52 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



names of the participants and the essential facts, and then hastening 

 with all possible speed to the editorial rooms. Late at night few horse 

 cars were running (then the trolley-car was unknown), and rarely was 

 it possible to secure cab or carriage on the scene of action ; so getting a 

 good story often meant a long, steady trot for many blocks before the 

 editorial rooms were reached. To-day a reporter can prepare his copy 

 on the premises, walk to the nearest telephone, talk it to an assistant 

 in the editorial rooms who typewrites it as it comes over the wire, and 

 the e scoop ' or ' story ' is on the street in less time than the reporter of 

 1876 would have consumed in riding or running to his office. And 

 with the aid of the telephone, the city editor in the large cities often 

 makes many assignments without seeing the respective reporters for 

 days at a time. In fact, in the larger cities, certain reporters now 

 communicate by telephone with the editorial rooms every half hour 

 while on duty, and only visit the main office to draw their salaries. 



After March 1, continuous day and night service was given. 

 During the first week one boy operator, Louis H. Frost, son of the 

 treasurer, was the sole operating force ; then Julian Cramer was added ; 

 on March 1 Fred A. Allen was employed; and later came Charles W. 

 Dow. The night operator received a salary of $15 a month, and 

 worked from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. Incidentally it may be added that Mr. 

 Allen and Mr. Dow are still employed in the New Haven telephone 

 exchange, and that Mr. Frost is in the livery business in that city. 



In building his subscriber-lines, Mr. Coy erected very few poles 

 during the first four months. The grounded-iron circuits were sup- 

 ported on brackets fastened to the sides and roofs of buildings, and to 

 trees, the owners of the property usually making no charge for this 

 right of way. Owing to this method of suspension no two spans of 

 wire were the same in length, and slack wire was in evidence the year 

 through. Hence, it was only natural that the talking qualities of 

 these circuits should never be very good, and invariably be very low 

 whenever these wire festoons were swayed by the wind against tin roofs, 

 or were grounded on wet roofs or on the dripping branches of trees. 



Thus it naturally came about that on drizzling days the amount of 

 shouting required on the part of subscribers striving to carry on a 

 conversation with the aid of a single hand telephone was a source of 

 much amusement to non-participants, and a probable cause of much 

 profanity and ill-feeling to many users of the service. And all the 

 blame was placed upon the little wooden telephone in place of the 

 wretched construction and the circuits that were constantly being 

 crossed or grounded on wet roofs or on the branches of trees. Had 

 these early lines been built with all the care and under the engineer- 

 ing supervision now expended on the heavy copper metallic circuits, 



