April, 1914 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
Unseen Forces Behind Your Telephone 
j 
T he telephone instrument is a common sight, but it affords no idea of the 
magnitude of the mechanical equipment by which it is made effective. 
To give you some conception of the great number of persons and the enomious 
quantity of materials required to maintain an always-efficient service, various 
comparisons are here presented. 
The cost of these materials unassembled is only 
45 % of the cost of constructing the telephone plant. 
Poles 
enough to build a stock- 
ade around California — 
12,480,000 of them, worth 
in the lumber yard about 
$40,000,000. 
Wire 
to coil around the earth 
62 1 times — I 5.460,000 
miles of it, worth about 
$100,000,000. includ- 
ing 260.000 tons of 
copper, worth $88,- 
000,000. 
Lead and Tin 
to load 6,600 coal cars 
—being 659.960.000 
pounds, worth more 
than $37,000,000. 
Conduits 
to go five times through 
the earth from pole to 
pole — 225.778.000 
feet, worth in the ware- 
house $9,000,000. 
Telephones 
enough to string around 
Lake Erie — 8.000.000 
ofthem.5.000,000 Bell- 
owned, which, with 
equipment, cost at the 
factory $45,000,000. 
Switchboards 
in a line would extend 
thirty-six miles— 55,000 
of them, which cost, un- 
assembled, $90,000,000. 
Buildings 
sufficient to house a city of 
I 50.000 — more than a thou- 
sand buildings, which, un- 
furnished, and without land, 
cost $44,000,000. 
People 
equal in numbers to the 
entire population of Wy- 
oming — 150,000 Bell Sys- 
tem employes, not in- 
cluding those of connect- 
ing companies. 
The poles are set all over this country, and strung with wires and cables; the 
conduits are buried under the great cities; the telephones are installed in separate 
homes and offices; the switchboards housed, connected and supplemented with 
other machinery, and the whole Bell System kept in running order so that each 
subscriber may talk at any time, anywhere. 
American Telephone and Telegraph Company 
And Associated Companies 
One Policy One System Universal Service 
JUST PUBLISHED 
ESTIMATING and CONTRACTING 
by WILLIAM A. RADFORD 
A practical manual of up-to-date methods for 
rapid, systematic and accurate calculation of costs 
of all types and details of building construction 
and all related work of contractors. 
It gives quotations and other data indicating 
the cost of materials and labor, standard sched- 
ules and forms used for measurements and esti- 
mates, labor-saving tables and all other points a 
contractor, builder or carpenter should know. 
A handy, reliable and accurate guide 
Bound in full flexible leather, 5,4 * 74 inches. 887 pages. Illustrated. 
PRICE, $2.00 POSTPAID 
MUNN & CO., Inc. 361 Broadway, New York, N. Y. 
GARDEN TOOLS WORTH WHILE 
By E. I. FARRINGTON 
T O try making a garden without the 
proper tools is but to invite discourage- 
ment and failure. Yet a multiplicity of tools 
creates confusion. The number and variety 
(lisj)layed in a \vell-ef|uipped store suggest 
a militarv arsenal and even an expert is 
forced to inquire what some of the instru- 
ments are designed to accomplish. 
The common hoe is an old reliable tool 
which cannot well be dispensed with. There 
are several modifications, however, which 
are well worth while, especially if the gar- 
den is too small to require a wheel culti- 
vator. One of these is the Warren hoe, 
and another the scuffle hoe. The former 
is in shape somewhat like a triangle, being 
pointed at the bottom, and serves a useful 
purpose in opening drills for seeds as well 
as in breaking up unusually hard soil. 
Often, it can be used with much less exer- 
tion than the common type of hoe. The 
amateur will make no mistake when he 
buys a Warren hoe. 
During the Summer months when the 
principal garden work consists in keeping 
the surface of the ground stirred and the 
insistent weeds cut off, the scuffle hoe is 
found most convenient. It has a flat blade 
resting on the ground and is pushed instead 
of pulled. If the surface soil is not hard, 
the entire garden may be gone over in a 
short time, and with a minimum of muscular 
exertion. There should always be a scuffle 
hoe in a garden not supplied with a wheel 
hoe. and market gardeners who have many 
tools to choose among, commonly prefer it 
above all others for Summer work. 
A comparatively new tool, which the 
professional gardner will no doubt disdain, 
but which is worth the attention of the 
amateur, has a long handle and is shaped 
much like a human hand, with the fingers 
bent and wide spread. With this tool it 
is possible to do much of the work which 
formerly had to be performed, perforce, on 
the hands and knees. It may be pushed 
close up to the growing plants so as to get 
the weeds which could not possibly be 
reached with the hoe or cultivator except 
at the risk of breaking the plants. It really 
is an extra hand and it may be used with- 
out bending the back or soiling one’s fingers, 
it is exceptionally commended to garden 
makers of the gentle sex. 
Few other tools are needed except a 
spade, a fork and an iron rake. It is a 
wise gardener who uses a fork when he 
can and a spade when he must. Much de- 
pends upon the soil; some kinds can be 
handled best with one tool and some with 
another. The iron rake is indispensable, in 
the small garden, at least. With it the soil 
may be smoothed and pulverized better than 
with any other tool. Tt should always be 
used faithfully before a new crop is seeded 
at any time in the course of the season. 
It goes without saying that the wheel cul- 
tivator, to be pushed by the operator, is 
always worth while, unless the garden be 
very small, in which case it really is not 
needed. The wheel cultivator saves both’ 
time and labor, and when it has a number of 
easily adjusted attachments may be used 
under many different conditions. In the 
average kitchen garden the seed drill is 
not needed, for seed sowing with the aid 
of a Warren hoe is a very simple matter. 
But whatever the tools, it is necessary to 
keep them clean and bright and sharp if 
they are to give full satisfaction. Rusty, 
dirty blades will hold the earth and increase 
the labor. A file is a vaUiabk addition to 
the garden arsenal. 
