6. 



Qfomm^mal lulkttn 



Founded by Curtis Guild, Jan. 1, 1869 i 

 Published Every Saturday Mornlnp by 



CURTIS GUILD & CO. 



PUBLICATION OFFICE 



144 HIGH STREET, BOSTON 



$4.00 a Year for United States 

 $4.50 a Year for Canada 

 $5.00 a Year for foreign countries 

 Single copies ten cents 



Entered at the Post Office at Boston, 

 Mass., as Second Class Mall Matter 



TELEPHONES 

 MAIN 4734—4735—4736 

 CABLE ADDRESS: COMBUL 



The title "Tlie Commercial Bulletin" 

 has been duly registered in the United 

 States Patent Office as a Trade Mark 

 for the exclusive use throughout this 

 Country of Curtis Guild & Co., oubllshers. 



Saturday, April 5, 1924 



DON'T HELLO 



Americans who laugh at English- 

 men for saying: "Are you there?" 

 when making' a telephone call would 

 do well to see if their own telephone 

 talk cannot be improved. 



The American may feel some sat- 

 isfaction in the knowledge that 

 "Hello" has but two syllables while 

 "Are you there" has three, but an 

 Englishman said that after saying 

 "Hello" the American's next word 

 was often "Ohell" when he found 

 he had the wrong number. 



It does not matter much whether 

 we use two syllables or three for 

 a telephone call, but years of valuable 

 time can be saved if telephone users 

 will practice a little common sense 

 in receiving telenhone calls. 



Instead of the foolish "Hello," 

 that merely shows that somebody is 

 at one end of the line, much time 

 could be gained by replying: "4734 

 Main," or "Jones, Smith & Co., Mr. 

 Smith speaking." 



Servant girls seem to delight in 

 saying "hello" on the telephone, and 

 when one girl calls another the hello 

 may be repeated three or four times 

 before one recognizes the voice of 

 the other, or discovers that the 

 wrong number has been called. 



When you call the number of Mr. 

 Robinson on the telephone, you are 

 usually greeted with the tiresome 

 "Hello." You ask for Mr. Robinson, 

 and the voice inquires "Which one?" 

 You then say "Mr. X. Y. Z. Robinson," 

 and are told that no such man is 

 in the office. Further inquiry re- 

 veals the fact that the wrong number 

 has been called. Most of this waste 

 of time, temper, and energy would 

 be saved if the clerk receiving the 

 telephone call would repeat the tele- 

 phone number of the receiving sta- 

 tion, or the name of the firm, in- 

 stead of ejaculating "Hello." "Black 

 and White" does not sound like 

 "Jones and Robinson," and "9999 

 Copley" is not identical with "9999 

 Congress," and a simple statement 

 by the receiver of the call would 

 show the caller at once whether or 

 not he had the right number. 



One of the superfluous questions 

 that we are asked every day is "Do 

 you wish to speak to him?" As the 

 purpose of the telephone is to convey 

 speech, it might be inferred that when 

 you call for Mr. Green you want to 

 speak to him. 



Telephone operators at the ex- 

 changes are sometimes most exas- 

 perating, and it is to be hoped that 

 the automatic switch board and dial 

 will afford some relief. 



You call a number which is re- 

 peated by the operator, and then 

 you wait while nothing happens. 

 After a while you call again. "I'll 

 ring them again" is the reply, al- 

 though you are confident that no 

 ring has been made. "I'll ring them 

 again," she says for the third and 

 fourth times, and then, "They don't 

 answer. No charge for that call." 



You call the chief operator and 

 then get your number promptly, when 

 your friend says he has been sitting 

 beside the telephone awaiting your 

 call, and that the bell has not rung 

 for ten minutes. 



Machinery is liable to get out of 

 order, and it is impossible for the 

 telephone companies to make sure that 

 none of their operators are lazy or 

 inefficient. 



A large part of telephone trouble 

 is due to careless work by those who 

 call and by those who receive calls. 

 The adoption of the common sense 

 method of receiving calls instead of 

 the inane "Hello" would save years 

 of time and remove a cause of much 

 vexation. 



GOOD DOCTRINE 



"The law of life is labor. The joy 

 of life is in accomplishment." 



These sentences that are credited 

 to President Eliot of Harvard, who 

 has recently passed his ninetieth 

 birthday, should be studied by lazy 

 people and by all who expect to 

 achieve accomplishment without work. 



One of the greatest joys of life is 

 in accomplishing something helpful 

 to others. In doing our daily tasks 

 we may keep a cash account of the 

 money we give away, but in the mere 

 routine of work we may quite uncon- 

 sciously make life pleasanter or easier 

 for somebody. 



The clergyman prepares his ser- 

 mons from week to week, and never 

 knows how far his thoughts and 



words may arouse good thoughts and 

 helpful ideas in the minds of those 

 who hear him. 



The school teacher has a responsi- 

 bility for directing the minds of 

 youth that extends far beyond the 

 mere teaching of the regular course 

 of study, and even the newspaper 

 editor falls short of his duty if he 

 merely gives his point of view on 

 news of the day. 



A business man stepped from the 

 sidewalk to the muddy street to move 

 to the .side of the road a big stone 

 that might cause trouble to horse or 

 wheel, and then he asked himself why 

 he did it. 



His mind went back to school days, 

 over forty years ago. The teacher 

 said: "Boys, I notice that when a hat 

 has fallen from the hook to the floor 

 some boys will give it a kick, others 



