356 Telephone Systems of the Continent of Europe 



difficulties inherent in trunk and junction operating. A subscriber] 

 say in Stockholm, at 10 A.M. will call the exchange and book a 

 talk to Gothenburg at 11.30 A.M. and another at 5.20 P.M., and: 

 perhaps other talks to Malmo and elsewhere at other stated times. 

 The operator consults the list of booked talks already existing, and 

 if the lines mentioned are not already engaged enters the orders. 

 Then it is the business of the chief operators to have the lines, 

 ready for the caller at the times arranged. When the exchange 

 wanted is intermediate with several others on one trunk line the 

 difficulties multiply, and frequently the telegraph has to be used 

 to transmit switching orders to stations that cannot be got at by 

 telephone without interrupting talks in progress, and this in spite 

 of the fact that when several stations exist on the same line each 

 has fixed minutes in every hour for communicating with each of 

 the others. The booking system has, however, become the rule, 

 and the difficulties involved have to be fought and overcome. A 

 noticeable feature of the State exchange is the arrangement of 

 the lightning-protectors, and of the cross-connecting board, which,, 

 like the switch-board, is designed for 10,000 double lines. The 

 protectors are made of carbon plates, kept from touching by 

 thin strips of insulating material. The Swedish engineers were 

 convinced that the carbons spark more freely than does any form 

 of metal protector adapted for telephonic work, a conclusion the 

 author has since confirmed by experiment. The cross-connecting 

 board consists of two iron-tube frames arranged in concentric 

 circles, the whole forming a neat and accessible arrangement. 



The average number of daily connections dealt with is 5-5. 

 Three operators are allotted to each 200 subscribers. The 

 subscribers ring each other after being put through, a system 

 which, owing to the absence of a discriminative ring- off indicator, 

 increases the operators' work (restoring the shutters dropped by 

 the ring through) and conduces to tapping. 



HOURS OF SERVICE 



Both the State and the General Company give a continuous 

 service, night and day, in their principal towns. In the smaller 

 places hours vary from 7 or 8 A.M. till 8, 9, or 10 P.M. 



