TELEPHONE CALLS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21949, 5 November 1934, Page 5

TELEPHONE CALLS

SHILLING ALL THE WAY INNOVATION IN BRITAIN INAUGURATION CEREMONIES [iRO.U OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT] LONDON. Oct. S At seven o'clock on the evening of Monday ol this week, "shilling-all-the-way ' trunk telephone calls came into operation. J lus unlimited service at a Jlat rate of Is for three minutes after 7 p.m. was inaugurated m order to make the telephone more popular. From that point of view it has been an un(jualiiied success. '1 lie Lord Mayor of London, bv virtuo of his right as Admiral of the Port of London. "brokV his Hag on lI.M. telegraph eableship Monarch, the iirst cablesliip ever to be seen in tho Pool of London. By so doing, he inaugurated ''Telephone Week." In every town throughout the Unifed Kingdom posters were exhibited in shoo windows inviting the public to "Get on the Telephone'' and "Telephone Your Order." Over a Quarter of a million such posters were displayed. At the same time throughout the United Kingdom, in approximately 2UO towns, members oi Parliament, Lord Mayors. Mayors, and other civic authorities took part jn cereinouies in post oilii;es.

The shilling trunk calls, however, have caused something of a telephone crisis. Chaos has descended on the whole system the moment seven o'clock strikes, and the cheap rate begins. It ;s reported that calls put in just ai\r seven have not come through two and a-lialf hours later.

'ihe Postmaster-General, Sir Rings levWood, said:—"Every resource of the Post Office is being utilised to eopo with the rush. Wc have eveu borrowed private lines from a number of people to get the calls through. The trouble lies with cables. We have not enough to tlio north at present. When we can gauge the new normal pressure wo shall have to decide how our cable system is to be extended." The number of calls on some of the lines increased sevenfold. The staff on night duty was more than doubled. For those who are merely using the lines for a friendly talk it does not matter, but there are many business men who do long-distance work in the evening. For them it means serious delays and the missing of food supplv trains. These would naturally pay the old rates and get their calls through without delay. Possibly when the novelty of the new system wears otf the number of calls will sink to a more normal level.

London's main exchanges handled over (5000 calls on the lirst "shilling" night between seven o'clock and midnight, compared with 1700 normally. The bulk of the long-distance calls were to and from Scotland. "We had approximately 400 calls to Aberdeen alone," an official said, "whereas usually the line is pretty quiet. About; GOU calls were "put in to Glasgow, and about 400 to Edinburgh. The average number of night calls has hitherto been less than 100 to each place." If the cheap night demand continues, employment is likely to be created for several thousand more operators in various trunk exchanges. The department is pressing on with more important extension schemes, which will provide much employment. A cable is being laid between Liverpool and Glasgow at a cost of more than £2,000,000, and is giving work directly to 1000 men, besides some thousands of others engaged in the industries supplying material. This cable, which will bo finished by the end of the .year, will supply 75 extra lines between Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Lancaster, Carlisle, Dumfries, Glasgow, and other parts of the country. Next year a new cable will be installed between Carlisle and ■Newcastle-on-Tyne, and another will be started from Liverpool to London, providing a fresh iink between London and Glasgow .