-2O2 Telephone Systems of the Continent of Europe 



Operation n. (After conversation.) A and B hang up both 

 their phones. 



Operation 12. A and B now each turn their cranks 'three 

 times, by jerks, very quickly.' 



[This they do regardless of consequences to officers and to each other, and 

 yet with fear and trembling, for have they not been already told in plain 

 German black and white that * in order not to hurt officers and subscribers ' 

 they must ring ' slowly and only once ' ? Is it possible that, like Genesis, 

 the Berlin book of instructions has been written by two authorities, the one 

 oblivious of what the other has said ?] 



When, as in about five cases out of seven, the connection has 

 to pass through two switch-rooms, A has to ask his operator for 

 the room to which his client is joined in these terms : ' Office 

 three, Oranienburgerstrasse,' or 'Office seven, Blankenfelden- 

 strasse.' The first operator thereupon rings the second upon one 

 of the junction wires between the two rooms, and A, upon finding 

 himself through, prefers his request for the person he wants to the 

 second girl. 



If on the completion of a conversation another connection is 

 wanted, half a minute must (according to the regulations) elapse 

 after the ring-off is given before the operator can be rung up 

 again. Such a regulation is a practical admission of the unsuita- 

 bility of the system employed for a busy telephone exchange. 

 With the Mann system, as used by the Mutual Telephone 

 Company at Manchester, two separate connections could be 

 obtained and got rid of within the half-minute so lightly wasted 

 at Berlin, a short conversation being held on each occasion. But 

 in practice, according to the author's observation, this regulation 

 is neglected. In the telephone-room at the Central Hotel, 

 already alluded to, a fresh customer seizes the crank, and 

 oblivious of consequences to officers and subscribers alike, begins 

 to twirl it vigorously as soon as the place is vacated by his 

 predecessor, although much more than half a minute frequently 

 elapses before any tangible result is obtained. 



In the other towns the method of procedure is much the same, 

 but (except in Hamburg) the battery press-button takes the place 

 of the magneto. 



In the suburban intercourse the calling subscriber is put 



