PHONES TO SPARE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 139, 15 June 1939, Page 13

PHONES TO SPARE.

OLD MAGNETO TYPES.

FREE SUPPLIES TO SCHOOLS

Almost 100.000 automatic telephones are now being used in New Zealand. Their introduction meant the replace- ! ment of thousands of the old-type magneto instruments as it was not practicable to wait for these to wear out before providing the automatic service. This progressive policy has resulted in the Post Office having telephones to spare, and the Department has given free supplies to schools and colleges for inter-communication purposes within the institutions. The magneto type of telephone is easily installed. Anyone wirii elementary electrical knowledge sufficient to get a radio set to work is quite competent to run the two communicating wires and join up the dry batterv. A number of schools have thus secured a- useful internal telephone service at a nominal cost.

The general public is now given an opportunity of getting some advanrxge out of the surplus of magneto telephones. as the I'ost (Ml ire is selling them at nominal prices, which are advertised. It is anticipated that farmers will find these telephones useful for communicating between the farm outl'ouses mid the homestead, while business houses will see the advantage of cheap internal telephone systems for linking up the factory or workshop with the shop or ollice.

Upkeep costs of thi* type of telephone are small. The generator in i'C telephone, when operated liy a caller, provides tlie current which rings a bell at the distant point, while the sniail amount of electric current needed f>*>r speech transmission comes from two diy cells, which will last more than a year under these conditions of use.