PUBLIC TELEPHONES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 145, 18 June 1912, Page 7

PUBLIC TELEPHONES.

f-roVESCE IN TBE SI^JT

_. POPULAR SERVICE.

The public telephone box is an ex- .,/" lv handy little arrangement, and *{* Telegraph Department is to be SSunended for the energy which is ST displayed in tbe matter of ex--4 ndln" the convenience. The charge r_. no °t yet come down to a "penny-in-fhe-slot," but the fact that the meehamj arrangements of the automatic Wes attached to the public telephones _v be adjusted without difficulty to J 1 any slots" perhaps indicates the probability of the toll being reduced from twopence to one penny after the system has been placed on a paying basis. The argument is raised in some quarters that the cheaper rate would encourage (he nse of public telephones to such an extent as to make them more profitable _an they are likely to prove at the present charge. Public telephones are now available at the post office, at the Auckland rafltrsy station, at the Strand Arcade, gnd at Mt. Eden (Skeates' store). There will be a couple at the new post office. an d others are now being prepared for installation at Upper Symonds-street (Howie's store), at Uorningside (Bevin's store), and in about a score of other localities not yet selected. For the information rxf those who have not seen the new boxes in operation, it may be mentioned that they are made in New Zealand, being an adaptation of a telephone box used in America. They are of handy size, with slots at the top for the reception of the pennies necessary to entitle a person to their use. if. after ringing up "Central," the latter arc unable to provide connection with the number required, an electric contrivance is operated by the exchange for the purpose of causing the two pennies inserted to drop into a slot at the bottom of the box, from H'hich they may be removed by the unserved customer. These boxes when scattered throughout the city and suburbs, will undoubtedly prove of great convenience to the general public.