“HELLO, CHRISTCHURCH!”

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 89, 6 July 1927, Page 13

“HELLO, CHRISTCHURCH!”

AUCKLAND SPEAKING INTER-ISLAND TELEPHONE SERVICE OPENED TO-DAY “Hello, Christchurch!” away en cal° n \? Voice , over 600 miles distinctly? * rCP y ’ clear| y =>nd “Hello, Auckland!” JT°R the sum of 73 Id the Editor of M SUN, Auckland, i« able converse with the Editor of “The Sun ° to dw r h ' f nT- three Minutes !r?m -•peal? to theit b f° • o£ », Aucklan <3 can .Island £ day r or fr by n^ht n th ° S ° Uth the°ehain a ? other link "’as forged in £ I )r °BTess in Mew Zealand the telephone service between abated. S ° Uth Islands was 3 - tel?nhone° years ago - when the first o- e „,?P h T was introduced into New People would have laughe’d had they been told ’that in 1927 the o£ Auckland would have been talking to the people of Christchurch Auckland ThS v, flrSt subscriber to the Auckland exchange joined on October RAPID INVASION lnva si° n of New Zealand by the Tn rteS n fn haS been remark ably rapid. A,, aay there are approximately 90,000 14 om in . New Zealand, with about £ “ extensions. No country is too rough oi too distant in the Dominion to be connected by wire. New Zealand has been quick to fol--I°"’ . any ne 'c ideas with her telephone rhe flrst coin-in-the-slot machine was opened at Wellington on August 17, 1910, and the first automatic telephone service was opened at Masmat?? °? , May 31 ’ 193 9 ' Now automafic telephone has replaced the matiual in most of the large centres. To-day came the latest and longexpected development, the inter-island • . At two o’clock this afternoon the Postmaster-General, the Hon. W Nosworthy, exchanged greetings with the Mayor of Christchurch, the Rev J. iv Archer, from Wellington, and formally declared the service open to the public. GREETINGS EXCHANGED When they had finished speaking, the Mayor of Christchurch spoke over the wire with the DeputyMayor of Auckland, Mr. A. J. Entrican, and established the first direct communication between two citizens of the two ci<ies. Previously, of course, the departmental officers have been speaking over the wire, as far as from Auckland to Dunedin, with the greatest success. This morning Mr. E. C. Gage, Chief Telegraph Engineer, Auckland, said that the following exchanges would be open to the public at the following charges for a three-minute conversa-

Mr. Gage stated that the-service will be open during the hours the above exchanges are open, and he thought that an extension of the system would follow, when additional apparatus had been installed. This might take some time. For many months past the officials of the Telegraph Department have been perfecting the line between Auckland and Christchurch. Special apparatus has been installed to carry the voices such a long distance. Amplifiers, giving extra power, send the voice over Cook Strait, and consequently the conversations to-day were particularly clear.

t'ion: — s. d. SecJdon 6 Ward 5 7 Blenheim . . .... . . . . 5 8 Picton 10 T-Javelock . . . 5 30 Hillersden . . . . 5 11 Oanvastown 11 Rai Valley . . . 6 0 Nelson . . . 6 3 Richmond . . . 6 4 Brightwater . . . 6 5 t pper Moutere . . . . . . 6 5 Wakefield . . . 6 b Motueka 5 Christchurch . . . 7 1