the various
instruments or answering my questions or
filling out my mental pictures of the sim-
ple yet handsome buildings and their de-
lightful surroundings full of country-
sweet peace. It really seemed as if Dr.
Bell was with me just as in the past when
he used to talk to me about his epoch-
making ideas and experiments.
And my upward gaze goes with him,
and I see
Far off against the sky
The glint of golden sunlight on
his wings.
98
Bell Telephone Magazine
Everything we saw at the Laboratories
bespoke the civilization that would unite
mankind in one great family by the spoken
word to which Dr. Bell looked forward.
It is true, we are still far from peace,
despite wider, more swift communications,
and nothing seems more difficult, more
baffling than to awaken a social conscience
that will cause the nations to abandon wars
and selfish rivalries. But we all know
how Dr. Bell dismissed pessimistic attitudes
as futile and unconstructive, and with un-
wavering faith I anticipate the sunrise of
the finer human race he dreamed.
It is hard to decide what interested me
most among all the fascinating inventions
and processes we saw at the Laboratories.
My fingers tingled as they felt the minia-
ture apparatus that promises lighter parts
in the telephone, the radio, and the tele-
vision set, and more satisfying vibrations
over the wires. It scarcely seemed pos-
sible that mortal ingenuity could have
devised such tiny Transistors with wires
like spider webs for conducting the voice
over long distances. It was a veritable
poem — bringing radio rays and sound
waves to a focus by means of a field of
closely spaced spheres. And how I felt
the power of a wizard in the growing of
quartz crystals! Always I shall prize
among my chief treasures the little crys-
tal and the diminutive amplifying device
which Dr. Walker presented to me.
The most absorbing sensation for me
was visiting the Free Space Room. Lan-
guage has no equivalent for the absolute
physical silence which burst upon me in
that fantastic, bewildering chamber, sus-
pended in what appeared to me an utter
void. No, it did not disconcert me. I have
known many kinds of silence — the silence
of early morning, the silence of remote
mountain summits, the silence of gently
falling snow. I have been oppressed by
the silence of a spiritual crisis, hushed by
the silence of a great love and awed by
the silence of friendships that had ceased
to be. But in the Acoustic Dead Room
I had a sense of complete disconnection
with the life of the universe. Even before
my education began, I noticed vibrations
that still ring in my tactual memory, and
it was interesting to contrast them with
the soundless jolts and jars of footsteps in
the dead room. Shut in by floor, walls,
and ceiling of fiberglass, I throbbed with
the silence of the dead and the silence that
covers buried peoples and ages without a
history. The music conveyed to me by a
spirit-fine nerve of a gadget was a relief
beyond words — the vast range of life re-
stored. Not for the world would I have
missed those weird moments in that spot
of perfect stillness.
Then there were the "thinking" ma-
chines ! Every time I give them a thought,
I am a bit staggered by their superiority to
man's brain, at least in its routine processes,
but as a student of philosophy, I smile be-
cause that superiority does not discredit
the Spirit any more than the excellence of
a being with all his senses annuls the
reality of a life-like mind deficient in sight
and hearing. If we only use worthily the
advantages that cybernetics is placing
within our reach, science will, I am con-
fident, elucidate to us relationships more
marvelous than any we have yet compre-
hended.
It was a pity I could not reach up to
Dr. Bell's splendid bust, but now I have
the handsome souvenir from the Labora-
tories containing the motto that he so
often repeated to me in one form or other,
"Leave the beaten track occasionally and
dive into the woods." In it too is Dr.
Arnold's noble definition of research and
its heroic aims. Do you wonder that I
seek in vain for words to thank you all for
one of the most luminous days I have ever
spent in the Temple of Knowledge?
Please give my cordial greetings to all
my friends at Bell Telephone Laboratories
and to the employees whose zealous coop-
eration is a tribute to the genius and the
workmanship that produced the immense
edifice at Murray Hill.
Sincerely yours,
Helen Keller
To Administer Relief in Times of Disaster^ This National
Organisation Relies Heavily on Telephone^ Teletypewriter^
Mobile Service^ Radio Amateurs
The Role of Communications
In Red Cross Operations
IVade Jones
Staff Writer, Public Relations Division,
American National Red Cross
Where the saving of life and the
amelioration of suffering and hard-
ship are at stake, swift and adequate
communications may be vital. The
following article has been written in
response to an invitation to the na-
tional organization of the American
Red Cross to describe the part played
by communications in its disaster re-
lief operations. EDITOR.
When Red Cross national disaster
workers talk shop, the subject usually
gets around to communications; and
communications invariably brings up
Vanport, Oregon. For it was during
the great Vanport flood of May 30,
1948, that the Red Cross was treated
to what seemed like a communications
miracle.
Corraled for days behind high lev-
ees, the rampaging Columbia River
finally broke through into Vanport
late on that Memorial Day afternoon.
The Red Cross was faced thereupon
with the enormous task of providing
immediate relief for more than 18,-
500 homeless.
The organization's disaster experts
on the scene were prepared for the de-
luge of phone calls which followed.
But they weren't entirely prepared for
what the local telephone company did
about them.
What the Pacific Telephone and
Telegraph Company accomplished in
the first hectic hours at Vanport re-
mains, as far as the Red Cross is con-
cerned, an outstanding example of
productive effort at its best.
Within three hours after the levee
broke, twelve lines were cut into the
main Red Cross switchboard at chap-
ter headquarters In Portland. In an-
other two hours a second switchboard
lOO
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
with eight lines was in operation. At
the same time, 14 direct central-office
lines were installed for various disas-
ter officials.
By the following morning, 16 hours
after the break, telephone representa-
tives had issued a mimeographed di-
rectory of Red Cross key personnel,
helping reduce confusion in locating
persons at the Portland chapter head-
quarters. Also, a loud speaker pag-
ing system and an information center
had been installed.
But by Monday night, a little more
than 24 hours after the levee gave
way, even the newly expanded tele-
phone set-up was bogging down under
the avalanche of calls — mainly from
persons inquiring about the safety of
friends or relatives. So a temporary
disaster headquarters was hurriedly
established in a recently vacated build-
ing. Again, the telephone workers
pitched in. They speedily reactivated
a two-position, 80-line switchboard
with approximately 20 trunks and 50
stations. At the same time private
lines were cut in between the new
headquarters and the home service
bureau at the chapter offices.
However, as the tremendous im-
pact of the disaster spread through-
out the nation, and with the growing
relief problem at the scene, the work
W
fi
\ -A '
c
1
^0^^^^^^^^^^^ w^L^
TH
^^■gOjiu'- ^^.M^Kjt
&\^^^
1
WIT" ***■•- iirif^iiiiiiiiiitSfci "^H^^. .^^^^^^^^^m.
J
flj^P^
Red Cross volunteer telephone operators handled more than jofioo calls a day during
the emergency created by floods in this country's Northwest last year
1949
Communications in Red Cross Operations
lOI
of the Red Cross con-
tinued to mount. So
again more space was
needed and again the
telephone people went
to work. Chosen as
the newest headquar-
ters was the basement
of Portland's Munici-
pal Auditorium, and
into it telephone work-
ers rushed two 8o-line
switchboards, originally
assigned to a private
business concern.
Cable cuts and trans-
fers were hurriedly
made to utilize every
available pair of wires.
The telephone business
office asked the occu-
pants of one entire
building to give up their
service for a few hours
so that their central-
office lines could be used
by the Red Cross. The
reply was immediately
and enthusiastically af-
firmative. The 50-pair
cable serving the build-
ing was swung over to
the auditorium, and splicers worked
throughout the night to make the
connections.
Installers laced the auditorium ceil-
ing with a network of supports .for
the switchboard cables and station
wires. Pairs were pulled into place,
identified, and tagged at all desk loca-
tions as the desks were moved in.
In the words of one thoroughly im-
pressed Red Cross worker, "The
movers would bring you in a desk, and
before you could locate a chair the
telephone people would have a phone
Scene at a Red Cross disaster relief headquarters as
volunteers handle telephoned inquiries and Boy Scouts
stand by as messengers
on the desk. Not only that, but the
phone would be ringing!"
Some 40 handset telephones were
connected to individual lines arranged
so that calls coming in for informa-
tion or for reports on missing persons
automatically sought the first idle
telephone in the group. And few re-
mained idle long at the peak of
activity.
Finally an additional switchboard
— the fifth — was installed on the sec-
ond floor of the auditorium. Along
with it were six trunks, two tie-lines
I02
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
to the basement switchboard, and two
toll terminals to speed emergency
long distance calls.
In the first week at Vanport, Red
Cross volunteer telephone operators
handled approximately 31,000 calls a
day.
But not in terms of machines and
equipment alone is the story of
Vanport told. With the Red Cross
and the telephone company, as with
other organizations who fought the
flood and its effects, the big story of
Vanport must be told in terms of peo-
ple— simple courage facing up to dan-
ger, stubborn will battling with sleep-
lessness and fatigue, and the always
wonderful-to-see readiness of the or-
dinary man to come to the aid of his
fellows.
Despite official orders that the
Vanport telephone office be evacu-
ated, the operators stayed on as the
waters rushed through a broken dyke
and swept into the streets. Every
call that came in, the operators an-
swered with warnings to get out of
the area.
The traffic load became so heavy
that fuses blew. They were replaced.
Calls still were answered. Finally
the power failed entirely. It was then
the girl operators left in a telephone
company truck, which had been stand-
ing by for just that purpose. By the
time the truck reached safe ground,
flood waters were swirling around the
ofl[ice roof.
One of Many
Loyal, courageous performance
of duty by telephone workers in time
of disaster is traditional. As far as
the Red Cross is concerned, it is al-
most axiomatic.
Take the case of Johnny Urquhart,
Southwestern Bell employee, in the
Texas City disaster.
While the building he was in still
shook from the tremendous blast,
Johnny hung onto the switchboard
with one hand and with the other
plugged a cord into the Houston cir-
cuit to get G. H. Hearon, division
traflic superintendent in that city.
"For God's sake, send the Red
Cross!" Johnny cried to Hearon.
"There's been a big explosion here
and thousands are injured."
The next moment Hearon had
dialed the telephone number of the
Houston Red Cross, and was telling
Miss Mary Snoddy, chapter executive
secretary, that doctors and ambu-
lances were needed at Texas City im-
mediately. In a matter of minutes
help was on the way, as the Houston
Red Cross chapter swung into opera-
tion on a plan of action laid out long
in advance for just such a disaster as
had now struck.
Back in Texas City, Johnny Urqu-
hart brushed away the glass and
debris around the switchboard and
continued to plug through emergency
calls. He stopped only for a moment
— to give first aid to Chief Operator
lola Sheldon, who had been injured;
by flying glass. She refused to leave
her post. Johnny stayed at the
switchboard for 16 hours straight.
Texas City, incidentally, provides a
good example of a special service
which the Red Cross renders. For if
you ever want information about the
well-being of relatives in a disaster
area, and have been unable to reach
them by telephone or telegraph, just
call your local Red Cross chapter.
It will have a report for you In the
1949
Communications in Red Cross Operations
103
shortest possible time, and without
charge.
One such inquiry, from service-men
in Japan, picked up by amateur radio
operators in California and relayed
by wire to Texas City, asked for in-
formation on 30 different people. To
get the answers to that single mes-
sage, the Red Cross, with help from
Boy Scouts and young church workers,
made 116 home visits and 165 tele-
phone calls.
Importance of Communication
There are 3,739 Red Cross chapters
in the United States and each has at
least one telephone. Chapters in the
larger cities, of course, have many.
The organization's national head-
quarters in Washington, D. C, and
the Pacific x\rea office in San Fran-
cisco, have switchboards, with inter-
office dialing. The three other area
offices — at Alexandria, Va.; Atlanta,
Ga.; and St, Louis, Mo. — have man-
ual switchboards.
As an important part of its com-
munications system the Red Cross,
both in disasters and in its normal
day-to-day operations, leans heavily
on its 10,000 miles of leased teletype
lines across the country.
When a major disaster strikes at
a point not directly connected with
this system, the Red Cross imme-
Instruction in the use of various communications facilities is part of the training given
Red Cross Chapter members. This switchboard is U. S. Forest Service equipment
I04
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
diately places an order with both the
telephone company and Western
Union for a leased wire teletype cir-
cuit from the disaster scene to the
nearest of the 43 terminals on the
teletype system. The understanding
is that the Red Cross will get the first
circuit available with either organi-
zation.
At Vanport, for instance, a circuit
was leased to San Francisco. From
Texas City, the main line ran to
Dallas via Galveston. In the New
England forest fires during the fall of
1947 the circuit was from Biddeford,
Me., to Boston, Mass. This com-
munications system is of vital impor-
tance when other communications into
a disaster area are overloaded or
disrupted.
The Red Cross teletype system was
instituted in October, 1946, and, with
telephone relay of messages, serves
A member of the American Radio Relay
League receives a message by telephone
from the Red Cross for radio transmission
to a fellow League member operating at a
disaster area
some 400 points. Another 2,900 are
reached by commercial telegraph re-
file. Economy and speed are the gov-
erning factors in determining how a
message is to be sent.
Auxiliaj-y Means
In disasters where normal commu-
nications lines are either disrupted
or overloaded, the Red Cross has al-
ways depended to a considerable ex-
tent on amateur radio operators. Of
the 80,000 "hams" who pursue their
hobby across the length and breadth
of the country, several can be de-
pended upon to turn up at nearly any
given disaster scene, no matter how
remote.
To aid them in their work, and to
increase their value to the Red Cross,
the organization recently got together
with the American Radio Relay
League and the U. S. Naval Reserve
and came up with a nation-wide
emergency radio system.
The "network," hinged upon sta-
tions at Washington, D. C, Chicago,
and San Francisco, went into opera-
tion last winter. In the event of a
disaster which interfered with the
functioning of regular communica-
tions, amateurs at the scene of the
catastrophe would go into action,
handling the most essential emergency
traffic until normal facilities could be
re-established.
Their messages would be directed
to the nearest of the three big Red
Cross stations. The stations, in turn,
manned by amateurs and naval re-
servists, would go on the air round-
the-clock, monitoring all messages and
routing them to their proper destina-
tions via Red Cross teletype and com-
mercial telegraph.
1949
Communications in Red Cross Operations
105
^ Red Cross mobile radio unit. Operated by volunteer amateur radio operators^ it is
equipped to relax emergency messages to and from the scene of a disaster when normal
means of communication have been destroyed
As a double check, insuring com-
munications coverage of any part of
the United States, Red Cross head-
quarters in Washington also has avail-
able a mobile amateur radio station
with its own auxiliary power supply.
This station can reach other types of
radios which might be in operation in
a given disaster area — state and local
police, military, etc.
The unit can be used in an auto-
mobile, or can be dismounted and
flown into a disaster area by plane.
Eventually, Red Cross national head-
quarters plans to have three such
mobile stations placed strategically
through the country in areas where
and when seasonal disasters can nor-
mally be expected — the south and
southeast during the early fall hur-
ricane season, the south and south-
west in the time of spring tornadoes,
the Ohio and Mississippi valleys dur-
ing the late spring floods.
Among the several Red Cross chap-
ters which have Bell System mobile
radio telephones is the one in Jackson
County (Kansas City), Missouri.
Using these, and with the aid of
amateur-owned and -operated walkie-
talkies, chapter disaster workers did
an outstanding job last spring in pro-
viding up-to-the-minute warnings by
telephone and radio to residents in
the lowlands along the flooding Mis-
souri River. All endangered families
were safely evacuated. Robert Edson,
of St. Louis, director of Red Cross
disaster operations in the Midwest,
called the operation "as complete a
job of disaster communications as has
taken place in recent years."
In all large disasters, the Red
Cross works closely with those
io6
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
branches of the Armed Forces oper-
ating at the scene as well as with the
government agencies * — local, state
and federal.
An outstanding example of such
cooperation was during the early part
of this year, when the Red Cross and
the Army fought shoulder to shoulder
against the violent, crippling bliz-
zards in the West.f The Red Cross,
whose primary responsibility in dis-
asters is to assist individuals to meet
disaster-caused needs they cannot
meet themselves, did just that in the
blizzards. By chartered plane, snow
tractors, and afoot, the Red Cross
provided badly needed food and medi-
cine to the snowbound, and evacuated
dozens of sick and injured, as well as
several expectant mothers, from the
wilderness of drifts and cold. The
Army, using its big planes and what-
ever surface vehicles would negotiate
the drifts, devoted most of its efforts
to opening roads and getting food to
stranded livestock. The work of the
two organizations dovetailed nicely,
but did not overlap.
Communication Plans
Some hard-won information on
the general subject of communica-
tions as they affect the Red Cross in
time of disaster comes in a report
from Mr. E. A. Valentine, who was
chairman of the local Red Cross dis-
aster committee at the Vanport flood.
In relating difficulties brought on by
the overwhelming load on communi-
cations facilities in the first hours of
the flood, he warns, "Above all [in
making disaster preparedness plans]
don't ignore communications!
* See "The Coast Guard Operates through
Communications," Magazine, Winter 1946-47.
t See "The Winter's Toil Was Heavy from
Texas to the Dalcotas," Magazine, Spring 1949.
"Our advice is to get a telephone
company official on your [Red Cross]
disaster committee and give him free
rein on communications set-ups from
the very first. He, more than anyone
else, can unsnarl what seems to you a
hopeless mess. Let him set up two
groups of telephone lines if he wants,
so that one can be taking incoming
calls while the other remains clear
for outgoing calls."
The national Red Cross disaster
service in Washington, in its guidance
to chapters, lays strong emphasis on
preparedness for catastrophes. The
organization's manual, "When Dis-
aster Strikes," contains this advice on
communications preparedness:
"Survey all . . . communications
resources within the chapter jurisdic-
tion and obtain pledges of voluntary
cooperation from organizations and
individuals whose facilities or services
would be essential to the performance
of the [disaster] committee's func-
tion in time of emergency.
"Contact commercial communica-
tions companies and amateur radio
stations and operators, including mem-
bers of the American Radio Relay
League, to develop a plan for extend-
ing priority for emergency communi-
cations and for receiving and trans-
mitting all Red Cross messages by
telephone, telegraph or radio. . . .
"Plan for the maintenance of a
message center in time of disasters
and have the center under control of
the [Red Cross] subcommittee in co-
operation with communications agen-
cies.
"Plan for the mobilization and use
of portable telephone systems and
portable radio transmitters.
"Formulate a written plan."
1949
Communications in Red Cross Operations
107
The Scope of Red Cross Activities
This story of Red Cross communi-
cations has been told in terms of dis-
aster work, for it is in those terms
that the role of communications can
be told most graphically. It is not to
be supposed, however, that communi-
cations do not play a large and neces-
sary part in the many other Red Cross
activities.
Actually, by the very nature and
tremendous scope of the total Red
Cross operation, it is obvious that
communications would have to play
an important over-all role in the or-
ganization's work.
A few facts illustrate the extent of
American Red Cross activity:
The organization's membership
totals 37,524,000. There are 3,746
chapters and more than 5,000
branches. In the last fiscal year,
funds expended by the chapters and
the national organization totaled
$101,900,000.
The Red Cross has approximately
1,471,200 volunteer workers, 7.300
of whom, with assistance from 6,800
paid chapter workers, last year
handled 768,000 cases involving serv-
icemen and their dependents, 1,782,-
000 involving veterans and their de-
pendents, and 192,000 cases of
civilians and others.
An average of 10,000 volunteers
and 1000 paid workers served 142,-
600 patients in more than 130 mili-
tary hospitals. Field directors and
other paid Red Cross workers gave
assistance in 622,100 servicemen's
cases in 265 military camps.
tm>
A CIIAPTCK MANUAl
FOR DitAsrn ntPAHttmits and nititr
The Ame7-ican Red Cross is a
quasi-governmental agency ^ and this
handbook^ prepared by National
Headquarters^ helps the Chapters
to be prepared to discharge their
responsibilities ''when
disaster strikes"
In more than 300 major disaster
operations the Red Cross assisted
312,400 persons and spent $12,171,-
000 during the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1948.
The organization now has in op-
eration twenty-eight blood centers
throughout the country.
And this by no means comprises all
the Red Cross services. Yet it indi-
cates the nature and extent of the
organization's work, and in so doing
gives some idea of how invaluable are
communications, in all forms, to the
integration of its many functions.
Progress of the Rural Service
Program
The following paragraphs are from a mid-year summary of progress
of the rural service program by Vice President Cleo F. Craig, head
of the Department of Operation and Engineering of the American
Telephone and Telegraph Company.
The telephone companies throughout
the nation are now in their fourth con-
secutive year of record-breaking rural tele-
phone construction to meet the unprec-
edented demand for service which has
sprung up during and since the war.
The companies are pushing new tele-
phone lines into remote ranch and farm
sections. Regions where few farmers, if
any, ever wanted telephone service are now
anxious to get it. Better incomes in re-
cent years have created a tremendous in-
terest among farmers in modernizing their
homes; naturally, they want more and
better telephones.
So great has been this up-surge in the
applications for rural telephone service
that it demanded the building of literally
tens of thousands of miles of new pole
line and the stringing of about a million
miles of wire — to say nothing of many
new buildings and vast quantities of switch-
boards and other equipment.
The Primary Aim
The primary aim of the companies has
always been to provide good telephone serv-
ice as fast as practicable to every one who
wants it, wherever he may be, and at rea-
sonable rates. The army of engineers and
construction men now engaged in the rural
program has been building rural telephone
plant at a rate three times as fast as ever
before in history.
Though much still remains to be done,
the level of the farm telephone develop-
ment in six of the nine geographical re-
gions of the country, as defined by the Bu-
reau of the Census, is already at high lev-
els— about 70 percent, the same as in the
cities. In scattered sections of the South
and Southwest, which make up the other
three regions, the opportunities for extend-
ing service have increased tremendously in
recent years. The telephone companies are
concentrating their utmost efforts in these
areas, and excellent progress is being made.
Since 1940, the number of farms in those
sections having telephones has increased
over 100 percent. Half of all the new
rural pole line construction in the entire
Bell System has been concentrated in the
Southern Bell and Southwestern Bell tele-
phone companies.
Southern Bell, for example, has spent
over $49,000,000 since the war to boost
its telephones in rural areas from 171,000
at the end of 1945 to 372,400 on June i,
1949. The job is not yet completed; but
with its accelerated pace, the company ex-
pects to catch up with customer demand
one of these days.
Southwestern Bell, too, has doubled its
rural telephones. Since V-J Day that
company has set 440,000 poles and strung
120,000 miles of wire, nearly tripling its
rural plant investment. About one-half of
the establishments in Southwestern Bell's
Progress in the Rural Service Program
109
rural areas now have service, and the re-
mainder can be taken care of in the not
too distant future.
During the war, when applications for
service were piling up in rural as well as
urban areas, the telephone industry desig-
nated "Rural Telephones" as one of its
most important jobs. The Bell System
set its sights for a million more telephones
in rural areas as rapidly as possible after
the war. It appeared then that it might
take as many as five years; but despite seri-
ous shortages in materials and supplies of
all kinds, the millionth instrument went
into service last December — in just a little
over three years. The number of tele-
phones added in rural areas since the war
totals today about 1,200,000, and the work
is continuing unabated.
About Half the Farms
Now Have Telephones
As A RESULT of this unprecedented per-
formance of the Bell companies, plus the
nearly 400,000 rural telephones added since
the war by the 6,000 independently-owned
telephone companies, about half of the
farms in the United States now have tele-
phones. This is twice as many as in 1940.
Rural telephone service now is available,
without any construction charges to cus-
tomers, to a vast majority of the nation's
occupied farms.
In addition to adding more telephones,
the Bell companies have also made great
strides in improving the quality of service
in rural areas. The number of parties on
a line is being reduced to not more than
eight. Today 70 percent of all rural cus-
tomers are on lines with eight parties or
fewer, compared with 62 percent at the
beginning of 1946.
Improvements in Service
Improved ringing techniques are enabling
Bell customers to hear the rings of fewer
parties on their lines. Eighty-seven per-
cent of all rural customers now have better
ringing, compared with 76 percent in Jan-
uary 1946.
And as rapidly as possible, the magneto
— crank type — telephone is being replaced
by more up-to-date instruments. Today
88 percent can signal the operator simply
by lifting the telephone from its cradle.
This compares with 78 percent three and
a half years ago.
To make it easier for farmers and others
in rural areas to get telephone service, the
amount of new pole line which the Bell
companies will build for each new sub-
scriber without charge has been substan-
tially increased. Free construction of a
half-mile of new pole line is now generally
allowed for each new customer. In addi-
tion, this allowance is being applied on
an area coverage basis, which means that
where lines are being extended to serve a
particular section, any unused portion of a
customer's free allowance is credited to
other customers in the same neighborhood
who need more.
The telephone companies' rural program
still presses forward. All the attention,
resources, and experience of the Bell Sys-
tem are being brought to bear on the im-
portant job. The problem is recognized by
the industry's leaders as one of the most
vital challenges of recent years, and this
challenge is being met.
Four Early Correspondents Reveal W^hat JVent On during
The Months when the First Bell Company Was Struggling
To Become a Going Concern
Robert Devonshire's
Letterbook
Ralph E. Mooney
If you read much Bell System mail,
you probably will think the following
letter a bit unusual:
Dear Sir: Some time ago we sent you
some telephones, since which time we have
not heard from you.
Please write us saying how they have
worked and if they have given satisfaction
and oblige.
Yours truly.
Bell Telephone Company
per R.W.D.
As a letter, that meets two quali-
fications desirable today: it goes to
the point and it wastes few words.
Nevertheless, a modern business
man might be somewhat surprised
to get one like it from any of the
Bell companies. He might wonder
what "some" telephones could mean,
and why we should doubt whether
they would work satisfactorily.
But its peculiarities are easy to
understand when we take into account
that it was sent to a man in Appleton,
Wisconsin, in August, 1877, just a
day or two after R.W.D. , or Robert
W. Devonshire, went to work for
the first of all Bell telephone com-
panies, at Boston. It comes to us
from a letterbook that is now a part
of the material in the American Tele-
phone Historical Library, at A. T.
& T. headquarters in New York.
Many of us today may not know
what a letterbook is. This specimen
is a cloth-bound volume, nine inches
wide, eleven long, and about an inch
thick. It contains, on 500 tissue
sheets, copies of practically all the
outgoing letters of the telephone
business from August to December,
1877. It is the System correspond-
ence of four months bound in one
short volume, you might say — al-
though at the time the correspond-
ence was written, the Bell Telephone
System was no more than a gleam in
the eye of certain of its founders.
Robert Devonshire's Letterbook
III
This letter press^ in the A. T. & T. Historical Library collection^ is similar to the one
with which young Robert Devonshire made copies of the earliest ''telephone company*^
letters. Open beside it is the first letterbook^ containing the actual copies of outgoing
letters between August and December^ ^877-> some of which
are quoted in the accompanying article
Typewriters were still in the ex-
perimental stage, in 1877, so all let-
ters were written by hand. If you
wanted to keep what you would call
today carbon copies, you would pro-
vide yourself with a letterbook and a
letter press. The process was to
write the "orginal" of your letter in
the very clearest script you could
command, using copying ink. That
done, you would place the original
underneath a blank tissue sheet in
your letter book. You would moisten
the tissue sheet, and would put a
piece of blotting paper over the
damp tissue. Then you would close
the book and arrange it on the bed of
your letter press. You would screw
the press down tightly and leave it a
while. A copy would transfer from
your original to the under side of
the moist tissue — so that you would
have to read the copy through the
tissue rather than from the upper
surface of it, if you should need to
refer to it thereafter.
It was a slow process, which gen-
erally mussed both the original and
the copy, but it did preserve exact
duplicates of business letters.
Such a letterbook preserves much
more than the letters, with their
112
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
No picture of Robert W. Devonshire as a
young man is available. This one shows
how he looked on the occasion of a dinner
in honor of his fiftieth Bell System service
anniversary y in August 192^
varying scripts and the — to us —
curious abbreviations of words that
you sometimes find. Our book of
1877 not only recalls the atmosphere
of those months when there were only
four men in the telephone business,
but makes it possible for each of the
four to tell us in his own words
something of the problems he had to
meet and solve. What we are deal-
ing with, actually, is an intimate and
priceless record of facts and per-
sonalities.
Some Early History
A BIT OF BRIEFING is in Order here,
to bring us up to date — to August,
1877, that is. About three years
before Devonshire wrote his some-
what vague letter to the Bell agent
at Appleton, Alexander Graham Bell
had begun experimenting on a method
for sending several Morse messages
simultaneously over a telegraph wire.
Thomas Sanders, successful leather
merchant of Haverhill, and Gardiner
Greene Hubbard, civic-minded Bos-
ton lawyer, had agreed to finance
Bell's experiments, and shortly there-
after Thomas A. Watson, a young
technician at Charles Williams' elec-
trical shop in Boston, had become in
effect Bell's laboratory assistant. Bell
had at the back of his mind the idea
for transmitting speech electrically;
and on June 2, 1875, ^^ experiment
on the telegraphic device brought
a result that verified his telephone
theory. Thereafter nine months or
more of experiment and study had
This picture of Thomas A. Watson^ the
man who made Bell's first telephone^ was
taken in i8y8, when he was 24. During
the earliest years of the business^ he was
largely responsiblefor the practical develop-
ment of Bell telephone service
1949
Robert Devonshire s Letterbook
113
elapsed before his first patent was
applied for, February 14, 1876.
Bell's telephone attracted some at-
tention at the Philadelphia Centen-
nial Exposition, the following June.
Thereafter, scientific demonstrations
of it had been made. Public experi-
ments had been performed. But still
no telephone business had developed.
Indeed, the first money the telephone
had earned was from 50-cent admis-
sions to lecture demonstrations by
Alexander Graham Bell in person.
At last, however, a few telephones
had been rented for service toward
the end of May, 1877. That made
Bell, Hubbard, Sanders, and Wat-
son feel there might be something in
it after all, and they had formed the
"Bell Telephone Company, Gardiner
Greene Hubbard, Trustee."
Thomas Sanders^ an able business man^
had confidence in the future of the tele-
phone^ and backed it with more than
$ioOyOOO — which was no small sum seventy-
odd years ago
Gardiner G. Hubbard^ always a man of
vision^ established the policy of renting
telephones rather than selling them; that
isy making the telephone company respon-
sible for providing telephone service
You may wonder why Hubbard was
named trustee and not president.
Probably it was because trustees are
common phenomena as administrators
of property and enterprises around
Boston. Furthermore, you do not
usually have a president until a corpo-
ration has been formed, and this was
not a corporation. Whatever the
reason, the trusteeship papers were
signed July 9, 1877. Two days later,
Bell was married to Mabel Hubbard,
daughter of Gardiner G., and soon
thereafter sailed with his bride for
England, where he was to remain
more than a year in efforts to get his
telephone established in that country.
So Hubbard, Sanders and Wat-
son were left to set up the busi-
ness. All telephones rented at this
114
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
Jr/' /-^
L //i//-
■.<'
/ fVf i J{ I
■7^«
(f;/.,
/ /
/ <^
// .
■/ A
^6
w(
6 /.,,..
K
y^
/ >
y
7/ < ua
> dr.; ....
(O
/, . /y,
''•\/l^,tf <r , ^,^ A',,
After 7^ yearsy the copies in the old letterbook are too
faded to reproduce clearly. This one, representative of
much routine correspondence, lists by number four hand
telephones, four box telephones, and four call bells.
The signature is typical: "Yours truly. Bell Telephone
Company per R. W. D."
period were for private-line use — or,
as these founders put It, "for speak-
ing tube purposes." Three experi-
mental switchboards had been tried,
but months were to elapse before any-
one would be ready to launch a com-
mercial telephone exchange.
Enter R.W.D.
That was where Devonshire came
into the picture. Eventually he was
to become an A. T. & T. vice-president
(he served as such from
1913 to 1930) ; but in
August, 1877, he was
just a youngster trying
to be both Commercial
and Accounting depart-
ments of the new enter-
prise.
He was in virgin ter-
ritory with rather a free
hand. For Sanders,
while treasurer of the
Bell company, with all
the duties of operating
vice-president too, was
forced to give consid-
erable attention to his
leather business at Hav-
erhill, some miles from
Boston. Hubbard, ad-
ministrative head of the
company, was spending
most of his time in
Washington as chair-
man of a Congressional
postal committee — a
post to which he had 1
been appointed by
President Grant — a n d
carrying on his law
practice. Watson, who
served as Research En-
gineer and Plant De-
combined, was the only
partment
other full-time employee, with Dev-
onshire— unless you want to count a
few men in Williams' shop who by
now put in their full time making
telephones.
Devonshire most likely was the
one who went out to some convenient
stationer's to buy the letterbook, as
well as the one who tended It, tak-
ing on the office-boy chore of trans-
ferring letters In addition to his many
1949
Robert Devonshire s Letterbook
"5
.-r<.
other duties. At any
rate, the book begins
about the day he went
to work.
He signed his mail
"Bell Telephone Com-
pany—per R.W.D.,"
and to him fell the job
of explaining time and
again that the magneto
telephone bells then in
use "cannot be used
practically for more
than 3 stations for the
reason that even if the
bells work well it causes
altogether too much re-
sistance on the line to
talk through." Also he
frequently had to tell
new customers that "the
best arrangement and
the one that is almost
universally adopted for
business purposes is a
box instrument [tele-
phone] to talk to and
a hand instrument to
listen with at each sta-
tion."
From a letter he sent
to Bell agents at Savannah, Georgia,
we learn that "There should be no
trouble on account of noise made by
surf. Put up a box and a hand in-
strument, and at noisy places listen
with the box at one ear and the hand
at the other." Here Devonshire
mentions an interesting early experi-
ment : "We have used the instruments
on an Express train going 40 miles
an hour, communicating from Engine
to 3rd passanger car with good re-
sults."
rt
/I"
Of
<,^„
- (,
/rK
/. ", f/ r.
^'
^-^^^^
/,.,
<^i
C^Uci/.! ,
""1 ^"7 r
''Connect Telephones to the 4 cups at the sides of the
switch thus" says this letter^ and makes the ''thus" clear
by a diagram in the middle of the text — a convenience
which the modern carbon-copy method of preservation
does not afford letter writers
By November, however, while San-
ders was on a trip to Detroit, Devon-
shire was able to write a letter that
indicates that he and the business had
made considerable progress :
In regard to correspondence, there has
only been a few letters that would require
your attention and Mr. Watson thought
I had better not send them but wait until
your return. If anything important came
up would telegraph you.
Have received P.O. orders to the amount
of $70 from J. Ponton. Have money
ii6
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
enough in the cash drawer without using
any of the above until after your return
home. Have orders on the books at the
present time for 872 instruments.
Devonshire also sent forth a steady
flow of invoices for shipments of two,
four, six, or a dozen telephones. In
each the serial numbers of the instru-
ments were laboriously copied by
hand. And, as each telephone cus-
tomer signed a lease for equipment
rented to him, Devonshire was con-
stantly acknowledging receipt of leases
numbered such-and-such from the
growing list of agents appointed by
Hubbard and Sanders. And — natu-
rally— he was constantly finding mis-
takes in the numbering of the leases,
or in the serial numbers of equip-
ment covered by the leases, all of
which required more letters as well
as corrections of his records. He
also wrote letters in a secretarial
capacity for Sanders, Watson, and
even Charles Williams to sign.
Quite a job young Devonshire had,
with three alert and enterprising
heads above him.
He Footed the Bills
Upon Thomas Sanders fell the bur-
den of keeping the infant enterprise
on its feet, and his letters make evi-
dent the slenderness of the reserves
on which the telephone business ran
during those months. It is hard to
comprehend now that the "telephone
company" ever had to live from hand
to mouth, but ours is just one of a
great many American businesses that
have passed through such periods in
their beginning years. As a matter
of fact, Sanders was the "angel"
who "rescued the show" time and
again, in 1877. He risked all he
had, a few thousand dollars at a
time, and borrowed until he put al-
together $1 10,000 into the telephone,
before it earned him a dollar of per-
sonal return.
In August, our letterbook shows
him writing to Hubbard:
Mr. Williams' bill is $4186 — therefore
we shall have to put in the $5,000 you
spoke to Mr. Watson about — ^$2,500 each.
Will you send me your check for $2,500
loaned the Company and I will do like-
wise, as we ought to start square with
Williams. Collections cannot be forced.
I have jogged them all. . . .
And here are three samples of San-
ders' jogging, taken from his letters
to Bell agents :
As you have 369 Telephones and Calls
[signaling equipment] altogether, I tho't
you must be in receipt of at least $1,000
and as I had occasion for the money tele-
graphed if I should draw on you, I hope
you will remit as soon as possible.
(The process referred to may not
be familiar. If someone who owes
you money, or just someone who has
money, gives permission for you to
draw on him, you deposit in your bank
a draft for the agreed amount. In
effect, the other fellow allows you to
write your check against his bank ac-
count. If you need money quickly,
this is, and more particularly was
then, a faster process than waiting
for a remittance to be mailed.)
The other samples :
You have about 150 telephones. I have
received but $73.
It costs something to manufacture tele-
phones and magnetos, especially the latter,
& as you have about 400 of the instruments
all told, ought I not to receive a remittance
from you? I should be very much pleased
1949
Robert Devonshire s Letterbook
117
to see your autograph at the foot of a good-
sized check but should not return a small
By November, Sanders, too, could
write in a much more confident tone :
You have instruments on which the
rental due is between $1200 and $1500.
The amount I have received bears a very
small proportion of this. If rentals in ad-
vance means anything it is time some at-
tention was paid to it. This thing is no
longer an experiment, it is business.
Also, he exhorted and instructed
agents in this vein: "I receive letters
every day asking about
telephone s — I refer
them to you and still
they come saying they
have heard from you
but cannot secure atten-
tion." Or in this: "You
have a large field and I
should think it would be
advisable for you to ap-
point sub-agents and not
quarrel with everybody.
The field is not half sup-
plied." Or this: "I am
glad to see that you
have established a
New Hampshire agency
— I have referred 3 or
4 customers to him al-
ready— I hope he is en-
ergetic as he has quite a
field. New Hampshire
people you know are
slow but sure & there
will yet be a consider-
able income from that
state."
Even in November,
however, with more
than 2,000 telephones
rented and Sanders con-
vinced, as he says, that this was busi-
ness, he had moments when he found
the state of affairs a bit overwhelm-
ing. Witness his letter to Hubbard:
I like your suggestion about the collec-
tions of agents on instruments sent & see
no reason why it should not be enforced.
Meanwhile we must have some money for
our present needs. I hqpe you can meet me
in New York next week as something must
be done. . . .
I am at your service at any time with suf-
ficient notice for a daylight passage as I
take my wife & child & propose Western
New York and Detroit before I return
The Telephone.
THt pniimton of Ifce TekplwM. ll« innalioa •» Alc»i«fcr Cimham BcH. fo. «hkli i*lraU hmxt ben
issHd 1» Ike Vailed Sul«« and Cr«al Bnbui. ttt ta" |«T|p«t<l U) fimUli Ttfephooet br tU trnwrnmion
of utnUte aimck tkra^ inalnmaib Bot men Uaa tw«ty mHa it^t. Co«v»is»tK>o cmi ke e««ilx
curieJ 00 ofttr iJigkt l««*ic« ud witll Ike OK«ioi«I i«p«tilio« of s worf oe mursce. <>■ Snt bteoiag to
Ike Tckfkooe. tkongk tke mmai b petfeclly aodikk. Ike aitkiOatioo tmm u, ke ialmiact; k« ttttr > few
trab Ike ear kniiiia lliwllllil |o Ike peoakar scund aad fiods Utile iiBoAj M 1
Tke TelerbM Aodd ke Mt in • qoiet lOace, «keR Ikeie is n> nabe i
Tke adnnla-ea of Ifce TeleiAoae orer Ike Tek-n|ik br local kmaeM an
Ist Tkat DO sVilW opcialor b ivioind. b«t ditect row— i»»li<i« anjr ke kai Ij sfeeck <itkoiK ike
iolerventiou of a Ikinl pencA.
■il Tkat Ike eomoaaicalioa b mack laote lapU. Ike avecage mimler of «w* tianaiucd a Miaate
by Mone Soander beiag from fifteea to twealjr, ky Telepkooe fro« oae to two bundRiL
3d. Tkat no expcaae b lequirai eitker for its opetatioa, maiateaance. or repair. It acedr DO tottery,
aad kaa DO complicated DMJuaery. Il b aasannaed br ecooomy ani simplicily.
Tke Toaa for leaaiag two TelepfcoMl for sodal (wroiea coaarctias a dweUiDs-boose aitk aay otker
UiMia; will ke «20 a year, br kaiaeaa paiposei »4« a year, payable tesiaDaoally ia adnace, wilk Ike
cott of eipnasage from Boaloa, Sew York, Ciacianati, Ckicago. St. loab. or Saa Fiaacbcoi Tke iastntmeaU
will ke kept ia -ood workup order ky tke leaaors. free of eapeaae, except tnm iajaries leaakia- fiom Jitat
caivlessaem.
Several TdepkoiM eaa ke placed oa tke aaage liae at aa additicaa] lealal of tlO br eack iaabameal;
kal tke aae of more tkaa two oo t><e raaae liae wkeie frncj b retailed b Dot adrtied. Aay peim ailkia
ordiaaiy ksoiag distance caa kear die voire calli^ tknmsk tka Telepkime. If a lomlcr call b leqaiied oae
can ke faiDtsked br Sa
Telegiaph liaes will ke coostracted by the proprxtaia if deiiied. Tke price *in vafy bna S 100 to 1 150
a mile ; aay good aM^kaaiw caa cmstract a liae ; Ka 9 wise coats 8| eeatt a peaad, 320 poaod* to tke
mile; 31 iaaalabin at 25 ceata rack; tke price of poles and aettiag varies ia cvasy locality; stringiae wire
$5 per nule; sandiies $10 per auleL
-Parties IcaaiBg Ike Telepkoaes iacor no expense beyond tke annaal rental aad tke repair of Ike liae
wira Ob tke Sallowing pages are extiacts bam tke Press aad otker saarccs relatiag to Ike Telepboae.
GABDISnEB G. BUBBABOl
Cmmis». MMa, M^, 1S77.
For futkcr iafonaatioa and orders adjrese
THOSl a, WATSOX, 109 Ctxa St, Bostox.
The first telephone advertisement offers ''Telephones for
the transmission of articulate speech through instruments
not more than twenty miles apart." The offer was for
private-line use^ since telephone exchange service was
not developed until i8y8
ii8
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
here [Boston]. Will you endeavour to get
to New York next week and relieve my
mind on various vexatious points. . . .
I wish you lived nearer & had more
leisure in which perhaps you join me. With
regards to Mrs. Hubbard.
The Responsibility for Service
Since Gardiner Greene Hubbard was
away from Boston most of the time,
not many of his letters found their
way into Devonshire's book. Those
that did repeat quite often the state-
ment : "We do not sell any telephones,
only lease them at the annual rate of
$40 a year for a set of four." For it
was very clear to Hubbard that if
telephone service should ever develop,
it would be because the telephone
company made itself responsible for
the working of that service. He was
often urged to sell telephones and let
the buyers do what they pleased with
them, but he understood, with re-
markable foresight, that however at-
tractive that way might seem momen-
tarily, it was likely to be a blind alley
in the long run.
We find Hubbard writing to
George L. Bradley, of Providence,
R. I., on October 12, 1877, the letter
that led within a few months to for-
mation of the first Bell telephone cor-
porations (the New England Tele-
phone Company and The Bell Tele-
phone Company), to which Bradley
and other investors subscribed fresh
capital that relieved the terrific strain
on- Sanders' resources. Bradley was
to become general agent of the new
companies, later treasurer, and to con-
tinue as treasurer when they were
combined to form the National Bell
Telephone Company. But all that
was in the future. Hubbard's Octo-
ber, 1877, letter told Bradley this:
The Bell Telephone Co. commenced
leasing telephones in June last as an experi-
ment without knowing either the best way
of introducing them to the public or what
was to be the value of the invention.
On the first of October we had rented
2,000 telephones. A continually increas-
ing demand, and extension of the uses to
which the telephone is applied satisfy us
that it meets a great public need, and will
be almost universally used.
From this point, Hubbard's letter
goes on to state the prospects for
revenue (still on a private-line basis;
the possibility of exchanges not even
mentioned) and to give a memoran-
dum proposing formation of what
turned out to be the New England
Telephone Company.
Making Things Work
Interesting revelations of behind-
the-scenes activity in the infancy of
our business appear in the letters
of Tom Watson, written as he filled
his triple role of inventor, engineer,
and plant chief.
We often find him sending specifi-
cations for new ringing devices to the
company's patent attorney at Wash-
ington. For, as soon as Watson had '
succeeded in overcoming a booming
effect that made the lecture-demon-
stration telephones unsuitable for
everyday use, he had to find some kind
of call signal. His first, never satis-
factory, was a thumper that produced
a snare-drum rattle at the called tele-
phone. His next, also unsatisfactory,
came to be known as Watson's
buzzer, although the noise it made
was actually a howl caused by send-
ing alternately strong and weak cur-
rent through an induction coil. Fi-
nally he began developing magneto j
or turn-the-crank bells, and while his
1949
Robert Devonshire s Letterbook
119
l^ell ^elejihon^ ^^o^
eH'f^^ ^^^Pi^e^&'f^
GARDINER G. HUBBARD, Trustee.
THOMAS SANDERS, Treasurer.
ALEX. GR.^HAM BELL, Electrician,
THOMAS A. WATSON, SoF*r.
The business card of the Bell Telephone Company of i8jy.
The address^ log Court Street^ was that of Charles Williams^
electrical shop, where were manufactured the box and hand
telephones mentioned in so many of the early letters
first attempts were fumbling, he soon
produced so good a bell that it con-
tinues in use today.
When not writing specifications for
new "calls," or placatory letters ex-
plaining how to make his less reliable
models work, Watson found time to
cover many subjects. He sent out
instructions like these :
Talk to the box instrument with lips
touching the mouthpiece, keeping the hand
instrument close to the ear.
If a thunderstorm threatens, insert the
small plug in the hole in the lightning ar-
rester. The instruments are then cut out.
A great deal of Watson's time was
devoted to experiments. For ex-
ample, he wrote to J. C. Gaines, at
Duxbury, Massachusetts, to ask if he
might listen on the transatlantic tele-
graph cable (the French cable) that
terminated there. In a second letter
he said,
I think 3'^ou misunderstand me. I did not
wish to try to talk through the cable as
Mr. Bell is at present [1877] in Europe
experimenting in that direction. What I
wanted to do was to connect with your
cable and listen to find out what noises
there were ; which would enable me to pre-
pare Instruments to use with greater hopes
of success in case Prof. Bell should make
arangements to try to talk through a Trans-
Atlantic cable.
Incidentally, these experiments by
Watson and associates who were en-
listed on this side of the ocean, plus
tests arranged in England by Bell,
ruled out any attempts at trans-
atlantic conversations through the un-
dersea cables.
Letters from Watson to Hilborne
L. Roosevelt, in New York, indicate
that he tried more than once during
1877 to talk from Boston to New
York, over borrowed telegraph wires.
In one letter, these lines occur: "The
fact that we could not hear as well on
4 wires as we could on one would
seem to indicate that it is not the
resistance of the circuit that lessens
the loudness of the sound, but the
little innumerable escapes in the line.
How does this strike you? There is
I20
Bell Telephone Magazine
SUMMER
no doubt that with a special com-
pound wire we could do despatch busi-
ness between the two cities." It is
interesting here to observe Watson's
concern over the possibilities of long
distance service even before exchange
service existed.
In October, we find Watson getting
quotations and placing his first order
for lOO rubber hand telephones —
ancestors of the millions of black rub-
ber receivers that have since been
used. He also experimented with cel-
luloid cases.
There is a not wholly unfamiliar
note in this letter which he wrote to
Hubbard in November:
Have received several Telegraphs {sic)
lately in regard to orders and I now rise to
explain.
Nothing would give me greater pleasure
than to fill orders as they are received but
there are so many urgent ones that I have
to divide my product amongst them, I am
doing my best to get instruments out &
hope to catch up to my orders in about
two weeks, I am so far behind hand that I
have found it impossible to stick to any
system except division of each day's prod-
uct among the most urgent of the agents.
In regard to enclosures in your last let-
ter, Illinois man's invention is worthless in
my opinion.
Preece's idea for overcoming induction,
mentioned in Mrs. Bell's letter, is the same
that I explained to you some time ago when
Cheever tested his Brooklyn Bridge cable.
We cannot be certain what Illinois
man or invention is referred to, but
Preece, in the final paragraph, was
Sir William Henry Preece, later a
wireless pioneer and authority on in-
duction and then electrician for the
British Post Office. Cheever was
Charles A. Cheever who, with Hil-
borne L. Roosevelt, had the first Bell
agency in New York City, which by
this time was styled "The Telephone
Company of New York." The
Brooklyn Bridge "cable" that Cheever
tested may have been a borrowed
telegraph cable, but more probably
was a line supplied to J. Lloyd Haigh,
who was manufacturing wire for the
Bridge suspension cables, and who
had probably the first telephone line
across the East River strung on the
bridge from his office in New York to
his plant in South Brooklyn.
In a later letter to Hubbard, Wat-
son says: "Have just received your
telegraph saying to deliver no instru-
ments except to those paying in ad-
vance. If I do that I won't have any-
body to send to except Cornish,
Haskins & Hamilton, so will pursue
present plan until Mr. Sanders re-
turns. Is this satisfactory?"
"Cornish" was T. E. Cornish, Bell
agent at Philadelphia, later founder
of the exchange there. The others
mentioned were C. H. Haskins and
H. H. Hamilton, agents at Milwau-
kee, Wis., and Sayre, Pa., respec-
tively.
Watson's gentle sense of humor,
which may be further sampled in his
entertaining autobiography Exploring
Life, occasionally crept into his letters
in 1877. This is illustrated in one
written to Frederick A. Gower.
After Bell sailed to England, Gower
had been given the exclusive right to
lecture on the telephone in the United
States, and he was not in the least in-
clined to share that privilege. That
fact Watson dealt with in this way:
The Rev. Elias Nason has just called
upon me and wants to know if I will assist
him to illustrate his telephone lecture with
the Bell Telephone. I tell him I will do
1949
Robert Devonshire s Letterbook
121
so with pleasure if he will first obtain your
consent. He left perfectly confident that
he could obtain that and was a very happy
man. Poor fellow!
To QUOTE FURTHER from our first
letterbook would be, In the main,
repetitious. To spell out the con-
trasts between those earliest telephone
days and now would be to labor the
obvious. Let us take leave^ then, of
four men with whom we have formed
a slight acquaintance. Their labors
were fundamental : they sowed some
of the seeds from which our great
public service has sprung. Their
ways parted after a relatively brief
period, and only one of them —
Devonshire — made the telephone his
life's career. But as long as the ten-
der tissue copies of their letters are
preserved, they leave between the
covers of that letterbook a bond
among themselves, and with us.
MAN, W^OMA^IsT and CHTLD
SHOULD CAREFULLY EXAMINE THE WORKINGS OF
Speaking and Singing Telaphonl,
In \U* pniolical work <>t roiiveying
INSTANTANEOOS COHIUNICATION B! DIRECT SODND,
Giving tiie tones of the voice so th.it the jhthoii speaking c&n !>►•
renognizeil by tht* Monud at thf other end «>f the line.
The Siimlay Sch.ol of the *
(Old 3fohn street m ^. (thutrh.
Ilaviriu' Ht-ciireil :v lart^e mjiiil>er ofProt' A. <J H^IPm TEL"5PH0NBIi willgirt's-i
EXHIBITIO!9»iti. CHURCH, 44 & 46 JOHN 8T.N.Y.
wlifie .'»ll vi.HiioiH (i(-<iriti>4 fan ni ik« for ihoiUH.'lvi-* a prar!i.»| ii(ve!*lii^4tiori ol" th'
Tcl6phonCt ''y Jt^kin^ -iiirslion«. Iiparin^ the un-«\<rfrM fcu tJi«ir ijiu-^tionf
.•iiiil liHU'iiiti^ to the Hiiji^iii.4 conviyi-d thmmrii the Tflfphoiu** from thw othrr
end ofllio line.
On Tuesday and Wednesday Afternoons
November 20th & 21st, 1877.
Kroni 11^ A. M. until 7 V M.
AdmissioQ to either Afternoon Exhibition 15 Cents.
yf poster of the period
ACE TELEPHONE
COMPANY
Fantastic or not, Gentlemen, we have just been
chosen by the Book-of-the-Month Club
By permission of the Saturday Review oj Literature
Desert Isle Books
Since this is vacation time, when one
never knows how soon the canoe will cap-
size in the Hudson, it also is the open sea-
son for speculation as to life on that desert
island. That is the island, it will be re-
membered, to which the reader may take
three books of his choice. Two of these
are, to be sure, only his choice by courtesy,
for no potential castaway would dare start
off without the Bible and Shakespeare.
The third, however, may be his own. The
good Republican might take the collected
addresses of Thomas E. Dewey, perusing
them in the twilight, and the exiled de-
tective could do far worse than Father
Brown.
The wise man, however, will take with
him an even more familiar work than are
these two. After the usual tradition, the
Bible and Shakespeare will be for display
purposes on the driftwood shelves, but the
Manhattan telephone book will be for read-
ing. That book at the side, and a wilder-
ness immediately becomes true paradise.
There is, of course, no point in being on
a desert island unless there is pleasure in
it. A true castaway, clutching his Bible
and Shakespeare and one other, is a cast-
away from choice. Intellectually, he may
remember that the professors once told him
of the poetry of Genesis, and he may have
heard Maurice Evans give the death of
kings speech of "Richard II." Naturally,
he will plan to look up both those things
during his chance vacation. That is a clear
duty of the mind, and should be attended
to without fail, somewhat later.
In the meanwhile, in the late afternoon
when he has gathered his dinner of turtle
eggs and coconuts, he is entitled to read a
122
Desert Isle Books
123
bit for sheer pleasure. That pleasure best
can be defined as seeing, in neat columns
of four, some 1,500 pages of numbers he
cannot call, of numbers that cannot call
him back. What is "Hamlet" as opposed
to this, and what the Song of Solomon?
The castaway will find the telephone
book excellent reading at every hour of the
day. It is, say, 9 o'clock on a Monday
morning. What better form of relaxation
can there be than to look up the number
of the bank which once employed him, and
then nod happily that he cannot call. He
can visualize the bank's switchboard aglow
with lights, as other vice presidents try to
find him, and, looking up his own number,
he can see that is the one which does not
answer. He can spend a happy castaway
morning not telephoning the dentist, the
doctor, Joe and the locker room at the
Yale Club. He can spend his lunch hour
cheerfully tearing up memoranda which
was not telephoned in during his absence.
As the afternoon wears on, he can look up
the number of the Stork Club, not tele-
phoning for a reservation, and he can get
into a violent argument with the box-office
man at the Empire. All these things he
can do with the daylight, but it is with the
evening that the castaway, reading on, can
truly reach the summit of his pleasure.
The evening with a telephone book on a
deserted island could be wonderful. It is
summer, and all around the home neighbor-
hood chance parties are in progress. Host-
esses on several pages are looking up the
number, but his will not answer and so he
will keep out of trouble. That one number
he called perhaps too often, with the seri-
ousness of Hamlet and the lamentation of
Job, he cannot telephone tonight. Perhaps
she is sitting there, and rightly so, for now
it is her turn to wait.
With the evening, the castaway can be-
come a man about town, a roue of the coco-
nuts. He can look up and not call all the
girls on a given page whose first name is
Ann, and he can take the most likely on a
series of wild, improbable adventures. He
can stay out all night, and come back in the
morning with his high silk hat battered flat.
Later on he can look up her number again,
but it is obvious that he cannot call to apol-
ogize. That charming incident has been
ended cleanly.
As time drifts on, and the days pass along
into weeks and months, the castaway will
find that the circle of his friendships has
widened and increased. Chance compan-
ions may be found on every page, and many
of them, like the Smiths and Browns, have
relatives. After a particularly large turtle
has waddled up the beach, he can decide to
give the perfect dinner party, the one with
lists of guests but at which he eats all the
meat himself.
The weeks will pass into months and
years of a perfect life until a cloud, in the
form of a ship, comes slowly forward from
the horizon. The true castaway then will
leave on the driftwood shelves for Friday
the copies of Shakespeare and the Bible.
To the lagoon inland, he then will flee, car-
rying that other — a free soul who can nei-
ther call nor answer, the man with the
best third book for the desert isle.
From The New York Times, by per-
mission.
Twenty-five Years Ago in the
Bell Telephone Quarterly
Items from Volume III, Number 3, July 1924
Transmission of Pictures
Over Telephone Wires
Worldwide interest has been created by
the demonstration on May 19 of the trans-
mission of photographs over telephone wires
between Cleveland and New York, a dis-
tance of 522 miles. The pictures were re-
produced in the New York newspapers of
May 20 and the achievement was hailed as
"a great scientific triumph" and "another
of the world's wonders. ..."
For many years the Research Labora-
tories of the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company and the Western
Electric Company have been engaged in
the solution of problems which directly or
indirectly made picture transmission pos-
sible. When the solution of the picture
problem was sought, there were available
the whole vacuum tube art, electrical fil-
ters, accurate synchronizing methods, light
valves and photo-electric cells, all impor-
tant elements enabling the engineers to go
ahead and develop from these a complete
w^orking system. . . .
The credit for the actual work of de-
velopment of this new process of sending
pictures over telephone wires belongs to
many engineers. It is the result of the
concerted efforts of specialists in the sys-
tem of communications, demonstrating
once again the advantages to be gained
from a large research organization co-
operating in the solution of technical prob-
lems. It is an example of the cumulative
results of past discoveries and researches.
The importance of the new invention
was at once recognized. Within 48 hours
cable requests for information and details
came from the leading countries of Europe
and South America. In the United States
the newspapers were enthusiastic in their
praise. Practically all the larger papers of
the country reproduced the pictures that
were sent in the initial tests, with a detailed
description of the apparatus and extended
comment. From Maine to California the
reaction proved most favorable, it being
recognized that a truly great engineering
achievement had been accomplished and
that this new development in the field of
communication meant opening the door to
the general transmission of pictures by
wire. . . .
The Bell Room at Salem
On June 5 there was a meeting of his-
torical interest to all telephone people in
the Salem, Massachusetts, Young Men's
Christian Association building, which is
located on the site of the old Sanders house.
There Alexander Graham Bell tutored the
deaf child of Thomas Sanders and did
much of the experimental work that led
up to the invention of the telephone. On
this occasion a room was dedicated as a
memorial of the association of the location
with the telephone. A set of models of
early telephone instruments, made under
the supervision of Wilton L. Richards of
the Bell System Historical Museum, was
presented by E. W. Longley, Vice-Presi-
dent of the New England Telephone and
Telegraph Company. Mr. H. B. Thayer,
President of the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company, and John J. Carty
sent messages of congratulation expressing
the interest felt throughout the Bell Sys-
tem in such a historic occasion.
124
Bell Laboratories and Western Electric
To Operate Sandia Laboratory for AEC
Selection of the Bell Telephone Laboratories and the Western Electric
Company to operate the Sandia Laboratory, at Sandia Base, Albu-
querque, N. M., for the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission was an-
nounced on July 12 by the AEC in the following statement:
The United States Atomic Energy
Commission announced today that the
services of the Western Electric Com-
pany and the Bell Telephone Labora-
tories have been obtained for the opera-
tion of the Sandia Laboratory, at Sandia
Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Negotiations have been started on a
contract for these services with the
Western Electric Company, equipment
manufacturing subsidiary of the Ameri-
can Telephone and Telegraph Com-
pany, in accordance with arrangements
between the Commission and Leroy A.
Wilson, President of A. T. & T.
The new operators of the Laboratory
will have an important function in
bridging the gap between laboratory de-
velopment work and the manufacturing
operations on atomic weapons. Sandia
is also an important point of contact be-
tw-een AEC operations and the mili-
tary activities relating to atomic energ}'.
The Sandia Laboratory has been oper-
ated since 1945 by the University of
California under its contract for the
operation of the Los Alamos Scientific
Laboratory. Sandia has grown from a
small liaison group representing Los
Alamos into a major facility. The
University of California advised the
Commission last winter that the Uni-
versit}' felt it should not continue to
manage Sandia as a part of the sci-
entific research program of the Los
Alamos Laboratory.
The growth of the Sandia Labora-
tory has been a result of the Commis-
sion's effort to integrate research, de-
velopment, and production activities in
accordance with best academic and in-
dustrial practice and with the most
competent available supervision in each
technical area.
After extensive consideration of the
many complex organizational and tech-
nical problems that are involved, the
Commission decided to ask A. T. & T.
to make available to this project the
full technical and managerial resources
of the Bell System's developmental and
manufacturing subsidiaries.
A special team of Western • Electric,
Bell Laboratories, and AEC officials
will go to Sandia immediately to pre-
pare for the transfer of the project to
the new contractor. Included in the
group are Stanley Bracken, President,.
Fred R. Lack, Vice President, Radio
Division, and George A. Landry, Oper-
ating Manager, Installation Depart-
ment, Western Electric Company; Dr.
Mervin J, Kelly, Executive Vice Presi-
dent, and Donald A. Quarles, Vice
President in charge of Staff, Bell Lab-
oratories; and Brigadier General James
McCormack, Jr., Director, Division of
Military Application, AEC.
Operations of both Los Alamos and
Sandia are carried on under the AEC's
Santa Fe Office, of which Carroll L.
Tyler is Manager. Head of the Com-
mission's Sandia Area Office under Mr.
Tyler is George P. Kraker. Dr. Nor-
ris E. Bradbury is Director of the Los
Alamos Scientific Laboratory and Paul
J. Larsen is Director of the Sandia
branch.
125
Who's Who & What's What
in This Issue
"Sixty-four-dollar questions" might be
an alternative title for this issue's first ar-
ticle; but the quiz program which Harry
DissTON describes is more important than
that on any radio program. Mr. Disston
started his telephone career in 1921 with
the New York Telephone Company in
Manhattan, and became a district traffic
superintendent in Brooklyn before chang-
ing to the Commercial Department. There
he became successively district manager and
division commercial superintendent. In
1932 he transferred to the Commercial Di-
vision of the Department of Operation and
Engineering of the A. T. & T. Co., and for
nine years fulfilled various assignments in
the Commercial Results Section. He left
for active military duty in 1941, and spent
three of the next five years in the Southwest
Pacific, with the First Cavalry Division,
in command of an island forward base, on
the staff of Gen. MacArthur's Service
Forces, as Executive Officer of Manila, and
on the General Staff of one of the invasion
commands. He rose from Major to Col-
onel, was awarded the Legion of Merit and
the Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Clus-
ter, and is Colonel commanding the Seventh
Regiment, New York National Guard.
He returned to A. T. & T. in January
1946, and is now in charge of the group en-
gaged in telephone development, revenues,
and expense analysis. This, as might be
supposed from the tenor of his article, is the
group which assists the Associated Com-
panies of the Bell System in the plans, pro-
cedures, and organization of their Commer-
cial forecasting activities.
One thing often follows another, and the
article on the use of communications by the
Red Cross in time of disaster follows a visit
of this Magazine^s editor to the scene of
the record blizzards on the Great Plains
Harry Disston
Wade Jones
126
Who's Who ^ What's What
127
last winter, to observe their effect on tele-
phone service. In Omaha he observed also
the efficiency with which the humanitarian
activities of the Red Cross in that area were
organized and administered, and the impor-
tant part which the telephone played
therein. There followed then a suggestion
to the national headquarters of the Red
Cross in Washington that such a story
would be well worth telling — and Wade
JoxES has undertaken to tell it. A staff
writer in the Public Relations Department
of the American National Red Cross, he
was for three years a reporter on the Stars
and Stripes, serving in that capacity in
Africa, Italy, France, and Germany. He
has also been a reporter on newspapers in
Washington, D. C, and Richmond, Va.,
and for a time was radio news writer for
the Columbia Broadcasting System in New
York.
The historical library of the A. T. &
T. Company, in the headquarters building
at 195 Broadway, New York, is a mine of
historic facts, always interesting and fre-
quently significant, to be discovered by a
patient seeker. Those last words describe
Ralph Mooney, who has been Historical
Librarian since early in 1945. After some
Ralph E. Mooney
years of newspaper and trade-journal ex-
perience, and service in World War I as
Captain of Infantry, he joined the South-
western' Bell Telephone Company in 1922.
He became editor of the Southwestern
Telephone News in 1924, moved over to
the advertising staff in 1938, and in 1944
transferred to the Information Q^partment
of the A, T. & T. Co. He contributed
"Outwitting a River on a Rampage" to this
Magazine for Spring 1945.
lonc
A Look Around — And Ahead • Leroy A. Wilson
Long Distance Finds the Way • William H. Nunn
War-Time Taxes on Communication Services in 1949
Giving New Life to Old Equipment • Philip H. Mielb
' Private Line Services for the Aviation Industry
Henry V. Roumfort
Bell TelephoneA^W
ylutumn 1949
A Look Around — And Ahead, Leroy A. Wilson, 133
Long Distance Finds the Way, William H. Nunn, 137
Pension Minimums Are Raised, 148
War-Time Taxes on Communication Services in 1949, 149
Giving New Life to Old Equipment, Philip H. Miele, 154
Their Politeness Goes Deep, 164
Private Line Services for the Aviation Industry,
Henry V . Roumfort, 165
Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly, 175
A Medium of Suggestion ^ a Record of Progress
Published for the supervisory forces of the Bell System by the Information Department of
American Telephone and Telegraph Co., 795 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y.
Leroy A. Wilson, President; Carroll O. Bickelhaupt, Sec; Donald R. Belcher, Treas.
Who's Who & What's What
in This Issue
The election of Leroy A. Wilson on
February i8, 1948, to the presidency of the
American Telephone and Telegraph Com-
pany followed by some 26 years the start
of his Bell System career in the Indiana
Bell Telephone Company. Two days af-
ter graduation from Rose Polytechnic In-
stitute in Terre Haute, in June of 1922, he
reported for work as a traffic clerk and stu-
dent in Indianapolis. For some years with
that company he had direct charge of the
telephone operating forces in several dis-
tricts throughout the state before returning
to Indianapolis as district traffic superin-
tendent in 1927.
Mr. Wilson transferred in 1929 to the
Department of Operation and Engineering
of the A. T. & T. Company in New York.
His first work there was in the Traffic divi-
sion, but he also gained experience in dial
equipment engineering and in related fields.
Ten years after his arrival in New York, he
moved from the Traffic to the Commercial
division of O. & E., where he was placed in
charge of the work on telephone directories.
The following year he was made rate engi-
neer in the same division, and in 1942 he
was appointed to head the entire Commer-
cial division.
It was from this post that Mr, Wilson
was promoted to an A. T. & T. vice presi-
dency in 1944, with the assignment to study
the revenue requirements of the Bell Sys-
tem ; and it was during this period that he
contributed "Reasonable Earnings to Insure
the Best Service" to the Magazine for Au-
tumn 1945. His statements to stockholders
at the last two annual meetings have ap-
peared in these pages: "We Must Continue
to Go Forward" in the issue for Spring
1948, and "Moving Ahead on Two All-
Important Jobs" in that for Spring 1949.
The familiar expression of the "ideal
and aim" of the Bell System in terms of
"enabling anyone anywhere to pick up a
telephone and talk to anyone else anywhere
else, clearly, quickly, and at a reasonable
Leroy A. Wilson
William H. Nunn
Who's Who & What's What
131
Henry V. Roumfort
Philip H. Miele
cost" has many implications. What it takes
to make good simply on the "an\^where"
part of the statement is the theme of Wil-
liam H. Nunn's discussion of an impor-
tant— if not widely known — Traffic activ-
ity. Mr. Nunn started his telephone career
in 191 5 in Los Angeles, with the Home
Telephone Company, which later became
part of the Southern California Telephone
Company. After 13 years of Plant expe-
rience, he joined the Traffic Department
in Los Angeles, and in 1935 he moved to
Portland, Ore., as general traffic engineer,
and remained there until 1940. After sev-
eral years as general traffic engineer and
as traffic operations engineer on the ex-
ecutive staff in San Francisco, Mr. Nunn
became general traffic manager of the
Northern California-Nevada Area of the
Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Com-
pany. It was this position which he left
last summer to become traffic facilities en-
gineer in the Traffic division of A. T. & T.'s
Department of Operation and Engineering.
As is not infrequently the case in the exposi-
tion of a departmental operation, the pres-
ent article reflects an effective collaboration,
and Mr. Nunn wishes to acknowledge par-
ticularly the assistance of George L. Goudy,
a member of his staff.
Telephone calls cannot be mass-pro-
duced in advance and stored on a shelf un-
til used. Each is "tailor made" to a cus-
tomer's order. This is equally true with
regard to what are known as private line
services. These are individually designed
to meet each customer's requirements, after
careful study and analysis have been made
of his particular needs for service and equip-
ment by Commercial representatives of Bell
System Operating Companies and the Long
Lines Department. Henry V. Roumfort,
who describes some of the special communi-
cation services which the Bell System pro-
vides for commercial air lines, is private line
sales manager for Long Lines, and has been
responsible for the development of methods
and practices for the sale of those services.
His Long Lines career began with Division
2 Plant at Harrisburg, Pa., in 1926, and he
has since served in the Commercial depart-
ment in Washington, Philadelphia, and
New York. His assignment to the general
office in the last-named city dates from
1945.
Newspaper reporting and radio news-
editing preceded Philip H. Miele's two
years as a French interpreter at General
(Continued on page 176)
A curve on a highway of speech. Pole, cross arms, wires, cable, all make a dramatic
silhouette against the sky. See ''Long Distance Finds the fVay,'' beginning on page Jjy
The President of the A, T, Sf T. Company Discusses Some
of the Obligations and the Opportunities Which Confront
This Nation s Citizens in the Post-War Era
A Look Around
And Ahead
Leroy A. IVilson
The following paragraphs are from an address by Mr. Wilson
before the biennial grand conclave of Kappa Sigma Fraternity
at Sivampscottj Mass., on September 8, 1949. Editor.
In thinking about current business
and social problems, it seems to me we
can gain a great deal of strength and
courage by sharpening our awareness
of what the people of this country
have been able to accomplish over the
years, and how they have been able
to do it. In the last century they
have created, and as a nation we now
enjoy, the highest standard of living
that has ever been achieved. That
is not to say that everyone is well
off, or that no one is in want. We
know otherwise. But we also know
that the people of the United States
are relatively much better off, so far
as their basic material needs are con-
cerned, than the people of any other
country, either now or at any time
in the past.
We tend to take this for granted,
but the fact is that it is one of the
spectacular and significant achieve-
ments of man. Today, moreover, it
is the United States of America from
which many of the other nations of
the world are drawing aid and
strength in their efforts to rebuild
their economies. Without getting
into a discussion of the pros and cons
of the process, I simply point to the
obvious fact that they have depended
on us for help, and that our success
is the keystone of theirs. While some
people are critical of the United
States, we may well ask: where else
in the world has so much been ac-
complished in behalf of so many?
Since so much depends on our suc-
cess, it seems appropriate to consider
what have been some of its basic in-
gredients. Each of us probably has
his own notions about that — it being
one of the characteristics of this
country that all of us are free to have
notions — but I'll mention several
things that seem particularly impor-
tant to me.
134
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
First, this country is physically big
enough to have been able to grow
into a position of leadership. Size by
itself wouldn't be of much signifi-
cance, but in combination with other
things it has become important.
Second — and you might call this a
function of size — we have great
natural resources. However, we
shouldn't overestimate these, for we
don't have an abundance of every-
thing we need and other nations have
much greater resources than we have
in a number of significant items.
Third, for many years we had
plenty of room for continuous move-
ment outward to the limits of our
present geographic frontiers. We
were growing and expanding. This
stimulated habits of action and prac-
tical enterprise.
Fourth, the driving power of an
expanding economy coincided in time
with the development of technology.
Each nourished the other so that the
tools of industrial production multi-
plied with astonishing speed.
Fifth, competition flourished, the
opportunity to compete was open to
all, and individual enterprise was
rewarded.
Sixth, and last on my list, the same
fundamental political idea that gave
each man the right and opportunity
to compete for rewards likewise re-
quired him to recognize that every
other individual had similar rights. I
am well aware that there have been
plenty of people in this country who
have overlooked this. Nevertheless,
we have on the whole been able to
obtain the advantages of intense com-
petition, and at the same time main-
tain respect for the rights of others.
I am sure we must continue to do
this, and in fact be even more success-
ful at it, if we are to meet our present
responsibility and have the kind of
life to which I imagine most of us
look forward for ourselves and for
our children. Freedom to think and
to act, plus the stimulus of competi-
tion, are essential, but we shall have
them only so long as we recognize the
rights and needs of other people as
individuals and deal with them ac-
cordingly.
This brings me to a subject that I
believe is receiving increasing atten-
tion in industry today. I mean the
building and keeping of good human
relations among the members of any
business or industrial organization,
and particularly between the people
who are being supervised and those
who are doing the supervising, at all
levels in the organization.
There isn't one of us who doesn't
have a pretty clear idea of the things
that make for good relations with
other people. They are simple things
— but so, so important ! Just being
polite is one of them. Being reason-
able in what you ask someone to do,
so that he understands why he is
asked to do it, is another. Giving
credit for a job well done is another.
Each of us could make a fairly long
list, and I think we'd agree that be-
hind each list would be our recogni-
tion of the fact that the other fellow
is an individual human being who
wants the same consideration from
us that we ourselves want from him.
What makes this subject so im-
portant is this — that if we don't
take pains to treat people in industry
as individual human beings, they
won't be able to develop the individ-
ual resources and abilities that they
could otherwise use to their own ad-
1949
A Look Around — and Ahead
-^^s
vantage and the advantage of society
as a whole. Nor will they have the
same capacity to accept and carry out
responsibility, or even to feel their
responsibility toward others.
This has some far-reaching im-
plications. For example, in the last
20 years or so there has been a
growing emphasis on ways and means
of increasing people's security. Cer-
tainly no man can criticize another for
wanting to be secure. Most people
want that and always have. But
there's an immense difference between
v:ork\ng to achieve security and
thinking that you have some inherent
natural-born right to it. If that idea
should ever run away with us, I'm
afraid the burden on the nation would
be backbreaking.
My point here is simply that good
human relations in industry are es-
sential to encourage the resourceful-
ness and vitality that we must have
as a nation to meet the tremendous
demands placed upon us. Contrari-
wise, to the extent that men and
women in industrial and business life
are not treated as individuals, their
capacity and willingness to contribute
their utmost are discouraged. Not
only does this lead to discord and
poor morale; it also seems to me that
in the long run it can weaken people —
take' away their spirit and will to
work — and foster attitudes of "buck-
passing" and dependency that as a
nation we couldn't possibly afford.
This all boils down to the fact
that each of us is encouraged to
give his best when his human worth
and also his human problems as an
individual are recognized by others.
I realize that in saying that I am not
saying anything new. But it is heart-
ening to find in business and industry
these days an increasing response to
the challenge of developing the best
possible human relations, and I am
sure the subject is worth all the con-
structive attention that we can give
it.
Business is how most of us make a
living, and the products of business
are what make living in these free
United States more comfortable and
enjoyable than living elsewhere.
That is not only true in peace times,
but the productivity of our business
produced that amazing arrav of
equipment which gave our fighting
forces at sea and ashore the tremen-
dous power they had in the last war.
That same capacity to produce, in my
opinion, now keeps us at peace with
Russia, for try as she will to drive
her regimented and slave labor she
knows she cannot match us.
The business and industrial
machine was our first line of defense
in war and our strongest argument
for peace, as well as the basis of such
abundant life as we possess.
And we are blessed, as I have said,
with an infinitely greater abundance
than any other people. Is that be-
cause we live in a rich continent? It
is not significantly richer than Russia
in material things, nor is it richer
than western Europe except in one
vital particular. The same races,
the same kind of people that live in
western Europe live here — but here
there has been a greater degree of
liberty and opportunity. Neither
government, caste, nor tradition have
kept people from the pursuit of hap-
piness and the advancement of their
well-being to the limit of their capac-
ities. Able men from all conditions
136
Bell Telephone Magazine
rose rapidly to wealth or distinction.
And as they rose, and received their
rewards, they gave far more to the
country than they got. The wealth
their ideas and organizations created
is what made these United States
what they are today, and it is spread
over the whole land in the living
standards of the people.
We need more leaders, not fewer;
more rather than less encouragement
for ability; more rewards rather than
less. Plans, statistics, bureaus, reg-
ulations— these things are in some
degree necessary, but they never made
a country. They are not creative nor
productive. What makes a country
is freedom and big men.
The road ahead isn't easy. There's
an immense amount of hard work to
be done. But with strong and humble
faith in ourselves, and determination
to meet our responsibilities, I'm con-
fident, and I'm sure you are equally
confident, that nothing can stop
America.
U. S. Now Has 40,000^000 Telephones
The number of telephones in the United
States reached the 40 million mark in Oc-
tober. This is about twice as many tele-
phones as there were in service ten years
ago.
Of the total figure, about 32,900,000 tele-
phones were served by the Bell System com-
panies, and since then Bell System tele-
phones have passed the 33 million mark.
More than 7,100,000 are served by the
nearly 5,700 independently-owned compa-
nies vv^hose lines connect with those of the
Bell System.
Twenty-seven million of the 40 million
are residence telephones and the remainder
are used by business.
The new total reflects a record-breaking
gain of nearly 13 million telephones in the
four years since V-J Day. This is more
than the total number of telephones in serv-
ice in the country in 19 19, 43 years after
the telephone's invention.
Such growth has stemmed from the heavi-
est demand for service in history. To meet
the demand, the industry has added switch-
boards, cable, and other facilities at an un-
precedented rate. Investment in telephone
plant and equipment now exceeds ten billion
dollars, an increase of four billion since the
end of the war.
The post-war years also have witnessed a
sharp increase in usage. Telephone conver-
sations now average over 160 million a day,
compared with the 1945 daily average of
III million.
The United States, with an average of
better than one telephone for every four
persons, has nearly 60 percent of the world's
total. For the rest of the world, there is
only one telephone for every 80 persons.
Out of the ^1 fiOO Recognized Places on This Continent^
The Toll Operator Can Locate the One You Want and
The Route to Take Your Call There
Long Distance Finds
the Way
IVilUam H. Nunn
The customer says "Long Distance,
I want to talk to Mr. John Smith at
Palm Springs, California."
The long distance operator says
"Thank you," and in a remarkably
short time the customer has his wish
— he is talking to Mr. Smith at Palm
Springs, California.
To most people east of the Rocky
Mountains, Palm Springs is just a
name and it is unlikely that they
would have any very clear idea of how
to get there. It is not even a Bell Sys-
tem office, yet obviously this customer
expects the operator to know the way
to get there over the highways of
speech. How does she do it?
You, the reader, have probably had
the experience of planning a long
automobile trip to some distant point.
You remember the hours of poring
over maps, and seeking advice from
friends or a tourist agency. You recall
how the travel advisor consulted re-
ports and other data, and finally pre-
sented you with a marked map. But
on the highways of speech that cover
the nation — much as our network of
roads — somehow we have come to
expect the operator to find the way
to our destination almost immediately
after she has said "Thank you."
If the operator could see the tre-
mendous network of communication
paths that cover the country, she
would probably think of the familiar
road map. There are large main
arteries between near-by big cities and
express routes to important distant
places. There are secondary trunk
lines branching off at suitable places.
There are a myriad of good con-
necting links of local importance, and
there are countless country "lanes" to
reach the farthest village and farm-
house. Altogether, more than 12,-
000 different highways of speech
make the map look very black — cer-
tainly nothing to use as an instan-
taneous reference when one is in a
138
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
hurry. Of course, the operator can
be expected to know the way over
this network of speech highways to
the next town or to the near-by me-
tropolis. But wherever she may be
— in Portland, Maine, or Portland,
Oregon — she must also be able to get
the call through quickly to Palm
Springs, and to many thousands of
other places as well.
Each business day, long distance
operators are called upon to find the
way on more than four million calls.
Of course, most of these calls are con-
centrated to large cities and nearby
towns, but many of them scatter.
They may be directed to any one of
the 71,000 cities, towns, or recog-
nized localities in the United States
proper, or to one of the 16,000 addi-
tional points in Canada, Cuba, or
Mexico. Or the customer may wish
to talk to one of the 13,000 vessels or
nearly 8,000 cars and trucks equipped
with telephones. Three thousand calls
a day are made to vessels or to the
118 overseas points to which tele-
phone service is available at present.
The operator must be able to select
the proper combination of routes; be-
cause, if she fails to, not only will
excessive miles of speech highways be
used, but the transmission may not
be good and the customer will not
have a satisfactory connection over
which to talk.
With the expansion of operator toll
dialing, still another reason for ac-
curacy of routing comes into the pic-
ture; for the gains in speed which this
method offers may be lost if the rout-
ing is incorrect, or takes too long to
obtain.
Every long distance operator has
available two principal means for de-
termining the route over which she
may direct any toll call to its destina-
tion. She can call the Rate and Route
Operator, who has the Toll Rate and
Route Guide as the ultimate basic
source of information, and also a
fairly voluminous list of frequently
called points with the route and rate
already shown. But her first refer-
ence is her own position bulletin,
showing information for a rather lim-
ited number of the most frequently
called points, either on a flat card un-
der the keyshelf glass or on a "multi-
card bulletin" which puts from 600 to
a thousand or more routes at her fin-
ger tips.
Each of these sources of informa-
tion has its advantages and its limita-
tions, but, combined in suitable pro-
portions, they furnish the "how" that
the long distance operator needs.
The Basic Source
The Toll Rate and Route Guide has
grown with the long distance trafl'ic
of the country. It is an absolute ne-
cessity in every long distance oflice,
for it is the device that puts the "any-
where" into the statement about be-
ing able to call anyone else anywhere
else.
The guide lists all of the 100,000
or so places and vessels previously
mentioned, and requires a sizable staff
of people to keep it strictly up to
date by issuing monthly supplements
as changes occur and disseminating
the revised information to nearly
5,000 copies of the Guide that are
maintained in service throughout the
Bell System. In its two volumes, the
Guide contains 1,500 pages of list-
ings, in addition to other information,
is 5^" thick, and weighs about 14
1949
Long Distance Finds the Way
139
The records of Rate and Route Operators appear on a toll auxiliary desk in the fore-
ground. The first reference list is the tabbed swing-leaf file at the upper corner of the
ticket rack. Below that is the Toll Rate and Route Guide — a cotnplete reference source
for each of the operators. Their duties also include receivings filings
and distributing toll tickets
pounds — not exactly a handy first-
reference record.
Of course, as a commentary on life
in our country and its early history,
the Guide is interesting in itself.
Pennsylvania seems to have more
named places than any other state :
6,700. New York is second with
over 3,500, and California is third
with about 3,200. On the other hand,
the expanse of the wide open spaces
is indicated by Arizona's 440 listings
and Wyoming's 355. The early citi-
zens of no less than ^d communities in
34 states considered their towns
sufficiently important to carry the
name of Centerville — and today the
long distance operator seeking the
way to Centerville must make a choice
between eight such towns if the call
is directed to Pennsylvania, five if
Ohio, and three each if Georgia or
Illinois. Here and there one finds
interesting traces of obsolete word
usage, as in Smoky Ordinary, Vir-
ginia, which was perhaps the site of
an inn which had a reputation for
its smoky fireplaces. We see the
hand of the early Spaniards still upon
us in the California list which contains
1 1 names starting with "Los," 44
starting with "San" and 17 with
140
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
"Santa." And we may suspect that
the inner thoughts of early settlers
were reflected in names which they
bestowed on such places as Bacchus,
Better Chance, Gilt Edge, and Life.
In this Guide, each of the points is
listed as a Class i toll center, a Class
2 toll center, or a tributary. A toll
center is an office which has been
designated in the nation-wide toll plan
to handle most of the long distance
calls to and from its own and other
near-by localities. A toll center is con-
sidered as Class i not because of size
alone but because of its strategic loca-
tion with regard to the main com-
munication routes and the distribu-
tion of calls around it. There are
only 336 Class i toll centers in the
U. S. and Canada, and they are pretty
well connected by main trunk lines —
"backbone routes" — so that most of
them can reach most of the others
over direct circuits. In only a rela-
tively few cases must one of these
offices go through more than one in-
termediate switching point to reach
another Class i office. Each Class i
office is furnished a tailor-made sheet
showing how it reaches every other
Class I office.
The places designated in the Guide
as Class 2 toll centers are also impor-
tant switching points. Each is con-
nected to one or more Class i centers,
and the Guide states what these "out-
lets" are — though actually the outlet
is a two-way channel; that is, a Class
I office switches outgoing calls from
its Class 2 offices to distant points and
also switches calls from distant points
to each of its Class 2 offices. There
are about 2,300 Class 2 offices.
All the other continental points
listed in the Guide are "tributaries"
of a Class i or Class 2 toll center, and
for each the Guide gives the toll cen-
ter. Some tributaries are large and
some are small. Factors such as geo-
graphical location, economical layout
of telephone plant, and efficient oper-
ation determine whether a place is
considered a toll center or a tributary.
The cities of East Orange and
Jersey City are "tributaries" of New-
ark, New Jersey, for example, while
many smaller places in less densely
populated areas are "toll centers."
The Guide also shows, for each
vessel equipped for telephone service,
which one of the radiotelephone
offices to call to reach the ship; for
each telephone-equipped automobile,
what mobile service office normally
serves it; and for each overseas point,
the overseas office to which a call
for that point should be directed.
Thus the Guide is a world communi-
cation atlas, and hardly the thing to
be consulted by an operator in the
confines of a regular long distance
switchboard position.
However, if it were consulted, it
would show the way. An operator
in Buffalo, New York, for example,
with a call for Palm Springs, Cali-
fornia, would find that Palm Springs
is a tributary of San Bernardino, and
that San Bernardino is a Class 2 office
for which the Class i office she should
use is Chicago.
Such a method is too slow, too cum-
bersome, and too difficult for each
long distance operator to use, so that
the Guide is kept at a Rate and Route
Desk where specially trained opera-
tors use it, and interposition trunks
connect the long distance operators
with this desk. The Rate and Route
operators are provided also with a
1949
Long Distance Finds the Way
141
fairly extensive list of frequently
called points — several thousand in
many offices — from which they can
supply most of the information re-
quested. So when the Rate and
Route operator receives a request for
"Routes to Palm Springs, Califor-
nia," she consults this first reference
list and, if the information is avail-
able there, she is able to give it in
a matter of seconds. If it does not
appear on this list, she refers to the
Guide and will find the information
in about a half minute. Then she will
reply to the request by saying, "Toll
center San Bernardino, ringdown; via
Chicago" — and the long distance op-
erator knows the way.
At present the average speed of
service is 1.6 minutes for answering a
long distance call at the switchboard,
obtaining and recording all the neces-
sary details from the customer, find-
ing the way to the called place, reach-
ing it, and completing the connection.
Operators Own Lists
By no means must every call be re-
ferred to the Rate and Route opera-
tor for routing instructions, however.
It has been a longstanding practice
to equip each long distance position
with a list of frequently called places
to which the operator could quickly
refer to find the route on most calls
This longdistance operator s position is equipped with the largest possible ''flat bulletin"
— the printed sheets under the glass on which her hands rest. From it she can obtain
the routes to several hundred of the most frequently called points ^ and other information
she may require to provide fast handling of most calls
142
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
without having to obtain it from the
Rate and Route operator. The glass-
covered keyshelf space, on which she
does her writing, provided a place
where a few hundred places and the
routes to them could be listed on a
flat bulletin. It was only a matter
of seconds for her to glance at this
flat bulletin and then, if the desired
place were listed there, be on her way.
Since this space is limited, thousands
of calls are analyzed to determine
what places are most frequently called
from each long distance office. As a
result, in many offices a few hundred
places listed on this flat bulletin will
give the route on from 75 to 90 per-
cent of all the calls made there.
As the American people have be-
come more telephone-minded, the
simple flat bulletin on the keyshelf,
with its limited listing of points, has
become inadequate for many offices.
Not only have total volumes of long
distance calls grown, but people call
more different places. A man whose
ofilice is in New York City regularly
calls "the folks" in Marion, Iowa;
Mother in White Plains, New York,
calls her daughter at school in Dan-
ville, Virginia, each Wednesday night ;
business men call their clients to dis-
cuss details which a decade ago would
have been handled by mail. The re-
sult is that more points have to be
listed on the flat bulletin, or the over-
all speed of connection will suffer be-
cause Long Distance has to obtain the
route from the Rate and Route opera-
tor.
Moreover, to keep step with the
tempo of American life, the Bell Sys-
tem has been introducing toll dialing
to an increasing extent. Progress in
this direction was signalized recently
in ceremonies to commemorate the
inauguration of transcontinental toll
dialing. President Mark Sullivan of
the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph
Company talked to Dr. O. E. Buck-
ley, President of the Bell Labora-
tories, and Mr. Keith S. McHugh,
President of the New York Tele-
phone Company, over a dialed con-
nection which was completed in 12
seconds from the time the long dis-
tance operator was given the called
number. As an adjunct to such a
service, the old system of obtaining
routes over a trunk from another
operator becomes rather antiquated —
like continuing to wear the old linen
duster and dust goggles, say, in a
1949 convertible car.
The Effect of
Operator Toll Dialing
The mechanical switching
EQUIPMENT used in the operation we
call "operator toll dialing" can do
wonderful things, but it does not
understand names. Names must be
converted to distinctive codes, so all
dialing routes must be expressed as
arbitrary numbers — generally 3-digit
numbers. Plans have been worked
out for an ultimate nation-wide num-
bering plan, under which an operator
would reach any dial telephone in the
United States or Canada by dialing a
maximum of 10 or 11 digits and in
most cases not over seven.
That, however, is something to be
arrived at by degrees. It would be
impractical to convert the entire coun-
try to toll dialing at one sweep, and it
is undesirably slow to wait until every-
thing is ready to convert even one of-
fice to dialing under that numbering
plan. To permit a great many offices
to start a limited amount of toll dial-
1949
LA)ng Distance Finds the Way
143
ing at once and to permit easy and
gradual extension of the operation, so
that the service advantages and oper-
ating economies of the method can
be effected as rapidly as possible, the
ultimate is being approached through
transition stages.
During this transition period, each
place that can dial other places has a
code for each such place. If it can
dial through that place to reach an-
other, it adopts that office's code for
the second place. Recalling our call
to Palm Springs, California, for ex-
ample— if all the equipment in the of-
fices involved were ready for toll dial-
ing, the calling office might have the
code 312 for Chicago; Chicago might
reach San Bernardino by "pulsing"
(dialing) 051; and San Bernardino
might have selected the code 167 for
its tributary. Palm Springs. Then, if
the long distance operator we have
been talking about went to her Rate
and Route operator for the
route, she would be told, "312
plus 051 plus 167 plus."
No one would expect Long
Distance to remember those nine
digits correctly; she would have
to write them on the ticket she
has made out for the call. That
takes more time before she is
ready to set out on the road —
operating time and customers'
time; and in spite of every effort,
numerals are too often misunder-
stood, and our call might arrive
at Orlando, Florida. That is
why, as we convert to toll dial-
The multi-card bulletin
at a long distance posi-
tion provides routes to
many hundreds of the
more frequently called
places. The operator
may obtain from it in
a few seconds the infor-
mation needed to speed
a call on its way
144
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
The familiar "open wire" pole line extends the highways of speech to rural and sparsely
settled areasy and helps to validate the "anywhere" in the scope of
the Bell System's service
ing, we wish to get as many points
as practicable on the switchboard bul-
letin. If the point is listed there, long
distance can read "312 + 051 + 167
+," glance at and then pulse each
code separately, without taking time
to transcribe it to the ticket and with
greater assurance than if she tried
to remember all nine digits at once.
You probably wonder what the
"plus" means. It means simply to
"Keep on dialing," or "There is
more dialing to be done." Between
successive codes it also acts as a
spacer; a nine-digit number without
a break is rather frightening. At the
end of a code or series of codes, the
"plus" means that the operator can
dial the local number if she knows it.
On this call over an all-dial route to
Palm Springs, for instance, as soon as
she observed the code, if the cus-
tomer had supplied the called number,
the operator would select a trunk
and dial "312 — 051 — 167," and then
the local number. All 13 or 14 digits
would be pulsed in less than that num-
ber of seconds, and without waiting
for anything else to happen.
If the operator does not have the
Palm Springs number, she is in-
structed to reach the Information
Operator at the toll center; so, having
found the code for the toll center
1949
Long Distance Finds the Way
145
she would pulse that, adding "131,"
which is the uniform operator code
for "Information." Once she had ob-
tained the number, she would then
disconnect and start over again.
Of course, since the mechanical
equipment starts establishing the con-
nection while she is still pulsing, the
connection is extended to the called
office or number in a matter of one
to four seconds after she has finished
the last digit, so the whole operation
would take less time than it has taken
to describe it.
At present about 30 percent of the
toll calls of the System are dialed.
During the transition period, a few
long distance offices are dialing on a
large percent of their calls, some can
dial on certain routes, and many are
not yet equipped for dialing. Certain
toll trunk groups are arranged for
dialing, others are not. A call that
started out over a dial group might
entail a switch at an intermediate
office to a ringdown or non-dial route.
All this information must be made
available to the operator who is try-
ing to find the way. Going back to
the operator seeking the way to Palm
Springs, she might read from her bul-
letin, or be told by the Rate and
Route operator, that the code was
"312 plus 051." The absence of the
"plus" after the second code would
mean that, after she had pulsed that
code, she should listen for the answer
of an operator, and pass her request
orally from that point on.
This digression into toll dialing
codes indicates again the need for
getting more listings on the long dis-
tance bulletin so that the operator
will not have to enlist the help of the
Rate and Route operator except on
the occasional random call.
The Multi-card Bulletin
The answer to the problem of help-
ing the operator to help herself di-
rectly to more long distance routes
has been in use for some time in a few
offices, and in the past three years
its application has been extended
rapidly. The space on the flat bul-
letin is being greatly augmented by
a "multi-card bulletin." A few
square inches of the keyshelf on each
long distance position are set aside
for a unit containing a number of in-
dividually hinged cards, each of which
is tab-indexed in such a manner that
all the tabs are visible. The operator
can select at a glance the two tabs
between which the called point would
be found, flip the bulletin open, and
quickly scan the 40-odd listings thus
exposed.
About 250 toll offices have now
adopted this form of record for Long
Distance, and the number is growing
rapidly. On the average, some six
hundred to eight hundred places are
listed on each multi-card bulletin.
The operator should be able to "find
the way" to the called place on 95
percent or more of the calls merely
by a flip of the finger.
We in the Bell System wish to de-
crease the operation of obtaining
routes from the special Rate and
Route operator just as much as prac-
ticable. Not only does the call go
through faster when the operator can
"find the way" from her position bul-
letin, but operating time is saved when
one operator can do this work for her-
self rather than asking another to do
146
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
it for her and then waiting while the
second operator does it.
For these reasons we continue to
study the distribution of the destina-
tion of calls placed in each long dis-
tance office; for, even with the added
space that a multi-card bulletin makes
available, if we tried to anticipate
every eventuality, the list would soon
become the same size as the Toll Rate
and Route Guide. In any toll office,
there are five calls or fewer per hun-
dred which are non-recurring — or
practically so. A family touring on
the Pacific Coast may call "home" to
Beaver Dam, Virginia, to make sure
that things are going all right in their
absence; or some "Stop the Music"
sort of radio program in New York
City may select a number in Black
Springs, Arkansas, to call. Obviously,
such random calls must be handled
without benefit of a switchboard bul-
letin, and for them the Rate and
Route operator supplies the route.
Some offices can cover practically
their entire file of long distance calls
with a list of 100 to 150 points, and
for these the flat bulletin is un-
equaled. But experience indicates
that most long distance offices need
600 to 800 listings to leave a residue
of scattered calls amounting to no
more than five per hundred. This is
too large a list to get on a flat bulletin
— and read without a magnifying
glass. But it is a nice size for a multi-
card bulletin.
Having accepted the multi-card
file because its good features were val-
uable and serviceable to us, we have
been working to minimize its bad
features — the worst of which is cost
of production and maintenance.
To encourage operators to use it,
and to make that usage fast and ac-
curate, we have stressed the clearness
and legibility of the typography of
the bulletin. That at first suggested
that the job must be set up in printer's
type, and many bulletins were done on
that basis. It became evident, how-
ever, that such a process would be too
expensive to use widely.
Hand in hand with this problem
was that of making changes, for
routes do not "stay put." New high-
ways of speech are frequently being
placed in service which may replace
a switched routing by a direct path
or may make it advisable to change a
switched route from "through Chi-
cago" to "through Omaha." And
as the toll dialing program pro-
gresses, office after office and group
after group are being converted to a
dialing basis. Each such conversion
has far-flung effects.
On the smaller, flat bulletin, the
work of posting changes or of reprint-
ing the bulletin to incorporate changes
is not too great, but the multi-card
bulletin is somewhat more of a prob-
lem. With the greater number of
points listed in a given office, more
changes are occurring in a given pe-
riod of time, but still the bulletin must
be kept strictly up to date or the call
will be misrouted.
At this moment, the best solution
to the problems of economical prep-
aration and maintenance of the
multi-card bulletin seems to be the
adoption of "multilith" duplicating,
an established process for producing
quantities of copies already used ex-
tensively in the Bell System. In it the
information is typed on special paper
in the form and size desired, and
these special sheets are used as plates
1949
Long Distance Finds the Way
147
on the drum of the duplicating
machine to produce as many copies of
the cards as are necessary. If a
change in route is made, the original
may be erased and corrected, and
corrected copies of the card re-run,
literally in a matter of minutes. The
typing and the operation of the
machine are done by trained girls
within our organization, so we are
not dependent on printers' schedules
or time consumed in delivery and pick-
up. The finished product compares
quite favorably in attractive appear-
ance with regular printed work.
This story started out about a long
distance call to Palm Springs, Cali-
fornia, and about how the operator
needed to find the way. Here we
have ended talking about duplicating
machines and such things as dollars
and cents. That is the way things
work in a large enterprise like the
Bell System. The long distance serv-
ice must be improved — the operator
must be given means of finding the
way more quickly — switchboard bul-
letins must be improved — the tele-
phone company must go into the
duplicating business — and, lo ! it can
all be done, and at less cost than pre-
vious methods.
Thus the operator has not only
found the way to Palm Springs but to
more eflicient long distance service.
Bell System Film Receives Award
Readers who may recall Arthur F. Leet's article "You Can Tell
by the Teller," in last Spring's issue of this Magazine, may remem-
ber his reference there to a training film having the same title, and
will perhaps be interested to learn that it has been awarded an
"Oscar" at the second annual film festival of the Cleveland Film
Council. The Council is an organization of business, educational,
and religious groups for encouraging the use of films in adult educa-
tion. About thirty employee training films were reviewed before
the field was narrowed down to the eight which were shown at the
festival. The film, produced originally in 1946 for the training of
Bell System counter tellers in the techniques of their job and the
importance of their work in fostering good customer relations, has
been used extensively by banks, insurance companies, and other con-
cerns throughout the country to train employees in showing courtesy
and good will to their customers.
Pension Minimums Are Raised
Bell System employees were informed during the
week of November 20 that pension minimums had been
increased, as of November 16, for both those now re-
ceiving pensions and those who will retire in the future.
The principal effect of the change is to provide in-
creases in the minimum pension for full-time employees
having 20 or more years of service at the time of their
retirement. They will receive a minimum payment
which, when added to the amount receivable from Fed-
eral Social Security — if any — , will be $100 per month
after age 65 and $75 per month before that age.
Many employees will receive more than these mini-
mums.
The Benefit Plan is a fully-rounded plan, providing
at no cost to the employee not only pensions but also
sickness, accident, disability, and death benefits. Its
eligibility provisions and the methods of computing
benefits and pensions are the same for all management
and non-management employees throughout the or-
ganization. Pensions, both for employees who retire
at age 65 and for those who retire earlier, are based
on length of service and average wages for the last ten
years before retirement.
The Plan was established in 19 13 — nearly 37 years
ago — as a "non-contributory" benefit and pension plan.
It has always ranked high among the benefit and pen-
sion plans of the country, and over the years it has been
amended from time to time in the light of changing
conditions and in such a way that the Plan has remained
sound.
The relevant paragraphs of the Plan have been
amended to make the present changes effective.
148
War-Time Taxes on
Communication Services
In 1949
The following statement has been presented to Representative Robert L.
Doughton, Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means,
and to Senator Walter F. George, Chairman of the Senate Committee
on Finance. Editor.
The Bell System's views on contin-
uing the war-time Federal excise taxes
on communication services are pre-
sented here on behalf of the users of
the Nation's 33,000,000 Bell tele-
phones, the 800,000 stockholders,
and the other hundreds of thousands
whose savings have been loaned to
provide the facilities through which
this service is rendered.
Federal Excise Taxes on
Communication Services Are
Unreasonably High
Local telephone service and tele-
phone toll messages of less than 25
cents are taxed at 15 percent, while
telephone toll messages over 24 cents
and domestic telegrams are taxed at
25 percent. Thus, for instance, on
a monthly charge of $5.00 for local
service the customer pays a tax of 75
cents, and on a $ i .00 toll call he pays
a tax of 25 cents.
The excise taxes on Bell System
business were about $13.50 per tele-
phone for 1948, or about $1.12 per
month. The taxes averaged 18.6
percent of the taxable revenues — in
other words, in 1948 Bell System cus-
tomers really paid 18.6 percent more
for their telephone service than would
otherwise have been necessary, be-
cause of these taxes.
In addition to these excise taxes
which users pay, there are the Fed-
eral income and other operating taxes
of the corporations which, of course,
must be passed on to the users
through charges for service. In-
cluding these corporate operating
taxes with the excise taxes, the total
1948 taxes per Bell System telephone
were about $23.30, or almost $2.00
per month.
I50
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
A Bushiess and Social Necessity
Should Not Carry a Burdensome
and Discriminatory Tax Load
As FAR BACK AS 1 924, the Commit-
tee on Ways and Means, in the report
submitted with the Revenue Act of
1924, which repealed the then exist-
ing excise tax on certain communica-
tion services, said:
"This tax was not only a burden
upon business but was a tax upon a
public utility so widely used as to be
a necessity."
If communication services were a
necessity in 1924 because of their
wide use, they are even more so to-
day. In the last 25 years. Bell Sys-
tem telephones increased from 1 1
million to 33 million, and telephone
conversations increased from 47 mil-
lion daily to 125 million daily.
We believe that the excise taxes
on communication services discrimi-
nate against the users of these serv-
ices, as they saddle on them too great
a portion of the total tax load.
These users pay their shares of other
taxes, as well as the high communica-
tions excises.
Excise taxes are essentially sales
taxes on a few selected items. It is
one thing to obtain a portion of the
needed revenues of Government by
the use of a general sales tax at rea-
sonably low rates. But it becomes an
entirely different matter when sales
taxes on relatively few items are im-
posed at very high rates.
In addition to the effects of cor-
porate income taxes and excise taxes,
the double taxation of corporate in-
come weighs particularly heavily on
telephone investors.
This double taxation arises from
the fact that although corporate in-
come available for dividends has al-
ready been subjected to corporate in-
come tax, the dividends are then
taxed again as income to the re-
cipient. The portion of the cor-
porate income paid out in dividends
is thus taxed twice. The Bell Sys-
tem's business is one of those on
which the burden of double taxation
weighs most heavily as, over a period
of years, it has distributed practically
all of its net income in dividends.
The over-all tax load on the busi-
ness of the Bell System is enormous.
Some idea of its size can be obtained
by comparing it with the net returns,
after income taxes, to all Bell System
security holders, for 1948. If we
combine Federal and other corporate
taxes, excise taxes, and income taxes
at the conservatively assumed rate
of 20 percent on the security holders'
interest and dividends from the Bell
System, the total dollar tax load is
more than three times the net returns
to the security holders! In other
words. Government took as its share
more than three times the net amount
that went to 800,000 stockholders
and hundreds of thousands of other
people from all walks of life who
loaned the money to build and expand
the business !
Present Excises on Comniunication
Services Are a Cai'ry-Over of
Restrictive War- Time Taxes
The present high excise tax rates
were imposed by the Revenue Act of
1943, which became effective April i,
1944. They are largely the result
of three, rather than a single, war-
time tax increases, and they are a
carry-over of war-time restrictions
which have no place in the peace-time
1949
War-Time Taxes
151
economy. To appreciate these facts,
we must consider some of the steps
which led up to the present situation.
From 1924 to 1932, there were
no excise taxes on communication
services. The Revenue Act of 1932
introduced a tax ranging from 10
cents to 20 cents on each toll message
over 49 cents, with no tax on local
service. This was a "depression"
tax to help provide Government
revenues at a time when certain of
the other tax sources were drying up.
Before we had fully recovered from
the depression, Europe was at war.
By 1 94 1, the nation embarked on a
"Defense" program, shortly to be fol-
lowed by our entry into the war.
The Revenue Acts of 1941, 1942,
and 1943 were enacted while we were
either preparing for war or at war.
Their combined effect was to tax
those communication services which
were not taxed under the 1932 Act
and to raise the rates on all the serv-
ices to the present high levels. The
real war-time excises are, therefore,
those imposed by the Revenue Acts
of 1941, 1942, and 1943, and not
just those of the 1943 Act.
There can be no doubt that in
taxing all communication services and
in fixing the high war-time rates, as
done in these three Acts, Congress
gave consideration to the necessity
for conserving the existing facilities
for war needs. Under war-time con-
ditions it was impossible to meet the
entire public demand for service, and
the effect of the high excises in help-
ing to prevent further overcrowding
of the lines was certainly desirable.
Now, of course, there is no need or
desire to discourage the usage.
The 1943 Act contains a provision
that six months after the termina-
tion of hostilities, excise taxes are to
revert to the level of the 1942 Act.
However, the Excise Tax Act of
1947 continued the rates of the 1943
Act without a definite termination
date, and these are still in effect to-
day, four years after the close of the
war.
It is clear that simply going back
to the 1942 Act would still leave
communication services taxed at very
high war-time rates, as taxes on local
telephone service and toll messages
less than 25 cents would be lowered
only from 15 percent to 10 percent,
and on toll messages over 24 cents
only from 25 percent to 20 percent.
The most recent peace-time tax level
was really that of the 1932 Act, effec-
tive until 1 94 1, which did not tax
local telephone service or toll mes-
sages less than 50 cents.
Regulatory Authorities Are Keenly
Aware of These Taxes and Have
Taken a Strong Stand against Them
Rates for communication services are
subject to regulation as to interstate
rates by the Federal Communi-
cations Commission, and as to intra-
state rates by state commissions in 46
states and the District of Columbia
and by certain cities where state com-
missions do not have jurisdiction.
Chairman Wayne Coy of the Fed-
eral Communications Commission
made several references to excise
taxes on communication services in
testifying before a subcommittee of
the House Appropriations Committee
on March 7, 1949. These references
were:
"We at the Commission think it
is an atrocious thing to have a tax
on a communication system today.
152
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
There was reasonable ground for it
when it was desired to curtail com-
munications so as to keep within our
capacity during wartime.
"How can we stand before the
world and talk about a free com-
munication system when we put a tax
on it? It is as if we did not want
some people to use it.
"The tax was a carry-over from
the war period when we were en-
deavoring to hold communications to
the minimum because we did not want
to expand their capacity during war-
time. I do not think there is any
reason at all for a tax today."
The National Association of Rail-
road and Utilities Commissioners
passed resolutions in their 1948 and
1949 annual conventions favoring
repeal or reduction of Federal excise
taxes on transportation and commu-
nication services. The resolution
passed on August 10, 1949, reads:
''Resolved, That the National As-
sociation of Railroad and Utilities
Commissioners is of the opinion that
the present excise taxes on transpor-
tation and communication services are
inimical to the maintenance of a rea-
sonably-priced and non-discriminatory
public transportation and communica-
tion service and that, accordingly, the
excise tax on transportation of prop-
erty should be repealed and the excise
tax on other transportation and com-
munication services should be re-
pealed {or greatly reduced). . . ."
Also, retiring President Justus F.
Craemer of the National Association
of Railroad and Utilities Commission-
ers, in his address to the Association
at its annual convention on August 8,
1949, said with reference to the tax
results of certain telephone com-
panies:
"These facts dramatically illustrate
the unjust and discriminatory nature
of the excise tax on communications
service."
Conclusion
A HEALTHY, vigorous telephone sys-
tem, used widely and operated effi-
ciently, is vital to the nation in many
ways. The Bell Telephone System
does more than provide good tele-
phone service, important as that is.
Directly or indirectly, it touches some
part of the business and social life
and prosperity of almost everybody.
Millions of people outside the tele-
phone business get some part of their
livelihood from it. Telephone em-
ployees buy from local merchants.
They pay local taxes as well as State
and Federal income taxes, and the
total of these payments is huge.
Each operating company itself is a
large purchaser of local materials and
supplies. Last year. Western Elec-
tric— the manufacturing unit of the
Bell System — bought from 27,000
different concerns in 2,800 cities and
towns.
Since the war, the Bell Telephone
Companies have put over $4,000,-
000,000 into new facilities. The
money has been spent to improve
telephone service and to meet heavy
post-war demands in almost every
community in which they operate.
This has meant work and jobs for
people in many, many lines.
The value and usefulness of the
service this industry provides and the
contributions it makes to the pros-
perity of the communities it serves
are important to the economy of the
entire nation. Therefore, it would
be unwise and uneconomic to continue
in effect a tax which might retard the
1949
War-Time Taxes
153
growth and development of such an
essential service.
We therefore believe that excise
taxes on communication services
should be abolished as soon as pos-
sible. If they cannot be abolished
completely, the first step should be
to eliminate the taxes on local tele-
phone service and on toll messages
less than 50 cents, and to reduce
greatly the tax rate on other toll mes-
sages. The lifting of this tax burden
will be to the advantage of the mil-
lions of telephone users, the hundreds
of thousands of telephone employees
and stockholders, and the thousands
of communities which the industry
serves.
John J. Toolariy New England Telephone and Telegraph Company
Plant man who was the model for Norman RockwelPs paintings
"The Telephone Lineman" stands beside the first full-color repro-
duction of the painting to come from the press. The print, inscribed
with a personal message from the artist, was given to Mr. Toolan
by President Joe E. Harrell of the New England Company at a
special ceremony. The picture has appeared in Bell System news-
paper and magazine advertisements, and reproductions of it similar
to the one Mr. Toolan received are being displayed in suitable loca-
tions throughout the System
Restoring Worn Telephone Equipment to Further Usefulness
Is an Important Western Electric Function Carried On
In the Shops of Its 28 Distributing Houses
Giving New Life to
Old Equipment
Philip H. Miele
The responsibilities of the West-
ern Electric Company, supply unit of
the Bell System, are often cited as
four : manufacturing, purchasing, dis-
tribution, and installation. That is
not the whole story, however; for
part of the job of keeping the tele-
phone companies supplied with good
equipment is to keep that equipment
in the very best possible condition —
repairing it so that, after the long
years of hard service it was built to
withstand, it can begin another long
service life in the telephone network.
This is no small outgrowth of the
Company's supply responsibilities.
Repairing communications equipment
is both a big and an important under-
taking. Each year, for example,
Western Electric's repair shops re-
condition and restore about lo per-
cent of all the Bell telephones cur-
rently in use. Then consider for a
moment that the telephone is only 6
percent of the equipment in the net-
work behind it — and you'll have
an even clearer picture of the scope
of Western Electric's repair job.
Some of this vast quantity of ma-
terial returned by the telephone com-
panies to Western is found, after
inspection, to be in as good operating
condition as the day it was made,
needing only a cleaning to wipe away
the scars of long service, or a slight
adjustment or replacement of a part
to insure even longer service. All
the research and engineering, the
skilled manufacturing and painstaking
installation, that go into putting the
telephone network together would be-
come useless for some customers if
even as small a component as a tele-
phone transmitter should break down.
That's why heading off breakdowns
before they occur, rehabilitating be-
fore repairs are necessary, is of vital
importance to the telephone com-
panies in their job of rendering good
and dependable service.
Giving New Life to Old Equipment
^SS
On this map are spotted the locations of the Western Electric Company's 28 Distributing
Houses. An integral and important part of each is its Repair Shop
As distributor for the Bell System.
Western Electric operates 28 distrib-
uting houses, which are strategically
located throughout the nation to
serve the Bell telephone companies.
These houses vary in size from the
one in Cincinnati, O., employing about
60 persons, to the one in New York
City which employs about 1,150.
They render two principal services:
one, for which they are well known,
distribution; and the second, less
known, repairing. Of the almost
8,000 employees who work in the
distributing houses, more than 5,000
are engaged in a wide variety of re-
pair activities — activities which in
turn call for almost as wide a variety
of skills as are required in the manu-
facturing operations of both the Com-
pany and its subsidiary. Teletype
Corporation.
The Scope of Shop
Operations
Visit any one of the shops and you'll
be impressed by the scope of its op-
erations. In one shop, for instance,
you'll see many of the hundreds of
varieties of equipment normally re-
paired there pouring in from the
telephone company; being classified,
tested, sorted into any one of numer-
ous categories; some of it moved on
again for repair, then again for a
final test and inspection; packed, and
stored in the warehouse until ordered
again by the telephone company.
On the ground floor, old apparatus,
some of it no longer manufactured by
156
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
This machine automatically washes telephone parts at
i6o degrees and then dries them
the Company but still in good work-
ing order, is dismantled for salvage
of whatever parts can be used in the
newer models that have come along.
Telephone instruments that stream in
by the hundreds are channeled over to
another area, visually inspected, clas-
sified, and most of them sent upstairs
for repair. A considerable number
of them, however — about 15 percent
in this shop's case — are almost as
good as new. A little cleaning, per-
haps a cord changed, then a complete
electrical test — and they're ready for
re-use.
Upstairs, more complex repair
jobs are performed: extensive "con-
veyorized" operations,
exacting scientific ones,
washing, painting,
woodworking, testing,
wiring — almost every-
thing you would find
in any one of the Com-
pany's manufacturing
plants. Here, much
the same quality origi-
nally built into West-
ern's products is being
built back into them;
they leave the shop
only when they are as
gleaming new as the
day they were made.
One young lady
seems to be adminis-
tering a blood trans-
fusion. A closer look
shows that she Is us-
ing a newly developed
machine for putting car-
bon crystals into tele-
phone transmitters. In
another area, someone
seems to be putting
parts of telephone instruments into
a washing machine. He is. And
right next to him are similar parts
being rolled around in a drum full
of shoemaker's pegs and a polishing
compound. Along the conveyor line,
men and women are cleaning, re-
placing, adjusting and repairing the
inner components of the telephone
instruments.
In other parts of the shop, men
are busy wiring switching equipment
— everything from small private
switchboards to giant toll units.
Complex Teletype sending and receiv-
ing machines are tested, dismantled,
repaired, and tested again. Intricate
1949
Giving New Life to Old Equipment
157
mobile telephone units
are repaired or modi-
fied to conform to the
latest developments in
this new communica-
tions field. And in
still other parts of the
shop, careful cabinet-
making work is going
on. Old service-worn
telephone booths are
cleaned of their scars
— t h e arrow-pierced
hearts and scratched-in
rhymes are scraped
away, the broken doors
fixed, and the posture
of the entire booth
made erect again.
This shop, like the
other 27 throughout the
nation, works closely
with the telephone com-
pany which it serves.
It repairs equipment be-
longing to the telephone
company; it operates on
schedules that are deter-
mined by both the short- and long-
term needs of the telephone company;
and, while its operations are largely
standardized with those of the other
27 shops, it performs some opera-
tions that are peculiar to its territory
to meet special operating require-
ments of its customer.
In repairing equipment belonging
to the telephone company, the han-
dling of that equipment is almost en-
tirely determined by the needs in the
field. When the equipment comes
into the shop, it is classified both ac-
cording to its condition (which is
learned through preliminary tests)
and according to what the telephone
Not a blood transfusion^ but a new device for replacing
carbon crystals in telephone transmitters
company wants done with it. If, for
instance, in a particular operating
area, there is a program under way
of conversion from an old to a new
model of apparatus, the older one is
dismantled, some of its usable parts
are stored for later use, and the other
parts are sold to Western Electric's
subsidiary, the Nassau Smelting and
Refining Company, for salvage or to
local junk dealers. The proceeds of
the sale are credited to the tele-
phone company. On the other hand,
the telephone company determines
whether repairable equipment coming
into the shop is to be repaired im-
mediately, stored for later repair, or
158
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
purchased by Western Electric for
resale to other telephone companies.
Co??ipa?iy Forecasts and
Shop Schedules
The schedules on which the shop
operates are established jointly by the
shop and its customer. Every three
months, the telephone company issues
a forecast which predicts its needs
during the period. The forecast
cites specific items that will be needed
in specific quantities and at specific
intervals. The shop, on the basis of
this forecast, works with the tele-
phone company to prepare a schedule
providing, as far as possible, a uni-
form level of repair activity through-
out the three months. Once estab-
lished, this quarterly schedule remains
flexible, however. At monthly meet-
ings, sometimes weekly ones, and at
times even by telephone call, the shop
may modify its program to meet
changed conditions in the field.
Although all 28 repair shops are
geared to meet the specific require-
ments of the individual telephone
companies which they serve, the shops
are nevertheless strikingly similar to
each other in their operations. West-
ern Electric equipment is made to
standard specifications, and therefore
the technique of repairing it for one
telephone company is the same as
that of repairing it for another. This
results in a similarity between the
repair shops and, as we shall see
later, adds up to substantial savings
to the telephone companies, since re-
pair methods and equipment may be
developed for all the shops by one
relatively small central staff group.
In this buffing operation^ veteran telephones are cleansed of the scars of long service
1949
Giving New Life to Old Equipment
159
There are, however, some local re-
quirements which call for shop opera-
tions that are unique and that cannot
be standardized. Here too is an ex-
ample of the shoulder-to-shoulder
teamwork between the shop and its
customer. The telephone company
may require that a switchboard re-
cently purchased from Western Elec-
tric be modified to meet some unusual
condition encountered in the field.
Or it may need a piece of equipment
not manufactured by Western Elec-
tric and not obtainable from other
manufacturers : — a special test set
for instance, or a custom-made tele-
phone booth to match others installed
years ago. These are small orders,
not likely to be repeated soon, and are
handled by the repair shops in coop-
eration with the telephone company.
An exhaustive description of the
many facets of the cooperation be-
tween the shop and its telephone com-
pany customer would, in fact, be an
exhaustive description of Western
Electric's repair operations. So
close is this cooperation that it is al-
most impossible to find an exact point
of separation between the responsibil-
ities of the two organizations.
Add the broad scope of activities
that we have seen in this one repair
shop to that of the other 27 and you
will readily see that Western Elec-
tric's job of building back into its
products the quality originally built
into them is a big undertaking — far
bigger, in fact, than it ever was.
Since the war, the shops have been
repairing 65 percent more telephones
than ever before.
Repairing teletype apparatus is an intricate job, and a most useful one
to the telephone company
i6o
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
The Post-war Challenge
Since the war, the chief concern of
the repair shops, like the Company
of which they are a part, has been
to keep pace with the nation's grow-
ing need for telephone service, with
the problems presented by changing
conditions in the post-war economy,
and with the latest developments in
the telephone industry itself.
The nation's demand for more
telephone service has resulted in an
unprecedented expansion of the tele-
phone industry. In the few years
since the war's end, Western Electric
has manufactured millions more tele-
phones than were added during the
previous fifteen years, bringing the
total number of Bell telephones in
service in this country from some
nineteen million to more than thirty-
Mobile telephone service presented the Shops organiza-
tion with a big new post-war task: gearing up for
complex repair jobs. This receiving set is being fixed
in a copper shielded booth in one of the shops
three million. Labor and equipment,
the basic costs of doing business,
have just about doubled over pre-war
levels. Meanwhile, post-war devel-
opments in the telephone industry
have introduced totally new equip-
ment in addition to basic changes in
the design of much of the existing
equipment in the great communica-
tions network.
If the volume of business has dou-
bled over pre-war levels and the
costs of doing business have almost
doubled also, while the very nature
of the business has been greatly
changed by new developments, how
are the repair shops meeting the re-
sponsibility of doing a bigger-than-
ever job at these higher costs?
Here are two seemingly unrelated
facts which illustrate the answer:
first, the shops have
only 33 percent more
personnel than they had
back in 1939; and, sec-
ond, the post-war con-
struction program calls
for less than 50 percent
more shop space than
there was in 1939.
Double the number
of telephones in serv-
ice since 1939; only 33
percent more people to
repair them in only
50 percent more shop
space. How is this
possible? The answer
is that in keeping pace
with the fast changing
conditions that affect
the shops, more than
3600 new and better
methods for repairing
and testing telephone
1949
Giving New Life to Old Equipment
i6t
equipment, more than
725 new pieces of test
and repair equipment,
have been developed
since the war's end:
developments that cost
less, require less plant,
and produce better re-
sults.
Most of these de-
velopments have come
from a small corps of
engineers known as the
Engineer of Shops or-
ganization. This cen-
tral engineering group
develops and makes
available to the shops
standardized methods
and facilities that add
up to better and more
economical repair serv-
ice for the telephone
companies and insure
uniformly high stand-
ards of repair work in
all 28 shops. At al-
most any given time
these engineers are busy
on some 235 development projects.
Savings in repair costs, where they
can be measured, will be about half
a million dollars this year as a re-
sult of these developments. Other
savings, mostly intangible, would also
be indicated by substantial figures if
they could be measured.
Recent Development of the
Engineer of Shops
Let's take a closer look at one of
the shops and examine some of the
new methods and developments that
have been introduced since the war.
If you'll think back to where tele-
Telephone booths which bear the marks of hard use are
scraped clean of their scars and made fit for
more years of service
phone instruments were being tested
and classified, you will remember that
a number of them were found to
need hardly any repair at all. The
classification they went into is known
as "rapid recovery," a post-war in-
novation, which calls for a complete
electrical test, whatever minor repairs
are necessary, and a thorough clean-
ing. This saves both the time and
expense of the more extensive opera-
tions. Generally, telephones treated
under rapid recovery are ready for
the telephone company the day after
their arrival.
Upstairs in the shop, the men re-
l62
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
A miniature laboratory on wheels, for use in testing
test sets, gets a final check in the Engineer of Shops
laboratory
pairing mobile telephone equipment
are working on the very frontiers of
a new field. The recent addition of
mobile telephony to Bell System's
already long list of communications
services to the public confronted the
shops with the rush job of gearing
to undertake this new and highly com-
plex repair function. Even after
equipment and tools were designed
and personnel trained, development
work on new ways of repairing mo-
bile telephone equipment did not stop.
Repair engineers found ways for cali-
brating monitors of high frequency
transmitters which even go beyond
F.C.C. requirements for transmitter
BBT accuracy. Testing re-
P ceiver sets now takes
1 less than five instead
■i of 35 minutes because
of an entirely new test-
ing technique permitted
by a recently developed
signal generator.
The washing machine
and the drum full of
shoemaker's pegs that
we saw earlier are other
post-war improvements
in repair techniques.
They replaced eight
other machines, saving
both space and money.
The washing machine
washes a basket full
of telephone parts in
a special detergent,
spray-rinses, then dries
them with blasts of hot
air — all automatically.
After the washing, the
dried parts are trans-
ferred to the barrel
containing wooden pegs
and a special dye and wax compound.
Following a few minutes of tum-
bling, the parts are removed, nearly
as gleaming bright as the day they
were made.
Remember the girl who seemed to
be administering a blood transfusion?
She was using a machine developed
since the war for replacing carbon
crystals in telephone transmitters.
The machine costs about one-eighth
as much as the one it replaced and re-
quires one-half the time to perform
the same operation.
Here are other post-war develop-
ments that add up to better repair
service for the telephone companies.
1949
Giving New Life to Old Equipment
163
A miniature laboratory on wheels,
that can be rolled like a tea-cart to
any bench position in the shop, was
introduced recently to check test sets.
It comes fully equipped with compart-
ments for storage of test leads, dial
pulsing standards, tools, handbooks,
and record-binders, and has a distri-
bution switching panel, ten or twelve
meters of various types, air oscillator
and oscillograph and, in fact, all the
equipment necessary for complete
test set maintenance.
Elimination of several operations
resulted from the development of a
bench brush lathe which cleans tele-
phone sets. The new lathe, installed
as part of a conveyorized operation,
eliminates cleaning by hand and
makes dismounting of the telephone
set before cleaning unnecessary.
A new lacquering process was
adopted which permits the applica-
tion of the equivalent of several coats
of lacquer in one operation. The
lacquer is in a more concentrated
mixture than is normally used. The
thinning operation can be eliminated
because the lacquer and the air with
which it is sprayed are heated in the
new process. Along with informa-
tion on this development, the central
engineering group is sending the
shops a special tool for measuring
the thickness of the applied lacquer
to .004 of an inch.
A new process of washing teletype
equipment was developed, resulting
in a better job and savings of both
time and plant space. After washing,
the teletype is rinsed and baked dry
in a newly adapted infra-red oven.
Four-way savings will result from
a recently designed test set for tele-
phone dials. It will test four times
as many dials in the same period of
time as the old set it replaces, will
permit a reduction in the number
of sets required, will cost less to
manufacture, and will result in lower
maintenance costs.
A new method of splicing synthetic
(neoprene) covered wire in the shops
will save millions of feet a year. For-
merly it was not economical to use
short lengths left over from new coils.
The new splice is small, neat, water-
proof, and just as strong as the rest
of the wire on which it is vulcanized.
These are just a few — selected al-
most at random — of the develop-
ments made available to the repair
shops by their corps of central en-
gineers. Each development is part
of the shops' answer to higher costs,
increased volume of business, and new
advances in the telephone industry.
But they are not the total answer;
the rest, the biggest part, is that peo-
ple who work in the shops and in the
Engineer of Shops organization are
the kind of people who can invent new
and better ways of doing their jobs,
who can use these advantages, and
who want to.
The repair activities that Western
Electric undertakes in fulfilling its
responsibilities as supply unit of the
Bell System go a long way toward
justifying the confidence which the As-
sociated Companies have in Western
Electric equipment, and, in turn, the
confidence which the public has in the
telephone service rendered by these
companies.
This is the sixth of a series of articles de-
scribing Western Electrics operations and
its place in the Bell System organization.
For previous articles, see this Magazine for
Winter 1Q46-47, Autumn 1947, Autumn
1948, Winter 1948-49, and Spring 1949.
Their Politeness Goes Deep
The following paragraphs are from an article called "When Courtesy Pays Cash,"
by Don Wharton, which appears in "Nation's Business" for November and, in con-
densed form, in the "Readers' Digest" for December under the title of "The Great-
est Mass Effort Ever Made by Business to Improve Telephone Manners." Editor.
The Bell System's 250,000 operators
probably constitute the most courteous
large working force in the nation.
Many people say the operators are polite
because they have orders to be polite.
False. Their politeness goes deeper than
that, is no veneer of "Thank you" and
"Please." Long before an operator has
completed her training, she has begun
to absorb the manners pervading the
entire System. An operator in training
encounters politeness all around her.
Her instructor, supervisor, chief oper-
ator, the repairman who comes in to
fix the switchboard — they all show the
same attitude to the student that they
expect her to show to customers. Cour-
tesy is not obtained by dictate. It is
interwoven in all the lessons, taught by
example, suggestion, indirection.
The student continually hears the
instructor speaking in a friendly, courte-
ous manner. When she asks the stu-
dent to do something, she says "Please"
as naturally as in asking a customer for
a number. If a student fails to say
"Please," the instructor will not bark
out "You forgot something." Instead,
she will give the student chance after
chance to correct this defect, then as a
last resort approach the problem quietly:
"What do you say in your home when
you ask someone to do something for
you.'^
Recently, in a Philadelphia exchange
I put on earphones and listened in on
two student operators. They were 17
year old girls, just graduated from
high school, in training only three days.
They lacked confidence and made tech-
nical mistakes. But already they were
getting a helpful, friendly tone in their
voices. Later I asked one of them when
she would argue with a customer — a
tricky question. She instantly replied,
"I don't think I'd ever." No one in the
telephone company had told her this.
Beginners are now taught to be
natural rather than formal. They say,
"I'm sorry" rather than "I am sorry"
and "I'll see" rather than "I shall see."
Another principle is to be more personal.
They ask, "Do you know the number?"
rather than "What is the number?" Or
"May I help you?" rather than "What
information do you wish, please?" . . .
Did you ever notice how interested
a long-distance operator seems in com-
pleting a call? It's not feigned. She
sounds interested because she is in-
terested. The Bell System has a say-
ing that "every call is important to the
person calling." Courtesy in the tele-
phone business began about 1880, when
the rude remarks of teen-age boy oper-
ators became unbearable. These boist-
erous boys, threatening and cursing sub-
scribers, were replaced by young women
— a heretical idea then. By 1890,
women operated practically all Bell Sys-
tem daytime switchboards, and with the
twentieth century they began working
at night. The slogan "The Voice With
a Smile" came in 1912.
About 160,000,000 telephone con-
versations are held in this country every
business day. What would life be like
in America if these calls were handled
by disgruntled, discourteous operators?
164
special Bell System Facilities Provide Means of Swift
Communication Essential to the Operation of the Nation s
Far-fung Air Transport Industry
Private Line Services for
The Aviation Industry
Henry V. Roumfort
By any standard, the growth of
air transportation has been remark-
able. In 1935, for example, approx-
imately 280 million revenue passenger
miles were flown, while in 1948 the
figure was 5.8 billion. Passenger
miles flown now equal more than half
the railroad passenger miles in Pull-
man space.
Three goals of the air line industry
are safety, speed, and efficiency. In
this triangle, communications are per-
haps the vital link that permits an
ever closer degree of attainment.
Domestic air transportation is fur-
nished by sixteen trunk lines and
twelve feeder lines. Private line
services are used by all of the sixteen
trunk lines and most of the twelve
feeder lines to handle the great ma-
jority of fast communications —
exclusive of plane to ground mes-
sages. Plane to ground messages
are necessarily handled by radio be-
tween a plane in flight and a radio
land station, but are often relayed
over a wire network to their final
destinations.
The first private line service used
by an air line was a teletypewriter
service established for the Transcon-
tinental Air Transport Company be-
tween Columbus, Ohio, and Los An-
geles, California, on April i, 1929.
Now the trunk and feeder lines have
networks, some nation-wide, of both
private line telephone and teletype-
writer services, serving their operat-
ing areas. These networks use about
30,000 miles of telephone and 100,-
000 miles of teletypewriter inter-city
services furnished by the Bell System.
The industry has always, and
quite properly, concentrated on flight
safety, and the results are common
knowledge. Insurance companies
have accepted travel by air as an in-
surable risk, comparable with other
types of common carrier transporta-
tion, and investment and banking con-
cerns look upon the industry as a
sound and growing business venture.
1 66
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
All this is a far cry from the early
days in the 'twenties when night flights
were not attempted and even mildly
bad weather was a bar to takeoffs.
The part played by the Civil Aero-
nautics Administration in develop-
ments in the industry during this
period was of incalcuable value.*
The speed of air travel is probably
its greatest advantage over other
forms of transportation. While the
airplanes used in the early days of
scheduled flying cruised at less than
lOO miles per hour, speeds of 300
miles per hour are now common. As
one can easily visualize, such present-
day speeds require efficient and
readily available communication sys-
tems to insure prompt and rapid over-
all transmission of messages along a
flight route.
The first scheduled transcontinen-
tal trips were made by flying during
the day and riding in a train by night.
The speed of modern aircraft now
permits a one-stop flight across the
country in less than twelve hours.
Such high speeds, which incidentally
are not confined to through routes,
are responsible for the exacting com-
munications requirements of the air
lines industry.
For efficient operation, a plane
must maintain its flight schedule in
good weather or bad, and it must fly
with a load which brings a revenue
sufficient to insure profitable opera-
tion. Proper use of communications
helps keep planes filled and flying
Organization of an Air Line
In certain administrative func-
tions, an air line does not differ from
• See "Guardians of the Skyways," Maga-
zine, Autumn 1945.
Other industrial firms. The com-
munications justifying private line
service are originated by three major
air line functions : operations, reserva-
tions, and maintenance.
It is these which require some
method of fast communications. All
types of communication facilities have
been used, and the present systems
are the results of years of develop-
ment and trials. New methods, new
equipment are still contantly being
tried, to help develop and operate
communication systems which will in-
sure good service and provide maxi-
mum safety.
Most air lines have similar forms
of organization, and the functions
performed by the various depart-
ments differ little between air lines.
The larger the air line, simply, the
more staff employees are required to
take care of specific functions which
in a smaller concern may be combined
under one head.
As reservations, operations, and
maintenance all require communica-
tion facilities, the control of communi-
cations is usually under one of these
departments. Actually, most air lines
have a separate organization within
one or another of these departments
to handle communications.
The operations department is
responsible for dispatching aircraft,
controlling aircraft while in flight,
making pre-flight arrangements, and
it may have other duties too. Al-
though reservations traffic constitutes
the bulk of the ground communica-
tions on commercial air lines, opera-
tions communications take top prior-
ity, since they concern such prime
factors as safety, schedule reliability,
and similar basic operations. Some-
1949
Private Line Services
167
The roie of co^nmunicaiioyi services in ine air iranspuri industry is
to keep planes filled and flying
times there may be, in addition to an
operations department, a flight con-
trol department which has charge of
the actual flights of aircraft. Such
functions, however, fall within the
general category of "operations."
Before a flight, the Civil Aeronau-
tics Administration, the Federal Gov-
ernment regulatory body, requires
that a proposed schedule of the flight
— a flight plan — be filed with its con-
trol office in the area in which the
flight originates. This gives infor-
mation about such things as loading,
fuel, airspeed, altitude, time in air,
route, time of arrival, destination,
and weather conditions. The CAA,
through Airways Traffic Control,
then clears the plane on its flight and
keeps check on it while it is airborne.
Coincident with departure, the air
line must send a report to all its
stations at which the plane will stop,
giving them the time the plane will
arrive and the load factors: how
many passengers aboard and their
destinations, cargo, and fuel require-
ments. These reports are transmit-
ted by private line service, usually
teletypewriter. While en route, the
plane is in radio contact with either
ATC or its own company's stations^
giving regular position and prog-
ress reports. Company stations,
upon receipt of reports, transmit the
information over private line services
to a control point. When the plane
lands at its destination, a report of
arrival is transmitted to the control
point. The same procedures are fol-
i68
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
lowed for subsequent take-offs and
landings of each plane.
It is essential that adequate com-
munication facilities be available to
handle the thousands of messages
that are required for transmitting
these reports and instructions each
day. A recent study of the com-
munications of an operations depart-
ment of one air line showed that
nearly 10,000 messages a day were
being handled. Furthermore, about
half of these messages were ad-
dressed to more than one station.
When such volumes are related to
an air line's operating schedules, it
becomes apparent that the private
line network must not only be ca-
pable of carrying the volume of traffic
offered but that it must also have
sufficient capacity to handle it with
a minimum of delay.
Ha?idling Reservations
"Reservations" involves the pro-
cedures by which a passenger seat
or "space" is made available in ad-
vance, to a person desiring to travel
by air, and held so that it cannot
be sold again to another passanger.
There are three general methods
of handling reservations now in use
by the air lines. These are termed
"sell and record," "request and con-
firm," and "space allocation."
This is the relay center of an air line's teletypewriter network^ showing the use of
standard equipment
^949
Private Line Services
169
Right: Through this
switching center of an
automatic teletypewriter
system^ any office on the
private line network can
reach any other office
without intermediate
handling of messages
Left: Here is the control
panel in the switching
center i shown above, of an
automatic teletypewriter
system
Sell and record is used by the ma-
jority of the air lines, although
slightly modified in each case to con-
form to the requirements of a par-
ticular air line. Under the sell and
record method, each office sells space
on any flight and then transmits a
record of the sale to a space control
point, where the sale is recorded.
Elaborate records, which are in effect
an inventory of space for all flights,
are maintained at these points. Such
records must indicate the sale of a
seat for each section of all flights,
current and future. When a flight
is sold out except for two or three
seats called a "cushion," a "stop sale"
order is transmitted to all points from
the control point. If the oflSces re-
ceive further orders for space on
that flight, they handle them by a
request and confirm system.
This method generally will provide
a speedier reservation transaction
than that which will be obtained when
the request and confirm method is
used.
The request and confirm system
is not used as extensively as the sell
and record system. All space is con-
trolled at a central point or points;
and upon receipt of a request for
space, an office transmits the request
to a control point, the control point
ascertains from its records whether
space is available, and confirms or
denies the request. While accurate
insofar as informing the air traveler
that space is available and a reserva-
tion made, this system is generally
slower in operation than the sell and
record system; for a call back to the
customer to confirm space is usually
necessary, and each reservation re-
I "70
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
This availability chart in New York gives the reservation agents complete information
about flights on which passengers may be booked. The agents at the left, wearing head
sets, are located at extension positions of Long Lines full period circuits (i.e., private
long distance telephone lines) and can answer any one of four circuits at these positions
quires a question to and an answer
from the control point.
Space Allocation. When experi-
ence indicates a recurring require-
ment for a certain number of seats
on a flight from a specific point, this
system may be used, generally in
combination with a request and con-
firm system. This method allocates
a certain number of seats to a station
where the requirement exists. That
station is assured of the allotted
space which may still be available
after a stop-sale order is transmitted
(where a combination system is
used) . Some small lines may use this
system alone. When a station has
sold all of the space alloted, it must
communicate with other stations to
locate the desired space.
Usually a combination of these sys-
tems is used by an airline. When
more than one control center is em-
ployed, each center will cover one
region of the area served. Most
reservation communications, including
inter-control-center traffic, are trans-
mitted over private line teletype-
writer or private line telephone serv-
ice.
Some idea of the tremendous num-
ber of messages needed between an
air line's offices to complete reserva-
tion transactions can be obtained
1949
Private Line Services
171
from a study of traffic handled over
a private line network. A recent
study for one customer — and not the
largest — showed that during one day
over 16,000 messages pertaining to
reservations were transmitted. Of
these, almost 1,000 were addressed
to more than one station.
Maintenance
An aircraft must always be in prime
working order. It is kept so by
the maintenance department, which
makes all necessary repairs and over-
hauls. Various types of maintenance
are important integral parts of the
air line operation.
Line maintenance includes mechani-
cal work performed on aircraft and
engines which is accomplished without
removing the plane from service.
Such maintenance is done between
flights, and all stations of the air line
are equipped to perform this type
of maintenance.
For preventative maintenance, each
air line follows a schedule of inspec-
tion of aircraft which is established
by the CAA. These are called
"checks," and come after specified
hours of flying time. After a plane
This reservation agent is working at a No. 4 Order Turret^ where she accepts or con-
firms reservations J talking with customers through local wires and a PBX furnished
by an Associated Company. When she has filled out the card in her handy she will
place it on the moving belt in front of her^ to be carried along to the space control agent
172
Bell Telephone Magazine
AUTUMN
Full period circuits {private long distance telephone lines) terminate at the control
positions., shown in the foreground^ in the New York office of an air line. At this
point., for example ^ terminate direct circuits to Dallas, to Chicago through Buffalo and
Detroit, to Chicago through Washington and Cincinnati, and to Boston
has flown 25 hours, for example,
certain items of equipment are
checked and tested; after 50 hours
the same items are checked again, as
well as some additional items. At
75 hours another "25 hour" check is
performed; at 100 hours a "100
hour" check, which is more compre-
hensive than the 50 hour — and so
on. Certain stations are equipped
to provide 25 hour checks; others,
the more extensive checks. Over-
haul is extensive maintenance which
is done periodically and which re-
quires that the plane be out of serv-
ice for a protracted time.
The coordination of a far-flung
maintenance personnel requires the
use of fast communications. Stations
must report to the central main-
tenance location what inspections,
checks, or maintenance have been per-
formed, and the scheduling of air-
craft must be coordinated so that
planes arrive at stations where facili-
ties are available to complete the
necessary maintenance. Although
this communication requirement does
not furnish a large volume of trafllic,
it is necessary for safety, speed, and
efficiency.
Types of Service
The air lines use private line tele-
phone or private line teletypewriter
services and combinations of both.
1949
Private Line Services
173
The choice of either service is affected
by consideration of the advantages
each offers, together with a knowl-
edge of the volumes of messages and
the requirement for speed.
To a large degree, over-all volumes
have generally limited an air line to
a single type of private line service.
Where the volume is insufficient to
justify both telephone and teletype-
writer services, it has been found that
the latter service will most nearly
meet the majority of requirements.
Therefore, the smaller air line cus-
tomers have installed private line
teletypewriter service; and for those
communications which require discus-
sion, they have used toll telephone
service.
There are several specific require-
ments for a private line service that
are commonly found when the traffic
of an air line company is studied. In
general, a service will parallel a flight
route and have a service point at each
airport along the route. When the
private line is to be used to handle
all traffic, the station arrangements
must be such as to permit access by
all departments. Importantly, where
there are several circuits in the net-
work, efficient arrangements must be
provided so that a station on one cir-
cuit can exchange messages with a
station on another circuit. Teletype-
writer service offers many advantages
in meeting such requirements.
Moreover, because of the availability
of reperforators, it is particularly
well adapted for handling traffic that
must be exchanged between circuits.
When traffic volumes are very high,
i
\ -
.^^^^^ViBMl
ft^-^-^5i^
^^^^^^Hm ''''^^0^ wm ^^^^|J
This communication equipment is at an intermediate office of an air line, where agents
handle transactions with both the public and other agents of the line, using local tele-
phone lines and Long Lines circuits. The file in the center of the table revolves, so
that any agent may know at once the space available for any flight
174
Bell Telephone Magazine
there are many advantages to be ob-
tained by using both telephone and
teletypewriter private line services.
Properly engineered, a telephone serv-
ice can provide a higher speed of
service, and if efficiently used can
offer a greater capacity for handling
traffic. An example is the growing
use of telephone service to handle
reservation transactions. Several of
the larger airlines are now using
full-period telephone networks, sup-
plementing their teletypewriter net-
works, to care for reservation traffic.
Well designed communication sys-
tems are a necessity for air line
operations.
The speed at which aircraft travel
requires some means for handling
operations, reservations, and flight
control traffic which is appreciably
faster than the scheduled flying time
between the points involved.
Space reservation systems require
coordination between sales offices and
control points. This is necessary in
order to meet competition in giving
good customer service and to insure
the greatest possible pay load on each
flight.
Fast communications are necessary
to meet emergency conditions involv-
ing human lives.
Well engineered and efficiently
operated communication systems have
contributed extensively to the de-
velopment of present-day speed, re-
liability, and efficiency of the air
transport industry. Through its re-
search activities and its widespread
organization, the Bell System will
continue to keep abreast of its respon-
sibilities and its opportunities in this
still-young field.
Every once in a while, a Bell System operator finds it hard to live up
to her reputation for working wonders. Take this case reported by
the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.
A woman in Fort Worth, Tex., dialed long distance and asked to
have a call put through to her brother in Colorado. "Is that Colo-
rado City?" asked the operator. "No, just Colorado." "Colorado
Springs?" "No, the State of Colorado — and please hurry, operator!"
Bewildered, the operator explained that it was almost impossible to
locate a man in the state of Colorado without knowing approximately
what town he was in. But the customer had an answer for that one,
"Well," she asked sternly, "you can try, can't you?"
Twenty-five Years Ago in the
Bell Telephone Quarterly
Items from Volume III, Number 4, October 1924
The Telephone's Part in
Defense Test Day
That America's electrical communication
facilities, and particularly its nation-wide
telephone system, are constantly prepared
to meet any demand for service was demon-
strated on the evening of September 12,
when 38,000 miles of Bell System wire
were placed at the disposal of the War
Department as a part of the Defense Test
Day program.
This network of circuits connected the
headquarters of Army Corps Areas in
San Francisco, Omaha, Chicago, and New
York direct with Washington, where Gen-
eral John J. Pershing and a distinguished
company of army officers and government
officials listened to reports of the generals
commanding these areas as to the results
of day's activities.
These reports and a number of addresses
which were made at Washington were
heard by a vast radio audience through
eighteen widely scattered broadcasting sta-
tions which had been connected with the
circuit. This was the most widespread
combination of wires and broadcasting
stations thus far recorded, the stations ex-
tending from Boston to San Francisco and
from Minneapolis to Atlanta and Dallas.
It was significantly pointed out by Brig-
adier General John J. Carty * of the
Officers' Reserve Corps, who had charge
of the communication features of the test,
that while these stations were connected
with the wires, for the purposes of the
test, so that the radio listeners might hear
the conversations taking place over them,
*At that time a Vice President of the A. T.
& T. Co.
this would not be the case in the event of
an actual national emergency, when the
messages would reach only the individuals
for whom they were intended. . . .
General Carty then "called the roll of
the continent," receiving immediate answers
as, in rapid succession, he called fourteen
cities and towns extending from New York
to San Francisco. He then called Major
General Morton, commanding the Ninth
Corps Area, San Francisco; Major Gen-
eral Duncan, commanding the Seventh
Corps Area, Omaha; Major General Hale,
commanding the Sixth Corps Area, Chi-
cago; and Major General BuUard, com-
manding the Second Corps Area, New
York.
General Pershing talked briefly with
each of these officers, receiving their re-
ports on the success of the test in their
respective areas. Particular interest was
given to these conversations by reason of
the fact that this was General Pershing's
last opportunity to speak directly with his
fellow officers as their commanding general,
as his official retirement as General of the
Armies of the United States, because of
having reached the age limit, was scheduled
for noon of the next day.
Army officers and officials of the War
Department were outspoken in their praise
of the efficient manner in which the com-
munication features of the test were han-
dled.
Royalty Visits Walker
Street
The Long Lines offices of the American
Telephone and Telegraph Company at 24
Walker Street were among the points of
175
176
Bell Telephone Magazine
interest visited by the Prince of Wales
during his recent visit to New York.
After being besieged by curious crowds
which lined the curbs and filled the win-
dows of the financial district, which he
had just visited, the royal guest seemed
impressed by the contrast presented by row
upon row of operators busy at their switch-
boards. In spite of the fact that news of
the presence of the heir to the British
throne had quickly passed through the
building, not a single operator so much as
turned her head as the distinguished visitor
passed, according to the members of the
reception committee, which consisted of
representatives of the Plant and Traffic
Departments,
The prince appeared keenly interested in
the handling of the long distance traffic to
and from New York and asked many ques-
tions in regard to the number of calls
handled, hours of work, rest periods, and
similar details. He seemed particularly in-
terested in the provisions for the comfort
of the operators when off duty and spoke
appreciatively of the rest rooms and lunch
room.
Pan-American Radio
Convention
At the Inter-American Conference on
Electrical Communications held recently in
Mexico City, the Bell System was infor-
mally represented by Vice President E. S.
Wilson, Lloyd Espenschied, and E. S. Haw-
ley, of the American Telephone and Tele-
graph Company.
The Conference was called for the pur-
pose of discussing means and methods for
the future development and improvement
of electrical communications between the
Pan-American countries. The Conference
opened on May 27th with a formal wel-
come by President Obregon and continued
in session until the latter part of July.
Delegates were sent by fifteen governments,
including Mexico and the United States,
who met as an Inter-American Committee
to study the situation and report their
conclusions to the governing board of the
Pan-American Union. . . .
The delegates representing the United
States Government recommended the en-
couragement of private initiative and in-
vestment of capital under proper safeguards
as the best and most practicable means of
extending and developing facilities for Pan-
American communications, and stated that
their government favored private owner-
ship and operation of electrical communi-
cation facilities, subject to just governmen-
tal regulation without undue interference
with the rights of management. Other
delegates were inclined to favor government
ownership and operation, under conditions
prevailing at present in their countries.
Who's Who 8c What's What
(Continued from page 131)
Omar Bradley's headquarters in Europe.
The war over, he continued his education,
and graduated in economics. Since 1945
he has been with the Information Depart-
ment of the Western Electric Company,
where his assignments include such matters
as press relations and, occasionally, things
like stories on repair shops. In preparing
his contribution to this issue, he notes, he
consulted F. W. Robinson, of Western's
Central Engineering group, so frequently
and to such advantage that Mr. Robinson
should be thanked publicly for his "patience
and spirited cooperation."
r r §ri^§'i^t £
ly^y D^
Bell System Participation in the Work of the ASA
Harold S. Osborne
Carrier is King • Charles M. Mapes
Mr. afford Retires ^Public mrary
''•■' - --•City, h»^
This Country Leads the World in Telephones
Ellzabeth Wrenshall
Service Aids for Home Owners, Architects, and Builders
Adolph F. Z^chel and T. Hunt Clark
Some Early Long Distance Lines in the Far West
Walter Blackford, Sr., and Joy F. Hutton
mmn^ekbhoTu &-^ele^aph Companv -AfewYm
Bell Tdcphonc^am^me
fp^inter 1949-50
Bell System Participation in the Work of the ASA,
Harold S. Osborne, 1 8 1
Carrier Is King, Charles M. Mapes, 191
Mr. Gifford Retires, 204
This Country Leads the World in Telephones,
Elizabeth fVrenshall, 206
Service Aids for Home Owners, Architects, and Builders,
Adolph F. Michel and T. Hunt Clark, 217
Some Early Long Distance Lines in the Far West,
Walter Blackford, Sr., and Joy F. Hutton, 227
Twenty-five Years Ago in the Bell Telephone Quarterly, 238
A Medium of Suggestion ^ a Record of Progress
Published for the supervisory forces of the Bell System by the Information Department of
American Telephone and Telegraph Co., /p5 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y.
Leroy a. Wilson, President; Carroll O. Bickelhaupt, Sec; Donald R. Belcher, Treas.
Who's Who & What's What
in This Issue
Authoritative is the word for Harold
S. Osborne's discussion of the Bell Sys-
tem's participation in the work of the
American Standards Association, to their
mutual advantage; for his long member-
ship in executive posts in both organizations
has brought him unexcelled opportunity to
become familiar with that inter-relation-
ship. Joining the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company in 1910, in the then
Transmission and Protection Department,
he was assistant to the transmission and
protection engineer from 19 14 to 1920, and
then transmission engineer until 1939. He
was operating results engineer 1939—40,
and plant engineer 1940-42. In the latter
year he became assistant chief engineer, and
since 1943 he has been Chief Engineer of
the A. T. and T. Company. For many of
those same years he has been closely asso-
ciated in various capacities with the work
of the ASA. He served for several years as
chairman of the Standards Council, and is
at present vice president of the Association
and president of the U. S. National Com-
mittee of the International Electrotechnical
Commission. Mention of his professional
attainments must be limited here to refer-
ence to his service on many committees of
the A. I. E. E., and as its president in
1942-43, and to his Fellowships in several
engineering and scientific organizations.
Mr. Osborne has contributed half a dozen
articles to the old Bell Telephone Quar-
terly and to its successor, this Magazine,
the most recent being — with John J.
Hanselman — "Progress in Extending Bell
Ruial Telephone Service" in the issue for
Winter 1946-47.
Compared with the project of making two
blades of grass grow where but one had
grown before, imposing 16 telephone cir-
cuits on one pair of wires seems a good deal
like magic. It is a kind of magic, which
Charles M. Mapes is able to explain in
non-technical terms even though his daily
work involves highly technical matters; for
Harold S. Osborne
Charles M. Mapes
Elizabeth Wrenshall
Who's Who & What's What
179
Adolph F. Michel
T. Hunt Clark
he is transmission engineer of the A. T. &
T. Company's O. & E. Department. Join-
ing the Company in 1923, he was con-
cerned for 13 years with the provision and
maintenance of central office and station
equipment and with related work in con-
nection with buildings. During the next
three years he served in Pittsburgh as gen-
eral plant supervisor of the Bell Telephone
Company of Pennsylvania. In 1939 he re-
turned to the O. & E. Department as main-
tenance engineer, and soon found himself
in war — and later post-war — planning.
After the war, he was appointed systems
engineer and devoted himself to planning
matters relating to the development of toll
line dialing. He was made plant extension
engineer in 1946, and that assignment con-
tinued until appointment to his present po-
sition early in 1949. Many of the con-
tributions to this Magazine represent
collaboration in varying degree, and Mr.
Mapes wishes to acknowledge the very able
assistance of Harold R. Huntley, a member
of his staff, who has been associated with
the development of the carrier technique
since its early days in the Bell System.
College courses, extensive travels abroad,
and a two-year teaching experience in Rome
have given Elizabeth Wrenshall a
facility in languages which she finds use-
ful in connection with gathering and com-
piling data for the A. T. and T. Company's
bulletin "Telephone Statistics of the
World," since a good portion of the incom-
ing reports and correspondence is received
in languages other than English. After
making translations for the censorship au-
thorities during the war, Miss Wrenshall
joined the A. T. and T. Company five
years ago, and has been with the Foreign
Statistics group in the Chief Statistician's
Division of the Comptroller's Department
for the past four years.
The collaboration of Adolph F.
Michel and T. Hunt Clark bespeaks
the common Engineering and Commercial
interest of the O. & E. Department in pro-
moting advance planning for telephone fa-
cilities in private homes and larger build-
ings.
Mr. Michel joined the New York Tele-
phone Company in 19 16 as a station in-
spector, and soon became a repairman.
Two years later he moved to Washington
as a repairman for the Chesapeake and
Potomac Telephone Company, returning
the following year to his former position in
New York. After nine years in the out-
{Continued on page 2jg)
Lashing a telephone cable to its supporting strand on a pole line which is used jointly
with an electric light and power company. This economical arrangement is made safe by
the observance oj established standards of design and construction. See the article
beginning on the opposite page
Representatives of the Bell System and of the Independent
Companies Are Taking Part in 8o Projects of the American
Standards Association of Value to This Industry
Bell System Participation in
The Work of the A S A
Harold S. Osborne
"The Committee is to be congratu-
lated on reaching full agreement,"
said the Chairman of the Sectional
Committee on Wood Poles. "While
we started with many divergent views
as to the methods of test, ultimate
fiber strengths of various species of
timber, and other basic features of
the proposed standard specifications
and dimensions for wood poles, those
differences have now been reconciled.
I know that all of the organizations
which you represent, telephone com-
panies, power companies, railroads,
producers of poles, conservation in-
terests, and others will benefit by the
simplification which results from
joint agreement on these matters."
This incident is one of many which
illustrate the extensive activity under
the procedures of the American Stand-
ards Association in the development
of standards which are of value to
the telephone industry. At the pres-
ent time, representatives of the Bell
System and of the independent tele-
phone companies are taking part in
work on 80 standards projects of this
type. In addition, they are cooperat-
ing in many other standards projects
which at a later stage will come be-
fore the ASA for approval.
This may come as a surprise to
those familiar with the very large
amount of work carried on within
the Bell System in the development
of standards for the use of the Bell
System companies. Such "internal"
standards work is natural and suit-
able for standards relating specifi-
cally to telephone operations or
standards for material and equip-
ment used wholly or primarily by the
Bell telephone companies.
Projects of Wide Interest
There are numerous large fields of
work within which standards are im-
portant to the telephone companies
l82
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
and also to a wide range of other in-
dustrial and operating organizations.
To be more specific, let us consider
the nature of the 80 current ASA
projects in which the Bell System
companies are cooperating.
The wood pole is an illustration of
this — as indicated in the opening
paragraph. Poles are used by power
companies,' railroads, and other wire-
using organizations; and several mil-
lion poles are used jointly by tele-
phone and power companies. Re-
cently, new standards for wood poles
have been developed by the ASA Sec-
tional Committee on "Specifications
for Wood Poles," under the chair-
manship of Dr. R. H. Colley, of the
Bell Telephone Laboratories, which
unify the requirements for compara-
ble poles purchased by the various
kinds of users. More than twenty
organizations, representing those
having a principal interest in these
standards, are represented on the
Committee. From this piece of work
telephone companies are enjoying
a saving of $50,000 a year on pur-
chases of poles for joint use alone.
It was this same Sectional Commit-
tee which, during the war, developed
suitable specifications for the use of
additional types of timber not here-
tofore widely used. Conspicuous
among these were white fir, jack pine,
red pine, ponderosa pine, Douglas
fir, and western larch. This resulted
in increased availability of poles of
these new types and greatly helped
to meet the requirements of both in-
dustry and the armed forces during
the war.
A considerable number of the ASA
Standards projects in which the Bell
System is actively cooperating at pres-
ent refer to standards for mate-
rials. These include standards for
copper wire, for electric lamps, for
storage batteries, for electrical meas-
uring instruments and electron tubes,
for paints, and for lubricants. Many
relate to standards for materials im-
portant in the manufacture of tele-
phone equipment. They include stand-
ards for electrical insulating mate-
rials, magnet wire, wire and sheet
metal gages, petroleum products and
lubricants. They also include stand-
ards for iron and steel, for brass, for
zinc, for bolts and washers, and other
materials. Thirty-three of the cur-
rent projects may be classed as of this
general nature.
Another group of projects relates
to safety codes of importance in tele-
phone operation and manufacture, as
well as in the operations of other or-
ganizations. An important illustra-
tion of this is the National Electrical
Safety Code, specifying forms of
electrical construction which are con-
sidered safe for both employees and
the public. One part of this volu-
minous code sets down standards of
design and construction for pole lines
jointly used by power companies and
telephone companies. This code is
not only generally used by industry as
its guide but is also used in many
States as the basis for governmental
regulation of the construction of
electrical lines.
Other projects of this general na-
ture include the safety code for the
construction, care, and use of ladders,
the safety code for industrial power
trucks, the code for protection against
lightning, the National Electrical
Code (used by fire underwriters as
the basis for the approval of electri-
1949-50
Development of Standards
183
cal installations), standards for the
inspection of motor vehicles, the
safety code for industrial sanitation,
specifications for accident prevention
signs, and standards for accident
statistics. This last project is for
the standardization of the basis used
in reporting accident statistics, so
that reports from various industries
may be more directly comparable
than heretofore. This group also
includes standards for linemens' rub-
ber protective equipment, protective
occupational clothing and footwear.
The Bell System purchases thousands of ladders y and the
employees who climb them are the safer for the standards
of manufacture^ carCy and use established
through the ASA
and allowable concentrations of toxic
dusts and gases. Thirteen of the
projects in which telephone people
are now cooperating are of this gen-
eral character.
Still other standards relate to
manufacturing processes and equip-
ment. Illustrations of this are stand-
ardization and unification of screw
threads, standards for the zinc coat-
ing of iron and steel, standard tests
of the adhesion and the aging of
vulcanized rubber, standard tests of
textiles, classification of materials
for tools, fixtures and
gauges, and standards
for industrial sanita-
tion. Sixteen of the
projects are of this gen-
eral class.
A large group of
standards is concerned
with building materials
and equipment. This
includes requirements
for structural steel, for
masonry, for plaster-
ing, for plumbing, light
and ventilation, for co-
ordination of the di-
mensions of building
materials, and for
standards for pipe
threads. Bell System
representatives are co-
operating in seven of
these projects.
Another group of
standards projects re-
lates to definitions, no-
menclature, and sym-
bols, standards for
graphic representation,
and similar broad proj-
ects. This includes a
project for standards
1 84
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
for drawings and drafting-room prac-
tice. Seven of the projects in which
Bell telephone men are participating
are of this general character.
There are, in addition, a number of
miscellaneous projects of interest to
telephone people. These Include such
varied matters as standards for sound
recording, for vehicle traffic control,
for office machinery and supplies, and
for optics. Bell System representa-
tives are working on four of these
projects.
Specific Cases
An example of Bell System partici-
pation in a specific standard is our in-
terest in the ASA project covering
the construction, care, and use of lad-
ders. Ladders are used for many
kinds of work both within and out-
side the Bell System, and the hazards
incident to their use are common to
all users. Ladder accidents have oc-
curred which are traceable to faulty
construction, faulty care, faulty use.
With the objective of reducing these
accidents, the United States Bureau
of Labor Statistics published for
trial in 1923 a tentative standard cov-
ering the construction, care, and use
of ladders. Pooling the experience
of users and manufacturers, a com-
mittee under the chairmanship of
Mr. H. D. Bender, of the Bell Tele-
phone Laboratories, revised and re-
issued this standard as a full Ameri-
can Standard in 1935 and again in
1948. In this work, careful consid-
eration was given to minimum re-
quirements for ladder strength and
to standard dimensions for lumber
stock of woods suitable for use in the
construction of wood ladders. Thus
there were brought together repre-
sentatives of the ladder-producing
and the ladder-using industries in the
formulation of a single standard ac-
ceptable to all interests.
In addition to being the basis for
the construction, care, and use of
wood ladders used by Bell System
companies, this American Standard
is now recognized by the users and
manufacturers of ladders generally,
and in those States in which Safety
or Labor Departments have issued
regulations in this field. Work is
now under way to establish corres-
ponding standards for ladders made
of light metals such as aluminum and
magnesium alloys.
Another active standarization proj-
ect is one on Acoustical Measure-
ments and Terminology. Organized
In 1932 at the request of the Acousti-
cal Society of America, this project,
was inactive during the war, but has
recently been reorganized In line
with technological developments.
The committee Is now engaged in
formulating a number of standards
of terms and definitions used in con-
nection with sound reproduction and
recording and the levels of noise
which may interfere with satisfactory
performance.
The recognition of common terms
In handling matters such as the trans-
mission of programs over telephone
wires is, of course, of value In our
relations with broadcasters, wired
music systems, and others. In addi-
tion, the committee has under way
standards for audiometers for diag-
nostic purposes by doctors and to as-
sist In determining deficiencies in
hearing. Other matters under study
include laboratory standards for mi-
1949-50
Development of Standards
185
crophones used in radio broadcast
studios, and the sound absorption and
transmission abilities of various types
of wall materials, such as those used
for telephone booths and between
rooms in buildings. Representatives
of the telephone industry are partici-
pating in the many phases of this
project which are important in tele-
phone work.
American standards have an im-
portant influence on the manufactur-
ing branch of the Bell System — even
to the selection of the raw materials
which go into the production of tele-
phone apparatus. One illustration is
found in such a commonplace item
as sheet metal supplies. Vast quanti-
ties of telephone equipment, includ-
ing such things as relay components,
apparatus panels and covers, switch-
board parts, and pole-line hardware,
are made from stampings of steel,
aluminum alloys, and other metals.
The standardization of thicknesses for
these metal supplies has resulted in
important economies not only in the
purchase of strip and sheet metal
stocks but also in the manufacturing
design of apparatus and in process-
ing machinery. In addition, the re-
cent American Standard on Surface
Roughness fills a long-felt need for a
widely accepted scale of roughness
which facilitates the purchase of
metal stocks having surface finishes
suitable for the various types of tele-
phone apparatus.
The American Standards
Association
The focal point in this activity
in standardization is the American
Standards Association.
The Association came into being
thirty-one years ago through the ac-
tion of five organizations which were
very active in the preparation of engi-
neering standards. These organiza-
tions, which included four large engi-
neering societies and the American
Society for Testing Materials, recog-
nized the need for some better means
to coordinate the rapidly develop-
ing activities in technical standards.
In the electrical field, for example,
standards for electrical machinery
had been developed by the American
Institute of Electrical Engineers and
by the National Electrical Manufac-
turers Association, and standards
bearing upon the use of electrical
machinery had been developed by the
National Electric Light Association.
There was an increasing tendency, as
this work expanded, for overlapping
in scope and for the development of
conflicting requirements by different
organizations.
A standard is of value precisely to
the extent that it is generally accepted
and used by all of the parties con-
cerned. If two rival standards exist
in the same field, the value of both
of them is greatly impaired. This
fact was appreciated by the five so-
cieties which joined together in 1918
to form the American Engineering
Standards Committee. The name
was later changed to American Stand-
ards Association.
The fundamental principle on
which the American Standards Asso-
ciation is based is that, to merit ac-
ceptance as an "American Standard,"
a standard should represent the con-
sensus of all classes of groups inter-
ested in the standard. For example,
a standard for a specific product or
i86
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
material must be generally accepted
by both producers and consumers,
and by other organizations, such as
professional societies, which have a
general interest in the standard. In
the case of a safety code, those in-
terested may include manufacturing
and operating organizations, labor,
insurance companies, public authori-
ties, and general interests. The code
must represent a consensus of all of
such groups if it is to be called an
"American Standard."
Determining American Standards
The major activity of the Ameri-
can Standards Association is applying
this principle of consensus to stand-
ards which are submitted to it for ap-
proval as "American Standards."
This process involves determina-
tion that all groups directly interested
have had an opportunity to take part
in the preparation of the standard,
that their suggestions have been ade-
quately considered, and that the
standard finally adopted has general
— although not neces-
sarily unanimous — ac-
ceptance.
While the Associa-
tion does not itself for-
mulate standards, it has
developed procedures
for use by sponsoring
organizations in the
formulation of stand-
ards. These procedures
are designed to insure
that the necessary con-
sensus is reached. A
procedure widely used
is the formation, by the
sponsoring organiza-
tion, of a committee in
which all interested groups are repre-
sented. This is called a sectional
committee. In such cases the whole
procedure is approved by the ASA
as it develops. The Association ap-
proves the scope of the project and
the sponsor to whom the project is
assigned. It approves the personnel
of the sectional committee as ade-
quately representative of all inter-
ested groups and suitably balanced in
numbers of representatives between
different types of interest. Finally,
when the committee has recom-
mended and the sponsor has ap-
proved a standard, the Association
applies the principle of consensus, and
approves the standard as an "Ameri-
can Standard."
In some cases, the standards are
developed by committees internal to
the sponsoring organization and then
submitted to ASA for approval as
an "American Standard." In such
cases the ASA, before approval, de-
termines that a suitable consensus
has been reached by cooperation of
all interested parties in the prepara-
(OfUTKSY PHKOLL MFC. CO.
Even so -prosaic a matter as screw threads has become
standardized and is covered by "American Standards"
1949-50
Development of Standards
187
tion of the standard or by equivalent
means.
In addition to this main function of
coordinating the standards work of
its members and others active in the
development of standards in the
United States, the ASA has other im-
portant activities. It advances the
development of standards where the
need exists, either by stimulating the
work of existing committees or by
bringing about the establishment of
new committees or organizations for
this purpose where they do not al-
ready exist. It promotes the knowl-
edge and the use of approved stand-
ards and an appreciation of the im-
portance of standards in advancing
the national economy.
International Acti'vity
The ASA also has important inter-
national responsibilities. It serves
as a clearing house for the inter-
change of information on standardi-
zation work between the United
States and foreign countries, and is
the authoritative channel for Ameri-
can participation in international
standards work.
In carrying out this responsibility,
the ASA is a member of the Interna-
tional Organization for Standardi-
zation. This is a federation of the
national standards bodies of twenty-
eight countries, organized to stimu-
late cooperation and coordination in
the development of national stand-
ards in those countries. The ASA is
also closely related to the Interna-
tional Electrotechnical Commission.
This is an international organization
representing twenty-two countries
which for over forty years has been
active in the development of electrical
standards and the coordination of na-
tional standards in the electrical field.
The United States National Commit-
tee of the International Electrotech-
nical Commission, an affiliate of ASA,
is the instrument for American par-
ticipation in this work.
Organization of the ASA
The control of the American
Standards Association has from the
start resided in a single class of mem-
bers designated as member bodies.
A member body must be an organiza-
tion or group of organizations of na-
tional scope interested in standards
in a specific field. The first member
bodies were the great national engi-
neering societies which formed the
American Engineering Standards
Committee : i.e., those representing
the civil, electrical, mechanical, and
mining engineers, and the American
Society for Testing Materials. These
were soon joined by three Federal
departments: Commerce, War, and
Navy. The membership has spread
so that there are now sixty-four mem-
ber bodies. Of these, nine are pro-
fessional societies, and most of the
others are trade associations. In ad-
dition, there are a number of other
organizations, including the National
Safety Council and a consumer group,
the American Home Economics As-
sociation.
A number of the member bodies
are groups formed for the purpose
of broadly representing an industry
in the American Standards Associa-
tion. This includes the Electric Light
and Power Group, consisting of the
Edison Electric Institute and the
Association of Edison Illuminating
Companies. Other examples are the
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Fire Protection Group, the Photo-
graphic Manufacturers Group, and
the Screw Industry Standards Com-
mittee.
Telephone Company Representation
The telephone companies of the
country are represented in the ASA
by a similar member body called the
Telephone Group. This consists of
the Bell Telephone System and the
United States Independent Telephone
Association. While the chief func-
tion of the Telephone Group is repre-
sentation of the telephone companies
in the ASA, it also provides the basis
for representing all telephone com-
panies in some other organizations.
There are two other forms of
membership which share in the sup-
port but not in the control of the As-
sociation. Associate members con-
sist of organizations similar in char-
acter to the member bodies and
other organizations which may be
regional rather than national in scope.
Company members are corporations
which recognize the importance of
the ASA work. The main financial
support of the Association is from
payments by company members.
Throughout the entire history of
the American Standards Association,
and until the past two years, there
has been active cooperation by the
departments of the Federal Govern-
ment concerned in standards work.
These included the War Department,
the Navy Department, the Depart-
ment of Commerce, the Department
of the Interior, and other depart-
ments and agencies. Then, about
two years ago, a question was raised
within the Federal Government re-
garding the legality of the Federal
Government departments continuing
to act as member bodies. When, in
1948, the Association was incorpo-
rated under the laws of the State of
New York, the Federal Government
departments withdrew from formal
membership in the Association. It
is hoped to restore the close coopera-
tion within the Association between
industry and Government which has
heretofore existed by obtaining,
through Congressional action, a Fed-
eral charter for the ASA with pro-
visions specifically permitting mem-
bership by the Federal departments.
A bill intended to bring this about has
been introduced in the Congress by
Senator Flanders of Vermont.
While a somewhat complicated or-
ganization is necessary to carry out
its various responsibilities, the ac-
tivities of the American Standards
Association are run by two top
bodies. The Board of Directors
— which consists of the officers, 15
members designated by selected mem-
ber bodies, and three members at
large — has responsibility for the fi-
nancial and administrative functions
of the Association. The Stand-
ards Council, upon which all mem-
ber bodies are represented, has the
responsibility for all activities of the J
Association in the stimulation and ap- ■
proval of standards.
At the present time, there are more
than three hundred standards proj-
ects being carried out under ASA
procedures; and there is in addition
a large volume of standards work
under way by cooperating organiza-
tions which will later come to the
ASA for consideration and approval.
Standards are being approved or re-
affirmed by ASA at the rate of two
hundred a year.
1949-50
Development of Standards
189
Standards for drawings and drafting-room practice are among the AS A projects in which
the Bell System is interested
As the work for which the Stand-
ards Council is responsible is very
voluminous and diverse, it is to a
large extent delegated to a series of
divisions working in various fields :
for example, electrical, mechanical,
safety codes, etc. All of the work
is, however, under the ultimate con-
trol of the Standards Council.
The ASA Staff
To CARRY OUT its functions in con-
nection with this volume of stand-
ards work, the Association has a very
busy staff of about sixty people. Of
these, half are technical or super-
visory people.
The Association is fortunate to
have at the head of the staff Vice
Admiral G. F. Hussey, Jr., U. S. N.
(retired) . During the war, Admiral
Hussey was in charge of the Bureau
of Ordnance of the United States
Navy, and he has brought to the ASA
work his wide experience in business
affairs and an extensive knowledge
of American industry.
The staff of ASA does not have
the responsibility for formulating
standards. This is carried on by the
volunteer activities of representatives
of industrial and other organizations
appointed to membership on the Sec-
tional and other committees charged
190
Bell Telephone Magazine
with the development of standards.
However, the staff of ASA gives very
important assistance to these com-
mittees.
In some instances, members of the
staff act as secretaries of the Sec-
tional Committees. In any case, they
form a valuable adjunct to the work
of the committee through their knowl-
edge of the standards work going on
in this country and in other countries
and of organizations and individuals
who are able to contribute to the
work of various projects.
A great deal of work is done by the
staff in developing facts in connec-
tion with suggestions for additional
standards projects, in meeting re-
quests for information regarding
standards in various fields, and in the
whole range of activities for advanc-
ing the cause of standardization in
this country.
ASA and the Bell System
Bell System participation in this
work has largely been carried out by
the groups in New York. The Ameri-
can Telephone and Telegraph Com-
pany and the Western Electric Com-
pany have for years made payments
to the Association on behalf of the
Bell System companies as a group.
These payments cover both company
membership and the Bell System
share of Member-body membership
by the Telephone Group.
Depending upon the nature of the
work involved in each case. Bell Sys-
tem representation in the Sectional
Committees and other committees
formulating standards is by members
of the staff of the Western Electric
Company, the Bell Telephone Labo-
ratories, or the General Department
of the American Telephone and Tele-
graph Company. Thanks to the Bell
System form of organization, all of
the Bell System Companies are thus
represented in this work by a mini-
mum number of representatives, and
by men particularly qualified by their
experience and responsibilities to con-
tribute to the subject matter involved
in each case.
The American Standards Asso-
ciation has many problems.
Currently it is not able to supply
the close liaison between industry
and government in standards work
which has characterized its opera-
tions in the past.
Like many organizations, it has
budget trouble. The demands upon
its staff for assistance in standards
work outstrip its financial support,
and result in a continuing problem of
holding the work load down to what
can be paid for. Looking ahead, it
appears that there will be a continued
expansion of the field in which its
services will be desired.
However, the Association is well
organized to meet its responsibilities
and to expand its activities as increas-
ing financial support makes this pos-
sible. It has established its place as
an important tool in the rapidly de-
veloping American economy. The
Bell System, which from the start has
participated actively in its work and
its support, can expect a continuance
of the benefits which have come from
the stimulation and coordination by
ASA of standards in many fields
which have nation-wide acceptance.
Carrier Systems^ W^hich Transport Many Messages at One
Time Over a Singh Pair of Conductors^ Are Now Used
in Providing the Majority of Long Distance Circuits
Carrier Is King
Charles M. Mapes
We are living today in a world
which is more and more dependent
on things electrical for carrying on its
business and for making more pleas-
ant its leisure hours. It is a world
becoming increasingly complicated for
those who must provide and maintain
the many new electrical services —
but much more satisfying for those
who get the benefits.
It should be of considerable satis-
faction to members of the telephone
fraternity to reflect occasionally on
the important part we have played
in this advance toward better living,
because, after all, communication is
an important part of our way of life.
Electrical communication not only
provides means by which people, as
individuals, can talk with one an-
other, but it also includes the dissemi-
nation of entertainment, information,
and even education to people en
masse.
For example, a wide range of tech-
niques and methods started from
work on communications systems :' ra-
dio broadcasting, hearing aids, tele-
photography, television, public ad-
dress systems, and many others which
contribute so much to the enjoyment
of life today. Much of the "elec-
tronic" gear which plays such an im-
portant part in industrial, military,
and other operations also got its start
there.
There is one single factor which
above all others may be said to domi-
nate modern long distance communi-
cation by electrical means. This fac-
tor is "carrier," It is a key principle
in achieving both the striking tech-
nical advances in long distance com-
munication of the past quarter cen-
tury and the savings to the customer
which have come with them.
The carrier system is the communi-
cation industry's way of transporting
many long distance messages simul-
taneously over a single pair of con-
ductors— of making several blades of
grass grow where but one grew be-
fore.
Because carrier makes it possible,
for example, to superpose many com-
munication channels upon one pair of
conductors, the cost of the physical
pair may be divided, so to speak,
192
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Carrier Is Like Transportation
Communication and transportation sys-
tems, although physically quite different,
are basically similar enough to make pos-
sible an explanation by analogy.
Both carriers are concerned in transport-
ing "packages" from one place to another.
Transportation carriers handle a wide vari-
ety of sizes and kinds of physical packages.
Communication carriers handle "packages"
of frequencies,* and the "size" of the pack-
age is measured by the total width of the
frequency band required.
One kind of communication package, for
example, is speech. In both the sound and
electrical worlds a band of frequencies sev-
eral thousand cycles wide is needed to carry
a message from a talker to a listener. The
communication carrier is given this package
by a telephone user and must transport it to
a listener in such a way that the contents re-
main in good shape.
A telegraph message involves a smaller
package — a band about 100 cycles wide. At
the other extreme, the television program
package is in the order of three or four mil-
lion cycles. The illustration opposite indi-
cates the relative sizes of packages for tele-
graph, telephone, radio program, and tele-
vision.
Now let's take a look at the vehicles em-
ployed for carrying the packages. In the
transportation business, the vehicles may
* A variation of current from a negative value
to a positive value and back again is known as
a cycle. If such a cycle occurs in i/ioo of a sec-
ond, for example, then 100 cycles may be trans-
mitted in one second, and the varying current is
said to have a frequency of 100 cycles per sec-
ond. Transmission of the various kinds of in-
telligence such as telegraph signals, speech, or
television makes it necessary to have currents
which complete this cycle a few times a second
for communications of a simple character up to
millions of times per second for the more com-
plex requirements.
range from the postman with his pack to
trucks, trains, ships, and airplanes. In the
communication field, the vehicles are quite
different: bands of frequencies must be car-
ried on special vehicles called "carrier"
waves or channels.
As the diagram shows, a telegraph pack-
age is comparatively small, while a tele-
vision program is a big package, one that
tests the communication carrier's ability
just as carrying a lOO-ton casting tests the
transportation carrier's ability.
Now the vehicles — or carrier waves —
must have some place to run. A truck runs
on roads, a train on tracks, an airplane
through the air. In the communication in-
dustry the track or roads are the pairs of
wires or the coaxial cable; and just as the
airplane uses free space, so, in the commu-
nication industry, does radio.
In the communication field, the width of
the track can be thought of as the total
width of the frequency band which is put
over the pair of wires or the coaxial unit
or free space — and this width can be varied
as required to accommodate the size of the
load. This is a very important advantage
over the fixed gauge of a railroad or the
width of a highway, since it makes it pos-
sible for one conducting medium to handle
a great variety of sizes of vehicles and pack-
ages. Basically, the usual carrier process is
to separate the whole usable frequency band
of the conducting medium into individual
blocks of frequencies, the size of the blocks
depending on the width of the band required
for each type of package.
The use to which frequency space has
been put up to this time in the Bell System
can be visualized from the diagrams on
pages 198 and 199.
1949-50
Carrier Is King
193
among all the circuits it carries — al-
though there is, of course, some extra
expense for added equipment.
Carrier can provide more circuits
quickly, where conductors already ex-
ist; for then it may not be necessary
to run new wire or provide another
cable, but just to provide the right
equipment at each end and at points
along the line. This was a life-saver
in meeting the sudden load on the na-
tion's toll system during the last war,
and the more so because copper and
lead were among the crucially scarce
items.
Carrier is fundamental to both ra-
dio broadcasting and television broad-
casting.
Carrier forms the backbone of the
Bell System's intercity networks. It
provides about 60 percent of the in-
tercity telephone circuit mileage,
about 75 percent of the intercity tele-
graph circuit mileage, about 35 per-
cent of the intercity radio program
network mileage, and all of the inter-
city television program mileage — both
coaxial and radio.
Indeed, carrier is, in a sense, king
of long distance communication meth-
ods.
An Important Factor
Obviously, a technique which handles
so much of the Bell System's present
business is an important factor in its
operations.
It is an interesting thought, if some-
what incidental to our principal theme
here, that Alexander Graham Bell's
invention of the telephone came about
as a conseqence of his efforts to send
several telegraph messages over a
single wire. He never did bring his
"harmonic" telegraph system to com-
mercial operation — which is probably
This illustrates the relative sizes 0/ the
"packages" which must be handled by
communication carrier. The areas of the
rectangles are proportional to the frequency
bands required
194
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Lee deForest. From his audion was developed the whole
family of vacuum tubes^ including the modulators and
demodulators essential for carrier transmission
just as well, for he might then have
had less interest in the telephone.
But the attempt to send more than one
telegraph message over a single con-
ductor was accomplished by others,
of course, and this event may be con-
sidered as a point of departure for
the growth of "carrier." Yet only
within comparatively recent years has
carrier really come into its own.
The job of a communication system
— to begin at the beginning — is to
transport (although we generally say
"transmit") messages electrically, be
they the start-stop signals of the tele-
typewriter, the articulation of the
voice, or the light and dark values of
a telephotograph or a television pro-
gram. This is done by making
changes in an electric current or wave
to correspond with the
message, transporting
the changed current to
its destination, and
there translating the
current back into the
original message.
It is a fact — by way
of example — that no
one has ever heard the
human voice over the
telephone, but only a
reproduction of it; for
the transmitter trans-
forms the words into
an electric current
which varies as the
sound waves of the
voice vary, and the re-
ceiver at the far end
re-transforms the cur-
rent into the sound
waves which become
replicas of the words
originally spoken.
Each message, then,
of whichever kind, constitutes a set
of changes in an electrical current.
And the function of a modern carrier
system is to transport — to carry, in
fact — several or many of these sets
of changes over a single path, be it a
pair of conductors or a radio beam.
The way a carrier system of the
type commonly used does this is to
take the band of frequencies repre-
senting each message and move it up
in the frequency scale to an appropri-
ate position. Each band of frequen-
cies representing a message may be
said to be at the bottom of the scale,
and each must be moved up to a dif-
ferent position in this scale, else they
will become mixed up. These bands
are all then transported over the
common medium to the destination.
1949-50
Carrier Is King
195
Development exemplified: deForesi' s audion {left) as submitted to the laboratories of the
Western Electric Company {later a component of the Bell Telephone Laboratories) in
igi2, and the high-vacuum tube developed there in igijfor
the first successful telephone repeater
At this point the individual bands
must be sorted out and separately
translated down again in the fre-
quency scale to their original posi-
tions.
Thus, one of the elements of a car-
rier system is a method of moving a
band of frequencies from its original
position to the proper position in the
carrier frequency region for trans-
portation over the medium. This is
accomplished in a device known as a
"modulator." The medium — physi-
cal conductors or radio beam — must
be adequately conditioned for trans-
mitting all of these separate sets of
frequencies which have been created.
At the receiving end these sets must
be separated and conducted to indi-
vidual devices called "demodulators"
which translate them back to their
original frequencies.
Solving Practical Problems
While these principles had long
been known, there were in the early
years unsolved practical problems in-
volved in their application. Then, in
the early 1900s, two powerful new
tools came into being.
One was the "audion" of Dr. Lee
deForest, which was the forerunner of
the now large family of vacuum tubes.
This audion of Dr. deForest, after
further refinement at the Bell Tele-
phone Laboratories, could be used as
an oscillator, an amplifier, a modula-
tor, and a demodulator. (Together
with Edison and a few others, de-
Forest can properly be charged with
the fact that today we are importuned
on every hand to buy something or
other because it is "electronic")
The second tool was the "electric
wave filter" of Dr. G. A. Campbell.
As a mathematical physicist and in-
ventor, George Campbell spent 38
years of distinguished service in the
Bell System, retiring in 1935 from the
staff of the Bell Telephone Labora-
tories. His electric wave filter was an
ingenious arrangement of elements by
which particular bands of frequencies
coud be separated from other bands,
196
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
and thus it could be used to separate
the various channels making up a car-
rier system.
With the vacuum tube and the elec-
tric wave filter, the essential elements
of the carrier system were at hand.
However, there were still at least two
serious difficulties.
The vacuum tube and the wave fil-
ter made the equipment in the carrier
terminals practical, but they did not
necessarily make it cheap. Of course,
if the terminals of the circuits are far
enough apart, and enough additional
circuits can be obtained, the cost of
the carrier terminal equipment does
not affect the over-all circuit cost very
much, because of the much greater
saving in outside plant investment.
But if the terminals are close to-
gether, their cost may offset the sav-
ings in conductor cost. Thus, the
earlier carrier systems were used only
over fairly long distances, and even
today the tendency is to think of car-
rier as a relatively long-haul system.
The second difficulty is that the
losses — or diminution of strength —
of the currents transmitted over con-
ductors go up as the frequency used
is increased. Even in the voice range,
it has been found necessary to use
amplifiers — or "repeaters" — at inter-
vals along the line in order to prevent
the strength of the currents from
reaching unusably low levels. With
the higher frequencies involved in
carrier systems, these repeaters must
be closer together and in general must
be fairly complex. Thus, the cost of
these added repeaters tends further to
offset the reduction in conductor costs
resulting from the multiple use of the
physical circuit.
However, the obstacles of the ter-
minal and repeater costs, and others,
such as cross-talk, had been suffi-
ciently well overcome by 19 18 to per-
mit commercial operation of the first
carrier system on an open wire pair.
Since then, developments have been
rapid — until now, carrier is an es-
sential part of the telephone business
as well as the key of the radio world.
Open- Wire Carrier Systems
It was natural that carrier should
originally be applied to open wire.
In the first place, there wasn't much
in the way of an intercity cable net-
work in 19 1 8. In the second place,
the number of conductors which can
be put on an open-wire pole line is
limited, so that increasing the capacity
of the pole line by carrier is particu-
larly important. Last, but not least,
attenuation and other problems were
easier to overcome in open wire than
in the types of cable then in use.
There are now four principal types
of carrier systems in wide use on open-
wire lines in the Bell System : the sys-
tems known alphabetically as C, H, J,
and M. (The earliest systems were
the Types A and B, which are no
longer in use.)
The C system is one of the most
widely used open wire carrier tele-
phone systems in the world. It pro-
vides three channels on a single pair
of wires, and the present-day termi-
nals are cheap enough so that the sys-
tem can be used for relatively short
distances — in many cases as low as 50
miles or so. On the other hand, its
characteristics are such that operation
is practicable for circuits several thou-
sand miles long and, in fact, it is used
for such distances.
The H system is basically designed
for the .shorter lengths. It provides
one channel per pair of wires (in ad-
1949-50
Carrier Is King
197
dition to the voice channel on the
pair) and is economical in many cases
down to distances as short as 25 to 30
miles.
The J system provides 12 circuits
on a single pair( in addition to the
voice and a C or H system) but the
equipment is more expensive. This
is because it is designed to meet such
rigid requirements that it will operate
satisfactorily over transcontinental
distances, and also because of the
need for special devices to combat
the effect of sleet on wire lines.
Hence it is seldom used for distances
less than 100 to 150 miles. By using
J and C systems on the same pair, a
total of 16 circuits (including the
voice frequency circuit) can be car-
ried.
The M system was designed origi-
nally to be superposed on power lines
in order to provide rural telephone
service. However, it has been
adapted for application to open-wire
pairs for short-haul circuits, and when
so used It can provide up to five addi-
tional telephone circuits on a line. It
uses higher frequencies than the other
systems, and hence cannot be used so
widely.
In addition, several of the earlier
types of systems are still In use — no-
tably the single-channel D and G sys-
tems.
The Type K Cable Carrier System
The problems involved in operat-
ing carrier systems in cables of the
usual type are more difficult than
those concerned with open wire, be-
cause cables use small conductors
which are very close together. Thus,
attenuation and the tendency to cross-
talk between different circuits are
both greater than for open wire, par-
George A. Campbell. His electric wave
filter provided one necessary tool for carrier
development. This picture was made
before his retirement from the Bell Tele-
phone Laboratories in igjS
ticularly at the higher carrier fre-
quencies.
Because of these problems and the
lesser need for cable carrier in the
early years, it was not until 1938 that
the first telephone cable carrier sys-
tem— a i2-channel system known as
Type K — was placed In operation be-
tween Detroit and South Bend. Since
then, however, the use of K systems
has Increased enormously.
The K system Is designed to be us-
able up to about 4,000 miles — more
than the longest circuit in the country.
In circuits of such length, the prob-
lems of transmitting a wide band of
frequencies become very diflicult, and
the K system is designed, therefore,
198
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Cycles
10.000.000
1,000.000
10,000
1,0)0-
^«3
O §
•go
O (0
M
i I
><
>.
>>
u
c
c
c
0)
a>
3
3
3
CT
o-
0)
u.
U.
U-
<u
d)
<u
0
0
0
0
>
>■
>
rn
I — I
to use the narrowest possible band
practicable for a high quality tele-
phone circuit. This of course re-
quires very effective "frequency-slic-
ing" instrumentalities. It puts a cir-
cuit over 3,000 cycles wide in a "slice"
or channel only 4,000 cycles wide, and
stacks 12 such channels in the fre-
quency space between 12,000 and 60,-
000 cycles. The slicing equipment is,
of course, very highly refined, and
the same frequencies are used for
both directions of transmission. Peo-
ple like to talk to each other, so every
telephone circuit must be like a double
track railroad, and in the K system
the two directions of transmission are
put on two separate pairs, usually in
two separate cables.
Thus, for example, on a New York-
Chicago connection over a K system,
when the New Yorker is talking, he
uses a path on a pair in one cable ; and
when the Chicagoan responds, he uses
a path on another pair in another
cable.
Even using this method, the at-
tenuations which are encountered
reach very high figures. For exam-
ple, on a transcontinental call over a
K system, there are about 200 re-
peaters, spaced about 17 miles apart.
The power amplification in all of the
repeaters — which is, of course, about
equal to the total attenuation — is
equal to digit one followed by a thou-
Left: The frequency bands used in the Bell
System's wire communication system.
This chart and the one opposite are on a
logarithmic scale: equal intervals vertically
mean equal ratios of frequency and not
equal width of bands. To obtain the band
width in cyclesy one must subtract the
bottom frequency of any given band from
the top frequency
1949-50
Carrier Is King
199
sand zeros : a figure so enormous that
it is practically inconceivable.
TAe Coaxial System
Of all of the carrier systems devel-
oped to date, the coaxial has been
most in the public eye. Part at least
of the glamour attached to the coaxial
system is that it is the only one of
the wire transmission systems which
will carry television programs over
long distances at the present time.
While that is an important func-
tion, actually the coaxial cable and the
associated carrier systems are work
horses in the telephone business, just
as are the other carrier systems, and
their principal purpose is to carry
large numbers of telephone circuits
over long distances.
The coaxial system carries the prin-
ciple of lowering conductor costs by
multiple use of the physical circuit
further than any of the other carrier
systems. Two copper tubes, each
about three-eighths of an inch in di-
ameter and with a i/io-Inch wire
down the center of each, are made to
carry up to 600 telephone circuits,
and four such pairs of tubes can be put
in a single cable. In general, it is not
planned to use more than three pairs
of tubes for regular service, while
keeping one pair as a "standby," so
that the practical maximum number
of circuits in the cable Is 1800 rather
Right: Radio frequency bands used by the
Bell System. The logarithmic scale is
essential here J or practical reasons; for if
an ordinary linear scale were used, and
were so arranged that only i/io of an inch
were allotted for the d-c telegraph scale on
the opposite page, that chart would be more
than JO feet long, and this one many
thousands of feet long
i Kilocycles
i io,ooo,o(X)
— 3,000,000
1,000,000
300,0(K)-
X 100,000-
30,000
10,000-
, Television Pick-up and
^ Studio -Transmitter Loop
Radio Relay
J> Television Studio-
Transmitter Loop
3,000-
3{X)-
100-
30-
10-
fOomestic Public Land Mobile
(Short Haul Toll
< Rural Subscriber
[Maritime Mobile
Domestic Public
'Land Mobile
international Overseas
Ship Telephone- High Seas ^
Portable Emergency
Restoration of
i^ Toll Circuits
'— Ship Telephone-
Coastal Hartwr
I Illnitial Transatlantic
200
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
than 2400. Also, if any of the tubes
are used for television, the capacity
of the cable for telephone circuits is
reduced correspondingly.
Below appears a cross-section of a
typical cable containing eight coaxials
and a number of other pairs, some of
which are used in connection with the
operation of the carrier system and
the others of which may be used for
other telephone circuits. The two di-
rections of transmission are usually
in adjacent tubes in such a cable, these
two tubes performing the same func-
tion of separating directions as do the
two cables used with the K system.
The terminal equipment used with
coaxial cables is relatively expensive,
so that very few such systems are used
for distances under about 100 miles
or on routes where the required num-
ber of circuits is not large. Also, be-
cause of the high frequencies used, re-
peaters have to be installed about
every eight miles. Because of the
wide frequency bands used, these must
be designed with high precision, and
their cost, together with the cost of
the cable and terminal
equipment, makes the co-
axial system economical
only for large circuit con-
centrations.
It should perhaps be
pointed out that the limi-
tation in the number of
telephone circuits or the
frequency width of a tele-
vision circuit which can
be put on the coaxial
tubes is primarily a func-
tion of the terminal and
repeater equipment,
rather than of the tubes
themselves. As new re-
quirements may develop,
it is to be expected that new methods •
can be devised to meet them.
Nl—A New Short Haul
Cable Carrier
The short-haul toll field differs
in two important respects from the
long haul field. While the first and
obvious difference is the fact that the
circuits are shorter, there is an equally
important difference in that these
shorter circuits should be able to
reach towns, villages, and hamlets
along the way — sort of an "area
coverage" problem. There is usually
little opportunity to concentrate cir-
cuits into large bundles, as can often
be done on the main long-haul routes.
What are needed, then, in a short-
haul system are, first, cheap termi-
nals, so that they can be put close to-
End-on view of an eight-tube coaxial cable. Each pair
of coaxial tubes can transmit as many as 600 telephone
conversations y and a feature of the cable is its ability to
handle television
[949-50
Carrier Is King
201
COMPLETE
TERMINAL
FOR 12
CHANNELS
N1 CARRIER TERMINAL
12 CHANNELS, 100 LBS.
200 MILES (MAX.)
FUSE PANELS
4 - WIRE
TERMINATING
SETS
CHANNEL
BANK
CIRCUITS
1 - 12
RINGERS
JACKS
LINE
EQUIPMENT
AND GROUP
TERMINALS
4
SHARE OF
CARRIER
SUPPLY
K TERMINAL
12 CHANNELS, 1200 LBS
4000 MILES (MAX.)
This sketch contrasts the size 0/ the new 12-channel Ni
terminal now under development {left) with the 12-channel
K terminal
gether; and second, arrangements so
that many small circuit groups can
be handled economically. These are
both tough problems.
However, new materials and tech-
niques have been developed within the
past few years; and these, together
with two other essential ingredients —
imagination and "know how" — are
promising carrier systems which will
divide conductor costs among fairly
large numbers of circuits without re-
quirmg expensive ter-
minals and without im-
pairing the flexibility
needed for area cover-
age. The Ni, now
under development, is
such a system.
Since the Ni system
is designed specifically
for the shorter circuits
— up to about 200 miles
in cable — and because
certain new techniques
are used, it does not run
into as much trouble in
using a wide band of
frequencies on the line
as would a long-haul
system. It uses an
8,000-cycle slice of fre-
quency for about a
3,000-cycle circuit, and
uses a total frequency
band 96,000 cycles wide
for one direction of
transmission for 12 cir-
cuits and another 96,-
000 for the other direc-
tion. By this process,
the equipment at the
terminals can be made
much simpler and
cheaper than for K or
coaxial. It uses a dif-
ferent cable pair for each direction of
transmission, but by using different
frequencies for the two different di-
rections, and other special measures,
both pairs can be put in the same
cable.
The Ni terminals and repeaters
are marvels of compactness. For ex-
ample, the sketch above shows a com-
parison between the size of a 12-chan-
nel K terminal and a 12-channel Ni
terminal. All of the equipment in the
202
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Ni system is so arranged that In case
of trouble a defective unit can be
easily and quickly replaced by a good
one, and the defective one may be re-
paired without emergency pressure.
Radio
In the radio art, carrier waves are
used to get the program to your set,
be it A.M. or F.M.; and the same
is true of television. Without carrier
waves and the ability to filter out the
signals of one particular program
from all others, the wide variety of
entertainment we today enjoy from
commercial broadcasts would not be
possible.
Every time you turn on your radio
and twist a knob or push a button
in search of a particular program, you
are selecting the carrier wave sent out
by that particular station to bring you
its package of entertainment. It is
good that carrier waves can travel
through space, for the problem of get-
ting the large number of radio and
television programs to your home by
wire circuits would be a bit difficult.
For the telephone business, radio
opens up a whole new field of investi-
gation and trial which may substan-
tially affect the future technique of
providing additional telephone cir-
cuits.
Radio obviously uses a different ap-
proach to the problem of reducing
conductor costs from that of the wire
carrier system. Instead of trying to
get a wider band of frequencies over a
pair of conductors, it cuts the Gordian
knot by eliminating the conductors
entirely and, like the airplane, takes
off into free space. Like the airplane,
it must pay some penalties for its bold-
ness : the mechanisms are complex and
it must face new and difficult prob
lems in transmission.
The telephone industry has already
made history by using radio first in
those cases where its particular fea-
tures are most attractive. Reference
to the diagram on page 199 will indi-
cate the several bands of frequencies
which are already devoted to radio
as a work horse in the communication
business. These include, for exam-
ple, transmission over large bodies
of water, overseas, from mainland
to islands, etc. ; transmission over
very rugged terrain; and transmission
to moving automobiles, vessels, and
airplanes, where obviously wire meth-
ods would be impossible.
More recently, micro-wave radio
relay systems are giving promise o
supplementing wire systems for ordi
nary communication purposes in situ
atlons where wire systems have al
ways been thought to be preeminent
Extensive micro-wave radio systems
are now under construction or
planned and It appears that they will
take an Important place in the over-
all communication network and play
their part in transporting all of the
types of packages that the communica-
tion industry Is called upon to carry.
The full extent to which radio will
be used In the communication field Is
still to be determined. But all
branches of the Industry are alert to
Its possibilities, and we may be sure
that as the Bell System goes forward,
there will be an Increasing use of this
new technique.
Conclusion
In principle, carrier systems of the
usual type are simple. All one does
is mix each message with a carrier
frequency, pile up the resulting mix-
949-50
Carrier Is King
203
INTERCITY CIRCUIT MILES IN BELL SYSTEM
(Millions of Miles)
Carrier
Voice
c
Fre-
quency
Open Wire
K
1926
3
.1
—
1938
7.3
I
—
I94I
7-5
1.2
.6
1945
7.8
2.2
4.2
1948
8.3
2.8
6.7
2.7
Total
Percent
Total
Carrier
.1
I
3.1
8.3
3
12
1.8
6.4
12.2
9.3
14.2
20.5
19
45
61
This table shows the growth of carrier circuits in the Bell System in less than a quarter
of a century
tures within the frequency space to be
used, transport them to the destina-
tion, separate them, and unmix them.
It isn't actually quite so easy as
that, of course. The practical appli-
cation of carrier calls for special ma-
terials, delicate devices, skilled tech-
niques. Their use is inherent in the
kinds of carrier which have been de-
scribed here, and they are part of the
working tools of the business. Car-
rier, as has been made evident, is
throughout the Bell System a thor-
oughly practical, every-day matter.
Its development is by no means at
an end, however. Theoretically,
there is no limit to the width of the
"track" (i.e., the frequency band)
which can be put on a pair of wires,
on a coaxial unit, or in free space.
But one of the laws of nature seems to
be that the wider the frequency band
to be used, the greater are the diffi-
culties involved in using it. There is,
in consequence, a constant search for
ways to get more channels in a given
frequency band, or to lessen the costs
of dividing the band into the indi-
vidual slices necessary for the chan-
nels, and likewise to find better and
cheaper ways of widening the usable
frequency band.
Carrier has developed from the
early Type A to today's advanced
systems in about 30 years : less than
one generation. Many factors have
contributed, over the years, to that
development, that progress. Impor-
tant among them have been such in-
tangibles as imagination and team-
work and know-how and an ability to
recognize the value of an idea from
whatever source. It is these same
qualities which bespeak the continued
development of the carrier art, with
better telephone service in their train.
Mr. Giflford Retires
After more than forty-five years of service in the
Bell System, during twenty-three years of which he
served as President of this Company, Walter S. Gif-
ford, Chairman of the Board, retired on December 31,
1949, in accordance with the Company's retirement
plan.
At their meeting on December 21, the Directors
paid tribute to the courage, wisdom, and foresight with
which Mr. Gifford led the Bell System through nearly
a quarter-century of outstanding achievement. They
noted that during his presidency, fundamental policies
were formulated and put into practice that have made
the Bell System an institution the American people can
be proud of. And they expressed their appreciation
of his long and distinguished contribution to the wel-
fare of the Company and the public, their personal
affection for him, and their best wishes for the future.
The Directors designated Mr. Gifford as their Hon-
orary Chairman, and as such he will continue to be
available for advice.
Walter Sherman Gifford entered the Bell System in 1904 as
a clerk with the Western Electric Company in Chicago. In
1906 he became assistant secretary and assistant treasurer of
Western Electric in New York. In 1908 he joined the A. T.
& T. Co., and was chief statistician from 1911 to 191 6. He
was appointed comptroller in 19 18. The following year he
was elected vice president, and executive vice president in 1923.
He was elected President of the Company in 1925, and Chair-
man of the Board of Directors in February of 1948.
204
WALTER S. GIFFORD
205
The A, T. &f T. Company s Annual '^Telephone Statistics
Of the JVorW^ Summarises Much Information about the
Telephones in Service on All Continents
This Country Leads the
World in Telephones
Elizabeth Wrenshall
Of the world's 65,800,000 tele-
phones, there is, on the average, one
for every four people in the United
States, one for every thirty-five peo-
ple in the world as a whole : twenty-
one times as many telephones per 100
of the population in this country as
in the world outside the United
States.
These facts, and many others hav-
ing to do with the distribution of the
world's telephones as of January i,
1949, are set forth in the current is-
sue of "Telephone Statistics of the
World," published recently by the
Chief Statistician's Division of the
American Telephone and Telegraph
Company. Similar compilations have
been published annually, except for
the war years, since 19 12. The ac-
curate picture of world telephone
facilities presented in the current sur-
vey is made possible through the co-
operation of government administra-
tions and private companies which
operate the many parts of the global
telephone network.
On the average, a telephone user
in the United States, whether in a
large community or a small one, is
able to reach a greater proportion of
his fellow-countrymen by telephone
than is a citizen of any other country.
He has available to him the most
rapid system of intercommunication
in the world today. It is possible for
him to be connected with more than
nine-tenths of the world's telephones.
He is able, on the whole, to make toll
calls more rapidly, and at relatively
lower rates, than is the telephone
user of any other country. In con-
tinental Europe, where toll service is
notably slow, provisions have been
made for a faster service on a so-
called "urgent" and a "lightning"
basis at from two to twenty times the
rates of ordinary toll calls. The Bell
System's normal toll business is a
{Continued on page aio)
The World's Telephones
207
TELEPHONES IN CONTINENTAL AREAS
January 1, 1949 «
Continental
Area
Total Telephones
Privately Owned
Automatic
(Dial)
Connecting with
Bell System
Number
Per
Cent
of
Total
World
Per
100
Popu-
lation
Number
Per
Cent
of
Total
Tels.
Number
Per
Cent
of
Total
Tels.
Number
Per
Cent
of
Total
Tels.
North America
(less United
States)
United States .
South America. . .
Europe
2,959,000
38,205,000
1,574,000
18,940,000
1,923,000
735,000
1,464,000
65,800,000
4.5
58.1
2.4
28.8
2.9
1.1
2.2
100.0
4.6
26.1
1.5
3.2
0.2
0.4
1.4
2.8
2,613,000
38,205,000
810,000
2,670,000
150,000
9,000
106,000
44,563,000
88.3
100.0
51.5
14.1
7.8
1.2
7.2
67.7
1,701,000
23,830,000
1,133,000
11,960,000
820,000
475,000
885,000
40,804,000
57.5
62.4
72.0
63.1
42.6
64.6
60.5
62.0
2,950,000 99.7
38,193,000; 100.0 »
1,457,000 92.6
17,580,000 92.8
700,000 36.4
595,000 81.0
1,425,000 97.3
62,900,000 95.6
.A.SIA
Afric.\
Oceania
World
• Partly estimated; data reported as of other dates have been adjusted to January 1, 1949.
* Less than 0.05 per cent do not connect.
Part of the overseas operating room in New Yorky showing the murals of foreign scenes
above the switchboard. Here are handled calls with Europe,. South America^ the Near
Easty and with ships at sea. Similar switchboards in Florida and California handle
calls with other lands^ and with ships as well^ and thus the United States not only has
almost three-fifths of the world's telephones but is able through its overseas services to
connect with all but about five percent of the rest
g rt S
pqqqoo
OSTjtoOO'-
00 CN OS p p 0>
ooooc
OOOO
J3
^hI
oddooc
Oo O 00 o
oo OOOO
Td^ooo^d —
o^oooo o*~-
CO V3 lO C
CN 00 00 C
Ot-
<oS do
oo oo
dddd
OOOO
OOC
C3 S?
■g^'
— Tt^OpC
in Ofo^o C
OOOcoC
O 00 CN O CN C
<N •<*O00u-
Tt< OSO-*
D —
00 ^-H o o o
t^ o O ■^ "~
o *^ o ^ o
O OS ":i 00 t^ C
OS'^ ot-
O CO to CN
eii
^
fN VO O CN t~-
(N Ol^ CN O^
OOsOCC
ir> cs 1— 1 vo CN -^
to so t^ O^
■^ to t^ Ov
C CO
0™
E
trio) 00 o c
OOO •*(>) ^
lO so lO so C
•^ Tf 00 t^ lO -^
O-M O'*
rsi (N O O
o
On »-i lO PO C
^ tJ< fO ^t^
■* cocsi »/"
CO t^ lO
lO o to Tt
O CO coo
3
1 '^ '-
CN
so Tt'-^
CO so CO so
CO CN so T-l
00 ri
CN rt"
C n! c
^^1
•^ "0 <r) ON *--
t^ rj< CN ■* rt
t^rofo-^ ^
pcN povoq Tt
Tt t^ CO Tf c<-
"^OspTJ;
•-3
CN \C5 \0 t-^ CV
CN 00 d ^ <N
ro •TjH t1< sd CN
sC) t^ OS -^ >-< c^
■^ CO (v^ O^ C
CN On to TM
nl
^ iT) OACC
OS vO lO O "!t
t^ OS t^ M3 •^
CN 00 r^ t^ 0\
00 r- •<* to Tt
to to -tf >o
5
cu ou
o
H
■^1
O lO O O vC
*^ O t-- c^ O
CN lO Oro C
O so lO OS lO ■—
lOOO O OsOC
CO O to vC
O-HOO^
CN r<) so O >^
r^ -rH o OS "~
O ■^ 00 t^ lO t--
CO CO O ^^ tr-
00 O', uo^t
1-.
O^OO O^-^^CN
ic so Tfi lo 00
00_^rJ<^0_sO_ON
Os__co_0_00_^^-__■^
CO so O CO O'
■^_^t^__Os_»-H__
^
O" ■"^'"•^'"(-o
OS oTt-Tt-nTt^
o"i--*o~<rro^
■**'*">Wtoo"
to co'co^OO^O
oo'vo'co't^r
<
B
PO 00 -H 00
\0-^ T-l
O vOOO Psi
CO lO "0
00 ■^ CN O tr-
to CO 00 OS
3
00_^ fO
tri CO
rsi -^t CN (N
■^ CO CN to
^
ro T-T
^■"
fN
0
^
r
fOOO ooi~-
lO lO OS so O
PO OQfO C
"0 1 o o ^ 1
1 1 1 1 c>
<=> 1 1 1 !
00 l^ o o o>
l~~ so so -H O
CM -H On CN 1^
r— ^o O CO O
lO 1 O"* '-I 1
O •^ lO O
1 1 1 { t^
o 1 1 1
u
flj
O 00 00 O "^
t-.
in
K
OJ
iooror<rrc;
Of^ CN CN ■^
Ot^CN OOC
^ T^ *-H ^
CN
r^
.^
O ••-< -St CN O
^ T^ (MO •■-1 CN
00 00 (N
■^ >o
^—
so
H
'u.
(N ■^ ^
CN
T*^
sC
CN
U<
.&
CLh
oo" CN
CD
§
O
OS 0-
Cf!
"* g
u
OS ^
-M
1 \o oo<n
1 lO tJ< 1 O
<M 1 O 1 C
l~~ so I SO 00 t^
CN Tj<t^00sC
^sO so-*
fH o
c
1 rOOpO
t-O to
1 fO Os 1 O
o 1 o 1 c
psi 00 1 -* "OC
On ■'^ •^ O 0<
O CO to <N
oot-._ -5*
CN lO 00
Os_Ov_ ^.f^_C
to so CO t^ >—
sO__to__l^ Os_|
r^
oo"!--.'"
T^~ *--.
os" T-T ^
crT'*" \0'^^
O"'^"'* o"<N
'^CNd'O!
CO CO CO *0 :
t^
o-^
c^ vo
■rt t^
to O tD to C^
z
>
r<0
>o
CO MD co-a
CN_\0 '^_!
o
o
cn" »h
u
^:
1-5
o
1^
Sic
-H rooO'^a<
oopsoq^
»-H CN p CN ^O
to t}< vO CO CN oc
PpOOOsc^
CO to 00 ^ ;
-^ a.2
\c5<^odd ■^
CN -H .rt
d-H ^ CN O
■^ d ■rH CN* O
dddco-lc
tO*^ d CN "~
i>I lo CO "i
;?:
en
o
a
H
c
o
a
H
gS-o
■«-i t- CN
•*
O . t^ CN '-H
,
to OS to o
to rjH pooj
a, 0
od"^r<i'^0
-^d-^-^-^ -^ddo
H-H-H-^H-H
<6d>'*~d>^
dco ^ ^i
Is
ro -^OOC
ir> O m so O
lO O O CO O
CN so O O CN t--
CN Ti< t^ 00 i/~
^ O 0'4<
o
00 -H ooo
i^OO'^ O
CO so O CO O
00 00000*^0
OS-H Ti<Ot~-
O CO lO CN
H
>-<
Hi
'*-'^.^^.*^
CN_^0*^ ^.'^
co__00__co__0__co
00_O\_^Tt sO__CN o
lO so CO t^ OS
•■^_to_t--._Os_
J3
"o'cn"oo'"o~P
O 00'"-<:J<"cN*CN
oT*— '"•<irvo''o
00^ •rf T:irt--rtrrir-
d^'-T^jTo"'*
cn'cn'o'o
E
0.rtir).3J5
•.-H Tf CO '-( •<*
t^ 00 CN t^
rt rtt^lo
to O to to •*
OcocoO
3
CN -"d^ "-H
CN
o -^-^
coo coo
CO CN__SO »-<_
Z
00
CN
CN
:"
c .
f*
grS
.c
So
•--?
>>
rt
u «)
cfl
1
-c
s
OS
C u
3
0
U CO
H T
a
15
<i-CQ
U
s
O sj 1-
<
4.
^
1 1
1
<
<t
£
c
i
Puerto Ri
Trinidad «
Other Pla
rH Amerk
Argentina
Bolivia . .
ec
J:
c«
X
£
c
Ecuador .
Paraguay
Peril
3 N 1-
3 CX
u a; *:
CI
'C
Belgium .
Bulgaria '
Czechoslo
Denmark
c
i.
c
c
c e
li
66-
Pi
o
Pi
o
D
55
c/)
w
2o8
1
oo oovo
OOOO'-i
©OO vOO^
OOO^ OS
O f^ O Ot^
l^ — 00 (N o o o
O O O »0 On On
oo 00 c^ \0 O
t^ \0 fT) O 00
O l^ O 001^
1^1^ lo O 00
00 vO 00 Q fN
tv) vC On O -^
CN !~^ C -^ O)
r-) lo ■«*" CN o
"> O On CN t^
lO >0 t^ On 00
O CN r^ O •^ <
Su-3 •^ O >o
_NO__rt NO_-*
I— -^ CN NO »-i
O rc On O O O
O On tN O O O
O O "0 OOO
<*5 Ov lO t^ <^ O
t^ ir> fs -^ O O
t>. IT) m -^^ ■'-I \o
lo ■>* oo'-^'oT
On On rv)
On PC
on>oooti<no oocNOO<r) t^oo. "^00
On On On re lO 00 ■
rr> 1^5 t^ O t^ fO
I^ CN lO l/^ 00
— On -- tN •*
t-,"i~J"o"oo'"oo'"
lO t~ — fC O
On
t^ On O O On
NO ro vO O "0
lO 00 J^ O CN
■^ "0 re Tf nO
lO CN '-^
O "^ NO lO o
O fC lO On O
00_^-H O re "0
— '"oo'"TJ<'"o"-H"
0 >-< >0 CN '-c
•^ On t^ ■<* 1^
O^ 0_ •* >o ■-«_ O^ O^
oo" re" 00^ On" On^ nO^ "-H^
t^ LO "-H T* -^00
lO 00 O lO -H o
NO NO w^ O NO O
NO CN CS O On '-1
r-q On re O '-' O
■* NO -H ot^O
•>* o t~- <e t^ ^
NO »0 « ret^ 00
CN t^
NO 00 re
lo NO te "-I NO re
ooo
00
CN
NO
'— 1
00 I CN NO t—
00*" OO" CN^CN
8
NO 00 fN NO
■^ NO re o
lO t^ NO 00
t^ t~^ Tf O 00
00 NO O Q*^
CS^NO_^rJ<^0 ^_
O CN^nO CN^ncT
CnI re re •^ r^l
NO re CN
NO tN NO O
On ro ■^ O
re_00_00^O^
On^'^'cn'cT
CS On CN On
lO t^ On On
00 O ■^ CN •^ ro O
CN O O »0 lO CN O
O On t^ lO "* •* O
■>+" T*" cT oo" NO cn' cn"
00 CN CN Tf '-I "^ On
•r-i re
§ro Tt NO re uo
On rn CN re Tf
00 O cs O NO t^
mi
001^
^
-§^s
reiO
^
Ti-t^
t^
(^^Sh
ONCN
o
*■ --^ » -c
CN CN
cs
00 CN 00 CN cs
0-*«^On>0
O '-I CN 00 J^
O — C'J CN CN
t^ NO CN O -^
CN CN t^ ON O
CS •^
QNQrecN
oorecsu^O
rJfCN
O CN •^ t^ re
OO
CN -^ C> O
On le tD NO CS
do ©ore'
CN -H .^
NC-H
00 lo
cs t-^'
00 00 <N O -^
t^ NO re © CN
O t^ NO 00 re
t^ i^ w^ © >e
00 NO 00 © ©
CN NO On © r<^
© CN ■rj< cn""*
CN re © .r— I CN
NO -^ CN •^
t^ re CN NO ©
NO t^ r<^ -H ©
■*^-*__00_^00_©__
CN -^ -^ CN CT
lO re On CN On
irj uot^ On On
0 be c c
01 c P3 cS "^
he.
^-2
cfl "O be
3 <U Co o
hJZZOhCu
>> 4) J=
bo ">
t- 01.- — r;
c/) c/) c/) p-j O
00 CN -H CN tJ< re ©
CN ■—• © 10 "^ CN ©
O »* «^ 10 -^ •^ ©
T^r vo' © ocT no" cs't-T
•^ CN CN ■* ■^ le "*
CN ■^ ro -H
8re ■>* NO re ©
On re CN re ©
00©©© NO ©
J2
O O)
u o, O
re On 00 t^ •^ ©
l^ IT) r<i li") re ©
t--. 10 T^ t^ 10 t-~
le Tl< On CN
©
•a
On On CN CS -H
<^
j_t
ON
re
per cen
detail.
8.
■ >« i.S' ■*
— 0 o''~c^
'=o^'"-'"-
cc°^--
s tha
s tha
page
uary
rch3
S !R i* c to
-:
J^c^«S
u
a
-c
c
•« c
■r
_«
c
1
cs:
c
If
0.
<-
n"
5 <a:zzcuo
209
2IO
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
"lightning" service. Ninety-five per-
cent of all long distance connections
are now completed while the person
calling holds the line. This is a new
record in the telephone industry.
Speed of long distance connections
in the United States is being further
increased by expansion of intercity op-
erator toll dialing. Recently a long
distance call from Oakland, Cal.,
made with this type of service, was
answered in New York City — a dis-
tance of some 3,000 miles — in twelve
seconds.
Bell Telephone service in the
United States means continuous day
and night service on weekdays, Sun-
days, and holidays, for small towns
British Field Marshal Viscount Mont-
gomery of Alamein visited the Bell Tele-
phone Laboratories this winter^ and is here
seen examining synthetic crystals such as
are grown for use in telephone plant. It
is the Laboratories' contributions to the
science and technology of communication
which help to keep Bell System service
constantly improving and make it the envy
of visitors from other countries
as well as for large cities. In many
parts of the world this is not the case.
Service in rural areas has been
growing fast. In the last few years
it has been extended by swift, eco-
nomical construction methods and im-
portant new techniques. As a result
of this program, 1,300,000 rural tele-
phones have been added since the
close of World War II. The United
States today has a higher percentage
of farms with telephones than any
other nation, and rural service here
is better than anywhere else in the
world.
Telephones Considered by Countries
In considering the extent of tele-
phone facilities by countries, the num-
ber of telephones in relation to the
population served is a significant
measure of comparative development.
Only six countries in the world had
more than fifteen telephones per 100
population. They were the United
States, with 26.1 telephones per 100
of its population; Sweden, with 22.1 ;
Canada, with 18.8; New Zealand and
Switzerland, with 17.2 each; and
Denmark, with 15.3.
Argentina ranked first among South
American countries in respect of tele-
phone density — so called — with 4.1
telephones per 100 population. Swe-
den led in Europe with 22.1 ; Israel,
in Asia, with 2.4. New Zealand,
first in Oceania, had 17.2; and the
Union of South Africa led Africa's
countries with 3.2. The rest of the
world would have to add some 540
million telephones in order to attain
our relative telephone development.
In this country there is an average of
about 26 telephones per 100 persons,
while in the world outside the United
1949-50
The World's Telephones
211
States there is little more than one
telephone to each 100 persons. If in
the United States the number of tele-
phones were reduced to the develop-
ment-ratio obtaining in the world out-
side this country, there would be only
1,857,000 telephones serving our en-
tire population. The net gain in tele-
phones in the United States for the
year 1949 alone exceeded this figure.
Those countries having the great-
est population have relatively low
telephone development. For exam-
ple, China, with a larger population
than any other country on earth, has
an average of one telephone for each
1,840 persons. India, second in pop-
ulation, has one for each 2,650; the
U. S. S. R., third in this respect, one
for each 143 persons. These three
countries, embracing, in the aggre-
gate, almost one-half of the world's
population, are served by only one
thirty-fifth of the world's telephones.
On the other hand, the United States,
with but 6 percent of the world's
population, has nearly 60 percent of
the total number of telephones.
Ownership
The world's largest telephone sys-
tem, that of the United States, is op-
erated under private ownership and
has been so operated since its incep-
tion. In October 1949 the telephone
industry in this country passed the
40 million mark in number of tele-
phones in service. Of these, more
than four-fifths were operated by the
Bell System.
The world's second largest tele-
phone system in point of number of
telephones in service, that of the
United Kingdom, is, at the same time,
the largest system under government
ownership. With the exception of
I isiiOi^S JrO/ii InUiu Unu PuKtilari regard
the New York scene from atop the Long
Lines Department headquarters building.
The contrast is striking^ for those two coun-
tries together have fewer than i 50^00 tele-
phones— approximately one for each three
thousand inhabitants — while the city which
surrounds these young people has nearly
J5 telephones for each 100 inhabitants
three municipally owned systems,
which are located in Hull and in the
channel islands of Guernsey and Jer-
sey, the British system is operated as
a branch of the General Post Office.
The five countries having the
greatest number of telephones oper-
ated under private ownership rank
as follows in respect to total number
of telephones: United States, Canada,
Italy, Denmark, and Spain.
The five countries reporting the
greatest number of their telephones
{Continued on page 216)
212
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
TELEPHONE DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE CITIES
January 1, 1949
Data relate in general to exchange or zone areas of the cities served.
Usually such areas are larger than the corporate areas.
Country and City
(or Exchange .Area)
Algeria:
Algiers
Constantine . .
Oran
Argentina:
Buenos Aires .
Cordoba
Rosario
Australia :
Adelaide
Brisbane
Hobart
Melbourne. . .
Newcastle . . . .
Perth
Sydney
Belgium:
Antwerp
Brussels
Charleroi ....
Ghent
Li6ge
Verviers
Brazil:
Rio de Janeiro
Santos
Sao Paulo. . . .
Canada:
Hamilton ....
London
Montreal. . . .
Ottawa
Quebec
Toronto
Vancouver. . .
Victoria
Windsor
Winnipeg. . . .
Chile:
Santiago
Valparaiso. . .
China:
Shanghai
Cuba:
Havana
Esti-
mated
Popu-
lation
(In
Thou-
sands)
314
119
253
4,205
352
465
394
412
79
1,260
130
282
1,525
575
932
274
216
365
77
2,217
219
1,776
197
105
1,285
278
206
912
414
104
149
362
1,137
183
4,500
910
Number
of
Telephones
27.913
3,561
12,124
424,003
10.1
17,072
4.9
35,668
7.7
54,328
13.8
62,386
15.1
11,477
14.5
215,855
17.1
11,427
8.8
34,630
12.3
250,285
16.4
62,151
10.8
200,236
21.5
24,500
8.9
20,864
9.7
39,037
10.7
13,659
17.7
187,501
12,175
101,134
58,392
29.6
33,253
31.7
331,958
25.8
74,031
26.6
49,332
23.9
348,361
38.2
120,943
29.2
28,001
26.9
36,282
24.4
82,855
22.9
69,294
6.1
9,192
5.0
93,500
2.1
70.858
7.8
Tele-
phones
per 100
Popu-
lation
8.9
3.0
4.8
8.5
5.6
5.7
Country and City
(or Exchange Area)
Denmark:
Aalborg
Aarhus
Copenhagen
Odense
Finland:
Helsinki
Tampere
Turku
France :
Bordeaux
Lille
Lyon
Marseille
Nantes
Nice : . . . .
Paris
Rouen
Strasbourg
Toulouse
Germany:
Berlin "
Bremen
Cologne
Dusseldorf
Frankfort-on-Main
Hanover
Hamburg- Altona. .
Munich
Nuremburg
Stuttgart
Hawaii:
Honolulu
Iceland:
Reykjavik
India:
Bombay
Calcutta
Ireland:
Cork
Dublin
Israel:
Tel Aviv
Italy:
Bologna
Catania
Esti-
mated
Popu-
lation
(In
Thou-
sands)
64
113
971
97
385
98
103
255
211
546
638
202
213
2,750
109
177
266
2,056
348
546
466
586
455
1,545
860
497
558
275
55
3,700
5,900
75
520
220
283
286
Number
of
Telephones
14,325
24,371
299,112
18,067
87,986
8,820
11,439
32,557
22,652
62,955
55,781
16,013
21,590
569,847
14,306
15,585
18,120
69,006
30,921
32,505
43,676
49,250
30,202
157,459
53,913
27,073
35,460
66,631
10,105
33,092
30,990
3,676
38,325
7,780
21,862
7,968
• Excluding Russian Sector of Berlin.
» March 31, J949, « June 30. J948.
1949-50
The World's Telephones
213
TELEPHONE DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE CITIES— Continued
Country and City
(or Exchange Area)
Italy (continued):
Florence
Genoa
Milan
Naples
Palermo
Rome
Turin
Venice
Jamaica:
Kingston
Japan: *
Fukuoka
Hiroshima
Kanazawa
Kobe
Kyoto
Nagoya
Osaka
Sapporo
Tokio
Yokohama
Luxemburg:
Luxemburg
Mexico:
Guadalajara
Mexico, D. F
Monterrey
Puebla
Netherlands:
Amsterdam
Arnhem
Eindhoven
Groningen
Haarlem
The Hague
Leiden
Nijmegen
Rotterdam
Utrecht
Netherlands Indies
Bandoeng
New Zealand: ^
Auckland
Christchurch
Dunedin
Wellington
Norway: "
Bergen
Oslo
Stavanger
Trondheim
Esti-
mated
Popu-
lation
(In
Thou-
sands)
320
374
1,268
886
459
1,534
704
195
260
348
246
237
644
1,040
995
1,689
269
5,417
859
62
283
1,890
253
160
827
101
138
147
205
610
105
115
737
208
405
291
168
87
187
110
426
50
57
Number
of
Telephones
34,595
49,281
191,050
27,515
12,090
205,556
75,318
15,920
8,739
12,061
4,505
11,130
18,622
56,334
28,896
74,379
12,697
193,839
21,998
8,863
11,398
133,114
12,950
9,623
88,416
9,559
8,581
14,611
18,850
78,284
9,422
7,643
62,910
19,839
2,945
45,531
25,342
16,494
44,905
25,154
104,867
13,011
14,307
Tele-
phones
per 100
Popu-
lation
10.8
13.2
15.1
3.1
2.6
13.4
10.7
8.2
3.4
3.5
1.8
4.7
2.9
5.4
2.9
4.4
4.7
3.6
2.6
14.3
4.0
7.0
5.1
6.0
10.7
9.5
6.2
9.9
9.2
12.8
9.0
6.6
8.5
9.5
0.7
15.6
15.1
19.0
24.0
22.9
24.6
26.0
25.1
Country and City
(or Exchange Area)
Pakistan:
Karachi
Paraguay:
Asunci6n
Peru:
Callao
Lima
Philippine Republic:
Manila
Poland:
Warsaw
Puerto Rico:
San Juan
Spain:
Barcelona
Bilbao
Madrid
San Sebastian
Seville
Valencia
Zaragoza
Sweden:
Boras
Goteborg
Halsingborg
Linkoping
Malmo
Norrokoping
Orebro
Stockholm
Uppsala
Vasteras
Switzerland:
Basel
Bern
Geneva
Lausanne
Lucerne
St. Gallen. . ., '.
Winterthur. .!. . .'.. . .'.
Zurich
Trinidad and Tobago:
Port of Spain
Tunisia:
Tunis
Union of South Africa
Bloemfontein
Capetown
Durban
E^sti-
mated
Popu-
lation
(In
Thou-
sands)
1,000
137
100
680
983
607
231
1,250
230
1,300
110
400
535
270
56
344
71
52
186
83
65
726
60
56
181
142
149
105
60
67
65
383
100
400
89
511
406
Number
of
Telephones
4,968
4,298
2,321
30,831
8,771
14,000
15,673
85,913
18,302
122,067
11,165
15,787
17,901
11,205
14,335
109,420
16,963
13,243
51,868
20,262
19,020
330,383
17,447
13,829
65,575
57,427
50,462
33,003
20,510
17,248
12,305
124,525
7,503
13,005
6,185
54,430
38,008
Tele-
phones
per 100
Popu-
lation
0.5
3.1
2.3
4.5
0.9
2.3
6.8
6.9
8.0
9.4
10.2
3.9
3.3
4.2
25.6
31.8
23.9
25.5
27.9
24.4
29.3
45.5
29.1
24.7
36.2
40.4
33.9
31.4
34.2
25.7
18.9
32.5
7.5
Z.Z
6.9
10.7
9.4
214
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
TELEPHONE DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE CITIES— Continued
Country and City
(or Exchange Area)
Union of South Africa
(continued):
East London
Germiston
Johannesburg
Kimberley
Pietermaritzburg. . .
Port Elizabeth
Pretoria
United Kingdom: ''
Belfast
Birmingham
Bristol
Cardiff
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Kingston upon Hull . .
Leeds
Leicester
Liverpool
London, Greater
City and County of
Manchester
Nottingham
Newcastle on Tyne . . .
Sheffield
Uruguay:
Montevideo .
Venezuela:
Caracas, D. F.
United States:
Akron, O
Alameda, Cal
Albany, N. Y
Albuquerque, N. M..
Alhambra, Cal
Allen town. Pa
Altoona, Pa
Amarillo, Tex
Anderson, Ind
Asheville, N. C
Atlanta, Ga
Atlantic City, N. J. . ,
Augusta, Ga
Aurora, 111
Austin, Tex
Baltimore, Md
Baton Rouge, La
Bay City, Mich
Bayonne, N. J
Beaumont, Tex
Berkeley, Cal
Berwyn, 111
Bethlehem, Pa
Binghamton, N. Y. . .
Birmingham, Ala
Esti-
mated
Popu-
lation
(In
Thou-
sands)
85
147
841
60
67
160
277
453
1,292
455
248
490
1,217
346
581
282
1,429
8,350
3,374
1,265
427
521
512
750
450
Number
of
Telephones
5,861
4,638
96,010
2,571
6,790
13,098
27,165
34,200
115,930
47,672
22,098
70,918
105,331
35,108
58,072
30,180
114,453
1,470,507
819,670
124,500
41,260
42,860
41,801
55,879
39,506
Tele-
phones
per 100
Popu-
lation
6.9
3.2
11.4
4.3
10.1
8.2
9.8
7.5
9.0
10.5
8.9
14.5
8.7
10.1
10.0
10.7
8.0
17.6
24.3
9.8
9.7
8.2
8.2
7.5
397 131,246 33.0
(Included in Oakland)
174
95
150
125
99
84
65
86
590
87
139
62
151
1,046
164
72
85
136
71,258
I 27,110
39,607
39,574
/ 27,363
27,013
21,188
22,889
181,735
38,973
27,850
22,288
46,170
286,483
37,980
21,745
18,935
29,918
41.0
28.5
26.4
31.5
27.6
32.2
32.4
26.5
30.8
44.9
20.0
35.8
30.7
27.4
23.1
30.0
22.3
22.0
(Included in Oakland)
60
78
102
460
15,734
25,142
33,293
111,347
26.2
32.1
32.8
24.2
Country and City
(or Exchange Area)
United States
(continued):
Boston, Mass
Bridgeport, Conn
Brockton, Mass
Brookline, Mass
Buffalo, N. Y
Burbank, Cal
Cambridge, Mass
Camden, N. J
Canton, O
Cedar Rapids, la
Charleston, S. C
Charleston, W. Va.. . .
Charlotte, N. C
Chattanooga, Tenn. . .
Chester, Pa
Chicago, 111
Cicero, 111
Cincinnati, O
Cleveland, O
Cleveland Heights, O.
Clifton, N.J
Columbia, S. C
Columbus, Ga
Columbus, O
Corpus Christ! , Tex. . .
Covington, Ky
Cranston, R. I..
Dallas, Tex
Davenport, la
Dayton, O
Dearborn, Mich
Decatur, 111
Denver, Colo
Des Moines, la
Detroit, Mich
Duluth, Minn
Durham, N. C
East Chicago, Ind.. . .
East Orange, N. J. . . .
East St. Louis, 111. . . .
Elizabeth, N. J
El Paso, Tex
Erie, Pa
Evanston, 111
Evansville, Ind
Fall River, Mass
Flint, Mich
Fort Wayne, Ind
Fort Worth, Tex
Fresno, Cal
Gadsden, Ala
Galveston, Tex
Gary, Ind
Glendale, Cal
Grand Rapids, Mich..
Greensboro, N. C
Hamilton, O
Esti-
mated
Popu-
lation
(In
Thou-
sands)
Number
of
Telephones
741 288,947
214 73,268
77 23,113
87 34,908
720 235,152
98 33,255
117 44,686
131 35,602
154 49,971
76 28,867
145 27,136
127 39,383
170 48,270
232 61,768
104 27,705
3,725 1,460,368
73 23,563
662 225,131
1,289 496,400
(Included in Cleveland)
(Included in Passaic)
Tele-
phones
per 100
Popu-
lation
39.0
34.3
30.0
40.4
32.7.
34.1
38.1
27.2
32.5
37.9
18.7
31.0
28.4
26.6
26.6
39.2
32.3
34.0
38.5
149
31,253
21.0
134
28,397
21.2
432
165,088
38.2
132
33,221
25.2
158
40,991
26.0
(Included in
Providence
544
195,245
35.9
91
30,457
ii.i
326
121,459
37.3
(Included in Detroit)
31.9
42.6
36.9
35.4
34.8
23.3
22.3
34.9
22.3
29.9
24.1
28.2
45.3
29.5
22.8
30.9
42.5
29.9
16.1
30.5
23.5
35.0
34.9
24.8
27.9
85
27,109
415
176,832
212
78,042
,236
791,764
116
40,202
85
19,791
60
13,365
144
50,159
102
22,699
128
38,308
144
34,738
145
40,753
73
33,181
161
47,405
143
32,527
219
67,531
136
57,733
346
103,600
146
48,503
73
11,674
86
26,242
153
36,041
104
36,438
262
91,461
115
28,536
73
20,376
1 949-50
The World's Telephones
215
TELEPHONE DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE CITIES— Continued
Country and City
(or Exchange Area)
United States
(continued):
Hammond, Ind
Hamtramck, Mich...
Harrisburg, Pa
Hartford, Conn
Highland Park, Mich
Hoboken, N. J
Holyoke, Mass
Houston, Tex
Huntington, W. Va. .
Indianapolis, Ind. . . .
Irvington, \. J
Jackson, Mich
Jackson, Miss
Jacksonville, Fla. . . .
Jersey City, N. J. . . .
Johnstown, Pa
Kalamazoo, Mich.. . .
Kansas City, Kans. .
Kansas City, Mo. . . .
Knoxville, Tenn
Lakewood, O
Lancaster, Pa
Lansing, Mich
Lawrence, Mass
Lexington, Ky
Lincoln, Neb
Little Rock, Ark. . . .
Long Beach, Cal. . . .
Los Angeles, Cal. . . .
Louisville, Ky
Lowell, Mass
Lubbock, Tex
Lynn, Mass
Macon, Ga
Madison, Wis
Maiden, Mass
Manchester, N. H. . .
McKeesport, Pa
Medford, Mass
Memphis, Tenn
Miami, Fla
Miami Beach, Fla.. .
Milwaukee, Wis
Minneapolis, Minn.. .
Mobile, Ala
Montgomery, Ala
Mt. Vernon, N. Y. . .
Muncie, Ind
Nashville, Tenn
Newark, N. J
New Bedford, Mass. .
New Britain, Conn. . .
New Castle, Pa
New Haven, Conn.. .
New Orleans, La. ...
New Rochelle, N. Y. .
Esti-
mated
Popu-
lation
(In
Thou-
sands)
Number
of
Telephones
Tele-
phones
per 100
Popu-
lation
80 21,173 26.6
(Included in Detroit)
148 1 59,320 140.1
294 1 117,838 I 40.0
(Included in Detroit)
(Included in
Jersey City)
85
678
93
538
23,762
227,761
30,346
194,923
28.0
33.6
32.6
36.3
(Included in Newark)
89 30,750 34.4
117 31,820 27.2
302 65,522 21.7
365 90,813 24.9
112 23,602 21.1
96 37,198 38.9
(Included in
Kansas Citv, Mo.)
681 I 248,597 | 36.5
229 I 53,672 | 23.5
(Included in Cleveland)
93
132
121
96
104
178
296
2,000
458
126
75
142
120
102
61
86
118
62
429
521
31,676
52,874
30,047
23,552
38,998
51,367
99,554
793,758
138,957
30,144
18,042
44,022
28,245
43,825
17,715
24,265
30,158
16,323
131,302
157,416
34.0
40.1
24.9
24.5
37.5
28.8
33.6
39.7
30.4
24.0
23.9
30.9
23.6
43.2
29.0
28.2
25.5
26.4
30.6
30.2
(Included in Miami)
868
628
196
159
76
69
288
546
144
87
71
259
683
64
280,352
253,076
39,658
28,164
26,069
22,922
87,698
178,434
38,270
25,586
20,612
95,736
189,723
23,120
32.3
40.3
20.2
17.7
34.1
33.1
30.4
32.7
26.6
29.5
28.9
37.0
27.8
36.2
Country and City
(or Exchange Area)
United States
(continued) :
Newton, Mass
New York, N. Y. . . .
Niagara Falls, N. Y. .
Norfolk, Va
Oakland, Cal
Oak Park, 111
Ogden, Utah
Oklahoma City, Okla
Omaha, Neb
Orlando, Fla
Pasadena, Cal
Passaic, N. J
Paterson, N. J
Pawtucket, R. I
Peoria, 111
Philadelphia, Pa
Phoenix, Ariz
Pittsburgh, Pa
Pittsfield, Mass
Pontiac, Mich
Port Arthur, Tex
Portland, Me
Portland, Ore
Portsmouth, Va
Providence, R. I
Pueblo, Colo
Quincy, Mass
Racine, Wis
Raleigh, N. C
Reading, Pa
Richmond, Cal
Richmond, Va
Riverside, Cal
Roanoke, Va
Rochester, N. Y
Rockford, 111
Rock Island, 111
Sacramento, Cal
Saginaw, Mich
St. Joseph, Mo
St. Louis, Mo
St. Paul, Minn
St. Petersburg, Fla. .
Salt Lake City, Utah
San Antonio, Tex.. . .
San Bernardino, Cal.
San Diego, Cal
San Francisco, Cal...
San Jose, Cal
Santa Monica, Cal...
Savannah, Ga
Schenectady, N. Y
Scranton, Pa
Seattle, Wash
Shreveport, La
Sioux City, la
Somerville, Mass
South Bend, Ind
Esti-
mated
Popu-
lation
(In
Thou-
sands)
78
7,944
92
218
697
71
88
273
293
81
180
175
181
138
176
2,100
230
1,034
61
119
96
119
489
86
389
94
84
86
93
149
137
265
66
112
415
135
52
212
118
98
1,059
367
115
240
459
73
355
841
152
148
148
143
166
603
190
91
102
188
Number
of
Telephones
29,985
2,768,567
30,004
69,357
262,211
26,924
23,868
104,644
104,941
21,015
72,354
42,383
50,866
31,037
56,619
696,027
55,552
372,255
20,772
39,616
20,927
38,904
181,861
20,549
117,856
23,666
27,177
27,540
25,525
50,199
19,627
98,588
18,819
33,966
132,602
44,821
16,947
75,552
37,089
28,654
360,326
139,024
30,977
78,264
106,437
20,829
100,423
417,133
46,858
44,212
33,672
55,372
41,970
248,189
49,132
29,374
23,536
58,166
Tele-
phones
per 100
Popu-
lation
38.4
34.8
32.7
31.8
37.6
37.9
27.1
38.3
35.9
25.9
40.2
24.3
28.1
22.6
32.2
33.1
24.2
36.0
34.3
33.4
21.8
32.8
37.2
23.9
30.3
25.2
32.4
31.9
27:4
33.6
14.3
37.2
28.5
30.3
32.0
33.2
32.6
35.6
31.4
29.2
34.0
37.9
26.9
32.6
23.2
28.5
28.3
49.6
30.8
29.9
22.8
38.8
25.3
41.2
25.9
32.2
23.1
31.0
2l6
Bell Telephone Magazine
TELEPHONE DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE CITIES— Continued
Country and City
(or Exchange Area)
Esti-
mated
Popu-
lation
(In
Thou-
sands)
Number
of
Telephones
Tele-
phones
per 100
Popu-
lation
Country and City
(or Exchange Area)
Esti-
mated
Popu-
lation
(In
Thou-
sands)
Number
of
Telephones
Tele-
phones
per 100
Popu-
lation
United States
(continued)
Spokane, Wash
Springfield, 111
201
99
213
99
94
71
117
255
196
200
103
376
107
196
82
119
211
68,357
37,665
75,338
28,823
30,798
28,969
33,881
93,911
62,761
48,553
24,288
128,460
36,418
54,177
23,696
26,912
89,373
34.0
38.0
35.4
29.2
32.7
41.1
29.0
36.8
32.0
24.3
23.6
34.2
33.9
27.7
28.8
22.6
42.4
United States
(continued)
Union City, N. J
Utica, N. Y.
173
133
112
938
115
69
72
200
67
131
162
127
70
220
148
103
224
42,492
39,002
24,596
447,283
39,582
22,941
24,846
72,364
21,417
30,736
62,601
29,500
18,598
71,292
41,845
20,423
68,498
24.5
29 3
Springfield, Mass
Waco, Tex
22.0
Springfield, Mo
Springfield, 0
Stamford, Conn
Washington, D. C. . . .
Waterbury, Conn
Waterloo, la.
47.7
34.5
33.3
Stockton, Cal
Syracuse, N. Y
Tacoma, Wash
Tampa, Fla
Wheeling, W. Va
Wichita, Kans
Wichita Falls, Tex
Wilkes-Barre, Pa
Wilmington, Del
Winston-Salem, N. C.
Woonsocket, R. I
Worcester, Mass
Yonkers, N. Y
York, Pa.
34.6
36.2
32.0
23.5
Terre Haute, Ind
Toledo, 0
38.6
23.3
Topeka, Kans
Trenton, N. J
Troy, N. Y.
26.6
32.4
28 2
Tucson, Ariz
19.9
Tulsa, Okla
Youngstown, O
30.6
as being operated either wholly or
preponderantly under government
ownership rank in respect of the num-
ber of their telephones as follows:
The United Kingdom, Germany,
France, Sweden, U. S. S. R. How-
ever, in the aggregate, these five
countries are served by only one-
third the number of telephones found
in the United States alone.
Telephones in Large Cities
In point of relative telephone de-
velopment, San Francisco leads the
large cities of the world with 49.6
telephones per 100 of its population,
followed by Washington, D. C. with
47.7. Highest among foreign cities
is Stockholm, with 45.5 per 100 in-
habitants, while Bern is next with
40.4.
New York, with 2,768,567 tele-
phones; Chicago, with 1,460,368;
and Greater London, with 1,470,507,
are the only cities in the world having
more than one million telephones.
In fact, there are but eight countries
outside the United States having
more than one million telephones.
New York City alone has more
telephones than have Greater Lon-
don, Paris, Stockholm, Rome, and
Madrid combined.
That the telephone has become an
integral part of our social and busi-
ness lives is evidenced by the fact
that the number of telephone mes-
sages per capita in the United States
averaged 346 during 1948. This
figure compares with 301 for Sweden,
which has the greatest telephone den-
sity outside the United States, and
with 63.4 for the second largest tele-
phone system in the world, that of
the United Kingdom.
The wide usage of this country's
telephones and their rapid growth in
the post-war years reflect the increas-
ing value of the service at a price
within the reach of millions of people.
Planning Ahead for Facilities in Homes and Commercial
Buildings Results in Unobtrusive Wiring and Efficient
Location of Instruments and Equipment
Advance Arrangements for
Telephone Convenience
Adolph F. Michel and
T. Hunt Clark
The post-war boom in home build-
ing is bringing about a type of resi-
dence which is radically different
from that of twenty-five years ago.
Houses are constructed of new ma-
terials to new designs and provide
new conveniences, to meet people's
desire for better living: better heat-
ing, better lighting, better ventila-
tion, increased ease, more attractive
appearance.
In a house designed for more
efficient functioning, telephones at
convenient locations, and enough
telephones, can contribute to labor
saving and step saving — to ease and
convenience — in the same way as can
a "science" kitchen. And the same
arrangements which make this pos-
sible can also avoid exposed tele-
phone wiring which otherwise might
mar the appearance of tastefully dec-
orated rooms — no matter how neatly
the installer worked.
Nor are these things difficult of
accomplishment. All they require is
a bit of forethought and some ad-
vance planning.
The Bell System, because it real-
izes its responsibility to help its cus-
tomers get the most and the best
service for their money, stands ready
to help with the job of planning in
time for service in homes. What is
more, it campaigns to remind people
that they will be the gainers by the
planning.
In each of the operating compa-
nies of the Bell System, an Architects
and Builders Service is maintained,
to advise and assist architects, build-
ers, prospective home owners, and
others who might be interested in
getting the benefits of advance tele-
phone planning. Representatives of
the Commercial, Engineering, and
Plant Departments are designated to
act as consultants. A call or letter
Ill
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
TELEPHONE WIRES
DON'T SHOW ON THE FACE OF IT
I^Z^Zo,'^ ond Mdm sen-../
Mil TEll^HOHt SYSTEM ^
\^elephone
Convenience]
\ - in your n«>w hom».l
I ouUe« like '»^ ^1
llern home planning considers the
1 • «" •'•" OS the present needs of
lowner. Telephone rocewo/s coo-
I telephone wires wilhm walls. They
I provide for the relocation or
lion of telephones loter on.
I easy ond inexpensive to provide
lephone facilities during construc-
', few lengths of pipe or tubing
in the walls will carry telephone
lo outlets locoted at Icey points
I tout the house.
Bell Telephone Coi
I to co-operote in pla
I leeway systems. Juf
I telephone compan
ask for "Arch
I >ervice,"
UiPHONi srsii
Building a new home?
Then you'll want this
booklet on
concealing ^
^ "f^^
telephone wires ip
Wy^Jfrr
Just call or M
write for your if^
^^UiZtb
7^ M^
^^
copy ASS
Juti write or call ^^^^P
•""•A/chWe.H'iBulhWServic.-
«»-s:,r"""
m THE OHIO BELL lEEEPHONE COMPANY
Advertisements such as these bring the ad-
vantages of advance planning for telephone
convenience to the attention of architects^
builders y and prospective home owners
1949-50
Arrangements Jor Telephone Convenience
219
to the Architects and Builders Serv-
ice will bring helpful and practical
leaflets and other information, and
the prospective home owner and his
architect or builder may come in for
an interview with the telephone ex-
perts if a problem seems to warrant
it.
This service is given without
charge, of course. Moreover, the
System makes a definite effort to
bring it to the attention of people
to whom it would be helpful. Ad-
vertisements are run in national mag-
azines of interest to home owners
and to the professional field; displays
are exhibited at "own your own
home" shows and similar conven-
tions, and booklets are furnished;
and calls are made on architects and
builders, who are provided with ref-
erence material for their files and
binders.
This kind of activity isn't new; it
has been going on, as a matter of
fact, for years. And it does bear
fruit. A recent instance in the terri-
tory of one Associated Company con-
cerns three contractors who were put-
ting up a total of about 4,800 houses
in the $6,000-$ 10,000 cost range.
These firms were interviewed and
the advantages of providing up-to-
date telephone equipment were em-
Telephone
Company
displays at
"own your own
home" shows
and similar
expositions
dramatize the
benefits of
planning
ahead for
telephone
service
220
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
phasized. When the houses were
completed, more than three-fourths
of the recommended facilities had
been installed.
Locations for Telephones in Homes
Customers want telephones located
where they will be most convenient
to use. Preferences will vary, natu-
rally, but the most popular locations
for telephone outlets are in or near
the living and working areas where
the occupants spend most of their
time. Experience shows that the
kitchen or dining alcove, the master
bedroom, guest room or other bed-
rooms, living room, den or study,
recreation room or workshop, are in-
cluded in the preferred locations.
One or more of these rooms are se-
lected for telephones.
Bedside telephones are becoming
more and more popular. An added
reason is that telephone bells can be
adjusted to ring very softly.
For real telephone convenience, at
least one telephone outlet should be
installed on each level of the house.
Inasmuch as every future telephone
need may not now be foreseen, it is
better to have too many outlets than
too few, since as time goes by re-
quirements for service often increase.
Providing extra outlets is good home
planning.
In addition to the permanently lo-
cated telephone instrument, many
home owners have portable tele-
phones which may be carried from
room to room and plugged into out-
lets which are equipped with jacks,
particularly in rooms which are used
only on occasion. Guest rooms, sew-
ing room, laundry, workshop, and
basement recreation room come un-
der this category. Such outlets are
also popular in seasonal rooms or
locations, including sun rooms, ter-
races, and porches. A portable tele-
phone may be used on a screened
porch during the summer and then
transferred to the basement or any
other jack outlet in the winter.
Service Entrance
A SERVICE ENTRANCE conduit or
pipe sleeve for bringing the service
wires into the building is very desir-
able, since this precludes the neces-
sity for drilling holes through diffi-
cult surfaces or materials. A con-
duit between the point where the
aerial drop wire is to be attached to
the building and the protector is
desirable both from the standpoint
of appearance and as a protection
against tampering by unauthorized
persons. The location for the serv-
ice entrance should, of course, be
checked with the telephone company
before it is provided.
In order to eliminate exposed
wires outside, not only for the sake
of appearance but to minimize serv-
ice interruptions from storms or
other causes, some home owners find
it advantageous to have the tele-
phone entrance wires underground.
As available plant facilities, local mu-
nicipal regulations, and other factors
require coordination of all phases of
the work, it is important that the
telephone company be consulted be-
fore planning construction of an un-
derground entrance.
Protector Cabinet
The telephone line entering the
home generally must be connected to
a station protector to prevent pos-
sible excessive voltages from power
circuits or lightning from reaching
i949~'5o Arrangements for Telephone Convenience
111
Such booklets illustrate practical suggestions
222
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
Telephone outlets should be planned for the working and
living areas of the home
the inside wiring or station appara-
tus. This protector is usually located
in the basement or attic near the
point the telephone wires will enter
the building. If located in a finished
basement, the protector should be
concealed by a cabinet. Steel boxes,
like those used for mounting electri-
cal switches, are suitable and can be
recessed in the basement ceiling or
on an outside wall.
Wiring Channels
Telephone outlets should be con-
nected by wiring channels to some
part of the basement or attic where
exposed wires will not be noticeable.
In many homes this means merely
running a few feet of pipe within a
wall to an unfinished part of the base-
ment or accessible part of the attic.
In homes without basements, or
where the basement is finished as a
play room, it is desirable to extend
the pipe raceway to the
protector cabinet near
the service entrance.
In certain localities,
wires are not run under
houses because of ex-
treme moisture condi-
tions, and the raceways
from the outlets are
then run to the attic.
The attic must, of
course, be accessible to
the telephone installer.
It is usually a good
idea to extend a race-
w a y in a two-story
house to the attic even
though it originates in
an unfinished basement.
Then, if a telephone is
needed later in one of
the rooms without an
outlet, the wire can be dropped
through a closet to the new location.
Almost any kind of pipe or tubing
can be used for raceways, but since
iron pipe or thin wall electrical tub-
ing is usually available on the site,
these are the materials most fre-
quently used. The outlets provided
for bringing out the telephone wires
are commercially available shallow
iron boxes such as those used to con-
tain lighting switches. The outlet
box is closed with a commercial cover
plate with a round bushed or grom-
meted hole for the telephone set cord
or wire entrance — except where out-
lets equipped with jacks for portable
telephones are to be provided. In
this case the jacks (not the outlet
box) and associated cover plates are
furnished by the telephone company.
If a double outlet (two boxes fas-
tened back to back) is used, it is often
1949-50
Arrangements for Telephone Convenience
223
possible to arrange to make one race-
way do double duty too by serving
two adjoining rooms.
Each home naturally requires its
custom-tailored telephone arrange-
ment, but even the simplest layout
should include enough outlets in the
right places, with raceways from the
outlets to unfinished parts of the
basement or attic.
Commercial and Industrial Buildings
The desirability of planning in ad-
vance of construction for telephone
and other communication services in
commercial and industrial buildings
has been generally recognized for
many years. If proper facilities are
provided, the general appearance of
the building and its offices is im-
proved and the wires and cables are
afforded mechanical protection. The
latter serves to prevent service inter-
ruptions, and provides the flexibility
which makes possible
rearrangements and
changes in the circuit
terminations without
the need for drilling
holes through finished
walls and floors, expos-
ing wires and cables in
offices and halls and
marring walls and trim
— all to the general in-
convenience and annoy-
ance of tenants.
It is of the utmost
importance that the ex-
pert advice of the
Architects and Builders
Service be obtained at a
very early stage of the
undertaking.
General requirements
for commercial and in-
dustrial buildings in-
clude cable service en-
trances, main cross-con-
necting terminal and other cable ter-
minals, riser conduits and riser shafts,
floor distribution systems, and space
for telephone and related equipment.
Service Entrances
Telephone entrance cables are
usually run from a manhole in the
street through the foundation wall
to a cross-connecting terminal in the
basement of the building. Avail-
able underground facilities often con-
Interior raceways in homes bring concealed telephone
wires to outlets J or telephones at convenient locations
224
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
trol selection of the entrance point,
and in certain cases an overhead in-
stead of underground telephone dis-
tribution system may be involved.
In some instances, basements may
be subject to excessive dampness or
flooding, and the cross-connecting ter-
minals would have to be placed higher
in the building.
In any case, a sufficient number of
iron pipes, sleeves, or clay sewer tiles
to care for the ultimate number of
cables entering the building are gen-
erally placed in foundation or other
walls during construction. These
holes are always kept sealed to avoid
entrance of water.
Incoming service cables usually ter-
minate on a cross-connecting terminal
of either the wall or frame type. At
this point, cross-connections are made
to house cables which extend through
conduits or riser shafts to all floors
of the building. The floor-type ter-
minal, rather than the wall type, is
usually provided in the larger build-
ings having a considerable number of
telephone stations and other com-
munication services, and special fire-
proof terminal rooms are very desir-
able. They avoid possibility of large-
scale interruptions to service from
careless handling of materials or mer-
chandise or a minor fire.
The cross-connecting terminal for the telephone wires serving a large building normally
requires a separate terminal room
1949-50
Arrangements for Telephone Convenience
225
The cross-connecting
terminal should be lo-
cated near the center of
the cable distribution sys-
tem, so as to minimize
the amount of cable used.
In certain buildings, such
as hotels, this center
would be on one of the
lower floors, where the
private branch switch-
board is located.
'House Cable
Riser Conduits and
Riser Shafts
Riser conduits are not
usually employed in build-
ings exceeding 12 stories
in height nor in buildings
of less height that cover
a large area, as advan-
tages of so protecting
the cables are offset by
difficulty in installing and
supporting heavy cables
in conduits and making
complicated splices in the
cabinets associated with
the conduit system.
Riser shafts should
start from the floor on
which the cross-connect-
ing terminal is located and extend
throughout the building. If the
shaft cannot be made continuous,
conduits of adequate size should be
provided to connect the top of one
riser shaft to the bottom of the one
above it or to the cross-connecting
terminal, so as to provide continuous
cable runs throughout the building.
Riser shaft closets are normally
placed one above the other through-
out the full height of the building.
Such closets are quite wide and long
and have full ceiling height. A large
^To other Telephone Wall Cabinets
"To other Riser Shaft Cabinets on same floor
Provision for a telephone distribution system as ex-
tensive as this must be included in the original plans
slot or large iron pipe sleeves should
be provided in the floor of the shaft,
to permit raising full-sized cables
with splices in the shaft.
Floor Distribution Systems
The riser shaft closet containing
a cable terminal is the main distribu-
tion point for a rather large floor
area and it is often impracticable to
carry all telephone and telegraph
wiring directly back to this terminal.
For this reason, adequate wiring fa-
cilities always provide for distribu-
226
Bell Telephone Magazine
tion terminals about the floors. The
best appearing and most desirable ar-
rangement is to furnish built-in cabi-
nets suitable for housing telephone
terminals during construction.
Each wall cabinet should be con-
nected by conduits to the nearest riser
shaft, adjacent wall cabinets, and to
the underfloor distribution system.
The logical permanent location for
electric wiring of all types is in the
floor, for the reason that interior di-
viding partitions are often omitted or
are made readily interchangeable in
most commercial buildings, and other
supports are quite restrictive and
their use may be prohibited by law.
Under-floor raceways consist of con-
duits, ducts, or cellular steel floor —
whichever is most suitable for the
needs of the particular building; and
a separate system must be provided
for the telephone wiring. Since the
standard office desk is the unit on
which the telephone, business ma-
chine, and often lights are to be es-
tablished, and the desks may be lo-
cated anywhere on the floor, the need
for under-floor wire distribution sys-
tems is acute. The raceways are usu-
ally placed five to six feet apart to
correspond with the desk length and
the outlets 24 inches apart on each
raceway to permit any desired spac-
ing between desks.
Under-floor conduit systems are
suitable for small buildings not hav-
ing need for many telephone and tele-
graph circuits out in the open spaces.
In buildings with permanent parti-
tions and walls, they may be supple-
mented by a number of different base-
board raceway systems.
Two types of under-floor duct sys-
tems are commonly provided, either
steel or fibre. The number of race-
ways in a given system depends on
service requirements.
Cellular steel floors are also used
for wire distribution systems. The
longitudinal cells in these floors are
connected to wall cabinets by header
ducts which cross above the cells.
Space for Equipmetit
Planning the right locations for
residence telephones presents only
minor problems. But large commer-
cial structures are likely to have to
arrange space for a number of items
of telephone equipment of various
kinds and sizes and uses. These in-
clude such things as private branch
switchboards large and small, order-
receiving equipment, teletypewriters,
and perhaps alarm or announcing or
paging systems. Many buildings will
also have need for public telephones,
with booths in all probability, and
their location will call for careful
planning.
Such specialized equipment and its
location is beyond the scope of this
paper. But it is by no means beyond
the scope of the Associated Company
groups who are concerned with plan-
ning customers' facilities; it is, in-
deed, right down their alley. And
the importance, the necessity even,
of architect and contractor and
owner seeking their counsel is self-
evident.
Whether it be a modest "ranch-
type" bungalow or a glass-and-chro-
mium skyscraper, the telephone com-
pany can add much to its comfort,
its livability, its efficiency — if given
the opportunity. The Architects and
Builders Service is another Bell Sys-
tem practice which adds a plus to the
value of the dollar the customer pays
for his telephone service.
Lines Built Primarily to Aid Hydraulic Mining in the
Mother Lode Country Also Provided for Some Public Use
In the First Years of the Telephone s Growth
Some Early Long Distance
Lines in the Far West
IV alter Blackford^ Sr,^ and
Joy F. Hutton
Historical research, by its nature,
cannot be an exact science. The in-
vestigator who shouts, "Eureka ! I
have found the first !" is all too often
preparing himself for a rude shock.
Sooner or later, new evidence turns
up to make a monkey out of him.
The beginnings of long distance
telephone service are no exception to
this generalization. In studying the
early California and Nevada lines
discussed here, we* have followed a
dim and dusty trail back through the
years. Beyond a doubt, we have
traced out some of the earliest long
distance telephone lines in the world.
What we found makes a fascinat-
ing story.
In the days following Dr. Bell's in-
vention of the telephone, instruments
* The "we" of this article represents the au-
thors, whose interpretations and conclusions are
based on the evidence to date. W . B., Sr.
were frequently tried out on existing
telegraph lines. Conversations were
held over some very long distances,
such as from San Diego, California,
to Yuma, Arizona, over an Army
telegraph line. But while these hook-
ups were interesting, they were pri-
marily of a demonstration or experi-
mental nature.
The earliest bona fide telephone
lines ran from one point to another
within communities. True, these
were cases of communication at a dis-
tance. But such intra-community
lines, we believe, do not come within
the category of "Long Distance."
It appears that most of the early
long distance lines were constructed
for private use. However, so great
was the novelty of talking to some-
one far away that scarcely any line
remained strictly private. Friends
and strangers gathered at each end
228
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
The Mother Lode Country
1949-50
Early Lines in the Far West
11^
to share this new wonder of the
world. As the novelty wore off, vari-
ous arrangements were worked out
for payment of calls, where a line
connected two communities or re-
gions and there was some public
traffic.
Our definition of a long distance
line at the dawn of telephony, then,
is one primarily constructed for the
purpose of telephonic communica-
tion between distinct communities,
with some public usage.
The Impact of Gold
In 1847, o"ly about 15,000 inhabi-
tants were scattered over California's
400,000 square miles. Cattle rais-
ing, agriculture, and trapping were
the chief occupations in the easy-
going pastoral economy inherited
from the Spanish and Mexican days.
Then, in 1848, came James Mar-
shall's discovery of gold at Sutter's
Mill, at Coloma. Within two years
the state's population catapaulted to
100,000. The peaceful life of the
hacendados came to an abrupt halt
and California began an expansion
that has never stopped.
The dramatic turbulence of the
first gold rush years has seldom been
equaled in history. Men from nearly
every country in the world swarmed
over the foothills on the eastern side
of California's great central valley.
On the flanks of the Sierra Nevada,
they dug and panned and washed for
gold, brawled and gambled and
dreamed of riches. They founded
camps that mushroomed into roaring
towns and then died overnight. They
left unforgettable names scattered up
and down the Mother Lode — Hang-
town, Red Dog, You Bet, Whisky
Hill, Poker Flat, Chinese Camp.
But only a few of the '49ers found
lasting wealth.
The impact of gold on the small,
sleepy towns of Northern and Cen-
tral California was almost beyond im-
agining. They boomed and boomed
again, forced to telescope genera-
tions of development into a few short
years. It was a rough and ready
process. Small wonder that the citi-
zens, like San Francisco's Vigilantes,
had to take the law into their own
hands on occasion.
But wealth kept flowing from the
Mother Lode and — a little later —
Nevada's fabulous Comstock on the
other side of the Sierra. Trade and
agriculture and transportation ex-
panded. Diversified industries took
root. Westerners soon considered
their bustling cities every bit as cul-
tured as and even more modern and
progressive than those of the East.
In 1 86 1, the first transcontinental
telegraph line replaced the Pony Ex-
press. Hooking up to the developing
Pacific Telegraph, it brought the
West for the first time into direct
contact with the rest of the nation.
When the transcontinental railroad
was completed, in 1869, the Pacific
Coast became even more firmly linked
with the East. And by 1876, the
year of the telephone's birth, Cali-
fornia's population had reached
600,000.
Mr. Belts Invention
That the people of the West were
eager to exploit anything new is ex-
emplified by the interest they showed
in the new invention. Late in 1876,
Samuel Hubbard was using the San
Francisco Post Office telegraph net-
230
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
work to introduce the telephone on
the Pacific Coast. Immediately there-
after, the seven-mile telegraph line
from the Merchants Exchange, in
downtown San Francisco, to Meiggs
Wharf was used to flash — via tele-
phone— the news of ships approach-
ing through the Golden Gate. In
1877, the practice of using telegraph
lines for telephonic purposes became
state-wide. Almost invariably, the
public was permitted to use these cir-
cuits to satisfy its curiosity.
A variety of audible entertainment
was transmitted back and forth be-
tween groups, including what was
surely one of the first instances of
broadcasting a public event: the eve-
ning of November 5, 1877, when
three telephone instruments were
placed on the stage of San Francisco's
Grand Opera House, and wires were
strung to five locations about the city.
The opera "Mignon" and the ap-
plause of the audience were distinctly
heard at all stations.
Such interest in the new invention
aided the early establishment of tele-
phone exchanges, particularly around
the San Francisco Bay area. The
San Francisco exchange — third in
the world — went into operation Feb-
ruary 17, 1878, with 170 subscribers.
Oakland followed on April i of the
Hydraulic mining requires a tremendous head of water. One purpose of early telephone
lines constructed in the Mother Lode country was to facilitate control of water pressure
1949-50
Early Lines in the Far West
231
The town of Downieville^ perched along the North Fork of the Yuba River, is a typical
Mother Lode community. In the days of gold y it had a population of five thousand miners
same year, and the San Jose and
Sacramento exchanges were estab-
hshed March i, 1879. Initially, long
distance service between these points
was conducted only over telegraph
wires; toll line construction was not
started by the Pacific Company until
1880.
Building Lines for Telephones
Telegraph lines, however, were
not available to all telephone-minded
people in the Far West. As it be-
came apparent that the telephone of-
fered tremendous advantages, not
only in ordinary business transactions
but particularly in far-flung mining,
lumber, express, and water company
operations, men began building their
own telephone lines.
In Nevada, for example, the Con-
solidated Virginia Mine completed
1500 feet of telephone line on No-
vember 16, 1877. This mine, one
of the greatest producers of all time,
had thousands of feet of underground
workings beneath the arid ridge on
which Virginia City still stands. The
telephone supplanted other electrical
means of communication in such mines
largely because Dr. Bell's electro-
magnetic telephone of that period did
not require a battery and thus elimi-
nated the possibility of explosion
from an electric spark.
232
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
'"'■'» JVn. ;
f^^^t^M^,
DitK
^itjemg.
^^'«*W. 'Monthly Ac. ,
^rtjr^^ J: , ^ Account.)
Nuna ,
'"""•«• *«■' ««CHn-„
■TTaw
Of... >--
f'S'Z.
i^i m OAUFOlit'lSTRiMl WORKS.
.i«.~*"-~- >"■■'; ■ .. A„„.„.™s AND SurVUES.
* '■'•'' '''"rrTlBrms, and Private Lines.
■.V*-' v
c^^'
c? ool
^0
■S„
Early records of the
Ridge Telephone Com-
pany. From top to bot-
tom^ a page of charges
for messages sent in
September 1882^ bills for
telephone equipment
bought in i8jg and
iSySy and a message
transmitted in r8jg
.5 iol
/: /
1949-50
Early Lines in the Far West
'^2>2>
This is how the main street of Dutch Flat^ California^ looked in 1949. The first floor
of the colonnaded hotel at the left goes back to storied days, while the second building at
the righty by way of contrast, houses today's telephone switchboard
By the early 1880s, networks of
existing telegraph and privately con-
structed telephone lines linked the
cities of California's central valley
with the gold towns and with isolated
stations far up the steep, pine-clad
slopes of the Sierra. It is in this area
that our search for the earliest long
distance lines has been concentrated.
The production of gold had be-
come more or less routine by the time
the telephone came along. Though
an occasional discovery still caused
high excitement, the rush was long
over. The individual prospector had
been pretty much replaced by large-
scale operations.
Geologically, the Mother Lode is
a belt of gold-bearing quartz extend-
ing roughly a hundred miles north-
east from Mariposa, near Yosemite
Valley. Gold was found in many
other places, however, and the
Mother Lode country is popularly
considered to include the Sierra slope
as far north as Redding.
Over the centuries, free gold had
been washed out of the quartz and
into streams and rivers. Conse-
quently, it occurred in the form of
dust or nuggets nearly anywhere
there was water. The '49ers found
pockets of it all over the Mother
Lode; they even found huge nuggets
weighing several pounds. Gold that
reached the larger rivers — the Bear,
the American, the Yuba, the Feather
— was carried down toward the val-
ley, lodging in their wide gravel beds
and alluvial deposits.
After the pockets were picked out
and the riffles panned, the gold
seekers had to go deeper for the
values they sought. They dug out
the banks and sandbars and washed
the debris by means of sluice boxes
with cleats on the bottom to catch the
gold. But the labor involved in this
234
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
method was terrific. Then it was
discovered that streams of water un-
der pressure could wash down tons
of sand and gravel in a day, and
"hydraulic" mining began.
Mining at the Dawn
of Telephony
The mining picture in the Mother
Lode at the dawn of telephony, then,
was this : giant gold dredges chewed
their way through miles of gravel in
the lower riverbeds. Hard rock
miners bored deep underground at
Grass Valley and Nevada City, at An-
gel's Camp — scene of Mark Twain's
celebrated Jumping Frog — and at
A glimpse down a corridor oj the past: the planked and
roojed sidewalks of Virginia Ctty. The present-day
telephone office is in the store in the right foreground
Jackson and Sutter Creek. In the
middle foothills, at the fringe of the
pines, great hydraulic nozzles, or
monitors, were shooting streams of
water under enormous pressure
against banks and ridges of sand and
gravel. The water for this opera-
tion came down from dams or lakes
high in the Sierra, through ditches or
pipes, and gravity supplied the pres-
sure.
Much has already been printed
about the Ridge Telephone Line.
It was thought for a time to have
been the first long distance telephone
line in the world. This line was built
by the Milton, North Bloomfield, and
Eureka Lake mining companies to
control the water sup-
ply for hydraulic opera-
tions in and around
French Corral, in Ne-
vada County. The line
ran up San Juan Ridge
and continued to Mil-
ton in Sierra County,
60 miles above in the
mountains. Work was
started September 25,
1878, and completed on
December 3 of that
year.
This line, like others
we shall describe, was
used primarily to con-
trol the water supply
coming down through
miles of flumes. There
was a constant starting
and stopping of the
stream as it was ad-
justed to the work at
hand. The ability to
sing out "Let 'er go!"
to a man at a valve or
dam from ten to 50
"■"*«»
1949-50
Early Lines in the Far West
235
miles away brought a
remarkable saving of
time and water.
From well-preserved
records of the Ridge
Line, we know that
commercial messages
were handled from any
of several stations
along its route.
Many of the tele-
phone lines used in con-
trolling hydraulic min-
ing were in operation
by September 1878.
Some telegraph wires
were undoubtedly in-
cluded in several of
these telephone net-
works, but for the most
part they were con-
structed for and by pri-
vate enterprise. The
names of some other
companies give an in-
teresting sidelight on
the importance of hy-
draulic mining to early
telephone development in this area :
the South Yuba Canal Company, the
Excelsior Ditch Company, the V-
Flume Lumber Company.
Some Very Early Lines
According to 1878 issues of the
Nevada City Transcript, which fol-
lowed telephone growth with great
interest, the South Yuba Canal and
affiliated companies started building
184 miles of telephone line on May
21, 1878, and completed construc-
tion on July 24, 1878. This line was
started south of the South Fork of
the Yuba River, and it was a sprawl-
ing system with branch lines that
covered parts of two counties and
A picture of seventy-odd years ago. The ^* Amador
Dispatch" and the telephone office were located over
Henry WeiFs store, in Jackson, California. fVilliam
Penry, editor of the paper and an organizer of the Amador
Telephone Company, stands fourth from the left on the
upper porch
touched the storied gold rush towns
of Emigrant Gap and Dutch Flat.
In Amador County, not far from
where gold was first discovered at
Coloma, the Amador Telephone
Company put a line into operation
some time before June i, 1878. This
line, established on a strictly com-
mercial basis, ran between Jackson,
Sutter Creek, and the Oneida Mine.
It was 25 miles long and a clear-cut
example of an historical long dis-
tance line as we have defined it.
Even earlier than this, to the north,
another combination of telegraph and
private telephone lines had been de-
veloped. This network operated in
Butte, Yuba, Tehama, and Sierra
n^
Bell Telephone Magazine
WINTER
In the foreground^ in French Corral, California, is a building of the Milton Mining
Company which was built in i8^j. It later housed the equipment of the Ridge Tele-
phone Company which operated the line connecting with French Lake, ^8 miles away.
At the extreme left is an old Wells Fargo building
counties, and was in operation by
April, 1878. Several firms, includ-
ing the Western Union Telegraph
Company, had gone together to make
up this system, too : the Sierra Flume
and Lumber Company of Chico, the
Rideout-Smith banking firm of Marys-
ville, the Spring Valley Water and
Gravel Company, and the Cherokee
Flat gravel mines located above Oro-
ville.
The cities of Chico, Marysville,
Oroville, Biggs, Red Buff — far to
the north — and Cherokee were linked
by this network. By 1879, at least
eleven other communities had been
included, among them Sierraville,
Truckee, La Porte, Clipper Mills,
and Strawberry Valley. Full details
about public usage on these lines are
not yet known, although it has been
definitely ascertained that the Ride-
out-Smith banking offices permitted
customers to talk between their banks
and to send personal messages on a
limited scale.*
So, while this is our earliest long
distance line so far, evidence that it
completely fulfills our definition is
lacking. Portions of this system ob-
viously do — they were built for tele-
phone purposes primarily, they per-
mitted public usage, and they ran
between distant cities. But the rec-
ord is still fragmentary in parts.
Until the gaps have been filled in
conclusively, we are not ready to of-
fer this line or some distinct part of
* A great deal of what we know about the
telephone in the Mother Lode country must be
credited to Mrs. Dorothy Irving, of the John I.
Sabin Chapter of the Telephone Pioneers of
America, at Sacramento. Mrs. Irving carried
on her research through old newspaper files,
courthouse and business records, personal and
public papers. Without her hard work and per-
sistence, this particular story might never have
been told. W. B., Sr.
1949-50
Early Lines in the Far West
237
it as the earliest long distance line in
the West.
Another reason is that we may
have even earlier lines to tell about!
Some time prior to April, 1878,
telephone service was available be-
tween several cities in the western
part of Nevada. Virginia City,
Sutro, Marlette Lake, Carson City
and Glenbrook were connected. But
information on these lines is so in-
complete we can say only that we are
still looking for additional data.
If This Itf
Now, HOWEVER, we shall take you
back to Nevada County again. Here,
in the heart of the Mother Lode,
were two communities known as Lit-
tle York and Liberty Hill. News-
paper notices tell of the completion
of a telephone line between the two
locations, which were only six miles
apart. The public participated en-
thusiastically in the inauguration of
the new line. They talked, they lis-
tened, their eyes grew round. They
congratulated one another on their
chance to experience this new won-
der. For a long time, they said to
one another, they would remember
this day. What day? January 22,
1878.
We're not saying that this was the
first long distance line in the world,
or even in the West. We're just
saying that it's the earliest one we
have found so far. And we're still
looking.
Who knows but that some enter-
prising man built an even earlier line,
that now seems as deeply buried in
the past as the lost camps of Red
Dog and You Bet? Maybe we'll
find it!
We Call Them Outdoor Booths
The Postmaster General, after consulting the Ministry of Town
and Country Planning, the Royal Fine Art Commission and the
Councils for the Preservation of Rural England and Wales, has
decided to maintain "Post Office Red" as the standard colour for
kiosks. For places of exceptional beauty one alternative colour
scheme — dark battleship grey w^ith the glazing bars picked out in
red — may be adopted after consultation with the Ministry of Town
and Country Planning.
Telecommunications Journal, United Kingdom Post Office
Twenty-five Years Ago in the
Bell Telephone Quarterly
Items from Volume IV, Number 1, January 1925
An Instrumentality
Of Service
Every new feature of modern life has re-
sulted in a new demand upon the telephone
service. So automobiles made their de-
mands for telephone service, so airplanes
added new requirements, so radio broad-
casting itself, and so every innovation.
Each has had to be tied into our daily life
by the wires that carry speech. It would
take too long to tell of the many new kinds
of telephone service which have been de-
vised to meet changing conditions. They
range from the taxicab "central" to the
telephone equipment of a power farmer,
from the needs of a hospital to those of the
motion picture director, from the battle-
ship to the depths of the mine.
But the greatest problems of the tele-
phone companies are not those of new
adaptations, but of tremendous growth
along the lines of common usage. Growth,
always impressive, is nevertheless compara-
tively simple in most lines of industry. If
the shoe business grows, the manufacturer
may enlarge his factory, or build more fac-
tories and employ a larger force. If the
business of the railroad grows, it may add
more cars and more tracks. In such cases
fundamental inventions or changes in meth-
ods may be desirable but they do not be-
come imperative, because of the growth of
the business.
How different are the problems resulting
from telephone growth. Think of the long
list of inventions made necessary by the
growth of a single city ! A million or more
telephones must all be connected so that
any telephone can be reached through any
other telephone. Think of the inventions
which had to be made before fifteen million
telephones scattered throughout every state
in the Union could be connected in one
system, so that anyone anywhere can talk
with anyone anywhere else!
The scientists and engineers have dis-
covered and applied the means of solving
each of these many problems. All lands
have been drawn upon for the raw mate-
rials. New apparatus has been developed,
tested and put to use. New methods of op-
eration have been tried and approved. Con-
struction has been put through on a nation-
wide scale.
Meanwhile, there has been built up an
organization of telephone men and women
skilled in their work, loyal to its service.
Such is the Bell System of today, an in-
strument of universal communication, bind-
ing together the nation and its innumerable
activities.
The Bell System not only grows with
the country but it helps the country to
grow. During the past year new develop-
ments have been made, resulting in better
apparatus and better methods. The prop-
erty used for telephone purposes has been
greatly extended, and the facilities for
promptly meeting the many and varied re-
quirements for service have been steadily
extended.
That it has been a good year has been
due to the fine work of each company, each
department and each individual. The rec-
ord is one of which all may well be proud.
The new year lies before us with in-
creasing responsibilities and correspondingly
greater oportunities. Economically, it
promises to be a year of better general busi-
ness conditions, and consequently there
should be more demand for telephone serv-
ice.
238
Twenty-Jive Years Ago
239
New problems of every sort are sure to
present themselves. But they can and will
be solved. Progress will be needed along
many lines but it can and will be made.
There is no standing still for the Bell Sys-
tem, because it is a living, growing organ-
ism and the enthusiasm of each individual
will give him a proud part in the results
which all together will achieve.
Nowhere is there to be found a corporate
organization which is entrusted with an un-
dertaking of greater magnitude.
From an editorial statement.
Who's Who & What's What
{Continued from page 179)
side forces of the Plant Department, he
was moved to a staff position in the office
of the general plant supervisor, and was
subsequently loaned to the Department of
Operation and Engineering of A. T. & T.
He later returned to his regular duties
with the New York Company, and in 1943
he transferred permanently to the O. & E.
Department, where he is an engineer in
the building and equipment section of the
Engineering Division.
An officer in two wars, Mr. Clark spent
the years between in the commercial engi-
neering division of the New York Tele-
phone Company, as secretary to former
President Walter S. Gifford of A. T. &
T., and in the sales and servicing section
of the Commercial Division of the O. & E.
Department. After discharge from the
Army in 1945, with the rank of major, he
rejoined the sales and servicing section,
where he is now concerned with communi-
cation arrangements for business customers.
His most recent previous contribution to
this Magazine was "Public Telephones:
They Serve Everybody," in the issue for
Spring 1948.
The tale of early telephone lines in the
Mother Lode country of the Pacific slope
represents collaboration for fair; for not
only did two members of the Pacific Tele-
phone and Telegraph Company join in
writing it, but three other members com-
bined to produce the decorative map which
sets the stage for this interesting bit of
histor3^
Walter Blackford, Sr., started work
for the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph
Walter Blackford. Sr.
Joy F. Hutton
240
Bell Telephone Magazine
Company in 1905 as a telegraph operator
at Reno, Nevada, and in 1906, after the
San Francisco earthquake and fire, he
manned for interminable hours the only
available commercial telegraph circuit be-
tween Nevada and California. He had
thereafter a long career vrith the Company
as toll testboardman in California and
Nevada cities, and was one of the first to
talk across the continent over the original
TC circuit. He served as senior toll test-
boardman at San Francisco from 1933 to
1945. In the latter year he was appointed
stafif assistant and made general chairman
of the historical committee of George S,
Ladd Chapter of the Telephone Pioneers
of America and editor of its Pioneer News
Letter.
Joy F. Hutton joined the Pacific Com-
pany in 1 94 1 as an outside representative,
and worked in several Northern California
exchanges. In 1947 he was transferred to
the office of the general information man-
ager in Northern California, and became
a member of the staff of the Pacific Tele-
phone Magazine, handling both writing as-
signments and news bureau duties.
The map on page 228 had to be com-
piled from other maps sufficiently large in
scale to include the obscure places which
figured in the stirring "gold rush" events
of a hundred years ago. Clifford Kay and
Robert Sibbald, of the chief engineer's
office, and Henry Olsen, an artist in the
General Information Department, worked
together to produce its happy combination
of accuracy and atmosphere.
The "Transistor"
(From the Telecommunications Journal,
United Kingdom Post Office)
In the last few months, a most important discovery has been an-
nounced by the Bell Laboratories of America. They have produced
a device resembling the well known crystal detector but fitted with
two cat-whiskers instead of one. The device, which has been christ-
ened a "Transistor," when connected in an appropriate circuit be-
haves like a thermionic valve; a weak signal applied between the
crystal and one cat-whisker produces an amplified signal between
the crystal and the other cat-whisker. The magnification can be
of the order of a thousand times in power. Very little power is
required to work it and as there is no heating required the transistor
is immediately ready for use. It is small, about the size of a
flash lamp bulb, and is capable of working up to ten megacycles per
second (30 metres wavelength). This new discovery appears to be
of outstanding importance and seems likely to affect profoundly the
development of telecommunications and allied branches of engineer-
ing. ... At the moment the transistor is a laboratory wonder and
its appearance as a factory product is eagerly awaited. This dis-
covery is a good instance of a phenomenon existing for years un-
observed right under our noses. One wonders what other equally
important effects are awaiting discovery by someone with sufficient
curiosity to look for them.