THE TELEPHONE SERVICE AT KANSAS CITY. 367 
jack, the wire continuing to the same spring on the second board and from there 
to the third, and then returns to the subscribers' signalling board, where it passes 
through the "drop" (also numbered the same as the switchboard connection) 
and thence to the ground. All wires are run in this manner : from cable to first 
board, from that to the next and so on to the last, and from that to the annun- 
ciators, and from there to the ground. A subscriber can be called up from any 
of the duplicates or be answered from any, but the idea of the board is to have 
each operator answer one hundred subscribers and be able to connect them with 
all other subscribers, be they two hundred or two thousand. Two operators 
stand, or perch on stools, in front of each board, the annunciators at their sides. 
For example : should subscriber No. 80 call for connection with No. 430 the 
operator at the board where No. 80 comes in quickly tests, by means of a plug 
applied to the dupUcate of No. 430, whether that line is busy or not, and if not 
the two are promptly connected by plugs and cords. The test plug is in circuit 
with a battery that sounds forth a warning "click" when applied if the line 
wanted is busy ; if not busy there is no sound at all. When through talking the 
subscriber calUng is expected to "ring off", which throws down the clearing out- 
drop immediately back of the set of plugs and cords that connected the two, and 
thus signals the operator that they are through. The failure of the subscriber to 
"ring off" is a very decided source of annoyance in all exchanges. 
To set up switching apparatus of this kind, trace out thoroughly, and test 
the thousands of wires necessary is a task requiring the finest skill. To be able 
to do this and yet conceal every wire and every connection, shutting out all that 
might be termed unsightly, required not only skill but also superior taste. The 
privileged visitor to the Kansas City Exchange, of to-day, is greeted with a vision 
of elegant switchboards of cherrywood, a room handsomely carpeted and richly 
papered, and pretty young lady-operators, who in soft and pleasant tones are 
answering subscribers. No loud talking is heard or permitted, and the thousands 
upon thousands of connections asked for daily are, as a rule, made quickly and 
easily. 
This work from its conception to its close has been under the personal sup- 
ervision of Mr. E. L. Smith, General Superintendent of the Missouri and Kansas 
Telephone Company, and Mr. Chas. W. Price, Manager of the Kansas City 
Exchange. These gentlemen take a just pride in the work they have done and 
to-day have the honor of being the executive officers of what has been pronounced 
by leading electricians, the finest telephone exchange in the United States. And 
Kansas City, now looking forward to better things in the telephone service, can 
feel proud that she has in her midst a company with the capital and enterprise to 
carry through this work, with its thousand and one annoying features, to so suc- 
cessful an end. To expend not less than $40,000 in improvement of what is one 
of the greatest public conveniences and necessities of the present age, is a credit- 
able thing for any company to do, and this is what the Missouri and Kansas Tel- 
phone Company has done for Kansas City. 
