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t
Telephone 'Trouble Shooters" and Their Work on Talking Wires
'I :
r
V'
lib ( vff 9
' i ; ltov:.r',',;t : ,
I, I L 'H-' 'N
If li il, '
fl "MAIN BOARD MA IT if
rr m
VMBKR 12, pleas."
And lh telephone auhscrlber
wlione line runs Into the iJouRlns
trect station or the Nebraska
Telephone company la In personnl
communication with the most patient man
In Omaha.
The patience of Job Is proverbial,' and
the book which was written about him
prophenles the day of communication by
electricity, but It Is an open question If
Job would bave pccupled his present high
position as an exemplar of patience had
the telephone been an accomplished fact
In his day and the old prophet been able
to attribute his numerous bolls to a specific
Krm.
The most patient man la Omaha there
is three ot him dividing the twenty-four
, hours of the day equally at the "trouble"
' station In the basement of the Douglas
' street station, asks what is wanted In a
i tone of voice whUh indicates that he Is
at the entire service of the Inaulrer and
gives no audible evidence of the fact that
he has made that same Inquiry to a hun
dred or more people In a few hours, and
ready to do the same, on an. average
at least twice In ten minutes for the
.halndor of the day.
I'v- Vne, but couched In various terms, and
'".V 4e 'paiient man la told that something Is
w.ong wnn mo leiepnoue. ne auesu i,
need to be told this, for as soon as the
telephone rings a little red light gleams
on the board In front of him and he has
begun, to test the wire which runs between
tha gUUon and the complaining subscriber.
Teats for Trouble.
The wire test Is made with a peculiar
device which seems to be automatic, but
which for best results requires a large
Dillon of the "human equation." Under
the board on which the light of a bad ,
wire gleams la a row of holes and a num
ber of brass "plugs," looking like brass
coated. Krag-Jorgenson cartridges attached -o
cloth covered wires, are at hand forj
. . .t..a W h.n nna tt tha
insertion inio um "
plugs Is placed In one of the holes an in-l
jn.tnY. n a test auaga may begin to move.?
When It ha moved a certain distance It j; Now' Anderson, what do you do?" asked read.' Shall I Insult the Intelligence of this
tops and tho patient man knows that-! lawyer. court by relteraUng a proposlUon so simple
there Is a "grounded wire", to deal with.J Bank you. aw am not vara well." and elementary? Need I say more?"
The test doea not show Just where the; "I didn't ask you how la your health, but "No," Interrupted the Judge, ""Taln't
wire Is grounded, but by observing tha !at do you do?" . necessary-I ll give you a Judgment."
distance tha Indicator moves the strength; "O. yas; aw work." . Counsel sat down, while the Judge with
of tha resistance Is estimated, and an ex- We know that, but what kind of work to emphasis knocked the ashes from his corn
perlenced operator can tell within a few ru do?" cob pipe, and counsel for the plaintiff ba
yard of the plao where tha troubla may "Puddy hard work; it ae puddy hard gan:
; b exieoted. I ork." "May it please' the court"
1
Perhaps the first Indicator does noi move
: at alL Then another piug is pui m wi
other hole and the Indicator may show
v.t wlra has been broken, or. in a thlr4
i tola, and It may show that the wires ar
i "crossed" or hava come Into contact. BT
observation of tha resistance offered It U
also poaelbl to. determine somewhat cloself
the location of this trouble, but this oty
! aarvatton I not the only method of nndlnf
.' tha probabla location of the Uouble. By Look here, Anderson, what do you do la
1 novel devtoe, an explanation of which factory what do you maker' he
vgtlll floating vaguely around In the mini .4,
of a number of people who listened to I HJ ru t un'erstan'i you want to know
' laotura on the subject, it is possible to at V(U j Ilt,ke ln facfry, ahr
) Isolate parts of tha wire under Inapectlofi ..HlactIy. ,Now tell u. what Jrou make,
that that portion In the baaement can na 4Von do,lar M. a haJf ft day ..
tested aeparately. If that is found to M An(J th ,nterpreter wa, caUed m to
aU tight another device is called into ut ,ltphUadeiphla Led,er.
I aad pact of the wire between the baa
I xaent and tha first story of the building f a I'astaraL.
1 triad. Thl bemg found to be in eparaUt jt was a beautiful night. Tha gentle
a tbh-d device teat the Una to the "mul- ,ephyrs of the evening played musically
' pie." In ordinary parlance the "multlpl " aml0 u,, ,uky ieav of the turnip trees
1 the switchboard, but what Is the use 1! an)1 onion bushea and wafted from
I study If ana cannot use technical teni s acro the distant fields the delicate fra
' When tha teat ahow that there Is nothlai granoa of the growing cabbages and the far
wronc lnl tn" P"nln xam rm"
1 of th line repairer begins.
' Traobla Saaoter
Waaku
The man who goea out of the building
maka renalrs on telephone lines is nt-
,'T.uraUy known as a line repairer by tht
f jT: 4tA whom he cornea Into occasional oa.
ot. Those who like to bo on famllltr
(terms with unfamiliar suajecis reierj 10 shan't want ter buy a pig when I've got
Wm in a knowing way as the "troh yewt"
: man," but the real adept ln telephone Wr Then all was silent once more, except that
j ha no us for such Inexpressive . te tha gentle zephyrs still played amid the
' and the man who chases th teleplfrn . fronds of tha cabbage buahes and the silver
wire from Its first contact with tha w'4 throated frog stilt sang from th root
to tha place where It got from the tt Reynold's Newspaper,
at rectitude I known as the "tre,, t
hooter." I riattartagj a Jadae.
But . before tha "troaMa aheotar Ktta The lata elans tor Morgan used to enjoy,
control of tha situation other man ham) 14 tailing af an amusing Incident in court aa
j opportunity to oorreot th waywardness gf Illustrating the method of, other days to
I tha wlra. for It may hava formed ItvU Influence a county justice by flattery.
1 nablta before leaving the atmoayher Th Inoldent occured ln southern town
' th homo. A crew af tnen are ever e tb many yeac ago. The court was presided
j Ld of tb patient man ready to admacuh ver by a rural magistrate, to whom council
t aad oorreot tb smalt wire at hi allttttat for the defense at once, directed his re-
' hekaat. Mayhap the wire ha failed M marka. 1 'tf
properly oonnao wnu
tatit which look lika nothing more thaa a
pin wakah ha passed between a reld
fenis abAJOO0iaeUv "4 had
tte
bltterf fom a rlr iunt under the-head.
The fcjiln frame. man" look to Its better
meno ifid a drop of ioldr properly nn-
pliedi renews the attachment of the wire
for Ijb jnsoclate. Perhaps the "main frame
ma of 4annot reach the place of trouble,
as is confined In his worklnss to the
baseiriit of the building. The card with,
the (Writings showlna; the delinquency o(
the re, tognther with the time It wis
roported. Is then passed to the "lnterme
dlalf room mart." The corridor of ba4
wlr'has his station on the first floor of
ft : iilldlng, where all wires go on thelf
wgy rom the basement to the switchboard,
He r ay find trouble in his department and.
tak' Htich measures as will correct It, but
the r'trouble shooter" appears on th
fin e when neither of these mon nor one
tjt 'he twenty odd men stationed In the
otiboard room can reach the trouble.
flTe Is a lage crew of "trouble shooters'
fcii the city lis divided between thm. Tt
Is (heir dutjf to Inspect . all wires at all
and ifiore work Is done at nlshL
some telephones are at rest, thaa
in Mf"Jr when all are v)g1lan
1 upon the scene he can-to
fij"w"'. pair of climbers, a pair of
rllf. 'coil of wire and a few other
n,,- which do not look heavv. hut r
lous handicap to rapid transit when the
Tcury Is flirting with the oentury mark
n the thermometer.
Equipped with ma-
.-rial to correct or to destroy the "trouble
-oor receive a card which shows the
imber of the telephone involved In the
uble. Its location, time of previous re -
pt. time when the present condition was
reported and a blank for the name of the
Bright Gleanings From the Story Teller's Pack
m . : ,
Uwy ' defendant was
at UTIwemH
J " " v.-c..,, m aweua
who had been subpoenaed by the
other side as a witness in an ao-
cldent case.
I
i r.
t ;
'"
xee, but do you drive a team, or do you
work on a railroad, or do you handle a ma-
chine, or do you work in a factory?"
"O. yas: aw work in facfrv."
"Very good. What kind of a factory r
"it ees a very big factory."
"Tour honor," said the lawyer, addressing
tn. court, -if this keeps on I think we'll
have to have an interpreter.'"
Then ne turnei to the witness:
off odor of the bean trees.
"Betsy," he cooed, as they sat on the
rickety wooden fence surrounding Mrs.
FiUlgan's plgstx. " 'Ow bee-a-utlful is luvl
Jes' think ov It Betsy. Wen we are mar-
ried well have a pig all
on our own, all to
ourselvea"
"WUlyum." she whispered, resentfully,
-why should we want to buy a pig? I
1 realise, ma aiioraey oegan, "that I
stand la the preaeaca of a descendant of the
grand old Huguenot family that .emigrated
(ram Trance to eesape religious Intolerance.
"
mlm ; . ' - - - -..-.
nni. i
time
al which service was
restored.
wun tma data ami his tools, tha
"trouble shooter" hantpna fmm that hitflrl.
lng to the point at which the cables rise
from their underground conduit to the
poles. Here he attaches a field Instrument
, to the wire to ascertain It. nnn,iitin
tween the box and the central office. The
wire being all right In this district, be
-a a- . .
M"n D' Jurists bave sprung from that
family and embell.hed the bench and bar
i me union. xnoir watchwords are
'honortruth aad Justice.' and their name
are spoken in every home. The law is so
plain in this case that ha who run. mv
"Squire, what are you fixing to dor
asked the honorable court,
'
.
Narrow Escape of a Spanish Balloonist
J . - r - S r , . - - '.
P'
I. . xtttL - ... .. r h
JCipU,n KlDdUD of SpanUa Military Engineers, making an ascent from Valencia in the mffttary balloon
Maria Teresa, wax blown out over tb Mediterranean and the balloqn. beginning to tall, he was ln Imminent dan
ger of drowning, when th Brttlah ship West Point came along and aaved bim. As he was trying to hook
his trailing rop In th rigglag ot th ship th carious saapaUot reproduced hare was mad oa board another vea
tei oa th apoU i
THE OMAILA SUNDAY REE: SEPTEMBER 1, 1907.
I. . ! "Lilt '
WIUERE TUB FIRST TDT9 ARB MAIHl
NBW DEVICE? rOW JTflAMBFOIVnMl-aTJlOUBXSr
then sroea to tha notnt hn th wire
, .w- I" " "
mam m. mam poiea io staxi 10 xne nous
of tha uibinHhw t. i
onil I V. i v.. it i l. a
there the "trouble shooter" goes to the
point where the wire enters the house,
where a third test is made. If no fault la
tr.A i .v,- . -
local battery and the receiving and trans-
milting Instrument.
This completes the
"I have the closing argument" was the
reply '
"Well, you might jest a well set down,"
observed his honor blandly: "I've made
up my mind for tha other side. Judgment
for the defendant." Philadelphia Ledger.
Sociologist Strikes a Foae-r.
Colonel Prank Pierce Morgan, the well
known sociologist and raconteur of Wash
ington, at one time was of tha opinion that
if the children of "poor white trash" ln the
south could be put to work m-ich good
would result to all concerned. An experi
ence he had on an inquisitorial tour re
cently rather puzzles him. In Stateboro, N.
C, ha fell Into conversation with a well-
fed looking citizen, who sat on k dry goods
-
SHOOTER S."
teat anfl mt m nint h.t..n h. n.nral
'
offloe and the house ot the subscriber tha
trouble la located.
The treatment of the trouble depends to
a great extent upon the location. If a
wire jls found at fault on one of the over
head wires there is comparatively little trou-
iratlvely little trou-
ble to ohange it or splice It, or do what-
ever is necessary, but It is a different mat-
ter If a break Is found In the conduit, per-
box whittling a sUck.
"What do you do for a living?" asked
Colonel Morgan.
'"Wall, stranger," accommodatingly re-
piled the hospitable tarheel, "I don't "have
to do nothin' for a llvln" these days, seeln'
as how I have five head of gala a-workln'
In the ootton factory." Washington Times.
Conscientious Hens.
There is a Oerman dairyman and farmer,
whose place Is not far from Philadelphia,
who greatly plumes himself upon, the abso
lute superiority of his products above all
others ln the vicinity.
On one occasion he personally applied to
a Oermantown housekeeper for a transfer
of her custom himself. "I hears dot you
Of
WHERE Tim CABLES LEAVE! TUB
haps a hundred or
nearest opening.
more feet from the
Preventive la KtTfwtlve.
The telephone company operates on the
theory that an ounce of prevention Is
worth a pound ot cure, but wire troubles
can neither be prevented nor cured In
every case so some device must be adopted
to circumvent the trouble. Tills 1 done
In great measure by providing wires which
are not used until some other wire falls.
In every cable there are a number of
wires known as "idle wires." No one but
the keeper of records knows which are
Idle and which are busy, and the record
keeper doesn't know until after an in
vestigation is made on each request for
a substitute wire. This doesn't imply that
the record keeper Isn't fully competent to
attend to business, for It would be a pe
culiar mind to be on speaking acquaint
ance with each of the 28,850 wires which
enter and leave one station, to say aoth,lng
of being able to tell their physical condl-
tlon at any hour of the day. Of the
18,850 wires which enter the building per-
haps more than half are Idle now. It
was' not so once, but new Illations relieve
ol1 wires and there are "wires enough to
ao -munrt" no-
" .
Snltchlna- . the Wires.
But to return to , the "trouble shooter,"
who has found a break In a wire In a
conduit. He reports the fact to the head
of the repair department, who calls upon
the record keeper to give a substitute for
tho wire which Is out of use. The record
keeper goes to a book which is full of
haf a lot of drouble with dot dairyman of
yourw," he said. "Yust you glf me your
gustom und dere vlH be no droublel"
"Are your eggs always fresh?" asked the
woman.
"Fresh!" repeated the German, in an ln-
dlgnant tone. "Let me tell you. madam,
dot my hens nefer, nefer lay anything but
fresh eggsr-Harper's Weekly.
.
. mttm
Peter F. Dailey is a man 0 Imposing per-
A Big Tarty.
sonal dimensions, a fact he once' made use
of to the disgust of a railroad conductor.
Delayed at a small station, where the
tr'n tor New York would not stop
for the next twenty-four hours, he wired
the superintendent at the ststlon below:
"Will you stop at Lonelyvllle for large
party at 6 p. m.?"
The answer came: "Yes, will stop train."
When the express pulled ln Mr. Dailey
started to board a car.
"Where is the large party we .stopped
for?" Inquired the conductor.
"I am ihe large party," said Mr. Dailey
with dignity. Young's Magazine.
They Were Really Agreed.
Timothy Woodruff tells of the effort on
the part of a kindly disposed man In Al-
bany to arbitrate between a man and his
wife, who were airing their troubles on
the sldnwalk one Saturday evening.
"Look here, my man," exclaimed the Al-
bany man, at onoe Intervening In the alter-
cation, "this won't do, you know!"
"What business Is It of yours?" demanded
the male combatant angrily. "
"It's my business only so far as I may
be of service In settling this dispute,"
answered the other mildly, "and I should
like very much to do that."
"This ain't no dispute," sulkily returned
the man.
"No dispute'" csme In astonished tones
from the would-be ' peacemaker. "Why,
you "
"I tell you that It ain't a diitpute," In
sisted the man. "She thinks she ain't
(coin' to get my week's wages, and I know
she ain't! That ain't no dispute!" Llp
plncott's. $
Correction the Record.
Representative Champ Clark of Missouri,
tells a story about former Representative
Henry V. Johnson of Indiana.
"Mr. Johnson," he aaid, "was engaged
In a debate with an Illinois congressman
and called him an ass. This was unparlia
mentary, of course, and had. to be with
drawn. Pursuant to the order of th
sneaker Mr. Johnson said:
" 'I withdraw the language I used, Mr.
Speaker, but I insist that ths gentleman
from Illinois is out of order.'
" 'How am I out of orderr demanded
the Illinois man, with considerable heat.
" 'Probably a veterinary surgeon can tell
you,' retorted Johnson. This was parlia
mentary and went to tho Record. "-Ja-(UasaoU
News,
GROUND AND TAKE TO TUB Am
such Interesting remarks- as "Z-C 1, I, t, .
. etc.,
up to 100 or 200. From this la
selected two wires which may be known
as "Z-C 1 and 2," 1 being the "out" wlr
and 2 the "In" wire, both forming the
circuit. A mark la made to show that
these wires are taken from the passive to
the active list and the man at the end)
of the broken wire is told what wires he
can use to relieve the trouble. Connec
tion Is made between the wires further
from the central station and the new wire
and a test is then made to learn If all la
rlBht. Other trouble being found, perhaps
In the wire running from the main polea
to the subscribers telephone, a wire may,.
be cut out In a manner similar to that fotj
a conduit or a new wire may be substituted.
What Lightning noes.
If the trouble Is found to be In the In,
nw one is substituted and tha '
old one taken to the shop for repairs Tha
real work of the "trouble shooter" cornea '
after a storm. Lightning has a way of
striking telephone wires and leaving tha
coverings looking as though they had coma
Into forcible contact with the points of In.
numerable pins, while tha .m.n
wires are melted and h,ln. .
ina m " " rpri.
s
. m" ' "ucn a condition recently ex.
on a mimKM ik. . . .
t.fn.,h ..r. c,ol T"n
able "trouble shoot " Every aralU
and tha way tho. ?" PUt to worI
was a matter of Vi call8" W,M ohangedj,
charra of "T 7 " xn nan lsj
to "keep tho lines , wno1 utT !
everything " Ovavh "Wdless oft
on "messenger wlrea cb'" r carried!
whlnh ftn. .
T 7. uanminr Visit h utilise.
the "messag wires" as a aort of im
proved tramway. Ha fcuror .'
ill'L. fri'i..?" tW". c 'oa at.'
wir the "troubla shooter" drawa
Hon the wires from pole to polo m vi
uch repairs a are required, so eth
cutting out entire lengths of oablea!eotte,
changing service wires from thn.
to tho"" not affected. To keep suchi
a fo"e of "trouble shooters" where theyi
Cttn on hand an instant' notice I
f, wor"' but this I aooompllahed by
,n"i.nfh !,n,8n to Var1ou PctU. Dur
lng the tlrriA. k. -
" - "'"" " repairs are ne '
ceasary tha s-r are ne
be occupied on n.- "l may
shop, but all are raadv t repaisj
respond to the can of tha V, tlm t
of tha repair force. ohrg
. ;
--.-..-j.wa ervfae),
In addition to the men employed t4
7bl,,h' th city a mall.r forca. '
but with heavier equipment, la aJway (
ready for similar work on tha ton ltaa
A system of testa atmi.. - .
on the city line 1 used on tb line whlobP
Bporat between th various tawn. i.w'
between tha various towns wlthj
which the Omaha system la oonnaoted, Tha.'
man in charg of this "troubl ofOos" must!
be expert enough to be able to tell within,!
a few miles f the exact location of troubla
on any 0n of th hundreds of mltaa ofl 1
wire which coma undar tha .a':
his testing apparatus, as time la an Ira.
portent Item ln repair and the repair orem
must be sent to tha nearest point of troublsv
at the first opportunity, 1
The Omaha district of tha Kefcraskai
Telephone company la lift mile long an '
twenty-five miles wide. Her I network!
of wires covering mora or lea (hJcklyv
'.750 square miles of territory. Jl any moj
ment trouble may begin on any part off th'
Then a horse ha to ba aeoured and)'
have to ba sent out to find and samedyf,
the troubla
Hitherto this ha boon dona wfth rig.
orwn by horse power, but H. P. Syner
manager of the district, la about to In
,t"uU , n'w power- H designed
lnnTAaaA1a v I, I V. lit . .
i, 7. mn and;
which can attain a speed of fortv-Bn mil..
an hour. Thll machine la shown tn tha?
illustration with Mr. Kyner and n of nisi
men In tho seata
"Bo far as
not used for
I know these machine str
a similar purpose at preent
anywhere else
Ryner. "I believe, however, that thoy are)
going to be a complete sucoaaa and theyi
wUI revolutionise th hard work of tha;
man who has to see to keeping thousand
of miles of more or less fragllely aacuredl
wires In good working order. For aumcla-
" w et word that something Is wrocgl
wun a wire on the West Dodge road, eayj
fifteen miles away. Under the oM ayateml
we had to arrange to secure a livery rig
and by the time this was ready an nouif
had been lost Then ln getting to tho acausi
of th trouble a horse could not go mora
than seven or eight miles aa hour. '
"Under the system we are about to try)
the men will mount the motorcycle th
minute word comes of troubla They will
turn on the power and away they wffl go,
at forty miles an hour and hava tha wir
In working order again before Dvarw
rig mu14 ba tUtchadB 4&A nada aaady '