CHRISTMAS DAY TOLL TRAFFIC

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28160, 26 December 1956, Page 6

CHRISTMAS DAY TOLL TRAFFIC

PEAK REACHED AT DINNER TIME CONGESTION OCCURS AT WELLINGTON (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON. December 25. The toll-calling public has no sense of fair play, according to Wellington’s telephone exchange operators. The Post Office called for a voluntary ban on toll-calls between noon and 2 p.m. today so that members of the exchange staff could enjoy their Christmas dinners in peace. But as one disillusioned operator put it “Mr Public was in boots and all.” The rush started early—as soon as the exchange got into its stride at 7 a.m. There were hundreds of would-be well-wishers clamouring for attention. And it got worse as the day drew on.

As dinner time approached, there was - no sign of the hoped-for slackening in the demand, as there was last year. Dinners were eaten in the middle of the rush, but delays began to lengthen, and at 2 p.m. the “heat was really on.” About this time people ringing Dunedin had exactly 100 calls ahead of them.

The greatest congestion was caused by “short-haul” calls, such as from Wellington to Upper Hutt and Titahi B-y. If these callers had restrained their impulses, operators said, longdistance calls would have beeq much less bother.

The overseas switchboards were also very busy this afternoon shortly before 5 p.m. Three circuits to Australia were being used, two to the United States, and the operators had a two-hour link up with the frigates Hawea and Pukaki now on their way to the Antarctic.