Italy 265 



usually girls by day, and men by night ; but at Palermo, Catania, 

 and Messina, males are exclusively employed. 



HOURS OF SERVICE 



The Telephone Company of Lombardy gives a perpetual 

 service in all its exchanges, a good example which is followed in 

 most of the larger towns. In the smaller, the hours vary from 

 7 or 8 A.M. to 8 or 9 P.M. 



OUTSIDE WORK 



The Telephone Company of Lombardy uses galvanised steel 

 wire of 1-8 mm. diameter for its local, and galvanised iron wire of 

 3*17 mm. for its trunks to Monza and Legnano. Other companies 

 follow the same practice, but bronze wire is nevertheless ex- 

 clusively used in some places and partially in others. As its 

 merits come to be better understood, bronze will doubtless oust 

 iron and steel in Italy as it has already done in most other 

 countries. The sole objection to bronze is its tendency, owing 

 to the superior heat conductivity of the metal, to favour the 

 formation of frost on its surface ; but this should not weigh against 

 it much in Italy. The wall-bracket form of construction is much 

 in vogue, and it must be confessed, on the testimony of figs. 91 

 to 94, that the Italians have a pretty fancy in wall-brackets. 

 Figs. 91 to 93 represent the practice of the Telephone Company 

 of Lombardy. It will be perceived that the insulators are of a 

 kind that would be altogether insufficient in our damp climate to 

 prevent leakage overhearing between wire and wire, being merely 

 short tubes of porcelain slipped over the bolt and fastened by a 

 nut at the top. A strong, well-designed standard, built up of 

 angle-iron on the Belgian plan, is shown in fig. 95 as an example 

 of the Lombardy Company's roof work. The same company 

 also employs tall iron-lattice ground poles very similar to those 

 illustrated in the Belgian section. Two of its smaller poles are 

 shown in figs. 96 and 97 as being of a more special design. They 

 are formed of three parts, socketed one into the other, and, while 

 providing a good carrying capacity, are far more ornamental than 



