AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12814, 13 July 1912, Page 3 (Supplement)

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE.

EVE BANISHED FROM ANOTHER EDEN. LONDON, May 29. The country's first automatic telephone exchange was opened at Epsom at three o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Now every Epsom subscriber is his own operator, and can make instant connection with other subscribers by the simple manipulation of a fascinating little figured dial attached to his own instrument. A press representative, after the mystification of -having switched himself through to London Central m two seconds, presented himself at the exchange and demanded to know what the 1 trick was. "Strowger's system from Chicago," said some one, and he was led to a room avhere the bewildering works of Strowger of Chicago stood up m rows — "things like combined Northorp silk looms and calculating machines which chattered to themselves as they decided whether to put Mrs Smith, of the Laurels, through to her butcher or sing m her ear the intermittent buzz which which is the dirge of the world's lost connections. CHORUS OF CLICKS. From all around came a chorus -of little clicks as inspired pieces of steel leapt into life m answer to the call, ranged themselves m order and attached themselves to one particular wire out of five hundred. It gave the eerie feeling of being enclosed m a gigantic metal brain — the centre of a nervous system of steel. There were no telephone girls. Eve is banished from another Eden. The young man from Strowger's . of Chicago, was conducting the massed orchestras of invention. He wore his black hair loose and long, his trousers were cut m the pannier style beloved of Americans, and as he slowly chewed ;the end of a cigarette, his face was lit with a calm pride at this new triumph of Strowgerism. He looked on the tall tiers of coils and magnets as though they. were his brothers. Little lights, red, green, and blue, sprang m and dut, again, and alarmed him not., Only when above his head two squat little liqueur glasses lit up m a dyspeptic duet of cherry brandy and creme de menthe did he offer an explanation. . "That's a call for the supervisor," he said, and pulled a shining receiver out of his jacket pocket. "And what about telephone girls?" ventured the press representative. The young man from Strowger's began to eat another cigarette, and a puzzled look came over his face. / "Telephone girls?" he queried. "Telephone girls ? What are they ?" " 'Hello, girls,' yoif know." "Oh, I've got you now. I remember hearing the old home folks talk about telephone girls, way back m Oskhosh, Wis." SYSTEM. EXPLAINED. The installation of the new service is being watched over by Mr J. F. Edmonds, the- general supervisor of traffic. Ho stated that the "afternoon's working had been decidedly successful. "Explanatory circulars have been sent out to all the subscribers," he said, "but the . working of the dial is perfectly simple. The dial, as you see, bears the digits 1 to 9 and the cypher 0. The front plate of the dial is perforated, and can be turned round m the directon followed by the hands of a watch. "The subscriber who wishes to call, say, 252 Epsom takes off the receiver, inserts a finger m the hole above figure 2, and pulls the plate round until it meets the metal stop. He then releases the dial, which springs back, and he repeats the action with figures 5 and 2. Immediately the bell rings on the instrument of subscriber 252 i, arid keeps on., ringing until he answers. "Another automatic exchange will soon be ready at Caterham, and the -first large city to be experimented on will probably be Leeds."