DEVELOPMENT IN TELEPHONE SERVICE 



237 



a 



a.-.A *r^ v- ^ S-- $■ + f 



the operator, who cut off the battery by turning a switch and then 

 inserted a plug in the line socket and received the call. The com- 

 panion cord was then removed from the ground plate and inserted in 



the socket of the line called for. 

 Mr. Doolittle states that on several 

 occasions he saw the operator take 

 care of four calls at the same time 

 by holding two telephones in the 

 fingers of each hand, that is, the 

 operator had to talk and then 

 listen into four separate tele- 

 phones ; in other words, using both 

 ears as well as both hands. Inci- 

 dentally it may be mentioned that 

 Mr. Doolittle claims that it was on 

 this board that the first female 

 telephone operator was employed. 

 A glance at the illustration shows 

 that the cylindrical wooden weights 

 suspended on the plug cords were 

 about an inch in diameter and a 

 foot in length, with a brass pulley 

 attached to the top of each. These 

 long weights were employed at first 

 in anticipation that their length 

 would prevent the cords from 

 swinging and tangling, but later 

 were displaced by smaller but 

 heavier lead weights. 



According to a local paper the 

 switchboard erected in Philadel- 

 phia, in December, 1878, consisted of 



a walnut frame and braced strips of brass punctured with holes, into which 

 wires are fitted to make the necessary connections. Behind this all the wires 

 converging in the office concentrate. The board accommodates 400 different 

 lines. 



In October, 1878, the parent ' Bell Telephone Company ' issued 

 a circular describing a form of brass strip switchboard ' adapted for six 

 circuits.' On February 20, 1879, a circular was issued describing a 

 switchboard which could be supplied at 



from 50 cents to $1 per circuit, according to the number of circuits. The 

 dimensions of this switchboard for from 50 to 200 circuits are 6 feet long by 

 about 3 feet wide. 



Switchboard tap-bells were listed at $2.50 each; subscriber's hook 

 district bells, $3.25 each; spring keys, 75 cents each; lightning arrest- 

 ers, 37 cents per circuit. It was stated that " the following plan it is 



Fig. 17 



