B:
EDITORIAL
AMUSEMENTS
Omaha
THE
i
VOL. L NO. 33.
tX I t will be tour own fault
- .A IF TOU FAIC TO MAKE'
COHNETCTIONS UNDER NEW
MACHINE SYSTEM WHEGE
CEMTBAL USES HER EYES
INSTEAD OF HER BARS
Ss6
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Mil .
Lid
QtTTTi'iliiiVi11
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lift
THIS IS JUST ONE OF
IT
By J. T.' ARMSTRONG.
The hour is . nritjnight.
A dark figure is fumbling with a
latchkey at the front door of a
West Side dweUwK house. 'At
I last tfie door swings open aid he
enters cautiously. The, ominous
silence is broken by the crash of
a vase. The intruder ,has be
trayedvhimsclf. A light is turned
on ana a voice 'from upstairs in
quires angrily: 'j '
"Is that you, John?"
The voice is quickly followed by
a stout woman, cladin a dressing
gown and slippers. , She pounces
on the shrinking intruder and
questions him thus: "
"W'liy weren't you home for din
ner t5night. How dare you stay
'jut till this late hour? yWhere
Tave you bee'n ':" -
"You Brute
"Bu businesis kept me, dear,"
gasps 'John. "We we lwhad a
board of director's meeting. Called
suddenly., tried to Vphone you
but central, said phoe was out
of, order. Sh she "was. very
nasty, that operator." ,
"Brute! cxclains the. woman,
-shaking her husband roughly. "If
you weren't intoxicated 'you'd
thinkSjf a better- one than ihat
You know telephone " service is
automatic now, yet ybu have the
nerve to blame a poor, innocent
operator."
John , sinks into a chair with a
groan of despair t
Thus will' the favorite alibi of
a rircd businessman taking a liight
off be shattered by the new ma
chiue switching system which is
f being iimalled in two Omaha
teiepnone exenanges Dy me iorin
western Bell Telephone company.
It Has Happened.
Officials of 'the. 'phone company
say there isn't a chance '(or the
new machine switching -.- system,
which will be ready -for service
sometitne this spring, tago wrong.
And although fully as many
operators will be employed; when
the system is installed as Before -
SNT IT- SIMPLE ?
they assert the elimination of the ures and things? On first thought
"human element" will result in in- it would seem some task. Well,
creased efficiency. ' -His! ' ' y
For even the' best of operators , Tun) on the lights, say the tele
have been known tojjause now. phone experts. But.whygo the
and then and tuck a .stray w isp or
hair in it proper .;, place; or
on very rare otcasins, of course
to talk back to an impatient
subscriber. '
Slightly Quicker. '
Now the comparison's -absurd,
of course, but the machine system
lias no stray locks ol hair; nor is,;
Mix
1
.11
MAUEOT
OPERA
105"FINAL FRAMES !'
it capable of "talking back," hence
tle prediction of increased effi
ciency. ' ?
"On calls from on6 . automatic
phone to another or from one
automatic exchange to another the
connections will be; made' snghtly '
qukkcr by machine, switching,"
explained F. C. Builta,, of the
'phone company. .
. "Between an-automatic 'phone
and a manual, or old stylo phone
the calls will be completed in
about the same time as hereto
fore." , ,
Mr. Builta says the use of the
so-called automatic 'phone is just
as simple as the use of the old oral
instrument. He gives the follow
ing rules so eyeryone may know
just how it's done: - '
Waif 30 Seconds.
-Take receiver from the hook and
Vt for a humming sound, - or
"dialing tone." Then, with the re
ceiver off the hook dial the num
ber desired. Wait 30 or 40 seconds
if the connection is n)pt made be
fore dialing again. ' " '
The 'phone will purr rcoiitent
edly. no doubt wljen the desired
number i being tung. A rapid
ly buzzing sound indicates the line
is busy. . ;
Nowr consider, the klial. You'll
' notice all the letters on the-' dial,
are black an thflfigures. red. vAt,
first glance" and without investiga
tion it appears rather a compli
' cated affair.- Well, . it. is? ,
.nd. here's a1 tip tt.tn 6eople
-Mj-lio are on narty lines, jl'ractice
dialing until yoa can rattle off any
prefix and number iu quicklime.
' Great Indoor Sport.
Dialing races proiyisejo become
a great indoor sportin homes that
have party phone lines..- Suppos
ing two people on the s.ynje line
decided to call a number at , the
same time. . The fastest 'dialer
would naturally be the one to get
his call thro'.igh.
B-jt consider the innocent dial a
bif longer. How are ydu going
to call a number at night -when
it's dark and vou can't see the fie
tremble ot turning on the lights,
we ask. Why not learn the touch
.system? Does a good stenographer
look at the keys of her typewriter?
Certainly notl '
s Why Not? v
. Or whv not slap a little radium
on the dial and make the figures
-'.and prefixes stand out in the gloom.
I
7
CallpH Suhrnber
" 1 " 1
o
Final Fratr
Callma SuKsr.riKr .
Line Finder
Frame
Sendef 'i ' I . -Selector
vmi
Sender
like the "hands on your old army
wrist watch?
And here's a secret! If you be
come a bit vexed at the machine
system and are just dying -to tell'
somebody what vou think of it
here's the way.
There's a mystetious letter "O"
on the dial that will connect you
. with a service operator. You can
relieve your injured, feelings and
spring-all your pent-u wit on her
She'll be- iised to it anyway jind
havesome good retorts, probably,
so all in all you'll have a right
good time talking to her.
Here's another secret that'll in
terest subscribers on party lines.
If you have any grudge against the
"other party" wait till some time
when he or she is talking, then
begin to "dial a number yourself.
Booming and Shrieking. '
Result: A combined booming
and shrieking in the "other par
ty's" ear that will make him or her
think he or she's being bombarded
by the entire German army, as it
useter was. ;").,. .."
The, aforementioned Mr. Builta
doesn't advocate, dialing in somebody-
else's ear. ! It-isn't polite
and' besides the "other party" has
' JdiaJ a1so,and may use it on you
some day, he says. It's best to
listen for thelialing sound before
starting to dfak -
Now the use of the dial should
be quite clear. If you make a
mistake and dial the wrong num
sber hang up; or if you move the
dial While you're talking you'll be
- cut off. .Ja-either case you'll hate
no unfortunate operator to waste
your,wrah on, hence, you'll save"
-time. ' '
' . ; ., JUaybe He Knows.
All of which brings us to the
ditNbult part of the story. No.
doubt. 'you are curious to know
just hostile machine system gives
you youf number. Youare not
alone in your curiosity.
; Perhaps the inventor of the sys
tem could explain it. But his ex
planation would be filled with
volts and amperes and turbines
and rotary switches and friction
rolls and magnetic clutches and
other strange things.
To give you an idea of the
system's immensity the lumber in
boxes used to bring it to Omaha
would be sufficient to build seven
two-story,- eight-room houses.
Knocked down these , boxes and
crates- made enough lumber to fill
six cars' and s valued at $10,000.
And to give you an idea of its (
complexity it requires 342 tools
and gauges to make one tiny mul
tiple brush. This brush performs
the function of selecting, a contact
thcaugh .which a connection is fin
ally established, for the number,
dialed.-
v Cost $2,000,000
' The estimated cost of the sys
tern W $2,000,000. of which $250,
' 000 must bt expended to unify
OMAHA, SUNDAY 'MORNING, JANUARY 30, 1921..
mm a -m w -m mm mm
II
OFFICE
(Machine. Switching)
Incoming
Frame
District
Frame
L
Qffice FHant)
HOW ITS ALL
"P. B. X." boards in large down
town offices.-' Dials must be added,
to these switchboards so that
they can be used for either manu
al or machine calls. Installation
of approximately 16,000 new dial
telephonesor Tyler subscribers
and Douglas subscribers north of
Pierce street, cost the , company
$150,000.
The entire Tyler exchange and
the Dougias exchange jiorthof
Pierce street will be cut over"
to the new system this spring.
Horatiu'g at the Movies
Made Over for the Movies by James'J. Montague
Note The introduction of Cleo-
Kpatra into this poem is somewhat
anachronistic, and is a departure
from the text, but it is necessary in
order to insure the heart interest
without which no movie can have
n appeal. v
1. Horatius bids good-bye to
Cleopatra; removing vize.r of helmet
so his real tears can be -photographed.
;
2. Cleopatra, with her pet adder
twined around her arm, hands him
his swOrd. Subtitle:
V'I Just Hope You Beat Those Hor
rid Etruscans to Death."
v 3. , THe horrid Etruscans, led by
Lrs Porsena and False Sextus gal
ldping toward Rome. ""
4. Sextus and Lars Porsena rid-
ing together.
.5. Sextus speaks earnest! v. Sub-,
title: 'l
"If I Lick the Remains Can I Marry
That Little Jane, Cleopatra V
J. Lars Porsena registers aston-,
ishmant. Subtitle: "" - ,
"Cleopatra? I Thought She Was in
Egypt?"
I. False Sextus continues speak
ing. Subtitle:
"She's Come Over to Rome for This
' Picture. '
8. ' Hbratius and Hcrminius ride
down to bridge. Etruscans in dis
tance. t
- 9. Horatius and Herminius con
verse. Subtitle:
"Let's Draw the Bridge and Fool
'Em.';
10. Herm.nius tries to draw the
bridge, but the Etruscans have cut
the wires, and the motor is stalled.
II. Horatius draws sword. Sub-X
title: (.
"I Reckon We Gotta Scrap for It,
'Minius."
12. Cleopatra drives up in a
coach, and takes up position on high
bank above Tiber. Registers inter-
est in proceedings.
j, Ki. Etrtiscan army arrive? at
i bridge. Parley. ' !
I 14. Horatius and Henuiniuss are I
-joined by Spurious Larlius. Cross1
i bridge to Brooklyn, side and face
' .Etruscans. .
: ' 15. Further parley !v Etruscans, i
1 Subtitle: ' , I
I By Porsena; "You Lick 'Em, j
. ' sl;-. t j ; c?M tW'W
.DOUGLAS
( Machine
.Incoming
Frame
COLFAX. OFFICE'
n (Manual)
an
Call indicator
ToOffice X I
To Office Y
Relay
s:
Call Indicator Position
y .
TJ30NE,
aiW summer. Other exchanges
will remain manual for a time.
The first shipment of the ma-;
chine system arrived in Omaha in
February of 1920 and installation
work began, immediately. It had
been ordered 1917, and was
manufactured by the Western
Electric company at Chicago. It
is being installed by that company.
The system'- is the outcome of
many years of experimenting, and
differs in som respect from the
system in use in Minneapolis and
Sextus.
; By Sextus: "What's the
Matter
With Astur?"
By, Astur: "That's Right,
Make
Me the Goat."
By Porsena :'Go On, Get. Busy.
' I've Got to Eat My Thanksgiv
Dinner in the Via Nationale
y. Torlight
16. Astur gallops to bridge. Ho
ratius takes him. a clip on the neck
and tumbles him into the Tiber.
17. Another warrior gallups up.
Henuinius splits his helmet and HE
goes into the Tiber.
18. Sextus. comes up and makes
a face at Horatius, but Lartius chases
him back.
19. Cleopatra lwatcb.es fight, reg
istering emotion'. . '.
20. Sextus takes off armor and
goes down to river. ' '
21. Sextus takes small boat and
starts to row.
22. Sextus in mid river. .
23. Sextus climbs up on other
side. .
24. Sextus -sneaks across bridge
and gots behind Horatius.
25. f Cleopatra unwinds her adder
from-reel in which she carries it and
tiptoes across bridge.
26. Sextus with dagger about to
plant Horatius a good one under he
ribs. '
2T. Cleopatra turns snake loose.
Subtitle
"Sic 'Him. Snake!'- '
28. Snake writhes up to Sextus,
climbs his bootleg and bites him in
the ear.
29. Dagger falls from Sextus'
hand. Sextus falls into river.
30. Ears Porsena's gang try to
rush Horatius Herminius and Lar
tius. ',
31. Cleopatra recovers snake and
lecrolses bridge.
o2. Cleopatra climb? pole and
I connects Rome Lighting Co.'s svs
j'tem with the motor operating draw,
I 33. ' General fight between the
dauntless three and Lars Porsena s
crowd. ' Dauntless three gradually
forced back on bridge. ;
.14. Cleopatra goes to .control
booth." ' .
x 35. Cleopatra throws lever.
36. Bridge drawn . up, spilling
Etruscans into Tiber, Horatius
, (Turn U face Two, Column One.)
1 D
E5W
1 1
OFFICE'
Swilching) ' 'v
Clld Subtcnbtr
DO Ugla3
r- !
528Q
Final Frame
tailed Subscriber
CO If ax 4259.
V
PUSUTHEBUTIOB j
ffTHATS WWATTHE U1 I
lllCENTPAC S v lll f
1V OPERATING Ur
I 1111
Los Angeles.
Three floors of the Northwest-
rn Telephone company's -building
at Eighteenth and Douglas streets
are devoted to machine switching
mechanism. Row after row of
huge, eomplex finder and sender
frames occupy 5 this floor space.
Each frame contains thousands of
multiple banks and selecting me
chanisms. ".'.-
In the selector frame are con
stantly ' revolving friction rolls,
magnetic clutches and racks by
means of which selecting mechan
isms are moved up and down,
A, fourth floor is devoted to a
power room. There are also 145,
eight horspower . alternating cur
rent motors operating the final
frame, line frame, senders -and.-other
switch frames. There are
four generators with an output 'of
1,000 amperes, 33 volts each. The
storage battery room contains 52
cells, each with 7,360 ampere
hour capacity.
Let Him Tell It.
; If the current generated in this
power room were turned into elec
trical current ' it Would ' light (a
town the size of Nebraska City,
tli case the city power should fail
the system is equipped with an au
tomaticthrowover switch installed
to start steam turbines in the base
ment that will generate 220 volts
of 410 amperage. '
Now that everyone, including'
the writer, is sufficiently confused
about' the system, here's the ex
planation of its workings described
by Mr. Builta himself. Mr. Builta
admits he may be a bit hazy on
some of the details, too, but on
with the explanation:
"Supposing the person using the
'phone wants to call Tyler 0480,"
egan Mr. BuiTia, clearing his
throat and lighting a Turkish ci
garet made in America. "He re
moves the receiver from its hook
and listens in the receiver for a
continuous humming sound, Called
the 'dialing tone,' which indicates
the mechanism is ready to receive
his call. ... .
Instantaneous Operation.
"He will then insert his fingJr
any finger will io in. the open
ing in the dial above the letter
'T,' and rotate fhe'lial until. the
finger come? in contact with the
metal stop. He releases the dial,
which will automatically rern to
normal. He will then repeat the
operationfor the letter 'Y' and in
turn for the fouf numerals, 0-4-8-0
"Mechanically, when he removed ,
the receiver from the hook his line
was connected, with an apparatus '
called the 'lire findert His line is
then automatically connected with
. srr irJIe 'sender' the operation tak
ing hwl the fraction of a second. It
U i't the close of this almost in-,
stantancuus operation that he
hears the dialing tone.
v Selection Completed.
' "When he dials the electrical im
HOW THE HELLO QlRL.
INSTEAD OF HER. EARS
pulses are transmitted to the
'sender,' which receives and reg
isters themv vIf the subscriber,
for any reaon, fails to dial the
full number the selection will not
be completed. . The call . will be
' taken up by a maintenance
operator who will come in oh the
lineaiid tell the subscriber of his
erfor. . . .
"The mechanism, operated au
tomatically through the 'sender,'
K selects the lines to the prqper cen
tral office. The call proceeds with
the particular line to the final
selector, where" connections are
made with the particular line de
sired. -v '
. "Whe the conii'cction is thus
compled ' a purring souud, re
peated" at intervals, will be sent
fback to the calfcr, through thq re
ceiver, indicating the desired num
ber, is being rung. If the line
should be out of order the connec
tion will automatically be com-
x plctcd to an operator who will ad
vise the one calling the number."
Catcties His Breath.
M. Builta, after a pause in
which he caught his breath and lit
the extinguished fcigarct, con
tinued: "But suppose the person is call
ing from a machine switching
Tyler number to a Harney num
ber which is a inanuel or girl
operated, telephone.
"He must dial in the same niaii-
ner as before, but the mechanism
will connect his telephone with a
series of registers in a Harney ot
"fice when he dials ,'H' and 'A.'
These registers then pick up the
pulsations sent out by dialing the
figures, which are transferred to a
reflection plate or 'call indicator'
. in , front of the. operator at a
switchboard. . " ,
"The operator will simply con
nect him with the number de
sired. In other words he signals
the number to her.
( ; Will Punch 'Em Off.
"Then again, suppose the Rerson
, is calling from- a manual phone,
without a dial the kind we are
' now using to another person who
Has an automatic '(Wione. He will
simply take down his receiver and
give the number in the ordinary
way to his operator. His call will
be passed to an-operator who has
a scries of keys resembling an
addinsr machine krvlinarH Tl-iic
is known as a 'Cordless B' switch-
TEN CENTS
I
HERES THE KINO OF
INSTRUMENT YOU'LL USE
USES HER EYES.
aboard. She will ' punch off on
these keysjthe uumber for him
and his connection will be 'auto
matically' established.
"There are still othr kinds of
. calls that need explanation. Take
The Omaha Bee, for example. It
has a private branch exchange,
with a little, switchboard all its
own.
- it's a Secret.
"While The Bee's number is
Tyler" 1000, several (other lines are
connected with it. These lines are
Tyler W01, 1002, 1003 and so on.
Today jf some one calls Tyler 1000
and the line is busy the operator
tests all the other lines until she
finds one that is not busy. Under
: the ncwlmachine system the' ma
. chine wiir do the same thing. The
operator of the -private exchange
board may either fse a dial or the
oral 'method in making her calls.
So now you understand how sim
ple the whole thing is?"
Mr. Builta heaved a sigh of re
lief as he completed his explana
I tion. '
"But just how do the little find
ers find the right number?" he was
asked. '
"Search me," he replied. "I heard ' .'.
somebody ay something about
v tuning 'cm to a certain pitch or
4 something.
" Attending School.
"tfy the way, not to change the
subject or anything but I forgot
x to tell you all the telephone men
and women of Omaha are attend- '
i ing-schqol daily, getting ready to
give expert attentjon to the new
system. -
"Peeparations, are being made to
train operators to work the reg
istering Keys. Others are prepar
ing to serve in the automatic of
fices correcting subscribers who
jwake mistakes in calling and re
porting line trouble and answering ''
complaints that is, r'a if any
'complaints should happen to be
made.
"All the details of the work of ,
preparation for tV new system are
in the hands of a committee of
telephone men, one from each de
partment of the company here,
Walter E. Hall of the chief engi
neer's staff is chairman of this
committee. The other members
afe W. E. Rehschuh of the coiu-
yincrciiii department; Roy MatsoV,
traffic: R. Butters, plant, and V.
W. Davenport, accounting.
I)
(A
J