88 
House Garden 
The bedside house phone 
with the dial system is a 
simple, private and- easily 
managed method of intimate 
conitnunication with servants 
or other members of the 
family 
V ' 1 
'■ /A 
For a desk or in the library, 
one may use the Continental 
type of telephone set in which 
receiver and transmitter are 
in one piece. These also are 
equipped with dials 
In the kitchen, the wall set 
is more convenient because, 
occupying only a little space, 
it can be placed out of the way 
of the worker and yet be con¬ 
venient to reach 
TALKING POINTS 
IN THE HO M E 
The Convenience of 
The Telephone 
ETHEL R. PEYSER 
T here seems always to be some bar¬ 
rier between real modernity and con¬ 
venience existing even in the most up-to- 
date dwelling places. We do not mean that 
there are not homes today with the most 
modern conveniences, but rather that there 
are many homes in which the final crown 
could be placed and where it is not at 
present. 
In the matter of inter-room communica¬ 
tions, we think that we have seen more 
inconvenience than in any one department 
in the “big” house. We ourselves have 
carefully used the bell calling the maid or 
the bell calling the pantry and have never 
achieved either—if answering our summons 
was proof of our ringing having been heard. 
So have we starved or gone improperly 
booted, needing help and getting none. 
But worse still it is for madam or master 
who lives continually in the big house with 
inadequate means of communication be¬ 
tween the rooms of the house itself, without 
means to talk with chauffeur, gardener, 
dairy man, groom, chef, cook, laundress, 
or what not. Sometimes this condition is 
mitigated by an old-fashioned announcer 
and bell or by an inadequate two station 
telephone system which is exceedingly 
choosy and works only when it feels talka¬ 
tive instead of when you do! 
Therefore, considering the difficulties of 
this communicating darkness, we have 
thought it fitting to tell you something of 
the practical systems with which to tie up 
your home so that every one and anyone 
can talk to.each and every room or house 
department and be perfectly sure (if the 
installation be made right) that the tele¬ 
phone will work. 
In the main there are two large classes of 
inter-communicating telephones: one known 
as a cable system and the other as the auto¬ 
matic (and often the selector). You proba¬ 
bly are familiar with the outward appear¬ 
ances of the multiple cable, which confronts 
you often in the push button apartment, 
where you push a button and then talk up 
stairs. Sometimes you can hear, sometimes 
you can talk, but often you can do neither 
in the proper sequence. This is not always 
due to the telephone by any means, but to 
the way some cheap contractor has con¬ 
trived to spoil its chances by a bad installa¬ 
tion. 
Well, as we were saying, the various push 
button systems come under this head. In 
them, every station is its own switchboard 
and you make your own connections by 
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