12 NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
¥ 
i Our Weekly Letter From 3 i 
ss = =: Washington i 
wa cael 
“- ee 
ae ~ Telephone Talks 
Affairs in Nicaragua. 
By F. J. Dyer. 
A “‘prompt’’ answer turneth away 
Wrath. You know how you feel when 
you are kept waiting at the telephone. 
Remember: Example ts better than 
precept. ; 
(Special to the North Shore Breeze) 
Washington, Oct. 12.—Very large- 
ly through the consistent and con- 
servative policy of the Department 
of State of the United States, the 
war in Nicaragua has been brought 
to an end and peace reigns in one of 
the richest portions of the American 
continent. The new Government of 
Nicaragua is going ahead with its 
plans to heal the scars of internecine 
strife and rehabilitate the finances 
and commerce of the country. In 
this it has the heartiest support of 
the Government of the United 
States, which is deeply interested in 
the fortunes of the many Americans 
who have invested sums aggregat- 
ing millions of dollars in that coun- 
try. 
Sensational stories have come out 
of Nicaragua regarding the treat- 
ment of American citizens there in 
the past. It is declared by the State 
Department that many of these re- 
ports have been entirely without 
foundation. Among those who have 
claimed American citizenship in the 
Southern Republic have been some 
who were not welcome at home— 
renegades of one sort or another; 
many of them colored men of no 
standing or reputation, although 
there are colored citizens of the 
United States in Nicaragua who 
have the respect and confidence of 
the people among whom they now 
live. It has been possible for any 
man claiming to be an American 
citizen to go to the Legation and file 
affidavits regarding alleged brutal 
outrages on his person or property. 
Travelers in the country have been 
induced to look up these affidavits, 
which often are of a character to 
make a free-born citizen’s blood boil 
at the treatment described. Such 
stories have been retailed in this 
country, and some have thought that 
the State Department has been re- 
miss: in looking after the interests 
and welfare of Americans in the 
Spanish-American Republic. 
Government Economies. 
The Administration has not aban- 
doned its determination to make 
further economies in the conduct of 
the public business. The sessions of 
the Cabinet held during the latter 
part of September at the White 
House were devoted almost wholly 
summons. 
ical signal. 
speak to you.’’ 
recognize this request. 
ties 
other callers. 
and annoyance to yourself. 
“No One on the Line” 
It has been pointed out that there are three parties to a 
telephone conversation, namely, the person calling, the opera- 
tor, and, last but not least, the person called. 
The operator has no authority to eompel an answer to her 
She simply forwards to your telephone a mechan- 
Interpreted, this means ‘‘Some one desires to 
It remains for you, the person called, to 
There are two strong reasons why you should answer 
promptly, and both vitally concern you: 
1. If you are slow in answering, the caller may 
hang up the telephone and assume that you are not 
accessible. Later, if you answer at your leisure, the 
operator can vouchsafe no information save that 
‘‘there is no one on the line.’’? Who called you? The 
operator probably does not know. Any operator in 
your exchange may have called you, rather than the 
operator specially assigned to answer your calls. 
2. From the moment the operator calling you 
‘“plugs in’’ on your line until she ceases her effort to 
attract your attention, your line is ‘‘busy’’ to all 
If you are dilatory, therefore, you are obstructing your own 
service. You are also causing disappointment to your ealler 
NEW ENGLAND TELEPHONE 
AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY. 
to considering the budgets for the 
various departments and reducing 
estimates to the lowest possible fig- 
ures consistent with good service. 
The commission appointed to probe 
into the manner of conducting the 
various departments more in line 
with the best modern business prac- 
tices expects to report how large sav- 
ings can be made. Many seemingly 
small wastes will be eliminated, and 
the resulting economies will mount 
into large totals. 
has been found that the paper on 
which bank notes and silver and 
gold certificates are printed need 
not be handled so often, and a num- 
ber of clerks assigned to that work 
can be assigned to something else at - 
For instance, it 
a considerable saving. It is prob- 
able that the size of the notes will 
be reduced, and that saving will also 
be well worth considering. Every 
publisher knows that to cut the 
