THE TELEPHONE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 93, 13 January 1908, Page 9

THE TELEPHONE.

■ : THE'METALLIC RETURNS. ' : USDERtiROTJND SYSTEM TO BE PRO > ; ; VIDEO FOR AT ONCE. \ -•'■Aboui ■'of ; the 'telephone connections _in Wellington aro now .iittod with the 'metallic return . wiros, and ... by.- the end of the - pro sent year the work should be completed. Tin Telegraph Department'is now actively con* corning itself, with the work of making pro .vision, for laying 'tho telephone wires: under, grotiricl in the future. A considerable quail* • tity of tho material for the. work has nrrived.in Wellington,' and a start will be made Almost,. immpdiatcly to. put. down the. duck, ■through winch the'wire cables will pass at somo future date. • .The-first section will commence nt the telophono exchange and will travni'se n'soctina ofc li'eathnrston Street. Tho ducts'lb * be" laid' down' under ' the . road will bo of the same fibrous casing that is being used to run the olcotric power cables through in Wellington, mid the number of tubes to ■ho included, in:a''duct' will- be regulated by estimating' nearly us 'possible what tho telephone demands "in each district are likfel? to bo ten,''or.-.twenty' years -hence. It has been - explained ithiit "it is "not the intention to put cables through tho ducts until they are needed. Tho lead-eased cables that havt been suspended in all parts of the city in. Connection with tho metallic i'eturn liava ".sonic years of mid-air utility, and it is not intended : to' 'go" to ;tho expense of. taking ■ thein-dowh' and passing theni underground, though that" may bo .dono. where the poles aro. considered to be'currying a heavy burden; as, for instance, iii Foiithcrstoa Street. This is really the initiation of a system thai must obtain in tho future, and which will bo gradually adopted as the city crows. Tho underground'ducts aro only to be laid within central city limits. The ,telophono poles v.-iil bo always with" us, fcven when tho underground system' is' iii full swing, as they will bo' made tho means of liouso to house distribution, and cable-splitting fur oido ; street connections. , .Tho Utopian drdiihv of tho telephone man concerns tho day ,when the telephone in n city shall be considered as great a household necessity as the' bath-room, and when architects will,"without question, include the talking. bos in'the plans of a modern house, as part of, its ordinary equipment. There aro approximator "3000 telephono'connections in Wellington' at; prcsont, and tho number is being. added to. ovory, week, but whilst wo -are: telephohically ; ahoad of any other city •in. New Zealand, tho " universal telophono dream is still a'good way off realisation.