TIME BY TELEPHONE

Taranaki Daily News, 2 August 1932, Page 11

TIME BY TELEPHONE

REQUESTS IN SYDNEY. FOUR THOUSAND DAILY. The deputy-director of Posts and TelcI graphs in Sydney said lately that 4.000 requests for correct time were handled daily by the main telephone exchange. A unit fee was imposed for each request, the call number being 8074. Recent observations by departmental officers showed that a large number of callers from public telephones endeavoured to obtain the time without payment of the appropriate fee. This involved unnecessary work on the part of the exchange staff, and the department made it clear that, in all cases where the time was required, public.telephone callers should deposit two pennies in the coin slot immediately the telephonist answers .with the words, “Are you wanting the time?” The telephonist would not furnish the information until she received a reply from the caller* in the affirmative, and this reply could not be heard by the telephonist unless the two pennies were deposited. The greater number of irregular requests for the time occurred Just after children were released from school each day, and round about 8 p,m,