TELEPHONE AND THE PUBLIC
Borne Fiott About th Growth of Thii
Meaci of O.anmaica'.ion.
Engineering problems of service
Grad nates of Tecfanoloalrat Irhoali
Are Sow Devotlas; Tline to
Tkla Branfta of A p
' ailed Eleetrlcs.
BOSTON, Feb. t7.-(8peclal.)-'Whfn a
persons says "hello" In Boston and another
hrarii and echoes the word In Chicaco er
New Orleans, the process, simple a It
twniK to the modern man of business, has
Involved several hundred other people, eacli
with a specially trained Intelliirence. The
greatest marvel of thn modern telephone
la not that telephony ia possible but that
the thousand and one details of operating
can be looked after ko successfully. To
accomplish all this enormous tank, to keep
the line open, and the apparatus In order,
and to meet the endless problems that arise
In the Installation of new services, the last
two decides have seen the development of
an entirely new profession Into which hun
dreds of young Americans have entered,
that of the telephone engineer.
The complexity of all work that has to
do with electricity and the rapidity with
which the use of the mysterious and Mem
Insrly miraculous current has become part
and parcel of modem Industrial and
municipal life baa made a thorough pre
liminary training the first necessity to the
young man who enters any of the various
department of electrical engineering. At
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
for example, there were two graduates In
electrical engineering In MH while today
there are some 200 young men studying this
one general subject and among them at
least one in every six Is especially Inter
ested In telephony. Yet these students, of
course, 'represent only a fraction of the
number of future telephone engineers now
training at the various schools and colleges
that have followed the Institute's example
In establishing courses In what Is perhaps
the most important of the modern "com
mercial professions."
Growth of Telephony,
The subject of telephony has grown to
uch proportions In the past decade that
the Idea of devoting a departments study
entirely to telephone engineering has been
more or lee discussed In some quarters,
but such an Independent department could
hardly be conducted satisfactorily, owing
to the unavoidable close connection be
tween the telephone and several branches
of applied science. As a prominent tele
phone man has put It, "A good telephone
engineer is practically all kinds of an en
gineer." In other words, the man who
plans the Installation of a telephone serv
ice encounters problems that belong to the
mechanical engineer as well as others that
embrace every branch of electrical engin
eering. ,
The basis of the telephone engineers'
training Is such a knowledge of the high
est mathematics as will enable him to maJce
the endless computations necessary to (he
production of any plan, whether for a
mall Induction coll or for the wires of a
transcontinental system. He must know
the Itogth and breadth of theoretical elec
tricity; ha must understand the general
phenomena and laws of sound, especially
as they relate to speeob and hearing; and
of course he must be expertly familiar with
the various details of telephonlo communi
cation and the Installation and manage
ment of great systems. These things the
technical school teaches "him In lecture
rooms and laboratories, by endless experi
ments, by observation and finally by aotual
working experience. As he advances, his
work assumes much the character of pro
fessional talks with electrical experts, for
men who are closely associated with the
practical branches of applied science lecture
at the Institute on the latest developments
of their special subject, and the labora
tory equipment Includes a miniature tele
phone system complete to the most minute
detail.
No Llsait to Service.
The engineer foresees the time when
telephone communication will be a matter
of course In every community; when not
only will telephones be used more- fre
quently than the maila or the telegraph,
but when people will carry on long-dlstanoe
conversations as naturally and with as lit
tle effort as they wuld talk face to face.
In the light of progress In the last quartor
century It Is not difficult to Imagine such
things, but the average telephone user
of today has no more Idea what the build
ing up of suoh a universal system In
volves than he has of the tremendous en
gineering accomplishment which Is placed
at . his service every time he talks over
the wire. There are now something like
0,000,000 people In the United States who
have access to u. telephone and from their
own locality they can talk over two-thirds
f this country. But telephone develop
ment, although Involving a problem of con
stantly Increasing difficulty, has proceeded
along the lines of least resistance; the
first exchanges have been established In
the larger cities and towns because here
the demand was most imperative. The link
ing together of theee tenters of population
and the saturation of the Intermediate
country districts by means of telephone
connections has been gradually going on
at the aame time with the steady Improve
ment of the service offered by the great
controlling Bell company; so two distinct
sets of problems have required simultane
ous solution.
The telephone receiver used today with
all Its Increased efficiency Is practically as
Simple as the one Alexander Graham Bell
exhibited at the Centennial exhibition In
rhlladelphla In 1K7; but In the transmitter
that stsnda on the twentieth century man's
desk or hangs on the well In bis house a
wonderful Improvement has been mad
and In the development of the present
well-nigh perfect mechenlsm millions of
Instruments have been thrown away to
make room for better ones.
Cost of Arrommodat leg easterners.
Today the current Is sent out on a wire
of copper Instead of a wire of Iron and
Is brought back on a duplicate copper wire
Instead of finding its way through the
earth, which Is generally charged with
other electric currents. A wonderful econ
omy of space has been secured by Inclos
ing the Insulated copper wires In cables,
whether the lines are Intended for overhead
or underground structures, and the extent
to which this economy has been carried
appears In the fact that It Is usual to
have ino pairs of wires In one lead-encased
cable. The hanging of thousands of
tons of copper In the form of thousands of
miles of wire year after year Is compara
tively easy to understand, but In the ex
changethe clearing house where the cop
per nerves reaching thousands of different
points are under Instant control a multi
tude of Intricate and absorbing problems
has been worked out.
As telephony has progressed and the use
of telephones Increased many fold the
cost of the instruments themselves has
decreased, but the Investment required for
the "central" plant has grown tremen
dously larger. Few people realize that
the switchboard through which their dally
communications are made costs many hun
dred thousand dollars, or even, In city
like New York, several millions. They do
not realize that It Is a very elaborate piece
of mechanism made up of millions of small
mechanical parts all of which must be ad
justed with the most painstaking exactness,
nor that In talking 1,500 miles, say from
Boston to jCansas City, they are given the
exclusive use of property which has cost
probably 1500,000. and the assistance of
twenty-flve operators and that no one else
can use Sot the time being the 8,000 miles
of wire which If melted into one Ingot
would weigh over 600 tons.
All the work of the engineer and me
rhanlo which Is at the Immediate service
of anybody anywhere merely for the ring
ing of a bell, costs enormously. The hun
dreds of millions of poles must be fre
quently renewed at great expense and the
switchboards costing fortunes are hardly
Installed before they must be remodeled to
Include some new Invention or thrown on
the scrap heap to make way for a more
perfect and efficient system. No price Is
too high to pay for the best possible service
and the best possible service Is demanded
quite as vigorously by the Bell company,
which has already covered so large an area
with its wires and which leases Its appara
tus rather than sell It, so as to make sure
that It shall be properly maintained nnd
kept up to the standard, as by the cue
tomer. Competing companies organised on
the theory that wires and equipment would
be unaffected by storms or accident, that a
switchboard once Installed would become
a permanent source of revenue, have often
come to grief because they have not cor
rectly gauged the requirements of the tele
phone using public or the expense of main
taining and developing a satisfactory eys
tern.
The problem of charges In Itself Is one
which has been worked out only by slow
degrees. When telephones were In an ex
perlmental stags a flat charge for the use
of an Instrument was made, but as the
business has Increased such a charge has
come to appear almost as unfair and Im
practicable as if a flat charge were made
by. a milkman for all bis customers with'
out regard to the quantity of milk de
livered.
Trend of the Progress.
All this time the Inevitable progress of
telephone engineering has been toward unl
versal service. The public has not seen It,
but the telephone engineer and the tele
phone manager have seen It and have been
working with this great problem constantly
In view. There are greater mountains to
be crossed with pole lines, greater perfec
tion of apparatus to be achieved, and a bet
ter organization of various systems to be
established before a universal telephone
system can become a reality. The financial
problem connected with a telephone system
perfectly adapted to the purpoees of the
90.000,000 American people is a weighty one.
When that condition approaches there
will be no question of competing lines or of
opposition companies. Every user of a
telephone will want to be in touch with
every other user of a telephone through a
single system which will be adequate and
complete. When such a system Is realised.
and it will be, the engineers say, before
another generation. It will be the most
comprehensive business utility the country
has ever seen, and for Its completion the
force of telephone engineers, trained by
the most careful and thorough methods of
modern technical education, must be largely
Increased year by year.
Glimpses Into Mythology.
Stentor was being ridiculed about his
loud voice.
"I know it's fierce," he bellowed. "I
wonder if I couldn't sell It to the hair
breeds."
Grabbing his fountain pen he wrote a
letter to Madison.
Terpsichore was sulking In a corner of
th ballroom.
"How do you like the party, Cora?" asked
Mercury. ,
"Pretty punk," she declared. "I can't see
no sense In having so many of them there
quadrilles."
Unable to comfort her. Mercury ordered
her carriage. Milwaukee Sentinel,
PBATTI.K OP THK YOl JOSTERS.
Effie Papa, what goe around a biittln'?
Papa That Is easy lit tie girl a button
hole, of course.
Efllo No, that Is not the answer.
Papa Well, I give It up; what Is ltT
Effle A billy goat.
Alice's little playmate was taken down
with scsrlct fever and the home was
quarantined, a card being tacked onto the
house giving the nature, of the disease.
A day or two later Alice came running
Into the house and exclaimed: "Mamma,
Bessie Is getting better; the sign Is nearly
all gono.".
"Why, Freddie," exclaimed the excited
mother. "What did you drop the baby
for?"
"Because," answered Freddie, "grandma
aid he was a bouncing baby and 1
wanted to see him bounce."
"Come, now," said mamma, who had
taken the children for a walk thrown" '.ho
soo, "let's go home and see papa."
"Oh! no," protested Elsie, "let's see these
other monkeys first."
Johnny Grandpa, have you any teeth?
Grandpa No, my child, they have all
gone.
Johnny Then I think I'll let you hold
my candy while I run an errand.
"Where does your brother go to school?"
asked the teacher of the fourth grade
school girl.
"Oh, my brother goes to the high school!"
answered the maid proudly. "He's a salt
more now, for he was a freshman lust
year."
The street car conductor, uncertain as to
whether she was old enough to demand
a fare from, asked:
"Little girl, how old are you?"
"Ask that of Ann," replied the little
miss. "Keep your statistics to yourself
and accept this 5 cents from me."
The kindergarten teacher had been giving
her class a little talk about the moon. .
"And now," she asked In concluding,
can anyone tell me why we can't see the
moon when there Is a storm?" It had
rained the preceding night.
Young Eddy had a reply. "Why, "cause,"
said he, "If the moon came out the rain
would put out his light."
"Moral courage," said the teacher, ad
dressing the juvenile class, "makes one
do what he thinks Is right, regardless of
the jeers of his companions. Now, Johnny,
can you give me an Illustration?"
"Yes, ma'am," answered Johnny. "If
a feller has candy an' eats It all hlsself
an' ain't afraid of th' other kids callln'
him stingy that's moral courage."
''''' v -. . J
SEE
'YOUR.
Hatter
none
BETTER
MADE
OUT OF THE! ORDINARY.
Port Arthur and Cincinnati are in the
same latitude.
There are seventeen metals which are
more valuable than gold.
A bushel of wheat, by actual count, has
been found to contain 809,730 grains.
A deputy In the Parliament of France
receives 11,800 a year, free transportation
and free lunch.
Every year more than 600,000 Japanese
youths qualify by age for regular military
service, and 200,000 begin to serve either
with the colors or as supernumeraries.
One of the largest forests in the world
stands on Ice. It is situated between Ural
and the Okhotsk sea. Sometime ago a
well was dug in this region, when it was
found that at a depth of 390 feet the ground
was still frozen,
Emll Kuehnel of Manchester, N. H., has
a clock which, it Is believed, was used in
the days of Columbus. On the upper part
of the wooden face Is carved a picture of
the great discoverer, while on the lower
part is neatly carved "Anno, 149?."
The highest altitude ever reached by hu
man beings is six and a half ml lee. At
that height the breathing of yxygen from
tubes la necessary to life. A baloon, un
occupied, has reached a height of thirteen
and a half miles, as shown by self-registering
instruments attached to It.
Cleanliness Is not understood In Thibet.
What serves as clothing by day serves as
bedding by night; the bathrobe, which con
stitutes a man's suit of clothes, is simply
unglrded when he lies down to sleep. It is
neither changod nor washed until it goes to
pieces. The man inside the bathrobe fares
no better.
Mount McKlnley Is known to be the
steepest of all the great mountains of the
world, and It la unlike most other great
peaks from the fact that arctic conditions
begin at Its very base. The prospective
conqueror of this immense uplift must
pick bis path over broken stones. Icy
slopes, sharp cliffs, and an average slope
of 46 degrees for at least 14,000 feet.
A sarcophagus, by the use of which one
may evade the sentence, "dust to dust"
has been patented. The remains are first
surroundd with a coating of sodium sili
cate, or water glass, which Is allowed to
dry. When the water has been sufficiently
evaporated, the subject Is placed In a mold
which Is to determine the size of the glass
block, and the molten glass poured until
the mold or flask is filled! The use of suoh
transparencies In the hall of fame would
be a national economy.
Representative Maddox of Georgia, who
Is soon to retire from congress, has re
ceived this letter from a constituent:
"Deer Mister Kongresman: Sum time ago
I writ you asking If there were anny thing
the guvment could do to make a flghtln
wife behave herself. I alnt heard from
you and things Is no better. Will you
flease let me know how I can get one of
hem big plsen snakes from Afrlcky. I have
always voted for you and this is mlty lit
tle to ask of you, specially when a man's
wife Is always a plckin' on him."
In one of his more recent hysterical
bursts Kev. Dr. Parkhurst said, In discuss
ing Abraham Lincoln: "As to his mother,
Nancy Hanks, the kindest treatment we
can give her Is to write her with an In
terrogation point and let her go." Consid
erable Indignation has been aroused by
this remark, regarding wnicn several pro
tests have appeared In the papers. One
writer says that Dr. Parkhurst Is most
effectively answered bv Abraham Lincoln's
own statement; made In mature life: "All
that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel
mother."
.i
LABOR AKU INDUSTRY.
The center of the country's cotton grow
ing is near Jackson. Miss.
An elctrlcsl bootblack, which Is more
rapid and effective than the street Arab,
is In use In Chicago.
The Pennsylvania railway east of Pitts
burg handles 75.000 tons of freight dally for
each mile of Its length, its annual earnings
being 1165.000 a mile.
The center of the production of the moat
Important cereals corn, wheat, oats, bar
ley, rye and buckwheat taken in the ag
gregate, is In Illinois, a few miles north of
Qulncy.
From one factory in the United States
goes each day to every part of the globe
inenhlnerv to nroduce more than
g.ooO horse-power, making this dally addi
tion to tne worxing power ui mo wunu.
Th anno miles of transslberian railway
cost MM.M4,41&. or $81,000 per mile, for sixty-
pound rail, single traca. ine ministry i
ways ana means of communication has
found it necessary to enlarge the rolling
stock of the fourth-class service to 7,uX
cars, to be used for transportation of la
borers, emigrants and recruits.
British India had In 1881 sixty-two cotton
factories, with l.fcM.ouO apiudlos aud lo.ooo
looms. Now the number of factories Is
2ol, of spindles 6,184 CM), of looms nearly 44,
OuO The capital Invested in these estab
lishments is tut.OuO.uuO, and the number of
persons employed lu the Industry Is over
I.OtO.OW).
Statistics compiled by the Zemtvos of
forty-nine provinces of European Russia
showed that 8H.i peasant families, repre
senting a population of perhaiw 7,uuu.00u, had
only nine acres of land per family; and
that 1.219,444 peasant households, repre
senting a population of about ls.OOO.OOU, had
only twenty-one acres each, although hun
dreds of thousand of such households con
sisted of from eight to twenty-flve members.
A London paper, speaking of the "Ameri
can invasion," relates that an enterprising
Yankee cauie over to England and decided
to open a shop in Birmingham. He ob
tained premise next door to a man who
also kept a shop of the same description,
but was not very pushing In his business
methods. The methods of the Yankee, how
ever, caused the older-trader tu wake up,
and with the spirit uf originality strong
upon him be affixed a notice over bio nhup
with the words. "Established fifty years.'"
painted in large letters. Next day the
Yankee replied to this with a notice over
bis store to this effect: "Established yea
Urdajr; E3 t14 atficJu -
n zO. nnfl
March I to April 30.
That long-looked-for California opportunity is here at last.
March 1 to April 30, the Rock Island System will sell "colonist" tickets
to principal points in California at these low rates:
333.00 from Chicago
S25.00 from Omaha. Nob.
Correspondingly low rates from other points.
Tickets are good in Tourist Sleepers, which the Rock Island runs daily,
Chicago and Kansas City to Los Angeles and San Francisco by way of
El Paso; daily also via Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City.
' Tickets, berths and descriptive literature at principal ticket offices in the
United States and Canada, or can be had by addressing the undersigned.
If you live out of town, use the accompanying coupon.
Cut this out and send to
F. P. Rutherford. D. P. A.. 1323 Farnam Street, Omaha, Neb.
i Please quote
I expect to leave fur California about-
Hm-nnd " lium.
.to.
.. Send me
literature likely to be of interest.
MB
READ IN THE DARK
SIGNS, NUMBERS AND NAMES
S.H.BROWN
stsk tiwfmr
g-:'itv-a. iB.:i.iirr
mm., m
ft r. v-L.rv ; 'i
"NSt.-. if Ik
3. '4 1
tmmiwmww
DR. GORDON
I H! iBTOII A.M.-aT0 5P.M
Office of THE WHEELER A WILSON MFG. CO., Bridgeport, Conn.
Gentlemen: The door plate, with street number, furnished by you for my
residence has been a source of satisfaction ever since it was put in position. The
figures show plainly during the night, and often save us from being disturbed by
people who want some other number.. THOMAS CAMPBELL.
From JAS. F. NOBLE, Frest. Long Distance Tel. Co., Shawnee, Okli.
Gents: My door plate just received, it is certainly a marvel. I predict
very extensive sale for your goods.
A Wonderful invention m SAMPLE FREE
s mm name plain written on a postal.
doriss AGENTS WANTED
WRIGHT MFG. CO. Englewood, III.
m
fm
LE ooteCER I II til
Btrlctly pure, A good blood purifier. Made from the beet se
lected bops. Save doctors' bills, and If tried once we will not
have to ask for the second order.
Delivered to any part of Omaha, Council Bluffs or Ssuth Omaha.
Order a cno from JETTER BREWING CO.
r HUGO F. IILZ, IJ24 Dooflas Street, Omaha. Telephone 1542
or LEE MICHELL, Wholesale Dealer, Council Bluffs. Tel. I
.-jiS W....N---N
M
r
ti
rt WVPAWAVQg COBPBCT ANSWERS OP THREI1
. . . . B n . . . . . t n Ibvi. 1tla In th. n.llut
ofct locsud In Nabruus sod ous la Ohio. TU c.aior pac 1 Uft blank (or a lalra Ex-rroatUsut, unow
asm nnrHnti a promlncut city, mtlod la Us Isitara, nd th nnlr e'tr In ths V. R. tbe twopl Sr swt
Vw vovotT U 70a ota OITK TUB NAMES OF THE THREB CTTTFS, will U es
witn roar asms sn4 sJ Jrau pUlnlr WTUMD. II tfasr r eorrwt, YOU WILt, KECEITK a Utu tnm
at, wbich mtr sntltls yoa to th whole or pert of Us s)704MM, for Uis eorroet solution e( above asans see
stew mlnntM of yonr time. Yon r not el1 n ffr ono aont of wrmr mono? to b psrtlslpaat la tea
AWARD OF 7SO.OO. WK DO NOT WANT TOUB MONET. Bhonla nore th oa savs e
rout nw.r, $7ao.U0 will b ptld )ut ths wm pro rt, WS adTortlM oortslTM In this lltorsl unsns M
i 1 1 w.nt mmA mm win mmIv iw aw OTWl co HmMos vftluola nmsfinli thoro on no r'fcnki. Sana
Tnt rmo ood omwor ttonro. A, J.KSH.IK pws ftftii m m flWO Poht-1 pt N, T. ff
BUSINESS STIMUlATORh
BBB WANT ADS
,-lf" -V 1 .-..., -1,. , T f a .' - .eg.-' -o.iw-- V. , nr A- ' 1 7-- " ' " -' ""---
IMJ1EM ST
'j
it
i
SI
. Kit Bonth Second BU, Sbattlsi, Wasa., Jolv 14, IK.
Last Bprinc I found that I was all run down from overwork and weakness, and soon found that I
would bars to uke a vocation or find sometutnf to brace ma ap. Each month I would have very had
paiua, with lick beadacbs and backavbe, sua t Mnn
to look careworn and sallow. A friend who was
visiting ma from ths East advised ms to try Wins of
Csrdul, aud I took part of a bottlo which shs had with
her aud then purchased two more buttles. I soon found
that was ail that I needed to restore my Rtrenfth and I did
not have to discontinue my work. I now take a few doeea
every time I feel worn out aud tired, and it is aU I need.
fHQBhetooi of Whit rows rooneu, Be. HI,
UefTe of rohnniss
0MEOPCA08EQJ0
THOSE business women and working girls who know what it is to feel "all
run down," nervous and exhausted, can appreciate the meaning of Miss
Peters' words. In regulating the menstrual function Wine of Cardui relieves
women's backaches and sick headaches. It drives away the "all worn out"
feeling and fits a woman for every duty of life without having to make
allowance for sickness for several days out of every month. Wine of Cardui
renews the nerves of tired out women. Increasing bodily and mental vigor
results. Wine of Cardui will cure all the pains of female weakness bearing down
pains, menstrual pains, ovarian pains. It will banish leucorrhoea. It is the
medicine for you to take whether your days are spent in home, office,
store or factory. All druggists sell $1.00 bottles of Wine of Cardui.
I l
Miss Marjory LanePetcrs
2011 So.SecbacLStf
Seattle. Wash.
j.
