CONQUEST OF DISTANCE BY WIRE TELEPUONY 341 



starting rate then current for new college men without post-graduate work 

 was $600 per year. 



In his first few months with the Telephone Company Jewett worked on a 

 wide variety of transmission problems, under Campbell's supervision, and 

 handled considerable department correspondence. This was in accordance 

 with the department's policy for an educational period prior to concentra- 

 tion on a specific line of work. 



His first important 1904 assignment was a study of the Jacques' patent 

 767818 which had been ofiFered for purchase. This patent had to do with a 

 variety of schemes for improving transmission on long telephone lines. 

 Jewett made an adverse report on the basis of theoretical studies and ex- 

 periments which convinced him that the appearance of improvement was 

 greater than the substance. His analysis was so fair and clear that it 

 brought forth a note of commendation from some of the principal execu- 

 tives^ of the organization, without known precedent for engineers just 

 beginning their telephone careers, and must have been very heartening to its 

 recipient. 



1905 Happenings 



A reorganization of the Engineering Department effective on January 1, 

 1905, resulted in Mr. Hammond \'. Hayes becoming the chief engineer. 

 The January 1905 organization chart on page 399 is the first official chart 

 on which Dr. Jewett's name is listed. It is of incidental interest to note 

 that he is the only individual mentioned by name who has remained in Bell 

 System service up to 1944. There were a total of 195 employees in the En- 

 gineering Department, including a small, substantially autonomous, "oper- 

 ating" division under G. M. Yorke, whose headquarters were in New York 

 City. This division was in fact the Engineering Department of the Long 

 Distance Lines Department. 



Early in 1905, Jewett made a good start on the protection job which had 

 been in prospect when he was engaged. In his report- to Warren on the 

 work done in 1905 Campbell listed the protection work as being one of three 

 major activities, the other two being problems resulting from disturbances 

 by alternating current railways, and the inspection of commercial trans- 

 mission conditions. An intriguing feature of one of the protection develop- 

 ment projects was the use of low inductance choke coils in series with the 

 line at points adjacent to the protector blocks, in order to reduce protector 



^ Specifically Mr. Frederick P. Fish who was President of the American Telephone 

 and Telegraph Co., and was also widely known as a successful patent attorney. Also 

 from Mr. Thomas D. Lockwood who was in charge of the Telephone Company's Patent 

 Department, and Mr. Hayes, himself. 



- Some abstracts from Campbell's report to Warren, including the text of Jewett's 1905 

 report on the protection work, are given in Appendix I. 



