IMPROVING THE TELEPHONES. MR. BUCKLEY'S MISSION.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19, 24 January 1911, Page 8

IMPROVING THE TELEPHONES. MR. BUCKLEY'S MISSION.

Already New Zealand has three telephone installations — Hastings, Timaru, and Invercargill — on the common or cential battery principle. In these places the lifting of a receiver from the hook automatically lights a little red electric lamp in front of the Subscriber's num ber at the' exchange, and when the receiver is replaced connection is automatically cut orf, and the light goes out. No 'ringing on or off is required with this system. The question ot converting more of the present exchanges into central battery ones will remain in abeyance till the chief electrician, Mr. Buckley, has completed his journey to England and America, where he will inspect the latest telephonic and telegraphic apparatus. The central battery, for all its improvement on the old order, is not the last word in telephonic achievement. A more wondertul system — the automatic — has been successfully tried in America. It is Mr. Buckley's mission to go to the- older countries with an open nrind, to examine the claims and merits of the various installations and report to the Government. At present he has no desire to go into details about the task that awaits him. It' may "be explained that one of the problems of telephonic installations is to reduce the quantity of material net kept in full use, without a sacrifice of efficiency or convenience. It has> been estimated that in an average installation of teh ordinary type not more than eight to ten per cent, of the wires are in use ■ at one time. This means about ninety ■ per cent, of idle, material, put in tI a heavy expense. It is claimed for the automatic system that its use leads to a minimum of waste.* The advantages claimed are still a subject of controversy, but it is believed that the new system has been in use long enough to allow a reliable opinion to be formed by competent authorities.