THE TELEPHONE GIRL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13939, 26 June 1909, Page 3

THE TELEPHONE GIRL.

HER TRIALS AND TROUBLES. Miss McLeod gave some amusing evidence before the Postal Commission on behalf of the Women's Telephone Attendants' Association, of Sydney. ,'•'. < In reply to questions she said that some time ago, at the request of the nude staff, four men were put on at the' Central. exchange to see it they could cope with the heavy traffic in the daytime. They failed, and were sent out again to the branch exchanges. Men were not as smart as women at,the : work', nor could they control, their patience and meet adverse circumstances so well. . There was one girl in the j rentral exchange who could answer 13 j calls per minute, and had. actually answered 749 calls per hour. On an ! average attendants answered 400 cal'r, per hour, ajnd Mr Heskethhad said that. 200 perNhour was quite 'sufficient for a girl to answer. Attendants were too frequently lined for trivial breaches' of the rules.

Have you hoard of ii telephone girl the morning "alter a .party talking ror an hour with a friend over the previous night's entertainment:'' —'Inat would be impossible. Girls have no time to talk—hardly time to enter up calls. In any case there is a monitor standing behind her to hear if she talks, and suspension is the penalty for talking. , Miss. McLeod! continuing, said that during the past two or three months, four girls had been so harassed witli complaints, etc., that they had gon.e. home and never come back. Prior to the present manager's time no girls ever resigned except, to get married. The association was formed in order to combat injustices experienced under a superior officer, who' had, however, been since removed to another State. Fie used to set traps for the girls, and victimised them .in many ways. he had" vowed that he would '"put the fear of God into the hearts of the girls." He did more than that; he "put the fear of men" into them. And now he lias gone, to .Melbourne? —Yes, he considered retreat better than, defeat. (Laughter.) Mr Webster: How do you carry out instructions in regard to non-subser' l '- ers using subscribers' telephones? How do you know the non-subscriber & — First of all, bv his ignorance, and then by the fact that he is the most abusive man who uses the telephone. (Laughter.) Mr Wilks (in an aggrieved tone).— Don't you think a: woman rings up u,.w and again? All your illustrations are against men. Oil, yes, women are at fault sometimes. As a matter of fact we prefer working with men. Mr Webster: Isn't there a great waste of time by induliug in frivolous conversations? —Yes. And is it only men who offend in that wav?—Oh, it takes two. (Laughter.) Miss McLeod said that many subscribers used abusive, and some obscene, language to the girls. Mr Webster: What' class of people do that? Many commercial men of the' eitvwho should know better. Where do all fines go to? —That's what we would like to know. (Laughter.) Mr Wilks: They go into the consolidated revenue. Mr Webster: So you were not aware that the girls were helping the State in another way than by giving their services? —It is' another instance of us being forced to do two things at once. Air Webster: I suppose, you often over-hear very confidential conver.sntions between " subscribers? Yes. Sometimes on faulty long-distance linos we have to repeat conversations from one subscriber to another, and that frequently leads to delicate situations, as. for instance, in case of a domestic quarrel You learn a erood manv secrets, then ? —Oh, when we hear secrets coming hetween subscribers we null back our lev n rs, and don't listen.

But supposing by accident you do rver-hear seen ts ?—Then we respect regulations, and keep them. "The fact of the matter is this : ' continued the witness. "The Kenernl public of Sydney are suffering from a perm called ' imacinitis,' which causes all ports of hallucinations regarding the service, and that germ in turn produces

a.nervous complaint called 'telephones ' among the excnange girls, utiier branches have talked of how the whole service depends on them. Why, the commercial life of Svdnev deoends on us.!. What would hapnen* if our staff suddenly collapsed, and wore found under the switchboard?" • "I'm afraid you'd be taken no for being drunk and disorderly," replied a callous commissioner.