422 Telephone Systems of the Continent of Europe 



know, after years of experience, how to use their instruments, and 

 who, with all seriousness, persisted in blaming the operators for 

 the consequences of their own shortcomings. Being directors, 

 they perhaps considered it superfluous to read the rules. 



6. Public telephone stations. These are not so numerous as in 

 some other countries, and are invariably located at the State post, 

 telegraph, and railway offices, no subscribers being licensed to 

 keep stations. There are five in Stuttgart, two in Ulm, Heilbronn, 

 and Ludwigsburg respectively, and one in each of the smaller 

 places. These stations are sometimes, for the convenience of 

 residents in the locality, converted into branch switch-rooms, a 

 small switch-board being fitted up and operated by the attendant. 

 This plan enables persons located not more than one kilometer 

 from an outlying public telephone station to escape the excess 

 mileage rate to the central ; on the other hand, they have to pay 

 the public telephone station fees for all talks they originate in 

 addition to the usual annual rental, the public station line to the 

 central being utilised as a junction wire. No automatic check- 

 payment boxes are used, an attendant being always provided. 



7. Telephoning of telegrams. Subscribers may telephone 

 telegrams to the telegraph office for despatch to all parts, and 

 receive by telephone telegrams arriving for them. 



8. Telephoning of mail matter. Subscribers may telephone 

 messages to the central station, which are written down and posted 

 as post-cards or letters, as may be directed. 



9. Telephoning of messages for local deli very .Such written 

 messages, instead of being posted, may be sent out at once by 

 special messenger if the subscriber so instructs. A local tele- 

 gram or telephonogram service is thus created. 



10. Fire service. The exchanges in Wiirtemberg being closed 

 at night, special means have to be adopted to bring the fire- 

 brigade within call when wanted after hours. Rather unwisely, it 

 may be thought, this important service, so fraught with weal or 

 woe to the community at large, is confined to those subscribers 

 who pay an extra annual fee of ten shillings. The telephone 

 system still being on the single-wire and earth-return system, it 

 would not do to simply plug all the subscribers entitled to the 

 service through to the fire-station at night, since the number of 



