NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
17 
MAGNOLIA 
FOR SALE: One of the finest summer residences on 
the North Shore. 50,000 ft. of land and house of seve 
enteen rooms and four bath rooms and toilet, all modz 
ern conveniences. The grourds are beautifully laid 
out with plenty of shade, ornamental and fruit trees 
and shrubbery, flower garden and tennis court. 
Apply to J. MAY, MAGNOLIA, MASS. 
TELEPHONE TALKS 
Believing that exact knowledge promotes co operation, the New 
England Telephone and Telegraph Company is publishing a 
series of brief expositions of some phrases of tele- 
phony, for the benefit of itself, and, as it hopes, 
for the benefit of all telephone users. 
‘* TROBLES”’ GREAT AND STALL 
ce . . 
Telephone “‘trouble’’ is sometimes 
disconcerting and always annoying. 
Generally it is unavoidable, though a 
telephone system is no more absolutely 
perfect than any other human _undertak- 
ing, and faults are bound to crop’ out 
once inawhile. What makes telephone 
“*trouble’’ a peculiarly difficult thing for 
the company to deal with, though, is 
that in very many cases there is no way 
of knowing that it exists until it is re- 
ported by the telephone user who runs 
against it. 
The mechanical equipment and out- 
side plant of the telephone system is ex- 
tremely intricate and sensitive. The 
switchboard and its accompanying appa- 
ratus in the central office contain hun- 
dreds, and, in large exchanges, thousands 
of miles of wire; there are thousands, 
and, in the bigger type of modern equip- 
ment, millions of soldered connections; 
each circuit has anywhere from a dozen 
to 500 or 600 ramifications; and some 
of the auxiliary mechanisms are extreme- 
ly delicate in adjustment. Mosttroubles 
arise somewhere in this maze of equip- 
ment—which is fortunate, in one way, 
because a great majority of them are 
thus detected and remedied not only 
without inconveniencing the subscriber, 
but without his even knowing that they 
ever occurred. But some of them, as 
has been said, cannot very well be dis- 
covered by any one but the telephone 
user, since they may appear to the oper- 
ator simply as a subscriber’s failure to 
answer or, if they affect the signaling de- 
vices, for instance, may not appear to 
her at all. 
The sturdy looking pole lines and sol- 
idly built underground system would not 
seem, perhaps, to offer many chances 
for ‘‘trouble.’? As a matter of fact, 
though, they necessarily have many vul 
on 
nerable points. Every time the limb of 
a tree, or any stray object that may have 
been caught in the foliage, touches a tel- 
ephone wire it interferes with transmis- 
sion; and if the interference is sufficient 
it absolutely cuts off service for the time 
being. Yet with the restrictions many 
towns and cities place on trimming trees 
this difficulty is unavoidable. 
Though cables are naturally less sus- 
ceptible to interference than open wire, 
still they cannot be absolutely protected 
whether -they are overhead or under- 
ground. If the lead sheath of a cable is 
pierced by a hole no bigger than a pin 
would make, and moisture gets in, the 
whole bunch of wires enclosed, which 
may number from a dozen to 1200, will 
be put out of business sooner or later. 
The curiosity of squirrels and rats, 
the carelessness of laborers working on 
other ground construction—indeed, a 
score of unpreventable causes—may in- 
stantly ruin atelephone cable containing 
alarge number of circuits. Besides, here 
and there cables must be brought to 
points, and the junctions in cable boxes 
on pole lines or in conduit manholes 
afford other opportunities for things going 
wrong. 
This gives an idea of a few—a very 
few—of the chances for trouble in a 
complicated plant of vast extent. The 
wonder is, really, that interruptions are 
as few as they are. With all the difh- 
culties to be met, the telephone company 
has so organized its work of maintenance 
and repair that the records show that 
even in large telephone centres, where 
the plant is most complicated, the in- 
dividual subscriber’s service is not inter 
rupted, even momentarily, oftener than 
once in four years on the average. 
Whenever there is ““trouble’’ of any 
sort the New England company, for its 
own sake as well as for the sake of its 
BOSTON & MAINE R. R. 
In effect Oct. 7, 1907. 
TRAINS LEAVE MANCHESTER FOR 
BEVERLY, SALEM, LYNN and BOSTON 
624, £727, ||731, 2759, $34, £839, fz9 35, 
\|10 21, £10 34, f11 33a. m. £1243, |1131, f139, 
|2 28, £257, 419, ||451, £519, £642, 1643, 
8 19, £906, ||9 49, £1009 p. m. 
W. MANCHESTER, BEVERLY FARMS, 
PRIDES and MONTSERRAT—£6 24, f7 27, 
7 31, £759, ||834, £839, £935, ||1021, £1034, 
f11 33, a. m. £1243, ||131, £135, 228, £257, 
419, ||451, £519, 1642, ||6 43, 819, £906, 
949, £1009, p, m. 
MAGNOLIA, WEST GLOUCESTER and 
ROCK PORT—47 02, /£7.37, ||907, £9 13, 
f10.14, 1053, f1142,a.m. 7132, £308, 11307, 
f414, f517, ||522, £554, 1622, |\654, f7 20, 
807, ||812, f1021, |/10.37, 11214, p. m. 
TRAINS LEAVE WEST MANCHESTER FOR 
BEVERLY; SALEM, LYNN, and BOSTON 
f6,27, €7 30, ||734, f2802, 837, £842, £2939, 
\|10 24, £10 38, {11 36, a.m. 12.46, |/1 34, f1 38, 
231, £300, £422, 1454, 1522, £645, '\I6 46, 
8 22, £909, 952, 11012, p m. 
BEVERLY FARMS, PRIDES and MONT- 
SERRAT—{6 27, £730, ||7 34, 1802, 8 37, 
{8 42. £939, ||10 24, f10 38, £1136, a.m. f12 46, 
1 34, £138, |/231, £300, £422, ||454, £522, 
£6 45, ||6 46, ||8 22, £9 09, ||9 52, £10 12, p.m. 
MANCHESTER, MAGNOLIA, WEST 
GLOUCESTER, and ROCK PORT—46 58, f7 34, 
1903, £90y, £1010, {1049 11137, a. m. t1 28, 
302, 1303, £410, £512, ||518, £549, 619, 
650, 1716, £804, |/808, fiv18, ” |/1033, 
f12 11, p.m. 
t Daily. f Daily except Sunday. z Boston only 
|| Sunday only. 
Detailed information and time tables may 
be obtained at ticket oflices. 
D, J. FLANDERS, C.M. BURT, 
Pass. Traf. Mer. Gen. Pass. Apt. 
Location of Fire Alarm Boxes 
Manchester, Mass. 
31. Electric Light Station. 
33. Telephone Exchauge Office. 
34, Summer Street, P. H. Boyle’s Stab Je. 
41. Corner Bridge and Pine Sts. 
43. Corner Harbor and Bridge Sts. 
52. Fire Engine House, School St. 
54. Corner School and Lincoln Sts. 
56. School St., opp. the grounds of the 
Essex County Club. 
61. Sea St., H. S. Chase’s House. 
62. Corner Beach and Masconomo Sts, 
64. ‘Lobster Cove.” 
Two Blasts, all out or under control. 
Three Blasts, extra call. 
Directions for giving an alarm: Break the 
glass, turn the key and open the door, pull 
the hook down ounce and let go. 
JAMES HOARE, Chief, 
GEORGE S. SINNICKS, 
CLARENCE W. MORGAN, 
Engineers of Fire Department 
22 at 7.45 a.m., no school at John Price 
Primary School; 10. 45.a.m., one session. 
22 at 8.00a.m., no school at any of the 
buildings; 11.00a.m., one session. 
subscribers, is anxious to get right after 
it. The longer ‘“‘trouble’’ exists, the 
more difficult and expensive it is to repair 
and the greater the loss of business to 
the company. So itis a distinct favor 
to the New England company to have 
““trouble’’ reported promptly, and for 
making such reports the manager of any 
exchange may be called .without charge 
from any subscriber’s “‘station’’ or from 
any public pay station. 
