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BELL iC TELEPHONE QUARTERLY

VOLUME VIII, 1929

INFORMATION DEPARTMENT

AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY

195 Broadway, New York

uound Periodical

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694004

BELL TELEPHONE QUARTERL^

VOLUME VUl J92i9^.[ V ', ..!

TABLE OF CONTENTS JANUARY, 1929

Communication, by Walter 8. Gifford 1

Standardization in the Bell System, by H. 8. bsborne . . . . 9 1800-Pair Cable becomes a Bell System Standard, by F. L.

Rhodes 25

Counterless Business Offices, by R. 8. Rankin ............. 30

1928 — An Economic Review and Outlook, by F. E. Richter . . 33 The Key-Town Plan of Selling by Telephone, by Richard

Whitcomb 47

Notes on Recent Occurrences ' 59

Abstracts of Recent Technical Papers from Bell System Sources 74

Organization Changes 86

APRIL, 1929

The Dial Office "Cutover," by A. E. VanHagan 95

Seven Billion Toll Rates IO7

Long Toll Cable Construction and Maintenance, by L. ' N.

8toskopf 215

An Index of General Business Activity, by P. J. Weber '. '. . . 124

Standardization in the Bell System— II, by H. 8. Osborne . . 132

Abstracts of Recent Technical Papers from Bell System Sources 153

Notes on Recent Ocurrences 163

Organization Changes ...!... 172

JULY, 1929

Extension of Telephone Service to Ships at Sea, by Lloyd Es-

penschied and William Wilson I75

Telephone Typewriters and Auxiliary Arrangements, by R. D.

Parker jgj

An Interview with President W. S. Gifford ................ 195

Bell System Buildings— An Interpretation, bv R. 8. Coe ... 201

World's Telephone Statistics ' 218

Abstracts of Recent Technical Papers from Bell System Sources 231 Notes on Recent Occurrences 244

OCTOBER, 1929

Short Waves and Long Waves in Transatlantic Radio Teleph- ony, by Ralph Bown 253

The Straight-Line Depreciation Accounting Practice of Tele- phone Companies in the United States, by A. B. Crunden

and D. R. Belcher 259

Installation of New Types of Buried Toll Cable . . . ' . . . . . . . . 296

Long Distance Telephony in Europe, by R. W. King 305

1929 Convertible Bond Offer of the American Telephone and

Telegraph Company, by H. Blair-8mith 316

Listening Device Aids in Combating the Fruit Fly Pest in

Florida, by D. G. Blattner 328

Abstracts of Recent Technical Papers from Bell System Sources 334 Notes on Recent Occurrences ^ 344

Bell Telephone Quarterly

A MEDIUM OF SUGGESTION AND A RECORD OF PROGRESS

Published quarterly for the Bell System by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company

Subtcription, $1.50 per year, in United States and Canada; tingle copies, SOjcenU

Address all communications to

INFORMATION DEPARTMENT AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY

195 Broadway, New York

VoL VIII JANUARY, 1929 No. 1

Communicalion

Address of Walter S. Gifford, President of American

Telephone and Telegraph Company. Before the

Conference of Major Industries New York,

October 24, 1928.

FROM the earliest civilizations of which we have record until well after the formation of the United States the commTinication art remained practically the same. It depended essentially on the speed of man or horse and sailboat, with here and there the limited use of beacon and smoke signals or sema- phores. Then suddenly, early in the last century, came a sudden and dramatic change.

Let me read to you a sentence or two from that de- lightful New York diarist, Philip Hone. On June 2, 1841, he writes:

"At eleven o'clock yesterday the President sent in his message to Congress. The rapidity with which the message was brought on by the railroad exceeds all precedent; it absolutely seems like flying. It left Washington at three minutes before twelve o'clock

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Bell Telephone Quarterly

noon and was in the City of New York at half-past nine last evening. ' '

Five years later Hone was presiding over the Whig convention at Utica to nominate a candidate for gov- ernor of New York. This is what he records in his diary :

" 'Magnetic telegraph.' Strange and wonderful discovery which has made the 'swift-winged lightning' man's messenger, an- nihilated all space and tied the two ends of a continent in a knot ! The whole extent of the newly discovered phenomenon was never made so apparent to me as on the day of the meeting of the con- vention ; during the hour of adjournment to dinner a message was sent by telegraph to Mr. Fillmore at Buffalo. The answer came immediately that *Mr. Fillmore was not in his office, and could not be found.' Soon after, another communication was received, authorizing the withdrawal of his name. . . . This was handed to me on my taking the chair, and had travelled 470 miles during our short recess of an hour."

When Hone recorded the increasing speed of com- munication by train he recorded a change in the degree of speed, but when he recorded the use of the electric telegraph he recorded a change in kind— the basis of a new civilization— one based on instantaneous communi- cation in politics, commerce, and the social contacts of life. Electrical communication is one foundation of the complete alteration in the habits of mankind, for without rapid communications neither the spread of modern knowledge nor the control and organization of modern industry would be possible. Control of time is one of the essentials that diiferentiate our civilization from any that preceded and modern conmiunication gives to the ordinary man almost unlimited facilities for the control of tune and space and the interchange of ideas.

Today, an individual located practically anywhere in the United States has at his command day and night —Sundays and holidays included— instrumentalities for immediate intercommunication with almost any one anywhere in the civilized world. On an average, in less

[2]

Communication

than a minute he can call up and talk by telephone with any one in his community, which means in a community the size of New York that he can almost instantly reach any one of one and one-half million telephones and that means several million people. In less than five min- utes, in most cases, he can talk by telephone with prac- tically any one of 19 million telephones wherever lo- cated in the United States, and their location is such that he can reach over those telephones nearly any one in the whole country. In addition, he can, if he has oc- casion to do so, talk to any of over 7 million foreign tel- ephones which means that he can reach 80 percent of the telephones in the world. Within the reach of his voice are Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Den- mark, Norway, Sweden and Danzig. He can, over the same instrmnent and without moving out of his seat, send a message— a telegram, cable or radiogram— to anybody anw^^here in the United States or, for that matter, practically any^vhere in the civilized world, in- cluding ships at sea. He can send money by telegraph. If he lives in New York or in one of several other larger cities in the United States, he can, where ab- solute accuracy is paramount or design important, speed a facsimile message or a picture by wire to dis- tant cities of the United States. If, for example, he is distant from home and requires funds, his bank may arrange to extend unlimited credit and even signatures and identifying photographs by wire. He may rush a power of attorney from Boston to Atlanta for use this afternoon or send a bond circular in facsimile and have it distributed in Los Angeles in a few minutes. If his business is such that it has branch offices in several cit- ies, they may be permanently linked by private tele- phone or telegraph circuits of which he has exclusive use, with the result that he may carry on his business as though his branch houses were all located within a city block. The messages that he sends from one

[3]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

branch to another can, if desired, be sent over a type- writer so that a message typed in his office will be typed simidtaneousl}^ in his branch office or offices. He may hold conferences by telephone at which the groups of people conferring are located in different parts of the country.

His telephone conversations are almost instant, and his written messages— telegrams, cables or radiograms, will usually be delivered and even replies received within a very short time— at the most it is a matter of hours. Obviously, this has made it possible to dis- tribute the parts of an industry geographically so that they may be carried on most effectively without losing centralized management.

So far I have been speaking of one individual's get- ting in touch with another, but communication has also a general as well as an individual aspect. An event of importance happening any^vhere in the world is known inmiediately throughout the United States and pub- lished promptly in the newspapers. The vast network of press wires that distributes this information through- out the country is an essential part of our business, gov- ernmental and social life. We are even so eager for speed that in some cases we do not wait for newspapers but we stand at a tape which records electrical impulses sent over a wire and gives us market quotations.

Not so long ago men cried their wares in the streets reaching customers perhaps a block away. Now men cry their wares over the radio reaching customers across a continent. Millions of people listen in their homes to the news, to good music, to the speeches of political leaders and, incidentally, are reminded of products of national distribution. In a very short time this com- bination has become an essential part of the social and commercial life of the nation.

A few years ago a speaker's audience was limited by the range of his voice. Thanks to the microphone and loud speakers, a man can now talk to an audience of

[4]

Communication

100,000 or more people immediately before him, and his words carried over wires to broadcasting stations and spread through the air reach millions more. Where the American people once judged the candidates for public office largely by rmnor, reputation and reported state- ment, they are now able to weigh the candidate's actual words and the very tones of his voice.

Moreover, it is scientifically possible that these mil- lions more scattered over the coimtry might see the speaker in action, for the development of television makes it possible not only to hear but to see at a dis- tance. I said purposely that this was scientifically pos- sible. It is not yet commercially practical and often it takes a long period to change scientifically possible into commercially useful. In this case the road ahead may well be long and hard.

Radio has been used for more than twenty years for intercommunication. The advent of radio broadcast- ing, however, would seem to have resulted in confusion in the public mind about the relation of radio and wires. The public's attention, instead of being directed toward the satisfactory and prompt transmission of communi- cations, has been focused on the means by which such transmission is achieved. Those of us in the business of communication have always been engaged in trying to find and employ the best and most economical means and to extend its range. From its very nature, radio is not and cannot be a substitute for intercommunication by wire. Radio, however, has been and will continue to be of great importance. It has widened the range of communications. It is useful in communicating long distances over large bodies of water, it is of inestimable worth in the broadcasting of news, music and entertain- ment, and it makes possible communication where wires cannot be used, such as with ships and aeroplanes. It would be unfortunate if the idea should become crys- tallized that radio and wires, broadly speaking, are com- petitive. They are ess"entially complementary, and

[5]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

must be so considered if we are to have the best and cheapest intercommunication.

Progress in conununications has been due in large part to organized research undertaken by the communi- cations industry in this country. From such organized effort have come such recent extensions of the useful- ness of communication as rapid long distance tel- ephony; the dial telephone for large cities— a develop- ment which a few years ago even the most astute engi- neers thought beyond the bounds of the attainable; multiplex telephony and telegraphy based on frequency separation— a development which has made one circuit do the work of many; the sending of pictures by wire and radio; high-speed loaded submarine telegraph ca- bles; deep-sea telephone cables; practically all of the present day technique of radio, not to mention collateral developments such as the orthophonic victrola, the talk- ing movie, devices for measuring deafness and ameli- orating its effects, and television apparatus.

By refinements and new applications of the art we shall extend the services of rapid communication to more and more people and make its services more and more useful to those who already have them. And this X)rocess happily is not haphazard. It is not dependent upon luck. Continued improvement is guaranteed by systematic research and development.

Already on the basis of present scientific knowledge, except for the prohibitive cost, every person in the world— whether on land, sea or in the air— could be brought into instantaneous intercommunication. All the millions of the world's population are scientifically within sight and sound of each other. But even if universal, world-wide, instantaneous communication were commercially practical there remain two obstacles. One is the backward state of part of the world 's popula- tion to whom rapid comnmnication is of little value since they have little to communicate, and the other is the fact that while half the world is blessed with

[6]

Communication

the light of day the other half is asleep. Modern civ- ilization may in time stir the backward races to wants and abilities that will make them need electrical com- munication, but so far as I am aware, not even the re- search staffs have the temerity to tackle the problem of making the sun shine on both sides of the world at once.

This continued spread of rapid communications has already had a marked effect upon mankind. The ulti- mate economic, social and political results of the pro- gressive elimination of time and distance in communi- cation will be of profound importance.

In the field of industry, it vastly adds to the possi- bilities of increased production with less labor, thus tending toward a constantly better standard of li^ang for all. In its social aspects it increases the extent of an individual's interests and contacts with others and adds to the richness and enjoyment of life. In its po- litical aspects it tends toward a better and clearer un- derstanding that makes for permanent peace.

Tlie comnmnications industry, although not the only agency, is a most important one in developing a world civilization tending to be independent of environ- m.ent and tolerant of differences of race and culture. Already the products and inventions of the whole world and the thoughts and experiences of all civilized people are almost immediately brought within the knowledge of all. Never before has the world of men been chang- ing so rapidly as now. In considerable part because electrical communications have been developed in west- ern civilization, that civilization is spreading through- out the world for good or bad more rapidly than any civilization in history has ever spread before. From the fact that the civilized world is becoming one large neighborhood should result the satisfaction that comes from co-operation rather than the misery that comes from conflict.

Conmiunication, however crude, has always been of service to mankind. From the earliest days the bearer

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Bell Telephone Quarterly

of messages has had the spirit of the Message to Garcia. The pony express rider would risk his life to get through. That spirit is still in the profession of com- munications. And it should be now more than ever, for this civilization of ours depends upon fast and certain communication as no other has before it. No people could harness the powers of nature to serve them as we have unless they, at the same time, organized men to manage them. This modern organization of men, this industrial society of ours, could not exist without elec- trical conmiunication. The telegraph handles about 1,000,000 messages a day, and the telephones of the United States 75,000,000 a day. The precision of mod- ern business requires these rapid services. The en- largement of men's capacities is dependent on the num- ber of their fellows with whom they can have contact. Without electrical communication their number would not be large enough to make possible our present civili- zation.

Electrical communication is more highly developed in the United States than in any other country. The communication industry takes pride in the service it renders the nation. But that pride does not prevent recognition of the conditions which have made its rapid — its revolutionary— growth possible. Those condi- tions consist of a public competent and eager to use any facility that is offered, and a political system ca- pable of evolving the purely American system of reg- ulatory conunissions which protect the public's interest but leave to the companies initiative and freedom of action to manage to the best of their abilities the serv- ices they render the public.

[8]

Standardization in the Bell System

Introductory Note

IN connection with a comprehensive study of in- dustrial standardization, the National Industrial Conference Board recently requested a description of the processes of standardization in the Bell System and the results obtained.

Such a description, of course, bears upon the activi- ties of all parts of the Bell System and therefore a statement was prepared through the co-operation of representatives of the various general departments of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, the Bell Telephone Laboratories, and the Western Electric Company.

With the permission of the National Industrial Conference Board the substance of the paper thus pre- pared will be published in the Bell Telephone Quar- terly. The first part is given below and the rest will follow in a later issue.

In view of the large number of people who assisted in the preparation of this statement it is hardly prac- ticable to make specific acknowledgment to all con- tributors, but the undersigned, who acted as editor, washes to acknowledge particularly the co-o]Deration of Mr. S. P. Grace, Bell Telephone Laboratories; Mr. T. K. Stevenson and Mr. F. Clark, Western Electric Com- pany; and Mr. F. L. Rhodes, Development and Re- search Department, American Telephone and Tele- graph Company.

H. S. Osborne.

General Statement

The ideal and aim of the BeU System, as regards telephone service, is ''A telephone service for the na- tion, so far as hmnanly possible free from imperfec-

[9]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

tions, errors or delays, and enabling at all times anyone an}^vhere to pick up a telephone and talk to anyone else anywhere else, clearly, quickly and at a reasonable cost."

In order that it may most effectively work toward this ideal, the Bell System has been organized to do practically everything connected with giving such a telephone service, from the purchase of raw materials to the actual rendering of the service. Through the various companies and departments which constitute the System it does fundamental research work, inves- tigates operating problems and develops operating methods, designs new apparatus to take advantage of the results of the research work and investigations, manufactures the apparatus in quantity, installs it as needed to meet service requirements, and operates and gives service with the plant so provided, using the methods so developed.

With this organization it is, of course, obvious that with far-sighted management the Bell System should seek to make the greatest possible use of standards for its plant and practices, and should seek also to have the nmnber of different standards as small as is con- sistent with meeting adequately the service require- ments of the System, in order to obtain the advantages in both service and economy which result. Standard- ization is therefore one of the firm bases on which the Bell System is built and is to a large extent responsible for the results which have been obtained.

Standardization in the Bell System is more than a means of obtaining economy and efficiency. It is es- sential to the best service and the most rapid progress. Standards are developed as the result of the accumu- lated experience of the operating companies and of the work of several thousand people at headquarters whose entire time is devoted to improvements. The results of the analysis of the operating experience and of the general investigations, researches, developments and

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standardisation in the Bell System

designs of the headquarters groups, crystallized in the form of operating practices, methods, types of appa- ratus and of conmiunication systems, are made avail- able at once to the operating telephone companies of the System throughout the country, with information re- garding their desirable field of use. These types of apparatus, conmiunication systems, methods and prac- tices thereby become standards for the Bell System by virtue of the fact that they represent the outcome of adequate studies of the best way to meet a ty-pe of situa- tion, and as such they are adopted by the operating com- panies and put into use to the extent that they are needed under the different conditions of different com- panies. In some cases the new standards as developed cover a new field of operating requirements or present the means for doing something which could not be done before. In many cases the new standards replace exist- ing standards due to advances in the art, improvements in technique or changes in operating requirements. Standardization is therefore not a static thing but is dynamic, involving a continuous procession of new standards to meet new conditions or to meet old condi- tions better than was heretofore possible, and the con- sequent dropping of old standards.

In the Bell System the standardizing functions are distributed through various companies and depart- ments.

The headquarters' forces, consisting of the general departments of the A. T. & T. Co. and the Bell Tele- phone Laboratories, are as noted above devoted to working out and standardizing improvements in tele- phone plant, methods, and operating practices covering the entire field of telephone work. This includes fun- damental research work, the development, design and specification of apparatus and of systems of communi- cation, the development of standard methods of test, construction and maintenance practices, methods of

[11]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

handling telephone traffic, business methods and pro- visions for safety and health.

The Western Electric Company, which manufac- tures, purchases, and distributes for the Bell System, is, of course, very much concerned with standardization. A great deal of its manufacturing work consists in the quantity production of standardized products, and this facilitates the use of standardized manufacturing proc- esses. In the stocking and distribution of apparatus and materials, standardized methods have been highly developed. This is also true in the installation of cen- tral office equipment, which is largely carried out by the Western Electric Company.

The telephone plant throughout the country is oper- ated by a group of 24 Associated Operating Companies. Through the close co-operation between these com- panies and the headquarters' forces, full advantage is taken of their field experience in the determination and standardization of the best methods and practices in all matters bearing on the quality of the telephone serv- ice, including the design, construction and operation of plant, business methods and provisions for safety and for the health of employees.

To a large extent the standardizing work of the Bell System deals with matters peculiar to its own problems and is carried on within the System. The various parts of the Bell System are, however, taking very active part in co-operation with numerous national organizations engaged in standardizing work, in the development of standards which have a broader application than within the Bell System itself.

The various activities indicated in the foregoing are briefly discussed in the following pages.

Standaedization in the Design of Telephone Plant

The nature of the telephone business is such that the telephone system offers a very good example of the ad- vantages of standardization of plant and equipment.

[12]

Standardisation in the Bell System

Telephone plant installed everywhere throughout the country must be such as to give satisfactory service when operated in connection with apparatus in any other part of the country. The plant of the telephone system is necessarily very complex in view of the com- plicated technical functions which it must successfully perform, the intricacy of the switching operations re- quired for the rapid establishment of a connection be- tween any two telephones in the country, and the com- plexity of the electrical transformations necessary to transmit and reproduce speech clearly between these telephones.

The complexity of the telephone plant and the num- ber of types of apparatus and material which would be required would be very greatly multiplied if there were not a high degree of standardization for all parts of the telephone plant. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that the telephone service of today could not be given without this high degree of standardization.

As a result of standardization the telephone plant includes very large numbers of identical imits of ap- paratus. This, of course, has numerous advantages. The use of very large nimibers of standard types of ap- paratus, circuits and equipment results in large econ- omies in production. For examj)le, about 1,500,000 re- ceivers and 1,500,000 telephone transmitters, each of a single type, are produced in a year. Also, about 2,500,- 000 relays of the "E" type, differing only in the details of assembly of standard piece parts, are produced an- nually, and of these about 239,000 are of one code num- ber and 232,000 of another code number, the relays of a given code number being identical. Without stand- ardization these same quantities would be distributed between a large nimiber of different types with cor- respondingly greater costs. The advantages of using in the telephone plant large numbers of identical pieces of apparatus, of course, extend bej^ond production and

[13]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

include stocking, construction, maintenance and opera- tion.

In all standardization of apparatus, interchange- ability lias always been a prime consideration. This is important from the standpoint of dimensions; for ex- ample, transmitters are so designed as to fit into any mounting even though made a good many years apart. In a broader sense, considerations of interchangeability Jead to the design of new standards in such a way as to fit into existing plant with the minimum possible change in the other items of the plant. This is of great im- portance, for example, in the design of new circuits which must function properly with existing telephone plant both in the transmission of speech and in the operation of signals associated with the switching equipment.

In view of the large degree of standardization of the present telej)hone i^lant, the standardization work does not consist primarily in the sunplification of pres- ent practices but to a large extent in the development of new standard apparatus or materials to replace or supplement existing standards.

These new standards mav have their oriajin in the development of new operating requirements or condi- tions, which are continuously reviewed by the studies of the general departments of the A. T. & T. Company in co-operation with the operating companies. An il- lustration of this type of origin is given by dial switch- ing equipment for very large cities, the development of which was undertaken as the result of fundamental studies showing that the conditions in large cities are becoming progressively less favorable to manual and more favorable to dial operation.

Or the new standards may develop from an inven- tion or a group of inventions. An example of this is a group of inventions bearing on the increase in range of telephone transmission, which opened the w^ay to the clear transmission of speech over very long cable cir-

[14]

standardization in the Bell Sjjsfem

cuits free from interruption by storm whereas previ- ously the voice transmission was possible through cable only over relatively short distances. This is resulting in the rapid development of a nation-wide system of toll cables to a large extent replacing for new work the previous types of toll circuits.

Again the new standards may arise from the re- sults of fundamental research work making possible new kinds of apparatus or developing new types of ma- terials as illustrated by the development of permalloy, a new alloy having very extraordinary magnetic prop- erties. This new material has been applied in the de- sign of inductance coils and of relays which can thus be made with a relatively small amount of magnetic ma- terial giving lower cost or with improved operating characteristics.

In any of these cases standardization is the final step in the process of development which is carried out by the headquarters departments, including the general departments of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company and the Bell Telephone Laboratories. The development is based upon studies of the needs of the operating companies and investigations of the possi- bilities of new inventions, and it results in the complete specification of the new type of apparatus or system of conununication designed to best meet the end in view.

The proposed new standards are not only carefully scrutinized as to design but are given extensive labora- tory tests, and most often, in addition, trials under ac- tual service conditions before being standardized. With satisfactory results from these trials the appa- ratus is standardized by the A. T. & T. Co. and general information regarding it and its field of use issued to all of the Associated Companies. The new standard is thereupon adopted by each Associated Company for use to the extent that conditions in its territory present a proper field for its use.

Concurrent with the standardization of the new type

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Bell Telephone Quarterly

of apparatus, the Bell Telephone Laboratories provide to the Western Electric Company standard specifica- tions covering the description and performance of the apparatus, including manufacturing tests and inspec- tions. It is the purpose of these specifications to give adequate information to the manufacturer regarding the device and regarding the performance requirements which it must meet when completed, but not to specify- in detail the process of manufacture. This is done by the manufacturing organization itself, which standard- izes for each type of apparatus the methods to be fol- lowed in its production.

A great deal of attention has been given to the de- sign of apparatus in such a way that a single piece part can be used in a large number of different apparatus units. By this means, engineering and production costs are greatly reduced through the reduction in the mmiber of parts and the resulting large quantity pro- duction of as few standardized parts as possible.

One interesting example of this standardization of piece parts is in connection with keys, that is, hand op- erated switches. Keys are used in connection with tele- phone switchboards in large quantities and are required, to perform a very wide variety of switching functions. This leads to the necessity for a large number of differ- ent types of keys. However, these keys have been so designed that certain parts are used interchangeably in many different types of keys. Because of this fact, production of such parts is very high and the keys themselves can be manufactured on an economical basis even though the demand for some particular combina- tions of parts may be small. A similar illustration is given in the design of relays, which are electrically operated switches.

A great deal has been accomplished in the standard- ization of the technical information about new appa- ratus standards. Drawings, for example, covering standardized equipment or apparatus are made up in

[16]

Standardization in the Bell Sj/stem

standard size and form. It has been found that 13 sizes are sufficient to meet the requirements of all but the most unusual situations.

Not only are the drawings standard in size and form, but it is found possible to use identically the same draw- ing in different parts of the organization, thus avoid- ing duplication of effort. Drawings covering the de- sign of new apparatus made up by the Laboratories are sent to the Western Electric Company or other man- ufacturers involved and where applicable used by them for manufacture. These same drawings are furnished to the Associated Companies to inform them of the newly standardized apparatus and used by these com- panies in their technical work.

In connection with the standard drawings very large savings are made by the use of standard symbols rep- resenting pieces of telephone apparatus. These sym- bols are arranged in a drafting dictionary, known as the Circuit Convention Handbook, which is used by draftsmen and engineers in preparing circuit drawings. It contains conventional diagrams for all the standard types of apparatus now in use. Each of the conven- tions, of which there are thousands, is made up to in- dicate the essential functions of the piece of equipment as it affects the circuit, without showing the mechanics of the design of the apparatus involved. It also covers the abbreviations which are normally used on circuit drawings.

As an example of the effect of standardization in this particular. Figures 1 and 2 are of interest. Fig- ure 1 is a drawing of a simple cord circuit made in 1889. Figure 2 shows how the drawing of the same circuit would be made today. The great reduction in labor of drafting and much greater ease of interpretation of the drawing are evident.

Of the above conventions those which are in general use by all telephone manufacturers are in process of

[17]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

approval by the American Engineering Standards Committee as American standards, thus assuring uni- formity of these conventions, not only within the Bell System but among telephone manufacturers outside the System as well.

~T

Generator

JL

50 ohms

Testing Plug

Fig. 1

The general plan outlined above for drawings is also used for the distribution of specifications for equip- ment design. Specifications prepared by the headquar- ters' forces are distributed to both the manufacturing and the operating branches of the organization. These

[18]

Standardization in the Bell System

specifications are made uniform in style and size to fa- cilitate their use and their filing.

Fig. 2

Specific Examples of Standardization of Telephone

Plant

It is, of course, impracticable within a limited space, to indicate all of the important items of standardiza- tion in the telephone plant. HoAvever, in addition to the illustrations used in connection with the foregoing general discussion, a few of the most outstanding re- sults are briefly outlined below.

In local manual switchboard equipments, it is found possible to meet the widely varied demands of the Bell System with only five standard types of switchboard, three designed for common battery offices and two for magneto offices. This means that while the actual amounts of equipment required naturally vary with the size and local conditions of the office, the switchboard

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Bell Telephone Quarterly

in each case can be made up of assemblies of standard units corresponding to one of these five standard types.

In dial equipment the standardization is still greater. Here again there must, of course, be differ- ences in the amount of eqviipment in different offices and also differences in certain items of the equipment. Beyond this, however, there are in use in the Bell Sys- tem essentially only two different types of dial machine equipment. One, the panel type, is designed to meet the requirements for the larger cities, each of which has a relatively large number of offices which must be interconnected by means of the dial equipment. The other type of equipment, the step-by-step, is designed for use in the smaller cities and toAvns where a single office or a relatively small nmnber of offices is adequate to provide present and prospective telephone service.

Apart from the telephone hand set which is just beginning to come into use, there are made for general use for subscribers only one type of receiver and one type of transmitter, although a small number of addi- tional types are made for a fraction of a percent of special cases. These instruments, combined with as- sociated ringing and auxiliary equipment, form tele- phone sets, some of which are desk stands and some of which are wall sets. It is found, however, that the needs of the country can be supplied with only 23 types of sets, including both those for use with dial and those for use with manual switching equipments, and includ- ing the arrangements necessitated by different types of service, as individual line, two party, four party, coin box, etc.

In the installation of telephone sets on subscribers' premises, numerous requests are received for wiring plans by which telephones may be switched from one line to another, special ringing arrangements may be provided, and extension stations may be associated with the line. The extent to which simplification in practice may be advantageous is illustrated by the results from

[20]

Standardization in the Bell System

a single operating company of a review some time ago of their wiring plans. In this one company it was found that whereas 540 different plans were in use, the requirements could be met by 28 standard plans, and of these 28, 16 took care of all but a few exceptional cases.

In the preservative treatment of poles, while a very large number of types of treatment have been experi- mented with, two types have been standardized for gen- eral use. One is an overall treatment for pine poles, Avhich require treatment for the parts exposed to the air as well for the parts in the ground. The other is a single type of butt treatment for other woods such that preservative treatment of only the part of the pole which is in the ground is adequate.

With the exception of a few special cases, the re- quirements of the Bell System are met by two types of standard crossarms, one designed for poles carr^T-Ug only telephone circuits and the other designed for poles carrying both telephone circuits and conductors of other wire using companies.

A large percentage of the conductors in the tele- phone system are in cables placed in underground con- duit. It is found that approximately 90 percent of the conduit is properly covered by six different types of vit- rified clay, differing only in the niunbers of ducts which constitute the unit.

There has been a high degree of standardization of the sizes of copper wire used for telephone conductors. 97 percent of the open wire (that is, wire strung on in- sulators) added to the plant at the present time is made up of three sizes, respectively, 104, 128 and 165 mils in diameter. Insulated wires in cables are also selected from a limited number of gauges. For example, long toll cables are made up practically entirely of two gauges, 16 and 19 B. & S. gauge. The cables for local distribution circuits are more than half of a single gauge, 24 B. & S., and about 95 percent are of one of three gauges, 24, 22 and 19 B. & S.

[21]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

It lias been possible to do a great deal in developing standards covering the best methods for the design and layout of tele]Dhone plant. A good example of this is given in the layout and arrangement of telephone ap- paratus in central offices. It is necessary each year to build about a hundred telephone buildngs to house ad- ditional equipment. While the external appearance of the building is adapted in each case to the neighborhood in which it is placed, the dunensions and general ar- rangement can in most cases best be determined by using one of a limited number of standard arrange- ments. This makes possible the use of standard as- sembled equipment units, of standard detailed floor plans and equipment engineering specifications and leads to economy and speed of construction. It also insures that carefully worked out arrangements, de- signed to give best operating results and provide great- est flexibility for future growth, are used for all cases in which they are suitable.

Another example of this type of standardization is presented by toll circuits. If each toll circuit were de- signed individually to meet exactly the requirements as regards efficiency for good transmission in the par- ticular case, the result would be that in general each small group of toll circuits between t^^'O points would differ in design from every other group of toll circuits between any other two points. This would result in tens of thousands of different kinds of toll facilities, each designed for a specific use only and would result in endless confusion and lack of practicability. In- stead of following this plan, the types of toll circuit for new construction are limited to a very small num- ber including onh^ three types for open wire circuits and from four to six types for toll cable circuits. In the design of any given circuit choice is made from this limited nmnber of types of facilities, selecting one which combined with suitable ap^Daratus will give not less than the required transmission efficiency in the

[22]

Standardization in the Bell System

given case. This results in great advantages in sim- plicity of plant design and in the flexibility with which facilities can be transferred from one use to another as occasion requires.

Other specific examples could be given but the above are sufficient to indicate the very important part which standardization plays in the design of telephone plant.

Standardization of Raw Materials

The production of standard products naturally re- quires the standardization of the raw materials enter- ing into those products. There have, therefore, been developed a series of specifications covering the stand- ard requirements for raw materials purchased for the construction of telephone apparatus and also covering standard finishes for these materials as fabricated by the supplier.

An important example of the establishment of standards for raw material is the establishment of re- quirements for sheet brass of all tempers and thick- nesses. This work has been extended to include nickel silvers and bronze, covering altogether seven grades of metal. Work has recently been started on rod stock. All of this work is carried on co-operatively between Bell Laboratories, the Western Electric Company and the principal suppliers of raw material.

Standard requirements for materials, of course, de- pend upon the establishment of suitable standard methods of test to measure the quantities which are to be specified. The American Society for Testing Ma- terials has done a very large amount of work in devel- oping standard tests for materials and it has been the practice to adopt these standards of test whenever they serve the purpose. As the result, a large majority of the specifications for raw material contain reference to A. S. T. M. testing methods.

In addition, however, it has been necessary to take a very considerable amount of initiative in the develop-

[23 1

Bell Telephone Quarterly

ment of standard testing methods. Wherever prac- ticable this work has been done in co-operation with the A. S. T. M. and other interested organizations.

The question of hardness testing was given consid- erable study in connection with the work on brass and this has resulted in the adoption of standard tests for the Bell System which are now being studied by the A. S. T. M. Impact tests suitable for molded and sheet insulating materials have also been developed. An- other interesting development is that of suitable tests for die castings, including tensile strength, elongation, hardness and impact strength. In developing standard methods of test for die castings, more than 55,000 speci- mens have been prepared to date and are being tested by the co-operating organizations.

Other standard methods of test developed through the Bell System which are of interest, are insulation re- sistance tests, high frequency tests and tests of insulat- ing papers. In these tests and in others, the Bell Sys- tem representatives have co-operated with the A. S. T. M. and they have adopted as standard the methods de- veloped.

The discussion of raw materials is a natural place in which to mention the standardization of methods of sampling although this applies to completed products as well as to raw materials. In many cases it is prac- ticable to make the tests for the check of quality on only a fraction of the material supplied. In order to insure uniform and satisfactory results, it is necessary to have standard methods of sampling including the determina- tion of the size of the sample lots to be tested and the interpretation of the results of those tests as applying to the material as a whole.

[24]

1800-Pair Cable Becomes a Bell System

Standard

CABLES containing 1818 pairs of No. 26 gauge wires in a sheath of standard size have recently been made available for the use of the Associated Companies of the Bell System.

This advance in the telephonic art is but one of the many benefits that the Associated Companies receive as a result of the development and research services performed for them, in accordance with the terms of the License Contract, by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company's staff of engineers and scientists, including those of the Bell Telephone Laboratories and the Western Electric Company.

In announcing the standardization of this new type of cable, it seems not amiss to indicate its relation to the prior art of cable design and manufacture as well as its setting in the whole picture of cable development that has been steadily unfolding for nearly half a cen- tury.

The progress that has been made in placing more and more pairs of wires in a cable has been described in previous articles in the ''Quarterly'" and is sum- marized in the table below.

	Number of Pairs in Largest Cable
Year	No. 19 Gauge	No. 22 Gauge	No. 24 Gauge	No. 26 Gauge
1892 1895 1896 1901 1902 1912 1914 1918 1928	100 152 208 303 455	404 606 909	1212	1818

1 The Development of Cables used in the Bell System, April 1923, Vol. II, No. 2. Cable Development and Eesearch, January 1924, Vol. Ill, No. 1.

[25]

BeJl Telephone Quart erly

Note: The sizes and weights of the different gauges of wire are as follows:

Diameter in Weight in

Gauge Thousandths Pounds Per

A. W. G. of an Inch Mile

19 36 20

22 25 10

24 20 63^

26 16 4

The preceding table brings out the fact that, during the period from 1914 to 1928, the greatest number of pairs that could be put into a single cable was 1200, the wires being No. 24 gauge.

In this connection the question naturally arises, why is it desirable to have as many as 1800 pairs of wires in one cable? The answer is twofold.

Chiefly in the large cities, there are places where all the ducts in the existing underground conduit sys- tems of the telephone company are becoming occupied with cables. To provide more wires for the constantly growing telephone plant, two courses are open; either to install more underground ducts to accommodate ad- ditional cables or to replace some of the cables which now occupy ducts in the existing conduit system with cables containing more wires. In many of these situa- tions, on account of the extent to which the space be- neath the streets is occupied by rapid transit tunnels, sewers, water and gas pipes, electric light and power cables, and other subterranean works, it would be pos- sible to provide additional telephone ducts only with great difficulty and at large cost.

Hence the relief afforded through the ability to sub- stitute 1800-pair cable for 1200-pair cable, or smaller, either in new w^ork or in the existing plant, is a matter of importance.

Furthermore, since every underground cable occu- pies a duct and must have a metallic sheath, the ex- pense of a pair of underground wires becomes less in proportion as the cost of duct and sheath is divided among a larger number of pairs of wires in the cable. So where the use of 1800-pair cable, rather than 1200-

[26]

1800-Pair Cable Becomes Standard

pair, is practicable, from a transmission standpoint, this will assist in keeping the cost of the telephone plant from mounting as rapidly as would otherwise be the case.

1800-pair cable will also affect plant engineering practices, by changing the economic relation between the costs of material and of labor. For example, where growth is rapid, there will be cases in w^hich greater economy and better service will result from providing relief by means of new 1800-pair cable than by making a greater use of existing facilities through rearrange- ments and changes.

Lest it might be assumed that the development of 1800-pair cable consisted merely in substituting 26- gauge wire for the 24-gauge wire used in 1200-pair cable, it seems worth while to point out that the devel- opment required the invention of a wholly new method of forming the cable core. The type of assemblage previously used, consisted of layers of twisted pairs, laid up in the form of a helix, adjacent layers being stranded in opposite directions. This type of assem- blage did not prove suitable for making 1818-pair cable and it became necessary to devise a core which virtually consists of an assemblage of 18 component cables or ''units," each containing 101 pairs. These constituent cables are grouped together as shown in Figure, and this peculiar type of core construction has been given the name "multiple unit." The multiple unit core structure will imdoubtedl}^ find application in other types of cable. Each wire in this 1800-pair cable is insulated by means of a wrapping of paper tape. As in the 1200-pair cable, the paper tape is about one-quar- ter of an inch wide, but in the 1800-pair cable, the thick- ness has been reduced considerably.

Long before the telephone business reached its teens, in fact, when it was but about five years old, such cables as there were in those days— and they rarely ex- ceeded a few hundred feet in length— made use of small

[27]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

wires, sometimes as fine as No. 26-gauge. About 100 of these wires was the greatest number that was ever placed in one cable at that time. The individual wires, each insulated with a serving of cotton, were twisted into a core and boiled in paraffin. After that, the core was drawn into a lead pipe slightly larger than itself and melted paraffin charged with carbonic acid gas was forced into the pipe and allowed to cool, forming a cake of paraffin between the core and the sheath.

With the local battery system of transmission then employed, the efficiency of the cable circuits was con- trolled by two factors of substantially equal impor- tance,— resistance and capacitance, or, as it was then termed, "electro-static capacity." For a long time no means were available for materially decreasing the electro-static capacity. Therefore, as the need arose for cables of greater and greater length, the require- ments for better transmission efficiency thereby brought about could be met only by using wires of larger size in order to obtain lower resistance. Gradually the size of wire used in cables was increased until No. 18 came to be common practice. Further important gains in the transmission efficiency of cable circuits became pos- sible as soon as the use of dry paper as the insulating material was discovered to be a practical means for re- ducing electro-static capacity.

After loading became available for interoffice trunk cables, and as more efficient transmitters, receivers and other apparatus were developed and used, the need for such highly efficient circuits as had previously been re- quired for subscribers' cables became less. Consistent with obtaining satisfactory grades of transmission, it was found to be most economical to place smaller wires, and more of them, in the cables used for subscribers' lines, compensating for their lower efficiency by the use of larger wires in the longer trunk lines and of loading to increase further the transmission efficiency of the latter. The result of designing the entire cable

[281

1800-Pair Cable Becomes Standard

plant so that all its parts will be in economic cost bal- ance has been to increase the use of No. 22 gauge wires and, later, No. 24 gauge wires for the shorter subscri- bers' lines and interoffice trunks. This has been fur- ther facilitated since it has become practicable to ap- ply loading to No. 22 gauge circuits in trunk lines. Thus have changing conditions led us in a cycle from small wires in cables, to larger ones and back again.

The extent to which cables with small wires have been coming into use is shown by the fact that while of all the exchange cable shipped to the Associated Companies by the Western Electric Company during the five-year period, 1915 to 1920, about 80 percent of the conductor mileage was of No. 22 gauge; about 12 percent No. 19 gauge ; and about 8 percent No. 24 gauge (the latter consisting chiefly of 1200-pair cable) ; dur- ing the five-year period, 1923 to 1927, the percentages of conductor mileage of the different gauges shipped were: No. 22 gauge, 33 percent; No. 19 gauge, 11 per- cent; and No. 24 gauge, 56 percent.

Generally speaking, transmission considerations will limit the field of usefulness of cables with No. 26 gauge wires to subscribers' lines of moderate length and to trunk circuits used exclusively for handling traffic between offices situated near each other. As the greatest congestion of underground wires is usually found where the above conditions prevail, the 1800-pair cable will be a useful instrumentality in the service of the Associated Companies of the Bell System. Its ex- tensive use is now being taken into account in the funda- mental plans for the future.

F. L. Rhodes.

[29

Counterless Business Offices

THE rather recent development of the counter- less type of business office presents an inter- esting feature of the efforts of the Bell System toward dealing with customers on a more individual, personal and friendly basis. In view of the fact that the business offices are the first point of contact with new subscribers, and that they handle, in the aggregate, a very large number of personal transactions \vith cus- tomers, it is clear that they are important factors in accomplishing this purpose ; and, in addition, they are sometimes the only part of the company's premises which customers visit in person.

The usual arrangement of a business office has been to provide a portion of the space for all employees' desks and other office equipment, and to have a counter separating this from the space for customers' use. Transactions with customers are conducted- across the counter, which is attended by those employees assigned to the duty of meeting customers and taking care of their requests. Tellers' cages, where payments of bills are received, are commonly located at one end of the counter, or adjacent to it.

Under the counterless plan the counter is done away with and each business office representative is provided with a desk, at the side of which are placed one or more comfortable chairs in which customers may be seated during interviews. Figure 1 gives a view of one coun- terless office, illustrating this arrangement.

In practically all of the larger counterless offices, and in many of the smaller ones, the space used by the employees engaged in handling telephone contacts and in clerical and other work is partitioned off from the remainder of the business office. This separation not only removes from the public office the unavoidable

[30 1

Coimterless Business Offices

noise and bustle incidental to the work of the large nimiber of employees who do not handle personal con- tacts with customers, but it also avoids the situation occasionally arising, when all the counter attendants are engaged, where customers waiting for attention fail to understand why other employees who are in view do not wait upon them. It also makes practicable the in- stallation m the public office of somewhat more at- tractive furniture and fixtures, and the decoration of this space in a more pleasing manner.

With this arrangement it is the general custom to have someone near the entrance to greet incoming cus- tomers and see that they are properly directed and that their affairs are given prompt attention. In many of- fices there is a floor director definitely assigned to this duty, while in other offices any one of the representa- tives not occupied with a customer may assume this function. The floor director may be able to handle per- sonally some of the contacts, such as those involving only questions which can be answered quickly and simply and without recourse to records, thus saving the customer's time and expediting the work. If all the business office representatives are engaged and a cus- tomer cannot be served immediately, he is directed to space where comfortable chairs or other seating ar- rangements and a table with reading material are provided, and the floor director sees that he is made comfortable until a representative is free. Figure 2 presents a photograph illustrative of such an arrange- ment of waiting space in a counterless office.

The payment section has also been given considera- tion, and in many offices an open type of counter has been installed in place of the usual barred or grilled ''cages." An example of this type of coimter is shoA\Ti in Figure 3. The payment section is usually located near the entrance for the convenience of the many cus- tomers who visit the office merely to pay their bills.

[311

Bell Telephone Quarterly

The open type counter seems to aid in making these con- tacts more friendly and personal.

In comparison with the comiter arrangement, the counterless plan permits customers to transact their business on a more personal basis, and in an atmosphere of comparative privacy. Customers also appreciate the courtesies indicative of considerate attention which can be more gracefully extended in the counterless of- fice, such as the fact that the representative rises to meet a customer approaching his desk, and at the conclusion of a contact also rises with the customer.

The first counterless offices w^ere established about two years ago and experience with them has been so satisfactory that over sixty such offices are now in op- eration throughout the Bell System, and plans have been made for the conversion to, or establishment of, over forty additional offices under this plan during 1929. While many of the present counterless offices are small or of medium size, with from two to ten business office representatives, the plan has been introduced in some of the larger offices and experience seems to have demonstrated that it is adaptable with equally satis- factory results to these places. At the present time this plan has been decided upon for one of the largest business offices in the System, which will require from twenty-five to thirty representatives.

It is anticipated that as additional business offices are established and as rearrangements of existing of- fices become necessary or desirable, the counterless ar- rangement will represent an increasingly important aid in establishing and maintaining satisfactory rela- tions with customers.

R. S. Rankin.

Editor's Note: Mr. Eankin is of the Staff of the Commercial Engineer of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company.

132]

An Economic Review and Outlook

THE year 1928 was a notable one in the economic annals of the United States. This was not merely because the year witnessed various new high records of industrial output, for after all that is a normal occurrence in this country. Nor was it because of such changes as occurred in business technique or in the general economic as]3ect of things. The year was notable principally for its exceptional financial devel- opments, which will be discussed forthwith.

Money and Stock Markets

In an article similar to this in the January, 1928, issue of this Quarterly, the statement was made that "it would be easy to compile quite a list of contrasts be- tween the years 1926 and 1927." Not only could the same thing be said of 1927 and 1928 but, far more strik- ingly than in 1927, the financial conditions and devel- opments of 1928 grew out of, and the contrasts arose from, the conditions in the preceding year. Most clearly was this so in the case of the money and security markets, gold movements, and international financial developments.

During practically the whole of the second half of 1927, this country and the rest of the world had been treated to an exceptionally interesting exhibition of the potency of an active federal reserve policy in affecting domestic money rates. Federal reserve authorities had determined to facilitate a substantial outward movement of gold and at the same time prevent the movement from tightening the money market until such time as they saw fit to permit it to tighten. So success- fully were the reins slackened that the stock market got the bit between its teeth and not only refused to be checked until the final month of 1928, but galloped

[33]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

ahead with ahiiost steadily increasing speed as the year wore on. The losses of gold were felt in the money market as soon as they ceased to be neutralized by open market operations by the reserve banks. Sales of re- serve bank assets tightened money still further and were followed by three successive increases in the dis- count rates of most of the reserve banks. Meanwhile, through the printed word, federal reserve authorities were making clear their disapproval of the change in the credit situation and in the character of bank port- folios which the great increase in loans on securities, financing the rampant bull market, had brought about.

During practically all of 1928 the federal reserve authorities were engaged in prosecuting a tight money policy, taking cognizance at once of the stock market, of gold movements, and of that section of the Federal Reserve Act which directs the reserve banks to fix their rates of discount ''with a view of accommodating com- merce and business ' ' ; eight of the reserve banks having raised their discount rate to 5 percent, the highest figure since 1921, in a year in which domestic business, after recovering from the recession of 1927, showed not the slightest sign of commodity price inflation or of un- healthy boom conditions. One short-term money rate after another climbed during the course of the year to the highest figure it had reached since 1921, and still the stock market rose higlier and higher. Meanwhile busi- ness during the second half of the year, when the high- est money rates were prevailing, moved along at very satisfactory levels, contrasting notably with the reces- sion that occurred in the second half of 1927, in the face of declining money. The high rates of 1928 in time naturally reacted on foreign exchanges and not only helped to check the outward movement of gold, but were instrumental in bringing about gold imports.

During most of 1928, with a satisfactory level of general business achieved, the economic indices which received the greatest amomit of attention were not

[34]

An Economic Review and Outlook

statistics of steel ingot production, or of foreign trade, or of railroad freight car loadings, or all of these to- gether, but rather any good index of industrial stock prices, and the weekly figure of brokers' loans— loans made by or through reporting member banks of New York City to brokers and dealers in securities— re- ported weekly by the Federal Reserve Board. Fur- thermore, it was not merely a natural psychological phenomenon that the interest in each of these grew as they mounted together ; for in their rise were being wit- nessed the entrance and growth of new elements to be reckoned with in future economic analyses. In the first place, the American people during 1928 capitalized the future growth in earning power of American in- dustrial corporations at a higher rate, particLilarly in relation to current money rates, than they had at least for several decades, if not for any time in the past. In the second place, many American corporations them- selves assisted in this process by furnishing to the stock market an increasing proportion of the funds which the jDublic might borrow, to buy securities for investment or speculation. It was these corporate funds, added to moneys furnished by foreign banks and investment trusts which, coming to the stock market in response to high money rates, gave it plenty of ^'working cap- ital," almost regardless of the wishes of the federal reserve authorities.

After the crash of 1920-21, American industrial cor- porations had learned two lessons, among others, that are pertinent here. In the first place, they learned to rely as much as possible on hand-to-mouth buying of commodities, so as not to pile up un^\deldy inventories or tie up cash unnecessarily. On the other hand, they decided not to rely on a hand-to-mouth policy of secur- ing credit, but to finance themselves to a far greater extent than before the war with bond issues, or other capital obligations, relying less than previously on bank credit. The net result of these two practices and of

[35 1

Bell Telephone Quarterly

steadily increasing efficiency in the nse of working cap- ital, and also of a succession of prosperous years, was to put many of our large industrial organizations in possession of substantial volumes of "cash" in the form of bank deposits. The high money rates of 1928 pulled a large amount of these deposits out of the banks to be put at the disposal of the stock market, which to that extent was freed from the necessity of going direct to the banks to try to borrow money which the latter, bor- rowing rather heavily at the federal reserve banks, might be indisposed to lend. Brokers ' loans rose from $3,718,000,000 on December 28, 1927, to $5,395,000,000 on December 5, 1928, much the greatest increase they had ever shown in the course of a year ; and $1,279,000,- 000 of the increase was in the form of loans "for ac- count of others," that is to say, loans placed through the New York banks almost entirely by corporations, foreign lenders, and investment trusts.

Money Rates and the Bond Market

Space does not permit the tracing through of the direct and collateral effects on the banking and credit structure of the large increases in loans on securities, both by banks and by others, which accompanied the great bull market of 1928. It must suffice to say that on top of the tightening of conmiercial money rates, brought about by the loss to our monetary stock JDetween the end of April, 1927, and the end of June, 1928, of $500,000,000 of gold and by sales of federal reserve earning assets, on balance, during that period, came a much greater stiffening of Stock Exchange money rates. The spread between rates on commercial money and Stock Exchange time money became the widest since the panic of 1907, and call money on various occasions rose to 10 percent, and early in December to 12 percent. Commercial paper rates, rising for the best names to 5 J percent, and 90-day bankers' acceptances at 4 J per- cent or slightly above, in the second half of the year,

[36]

An Economic Beviciu and OutJoolx

were at tlieir highest levels in nearly seven years. Dur- ing most of the time the stock market apparently paid little attention to the cost of money, especially since the high rates were coaxing increasing volumes of funds to the market, and supply rather than price was the more important consideration.

The bond market, however, was naturally more sen- sitive than the stock market both to rising interest rates and to the check imposed by the changed credit situa- tion on increasing security investments by banks, espe- cially during the second half of the year. A sharp de- cline in bond prices set in during the suimiier which ceased only when the volume of new bond financing, which had risen to very large totals, had been suffici- ently curtailed. The curtailment took place in three directions. In the first place, certain projected do- mestic financing operations were unquestionably post- poned or abandoned. Secondly, a substantial increase took place in the proportion of corporate financing in the form of stock issues. Thirdly, there was a sharp and sudden decline in the volume of security issues for the account of foreign borrowers. (In August, no loans at all were floated in the market for the accoimt of foreign governmental units.) Of these three, the first was probably of least importance. The second change noted did not of course mean a curtailment in the demand for capital ; but to the extent that the rising stock market and other factors had caused increasing preference by investors for stocks over bonds, the change in type of financing accommodated itself to the change in clientele.

Some International Developments

The curtailment in foreign financing in the second half of 1928 was one of the outstanding phenomena of the year, especially taken in connection with other items going into our international balance of pajanents, and in connection with some of its European effects.

[37]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

In the first eleven months of 1927 our net export bal- ance of commodities was $605,000,000, and foreigners also took, net, $78,000,000 of gold. The borrowed, net, $1,307,000,000 in the form of security issues floated here. The net credit on these items in favor of for- eigners was thus $624,000,000. During the first eleven months of 1928, we not only had a larger conmiodity export balance, aggregating $906,000,000, but in addi- tion lost to foreigners about $280,000,000 of gold, mak- ing a total of net commodity and gold exports of $1,186,000,000. This was covered to the extent of only $1,140,000,000 by net foreign borrowings through se- curity offerings here, making a debit balance against foreigners of $46,000,000, as against the credit item of $624,000,000 a year previous. Furthermore, foreigners doubtless owed and paid us more on interest account this year than last and put substantial amounts of f mid.s at the disposal of our stock market. It is clear that the funds lodged with our banks at the disposal of for- eigners must have considerably diminished during the year and that short-term credit to foreigners in part took the place of long-term borrowings.

Here are the totals, in millions of dollars, of the net amount of foreign borrowing (governmental or cor- porate) in this country in the first six months and the next five months of 1927 and 1928 :

19S7 1928

First six months 715 839

Next five months 592 301

First eleven months 1307 1140

The falling off in the second half-year of 1928, in com- parison both with the first half of 1928 and with the latter part of 1927, is striking.

It so happened that the decline in our foreign loans, and particularly in our loans to Germany, in the late summer, practically coincided with the beginning of a new Dawes-Plan year in which the maximum German reparation payments under the Plan would come due.

[38]

An Economic Revietv and Outlook

Since, in the preceding four years, the transfer of rep- aration payments under the Plan had been made pos- sible to no small extent by American loans to Germany, this coincidence might have had important results if England and, to a greater extent, France had not forth- with fully substituted for the United States as a pro- vider of funds to Germany. Here was another in- teresting contrast with 1927. It had been just a j^ear previous that the federal reserve was facilitating gold exports to England and to France by means of an easy money policy in this country. This fall, with high money rates obtaining here, the two European nations, fortified by adequate banking reserves, were taking our place in transferring working capital to Germany, at such a rate that the latter country could not only meet reparation payments and pay for continued large net import balances of commodities, but also acquire in London substantial quantities of gold to be added to the 3'eserves of the Reichsbank. Funds were attracted to Germany, of course, by high money rates, reflecting continued shortage of working capital in a country which is making every eif ort not only to repair wartime and post-war damages to her industrial organization, but to expand substantially her industrial plant and her exporting ability. Incidentally, by no means the least important event of the year was the initiation, on the part of the nations concerned with German rep- aration payments, of steps to determine along what lines the Dawes Plan should be revised.

Two important events which had been prepared for by the substantial outflow of gold from this coimtry in 1927 and 1928 deserve mention at this point. One was the stabilization of the French franc. In June, 1928, the French Parliament passed a law which fixed the gold content of the franc at a figure which made its value about 3.92 cents, just about one-fifth of the value of the pre-war gold franc. As in the case of the other principal Eurojpean countries which have stabilized

[39]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

their currency, it is not intended that for the time being at least gold shall circulate as currency in France. The other event was the passage by the British Parliament in July of an act amalgamating the government cur- rency note issue ^\dth the Bank of England note issue. The actual taking over by the Bank of liability for the currency notes, as the first step toward amalgamation, took place in November.

Corporate France; Investment Trusts

To return for a moment to the subject of domestic finance. In spite of some large monthly totals regis- tered during the first part of the year, the aggregate of domestic corporate financing in 1928 was about 8 or 10 percent below the aggregate for 1927. Thanks in part to a further itensification of the merger and con- solidation movement in American industry during 1928, the volume of offerings for cash by industrial corporations was little different from that of 1927. Se- curity issues by public utilities and railroads, however, were both in distinctly lower amounts in 1928 than in 1927. The high money rates of the second half of 1928 naturally put a check on refunding financing, which had been such a striking feature of the preceding two years, and also affected possible merger financing and issues to pay for new construction. As has already been indicated, the concomitance of high money rates and a rapidly rising stock market was responsible for a definite decline in the second half of the year in the proportion of financing represented by bond issues and a roughly corresponding increase in the proportion represented by stock issues. In this coimection it is interesting to note that, toward the end of the year espe- cially, a number of offerings of "American shares" in foreign enterprises were floated. Finally, mention must be made of an extraordinary growth during the year of investment trusts and of the offering of their securities, which became an increasing factor in the se-

[40]

An Economic Revietv and Outlook

curity markets. The profitableness of the operations of the investment trusts organized during the past few years in a period of rapidly rising security prices, made it ]30ssible for investment trust securities to the amounts of hundreds of millions of dollars to be successfully floated in 1928. The organizations were of the most varied types as to financial structure, fields of possible investments, and powei^s of their managements. Their influence was felt in the stock market not only through purchases and sales of securities but through the con- tributions which their idle funds made to brokers' loans for the "account of others."

Industry; Trade; Prices; Labor

This review has devoted an unusually large amount of space to the financial developments of the year, both because of their exceptional inherent interest and the striking contrasts which they afford with the develoi3- ments of 1927, and because they have perhaps an un- usual bearing on the prospects for 1929. Let us turn now to a consideration of some of the outstanding events of 1928 in industry and trade.

As was noted in the article a year ago, 1927 was a year of declining profit margins for many industries and was characterized by a distinct business recession in the latter part of the year which brought about con- siderable unemployment. On all three of these counts, 1928 furnished marked contrasts wdth its predecessor. Early in the year business began to recover, and later employment and profits to increase, so that on the whole 1928 was for business in general a much more satis- factory and profitable year than 1927. Because busi- ness held up especially well in the second half of the year, the comparison with 1927 grew increasingly^ favor- able as the year wore on. The three major textile in- dustries, to be sure, found it hard sledding during the greater part of the year for most of their branches. Overcapacity and under-employment still persisted in

[41]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

the coal industry, both before and after the abrogation during the year*^of the Jacksonville wage scale in those mines and districts where it was still actually or nom- inally in force when the year opened. The newsprint paper industry felt increasingly the effects of Canadian competition. Only rather radical measures of restric- tion of production enabled the oil industry to present a more favorable picture at the close of the year than at the beginning. Eailroad equipment manufacturers still suffered from a continuance of the policy of meager purchases of locomotives and freight cars by the coun- try's transportation systems. Certain of the food and allied industries felt the effects of competition and/or surplus production, domestic or foreign. Automobile tires were produced in record volume, but profits of tire manufacturers were severely cut into by sharp de- clines in the price of their principal raw material.

As against these and other relatively unfavorable developments that might be mentioned were such favor- able factors as the letting of a new high record total of building contracts (to which increased residential, in- dustrial, and public utility and public works projects all contributed), something like record output of auto- mobiles, highly active operations in the agricultural implement and machine tool industries, a large volume of business by electrical equipment manufacturers, and, of course, underlying all these, an active iron and steel industry, making a new high record output of steel. Once the recovery from the recession in 1927 had been achieved, furthermore, industrial activity ran along on an even keel with little fluctuation, on the average, other than of seasonal character. As employment gradually increased, conditions in trade improved and the volume of retail trade in the last quarter of the year, culminat- ing in Christmas buying, was doubtless of record pro- portions.

Prices of industrial conmiodities have on the aver- age been firm and relatively stable. With certain

[42]

An Economic Review and Outlook

marked exceptions, such as rubber, with its sharp price decline, and copper, which enjoyed a notable rise in price, and hides, which moved widely in both directions, there has been little evidence at any time in the i^rice structure of tendencies toward serious weakness or toward inflation or runaway markets. The stability of domestic business at a high level and the maintenance of reasonably satisfactory economic conditions abroad have contributed to price stability, while the absence not only of shortages of materials but of any factors like transportation difficulties, major labor troubles, ajid credit stringency, has prevented price inflation.

In the field of labor, the most important event doubt- less was the abandonment of the Jacksonville wage scale and the substitution of district for nation-wide wage agreements in the bitmninous coal industry. As has already been said, there were no major labor troubles in 1928. Both wage increases and wage cuts have occurred in various industries, but, on the whole, the average level of wages has remained practically un- changed. The year saw continued progress made in the field of industrial relations. It saw only a partial solution of what the article a year ago called a major problem of 1927, that of unemployment; though by the end of the year there were reports of shortages of certain tj^Des of skilled labor.

Indications are that agricultural income for the crop year 1928-29 will be little different from that of the preceding year. Live stock prices have been at good average levels during the year, benefiting stock raisers. Grain and other crops have been generally bountiful, though in many cases prices are low. Wliat- ever the record sales of agricultural implements have indicated as to improved farmers ' income, they at any rate point to a continuing desire on the part of farmers to operate with increasing efficiency.

The dollar figTires of net exports of commodities in our international trade have already been cited. The

[43]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

increase this year over 1927 has been due both to lower import values and to higher export values. The former are accounted for principally by lower prices of rub- ber, silk and sugar, rather than by decreased physical volume ; to the latter, a substantial growth in exports of finished manufactures, especially automobiles, ma- chinery, and petroleum products, has been the principal contributor. Changes in the sources or destinations of our imports and exports have been relatively slight and of little significance for the economic picture as a whole.

No review of 1928 would be complete which did not take cognizance of the merger and consolidation move- ment, to which casual reference was made in the discus- sion on finance. Perhaps no other year in our history has been more notable in this field. Horizontal and ''circular" rather than vertical combinations predom- inated. Economies of distribution quite as much as, if not more than, economies of production were stressed by the promoters of many of the mergers. This is not the place to discuss the ramifications of the merger movement. Suffice it to say that, what with mergers, investment trusts, the ever widening operations of trade associations and institutes, and the growing size of some of our units of distribution, exemplified by the chain stores and mail order houses, American business in 1928 moved noticeably in the direction of increasing concen- tration of control of business processes. Incidentally, very definite possibilities are involved therein for an increasing degree of stabilization, through greater busi- ness efficiency in every phase of operations. Labor, as such, consumers, investors, and business generally should benefit from intelligent use by management of the opportunities afforded by the evolution that is

going on.

The Outlook for 1929

The year 1928 ended with industry and trade active and generally prosperous. High money rates in 1928

[44]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

did not prevent business expansion, and expanded out- put and keen competition did not prevent larger profits from being made than were made in 1927. The reces- sion in 1927 helped, to be sure, to pave the way for greater output in 1928, partly because the recession was to a considerable extent linked with special conditions in the automobile industry which made for sharp re- covery in that industry in 1928. Doubtless, too, the stock market of 1928 was not without its stimulating effect on business. The notable and unexpectedly large voliune of construction activity, in the face of rising money, however, had no specially favoring causes; it apparently represented principally a continuance of the forces that have sustained the ''building boom" for a full half decade. Generally increasing business effi- ciency clearly played a part in the satisfactory results of 1928. So did improvement in the agricultural situa- tion, in the broadest sense of that term. The excep- tional prosperity of our northern neighbor, Canada, undoubtedly was felt on our side of the border. Per- haps these were the principal contributing factors to the good business of 1928. Will they or other factors make themselves felt in 1929 and sustain business at or above present levels ? Or will they be overcome by unfavorable forces?

Present indications are that business in 1929 will have to take for granted moderately high money rates, on the average. Only large gold imports and/or a se- vere and prolonged reaction in stock prices could be counted on to ease money rates ; apart from a change in federal reserve policy. None of these three now seems to be in the cards. Money rates, however, do not promise to bring about any serious slowing up of business. Prospects are for a very active first quarter of the year and that period may hold the key to results for the rest of the year. If production of automobiles is pushed too hard and allied and ancillary industries speeded up too much, a situation not dissimilar to that

[45]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

of 1924 may result, though the reaction may be much less severe. If manufacturers generally and those re- sponsible for construction activity hold operations within bounds during the first quarter or first half of 1929, any subsequent slowing up should be of moderate extent. There is no promise of 1929 being a boom year as a whole. The year 1928 has apparently accom- plished most of the climb up from the minor recession of 1927.

Most of the stimuli that operated in 1928 are likely to be less potent in 1929 in sustaining business. Our large output of automobiles and of buildings, our ex- tended credit structure on a reduced gold base, our dis- tended stock market, the restriction on foreign borrow- ing here, imposed by our high money rates,— all these and other factors seem to point to no such gain in 1929 over 1928 as the latter achieved over the second half of 1927. Yet there is nothing to indicate that a marked business recession is in the making. We can take for granted steadily increasing business efficiency, an inter- national economic situation which is relatively favor- able, no possibility of credit stringency for business, generally satisfactory labor conditions, and an agri- cultural situation which, if anything, is slowly on the mend. In the framework of these, we may look for a business year in 1929 which will on the average just about measure up to the record of 1928 in volume of activity, and perhaps also in profits.

P. E. RiCHTER.

[46 1

The Key Town Plan of Selling by Telephone

KEY town selling, a plan for using the telephone in the sales process, is one of the answers to the present-day demand that distribution be simpli- fied ; it is an expression of the effort, by fully employing the tools of modern business, to keep step in distribu- tion with the advances which have brought to America world leadership in production. As competition brought about a struggle for the national market, pro- duction processes were challenged, analyzed, improved. Greater production with lowered costs resulted ; but it was a production which called for more consumers and so for the further development of markets.

The substitution of machines for muscle ; the use of men's brains rather than their brawn; the saving of time and making saved time productive; these have characterized the reduction of manufacturing to a sci- ence. There, too, the telephone has played an increas- ingly important part. A large saving is made by a railroad shop when well placed telephones put a stop to '^ walking to talk." The lifting of a receiver is a substitute for many ten minute trips. Similarly an oil refinery secures economies by making dial telephone service available in its plant twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, so that well paid employees are able to remain on their jobs and give them close supervision.

But with production still unproving its methods, there has come to the attention of American business the fact that distribution has not kept the pace. The demand from those charged with selling, that more of an article be supplied at a less cost, caused those in production to study and change their methods in their search for improvement and economy. But with the lowered costs of producing, the percentage that distri-

[47]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

bution represents in the final cost of almost any article, whether a product of the farm or factory, has steadily increased until it has been authoritatively stated that the greatest problem before American business today is the reduction of these distribution costs.

Much has been done and many have contributed. The railroads have effected economies by reducing the time that goods are in transit, and by increasing the number of ton miles per car. Methods of reaching the consumer have undergone experiment, if not change. The development of house-to-house selling, not one, in the last analysis, to produce greater economy but prin- cipally to further consumption, is one manifestation. The chain store is another, with its purpose of reducing overhead costs by better organization methods and of eliminating credit losses by cash transactions. In other retail stores changes have come about, with the dual purpose of securing greater sales and a lowered per- centage of overhead. Hardware and drug stores have followed a policy of placing merchandise where it is accessible to customers, eliminating, to a large extent, show cases which form barriers between customers and the goods they want.

Many of these latter activities have dealt with the form of presentation of the merchandise to the ultimate consumer. The element in the process of distribution, however, which has come in for the greatest discussion has been the middleman. Emphasis is given by the fact that no effective substitute has been found for the jobber and the wholesaler, and apparently none is in prospect. A retail store, for example, selling items produced by hundreds of different manufacturers, can- not very well purchase all those items from that number of individual manufacturers. Neither can those man- ufacturers, who must sell their product to exist, ar- range to do business directly with such a large number of retail stores. Today the trend is towards reducing rather than increasing the mmiber of accounts, at least

[48]

Key Toivn Plan of SeUinrj hy Telephone

as far as the retention of small, profitless accounts is concerned. Even the chain stores, which may manu- facture many of their own products, find it necessary to provide for the jobbing or middleman's function. They establish warehouses and distribution plants which are neither more nor less than their o\YTi pro- vision for the middleman's services.

And yet, necessary as it is to face the responsibility of meeting, in distribution, the advances that have been made in production, it can be safely said that there have been but few economy-producing changes in methods and practices made in the last twenty-five years. To many of those which have been made the telephone has contributed. For example, the use of the telephone typewriter in expediting the handling of orders when they are received at an office, particularly when the of- fices and the warehouse are separated by some distance, has resulted in large economies. Such internal im- provements, however, are not enough. The main prob- lem which confronts the middleman, whether he be job- ber, or wholesaler, or manufacturer performing for his own organization the function of the middleman by selling directly to retailers, is that of reducing his sell- ing cost so that the process of getting the retailer to place on his shelves the merchandise he really w^ants, and must have to satisfy the demands of his public, is less expensive. There has been what might be termed a vicious circle of selling. Increased production, one of the accompanying factors of lowered cost, has re- sulted in an increased pressure to sell. The increased pressure to sell has resulted in an increase in the nmn- ber of contacts with present and prospective customers which, in turn, results in greater sales to be followed by more production, to be followed by a demand for greater sales, then more contacts, more sales, and so on. The four points of the sales compass are, then :

1. More production

2. Demand for more sales

[49]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

3. More contacts

4. Increased sales

One of the basic principles of selling is that to sell, salesmen must be in personal contact with customers. Obviously, to sell more they must see more customers or see customers more often, or both. The result is a piling up of sales expense, more traveling, more men, more supervision, which, as business becomes harder to get, reduces the margin of profit. This, in addition, has been affected by the development of hand-to-mouth buying. During the post-war depression, when manu- facturers, wiiolesalers, and retailers, all found them- selves with large inventories on which they were forced to take, in many instances, a heavy depreciation, there developed as a fundamental the principle that stocks on hand should not exceed foreseeable requirements. This is particularly true of retailers, who developed the habit of bujring in very small quantities. Some car- ried this to excess, buying, for example, one sixth dozen where a dozen or even a gross would be a proper pur- chase for the period represented by any reasonable tui'nover objective.

This adoption of hand-to-mouth buying has meant that to secure orders, the sellers to a retailer must have contacts with the retailer at the beginning of each of the greatly shortened buying periods, particularly^ if the goods sold happen to be of a competitive nature where another manufacturer or another line might be substituted. Some means, therefore, is sought by man- ufacturers and wholesalers to secure the contacts which are needed without the expense which the old system, a system which has gone practically unchanged for years, represents. One of these attemiDts, and a very good one, was to maintain contact with customers by mail during the intervals between visits. However, it was learned by many, at their own cost, that it is rarely the case that a letter will be successful in competition with a salesman present in person, just as future

[50]

Key Town Plan of Selling Z>?y Telephone

deliveries always are at a disadvantage against spot merchandise. It was found that the use of direct mail matter was at its best as an aid to salesmen, just as advertising in periodicals was found to be a helpful support, and reduced the amount of work that the sales- men had to do— decreased the amount of sales resist- ance.

Supplementing this, other methods were tried to save the time of the salesman and increase his effective- ness. Telephone calls were placed, first from within the same city and later, as the practice extended, from other cities, telling the approximate time of a sales- man's visit so that a greater proportion of his day would be spent in doing the work for which he was paid, selling in the presence of the customer.

It was not long before it was discovered that more business than the making of appointments could be handled by long distance telephone service. Just what was the first instance which showed w^hat could be done can only be surmised. It may be that a salesman, de- layed by missing a train, finally beat his competitor to some business by placing a long distance call, an occur- rence of which there have been many instances. It may be that a salesman, confined to his home or the hospital by an accident, anxious to keep his hold on his territory, turned to long distance service to maintain his business contacts; and there have been many instances of this also. It is also possible that when called for an ap- pointment or about some other matter, the customer gave his order over the telephone, saving a trip for the salesman and suggesting an idea of which he was quick to take advantage. In any case, those who, for one rea- son or another, had tried selling by long distance turned to it again and again until, in many lines of business, it became a standard policy.

These pioneers developed two systems of selling by telephone. One, known as the skip-stop system, in- volved calling at every other town in a large territory

[51]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

on one trip, for example, during the first two weeks of the month, and the other to^^^lS on the next trip; but each time calling by telephone from the most convenient points the towns which were being skipped.

Others developed the practice of calling all of the cities in one trade territory from the principal city of that territory, and then moving to the next trade center and calling its tributary cities. Generally some pro- vision was made, even under this central calling system, for periodic visits in person, visits which could be made somewhat longer and more personal than the hurried calls when the visits were more frequent.

Sales managers discovered that star salesmen were being developed who covered larger territories and did more business, yet whose costs in relation to sales were extremely low. The cost of calling all the cities in one trade territory might be less than the cost of the rail- road fare to one of the least important ones.

In this, many of those who are studying the problem of more economical distribution believe they have dis- covered one means of meeting the seemingly impossible joint demand for more business and, therefore, more frequent contacts, with lowered selling costs. As sales executive after sales executive became aware of the possibility, there was developed, based on the experi- ence of those who were actually doing the selling, a systematic plan for handling business in this manner, called the Key Town Telephone Sales Plan. This Key Town Telephone Sales Plan was neither more nor less than the co-ordinating of the principles already dis- covered in such a way as to get the greatest possible return from this versatile tool of business, the tele- phone.

The Bell telephone companies proceeded to map out their territories, selecting key towns or primary calling points, each associated with its appropriate trade ter- ritory. These key to^\Tis were selected for a variety of reasons which included their relation to normal trade

[52]

Key Town Plan of Selling hy Telephone

territories, their central location, railroad facilities, hotel accommodations, etc. There entered also the question of telephone facilities, toll centers, if smaller cities were under consideration, receiving the prefer- ence on account of the faster telephone service to be secured. The primary areas were then broken down into secondary areas. These secondary areas were chosen on the same general considerations as primary areas. The secondary areas were necessary for some classes of trade. For example, a firm of wholesale gro- cers would intensely cover smaller areas, doing business with most of the retail grocers in each area, while the manufacturer or jobber engaged in some other line might find his market in relatively few cities. The former would do their calling from the secondary key towns to their closely placed customers in the secondary calling areas; the latter from the primary key towns to more widely separated customers in the larger, pri- mary calling areas.

For most businesses using the key town plan a cer- tain number of personal visits would be made, inter- spersed between the telephone calls. Other businesses, particularly those which are re-selling for the jobber or wholesaler, such as is done by some match companies, might use long distance calls exclusively, making no personal visits at all. This is also true of a large pub- lishing company, the magazine of which has a high sub- scription rate. The continuations of subscriptions to this magazine are usually secured by means of a toll call from a primary calling point. Visits in person would be out of the question, whereas in a day or two a large number of long distance calls can be talked on, and this unusual method of approach produces a very satisfactory number of continuations.

All of the Bell operating companies have prepared key town sales maps of the states in their territories, available for the use of sales executives. In addition, there is available a Key Town Telephone Sales Map

[53]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

[54]

Keij Toivn Plan of Sdling hy Telephone

of the United States showing all primary calling area boundaries, and all primary and secondary calling points, as well as a large proportion of the cities having one thousand or more population. The key town desig- nations and area lines have been shown in red to make the map easier to use in plotting sales territories. These maps are one of the aids furnished to facilitate the use of the key town plan, and, therefore, to further the use of toll service, making its use easier and more convenient for customers.

The illustration of a section of the Michigan key town map on the preceding page shows how primary and secondary calling areas are arranged. The figures shown in the zones are the station-to-station day rates to points in the circle from the respective primary call- ing points or key towns. The boxed figure at each secondary calling point shows the average cost of call- ing every business telephone subscriber in the area.

Other conveniences also contribute to the plan. The first of the two most important is the use of sequence toll call lists. The use of sequence lists is, of course, not limited to those who are using the key town plan as they are of value to anyone having several calls to make from a particular point within a limited period of time. If, for example, a sales manager knows that he is going to call his thirty branch offices, he can receive the most convenient service if he will prepare a list of those of- fices with their addresses and, if possible, their tele- 2)hone numbers, and send it to the chief operator some- what in advance of the time he wishes to talk. If it is his practice to call these branch offices every week or every two weeks the same list can be used indefinitely and the time of both the sales manager and the tele- phone company conserved.

The piu-poses of such lists are varied, but perhaps the majority of the sequence toll call lists which are filed are for the purpose of calling customers to main- tain contacts and make sales. Oil companies, for ex-

[55]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

ample, file them to exjDedite giving price changes ; pro- duce companies make a practice of using such lists to inform their customers of current market offerings; financial houses with long lists of widely scattered cus- tomers who buy frequently use sequence lists to call

		(Sec Rcmsc S,dc jor Sugscsliow <u to Ihe Uu »/ I SEQUENCE TOLL CALL LI	his Form) ST .1ST NUM
	CODE	:*Fft rjft 1 FTTFB
		(••■il
:alling company on party. "•ERSONS WHO WILL TALK		'"""
WHEN SEBUir.F nFSIHFn*	A. M. P. M.
	-^^\'^r	.':.::\i::::.	s E R VI cE *i s w« nTe'd rn'oi**	*«■ DIS- Of CfftL	,lL\',zh'.\hCol
1
2
3
A	^V-^-^--—	\^-^^ — ^	^^ — — --^			— ^

these customers' attention to favorable offerings. These sequence lists are also used by those employing the key town plan, who welcome them as a means of making this sales method more convenient and rapid.

Their use is necessary in connection with the second important aid for those using the key town plan. This is the Bell System Credit Plan. It provides a way for responsible concerns to arrange for credit for their traveling representatives, thereby eliminating the ne- cessity of carrying funds for the pajnnent of charges on toll calls. At the same time it gives a better control and check at the company's home office of the sales ac- tivities.

For example, if a company should desire to adopt the key toAvn plan, it would first designate the article or articles to be sold and the personnel to be assigned to selling. Lists of customers would then be compiled to be called from the selected key towns. Because in- tensive coverage at a minimum of expense is possible with the key town plan, reference may well be had to

[56]

Key Toivn Plan of Selling 'by Telephone

the classified business telephone directories as a valu- able source of information as to all the prospects in any line of business. The customers called from a partic- ular key town would be those within the designated calling area of that city, as these areas are selected wdth a view to reducing the cost of calling the business sub-

Bell System

IDENTIFICATION CARD

1928 No.

This will identify representative of the

WHICH HAS ARRANGED THAT CREDIT BE EXTENDED TO SAID REPRESENTATIVE ON CHARGES FOR SERVICE RENDERED OVER BELL SYSTEM LINES UNTIL DECEMBER 3IST|928 AS SHOWN BY AND SUBJECT TO THE CONDITIONS ON THE BACK HEREOf VALID WHEN COUNTERSIGNED BY

COUNTERSIGNATURE

scribers, or any selected group of such subscribers, within the area. Arrangements would be made at the same time with the Bell Associated Company in whose exchange the concern is located for the issuance of Bell System identification cards under the credit plan. These cards would be issued to all of the salesmen and, equipped with them, the salesmen could then file and talk on their calls at any Bell office, having the bills sent to the home office of their company.

At many exchanges, and the number is gradually increasing, the Bell telephone companies are providing special facilities for those selling by telephone. Cus- tomers' rooms are being installed, equipped with tele- phones and desks so that the salesmen can talk on their calls with privacy and comfort.

It is not too early to know that the use of the key

[57]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

town telephone sales plan has already begun to occupy an important place in the business life of America. National advertising and co-ordinated, aggressive sales activities have resulted in a marked stimulation of in- terest in key town selling. It is only reasonable that in a country which has the largest percentage of the world's telephones, far-sighted business men should take advantage of the opportunity these telephones af- ford to do a greater volume of business at a less ex- pense ; a function that is appropriate to the telephone, which has always been the means of saving the time of the individual, yet increasing his effectiveness, through the ability to transport his ideas and his personality instantaneously over intervening miles.

Richard Whitcomb.

Editor's Note: Mr. Whitcomb is of the staff of The Commercial Engineer of The American Telephone and Telegraph Company.

[58

Notes on Recent Occurrences

PRESIDENTS' CONFERENCE

A CONFERENCE of Presidents of Bell System companies took place at Yama Farms, New York, from October 2 to 8.

PLANT OPERATION CONFERENCE

THE Plant Operation Conference held at Pine- hurst, North Carolina, from October 22 to 31, was the first System conference devoted entirely to plant activities. Previous conferences have been held jointly with the Engineering Departments, but the growth of the supervisory personnel and the increasing impor- tance and diversity of the subjects to be discussed have made separate conferences desirable. The total attend- ance was approximately 110, the Associated Companies and the Long Lines Department being represented by their thirty-two General Plant Managers, with about the same nimiber of Division Plant Superintendents and several Vice Presidents and General Managers.

Prior to the conference, a number of regional com- mittees, each composed of from three to five General Plant Managers, undertook the study of some of the more unportant phases of plant operations, including plant engineering, construction, installation, mainte- nance, plant employee training, plant staffs, and va- rious plant phases of service to the subscriber. The committee's reports were presented at the conference by the respective chairmen, following introductions by members of the General Staff. Matters pertaining to supplies, motor vehicles, plant employee representation and plant emplo}Tiient conditions, together with the matter of sale of service, were presented by the General Staff. The presentations were followed in each case by prepared discussions given by those Plant Managers

[59]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

who had indicated in advance their desire to discuss the particular subject covered by the report. This was followed, in turn, by an open discussion on the floor.

Throughout the conference, particular emphasis was placed on giving a plant service which would be in- creasingly satisfactory to the telephone using public. The discussion related largely to ways and means of making further improvement along such lines as re- ducing service interruptions, reducing the out-of-serv- ice time when interruptions do occur, extending the hours during which repair service is available, more closely meeting the customer's desires with respect to the time of installing and moving his telephone and insuring a prompt, courteous and intelligent treatment of subscribers in all of their contacts with plant em- ployees. Emphasis was given also to the desirability of a more intensive application of accident prevention measures, improvement in aj^pearance of plant, sale of service by plant employees, and the advance program- ming of plant work, and particularly improved train- ing of all the plant forces.

An exhibit room was set up in which were shown a number of the more recent developments in equip- ment, methods and practices.

At an evening session, demonstrations were given of the effects of power arc follow-up during lightning storms and a stereopticon illustration of the effect of circuit defects on transmission.

During the conference, the General Plant Managers were asked to designate the particular activities which they considered the most important ones on which to focus plant effort during the next two years. In their replies, the following ten items were mentioned most frequently.

1. Training of jDlant employees.

2. Accident prevention.

3. Increased speed of installing and moving tele-

phones.

[60 1

Notes on Recent Occurrences

4. Improving the grade of outside plant maintenance.

5. Sale of service by plant employees.

6. Improving the grade of substation and P.B.X.

switchboard maintenance.

7. Improving transmission.

8. Personalizing the service and improving customer

contacts.

9. Clearing subscribers' troubles more promptly. 10. Reducing troubles affecting subscribers' lines.

Talks on matters of particular interest were given by Mr. Page, Mr. Hall, Mr. Gherardi, Mr. Waterson, Mr. Charlesworth, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Allen and Mr. Burcher, chairman of the conference.

The conference covered thoroughly all the more im- portant phases of plant operations and the committee representing the Associated Companies expressed the opinion, which was also that of the General Staff, that the conference had been especially effective.

TRANSMISSION CONFERENCE

THE transmission engineers of the Bell System met in conference at 195 Broadway, New York City, from November 14 to 22, to discuss ways and means for further improving telephone transmission, and securing greater continuity of service of the plant. The con- ference was attended by about 50 representatives of the Associated Companies, the Long Lines Department of the American Company, and the Bell Telephone Company of Canada and also by various officials and members of the Headquarters staff in New York.

The conference was opened by H. S. Osborne, Trans- mission Engineer of the A. T. & T. Company, who also presided throughout the sessions. The various sched- uled subjects were briefly presented and discussed in short papers prepared by both Associated Company and A. T. & T. Company representatives, after which con- siderable time was devoted to general discussions and

[61]

Bell Telephone Quart ei^ly

questions on each subject. A general outline of a pro- gram of improvement in toll transmission was dis- cussed, followed by more detailed discussions of toll transmission surveys, toll cable problems, switched toll connections, carrier problems, modernizing low quality plant, etc. The program for further improving local transmission was covered, including specific discussions of local plant design and special subscribers' services. This was followed by the general subject of transmis- sion maintenance, including transmission service ob- servations, reports of poor transmission, station and loop maintenance and toll transmission maintenance. Connecting company and rural line transmission prob- lems were considered very fully. The discussions on inductive co-ordination covered particularly the trend of power companies' practice, the prevention of noise in local telephone plant from both external and internal sources and low frequency induction. Other subjects discussed included foreign wire relations, protection and telephone service to power companies. Transmis- sion training work w^as also very fully discussed by the conferees. One session was devoted to a presenta- tion of transmission development matters by O. B. Blackwell, Transmission Development Engineer and members of his staff, and by H. S. Warren, Electrical Interference Engineer.

President Walter S. Gifford addressed the confer- ence, pointing out that in spite of the tremendous strides which the telephone business has made there are still a large number of important problems before the telephone organization in the further improvement of service and indicating the great responsibility of those concerned with transmission work in the further prog- ress for which the telephone organization is working. He emphasized particularly the further miprovement of transmission on short and moderate haul toll busi- ness and the problems involved in providing improved service to rural communities as two of the outstanding

[62]

Azotes on Recent Occurrences

activities to whicli it is important that increased atten- tion be directed at the present time.

Dui'ing the conference there were also addresses by Vice Presidents Bancroft Gherardi, F. B. Jewett, and A. W. Page of the A. T. and T. Company on general Bell System matters. T. G. Miller, General Manager of the Long Lines Department, outlined the problems of that department. C. G. StoU, Vice President of the Western Electric Company, Inc., addressed the con- ferees on Western Electric Company, Inc., matters pointing out the need for a close co-operation between the Operating Companies and the Western Electric Company, Inc., in regard to scheduling telephone sup- plies and equipment. Operating matters from both the traffic and plant standpoints were re\dewed by K. W. Waterson, A. J. Allen, M. B. French, and D. C. Hos- feld, and commercial matters by L. B. Wilson. H. P. Charlesworth reviewed the plant engineering activities, including the five-year program, rural lines and con- necting company problems, improvements in the ap- pearance in the telephone plant and other matters in which the transmission engineers are directly con- cerned.

The sessions of the conference were supplemented by inspection trips to the Bell Telephone Laboratories and the Western Electric works at Kearny, and by ex- hibitions of demonstration apparatus for showing transmission losses and power arc follow-ups, and by a number of other exhibits.

GENEEAL STATISTICAL CONFERENCE

A GENERAL Statistical Conference of the BeU System was held in New York City from Decem- ber 3 to 8, attended by those in charge of statistical work in the Accounting Departments of the Associated Com- panies and by certain staff representatives of the Amer- ican Telephone and Telegraph Company.

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Bell Telephone Qiiarterh/

The purpose of the Conference was primarily to afford an opportunity for the discussion and review of the progress which has taken place during the three and a half year period since the preceding Conference in the development of statistical analysis and presen- tation of accounting and other data as administrative aids. In the light of the experience of the Companies to date, there was general discussion of the most profit- able lines of future development of such statistical work and careful consideration was given to the general char- acter of these statistical activities which will make them most valuable. An important subject considered by the Conference related to the types of statistical work best adapted to meeting the needs of area operating organi- zations.

Emphasis was placed upon the importance of select- ing significant facts, of designing statistical work to meet individual needs, and of adjusting current work in accordance with changing requirements, in order that the statistical work of the Accounting Departments may at all times be of greatest service to the business as a whole.

During its proceedings, the Conference was ad- dressed by President Gifford, Comptroller Heiss, and Assistant Comptroller Behan.

FURTHER EXTENSIONS OF TRANSATLANTIC TELEPHONE SERVICE

Danzig

ON October 15 transatlantic telephone service was extended to the Free City of Danzig in Europe. Danzig has a population of 400,000 in an area about 27 miles square. The municipal govermnent operates the telephone system comprising 17,200 telephones. Con- nection with America is effected through a submarine telephone cable under the Baltic Sea connecting Danzig \vith Germany.

[64]

Notes on Recent Occurrences

Ontario and Quebec

Facilities of the transatlantic telephone service, which had previously been opened only to certain speci- fied Canadian cities, were made available on October 15 to all points in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

Spain

Telephone service between North America and Mad- rid was inaugurated by conversations between Presi- dent Coolidge and King Alfonso XIII on October 13. The ceremonies at Washington took place in the di- rectors' room of the United States Chamber of Com- merce. President Walter S. Gifford of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company acted as master of ceremonies at Washington, while Colonel Sosthenes Behn, President of the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, acted in a similar capacity in Madrid.

Addressing King Alfonso, President Coolidge said: ''I welcome this added link, no less strong because it is invisible, between Spain and the United States. I believe it to be true that when two men can talk to- gether the danger of any serious disagreement is im- measurably lessened and that what is true of individ- uals is true of nations. The international telephone, therefore, which carries the warmth and the friendli- ness of the human voice, will always correct what might be misinterpreted in the written word.

''Whatever brings our two coimtries closer is of value to us and to the world. This western hemisphere, discovered by the wonderful navigators of Spain, has always owed much to your country. The language of Spain is the language of a great part of the Amer- icas. The fine traditions of Spain are the basis of the culture of a large part of the Americas and our friend- ship with the great nations to the south draws us closer to their mother country. With your country and with

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Bell Telephone Quarterly

theirs the United States stands for the promotion of world understanding and peace. I was therefore par- ticularly pleased that Spain so promptly and gener- ously adhered to the general pact for the renunciation of war. It was what I expected on the part of your great and peace loving nation.

*'I am especially glad thus orally to greet your Maj- esty because I know the position of great personal re- sponsibility you hold in directing the policies and prog- ress of your country. I wish for Your Majesty a long and happy life and for your country all the prosperity and happiness which come from wise and benevolent leadership in all those things which make life richer and finer. ' '

King Alfonso, speaking in English, replied:

**I heartily reciprocate in my own name, and in that of Spain, the greetings of Your Excellency.

*'Mr. President: I thank you for the cordial words in which you do Spain the honor and justice to recog- nize her outstanding services to the Americas, and I agree that we ought to expect from this new means of communication ever closer relations because of the in- timate and more perfect understanding between the two peoples.

^'I reiterate to Your Excellency with my salutations, the testimony of my most sincere appreciation, and ex- tend best wishes for the peace and prosperity of the United States."

J. Keuben Clark, Assistant Secretary of State, spoke in behalf of the State Department at Washing- ton. His greeting was acknowledged by Ambassador Ogden H. Haromond, speaking from Madrid, as fol- lows:

**It is a great honor to be the first American Am- bassador to Spain to communicate with the Department of State by means of this wonderful invention of wdre- less telephony, which brings Spain and the United States so close together.

[66 1

Notes on Recent Occurrences

''The point has often been made that easy and rapid conunimication prevents misunderstanding. To my mind they may do much more, they not only augment existing friendships but create new ones and this tele- phone service inaugurated today, on the eve of the meet- ing of all of the Americas at the Sevilla Exposition, forges another and valuable link in our chain of friend- ships."

Greetings were also exchanged between President Walter S. Gifford and the Marques de Urquijo, Presi- dent of the National Telephone Company of Spain. Mr. Gifford said:

''Although I have been in the telephone business all my life, I confess it gives me a thrill to talk over the lines of four countries, through the air over the ocean, under the sea by cable, over the Pyrenees, and to get from you in a fifth of a second a message from the coun- try whence Colmnbus started upon his momentous jour- ney, based on the belief that the world was round. Faith in science led to the discovery of this continent and as his spiritual successors we firmly believe that science is and will continue to develop it to the increas- ing comfort, effectiveness and happiness of man. And it is a pleasure for us to work in co-operation with those engaged elsewhere in advancing the telephone art. My colleagues and I extend to you our congratulations for the success of the National Telephone Company of Spain."

The Marques de Urquijo replied:

"Thanks to the co-operation of the French Post Office, through whose territory we pass, and the co- operation and facilities of the British General Post Office with its Rugby Radio Service, it has been possible for his Majesty the King to greet the President of the United States and inaugurate the telephone service be- tween Spain and the United States. It is also my privilege to greet you, Mr. Gifford, as President of the great American Telephone and Telegraph Company,

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Bell Telephone Quarterly

which company has been a constant inspiration in the development of our Spanish Telephone Company over which I have the honor to preside. May I extend to you and your colleagues my most cordial salutations."

A month later, on November 14, King Alfonso again participated in the opening of telephone service to an American country when he exchanged felicitations with General Gerardo Machado, President of Cuba. Speak- ing from Madrid, King Alfonso said:

''Mr. President: It gives me great satisfaction to be able to communicate by telephone with the chief of the Cuban nation. Your country, inspired by your Excel- lency's heartfelt sentiments, has been giving constant proofs of its devotion to Spain which both my country and I reciprocate with genuine sincerity."

General Machado replied in part:

''Your Majesty: I am experiencing at this moment one of the greatest emotions of my life, because I am able to communicate with Your Majesty and to express to you the profound happiness which I feel in spealdng with the august head of the nation which discovered and colonized our hemisphere."

The Cuban President was then greeted by General Primo de Rivera, President of the Council of Minis- ters of Spain, and the Cuban Secretary of State, Dr. Rafael Martinez Ortiz, replied. An exchange of greetings between Dr. Ortiz and the Cuban Ambassador at Madrid, Honorable Dr. Mario Garcia Kohli, fol- lowed; and General Primo de Rivera then spoke with Sr. Alvero de Baldonado, Charge d 'Affaires of the Spanish Embassy in Havana. The ceremonies were concluded with an exchange of greetings between of- ficials of the National Telephone Company of Spain and the Cuban Telephone Company.

On November 26 the telephone service connecting North America and Madrid was extended to embrace the whole of Spain, which has approximately 141,500 telephones serving a population estimated at 22,450,000.

[68]

Notes on Recent Occurrences

Mexico-Eueope

Transatlantic telephone service, which was already in effect between Europe and a number of important cities in Mexico, was extended on November 1 to the city of Puebla, Mexico.

Austria

On November 3 Vienna, the capital of Austria, eleventh largest city in the world, was connected with the transatlantic telephone circuit. Vienna has a pop- ulation of nearly 2,000,000 and is served by 110,000 telephones.

The service was opened with conversations between Chancellor Dr. Seipel of Austria and Secretary of State Kellogg in Washington, and between other American and Austrian officials. Dr. Seipel said:

''I have it at heart to express my sincere joy that modern technical science has succeeded in bringing our countries nearer by means of this further facility of international conmiunication. ' '

Mr. Kellogg replied in part:

''With this new means of communication we shall have closer relations than ever."

Hungary

Budapest, the capital of Hungary, was brought within the scope of the transatlantic telephone service on November 12. Service was formally opened with the transmission of greetings from President Coolidge, transmitted by Secretary of State Kellogg who, speak- ing from Washington, said to Count Bethlen, Premier of Hungary, in Budapest:

"The President has asked me to extend through you to the Regent and people of Hungary, on behalf of himself and the people of the United States, cordial good wishes for the continued i^rosperity and happiness of the Hungarian people.

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Bell Telephone Quarterly

''The opening of this service will bring to your coun- trymen and my fellow-citizens of the United States the realization that our peoples are being brought closer together every day by the progress of science in thus establishing direct telephonic communication between the two countries, and it is with a feeling of great pleas- ure that the people of the United States of America inaugurate direct communication with your people to- day. I wish to tell you also how sincerely happy I am to hear your voice and to feel that we have thus estab- lished a new bond in the relations between our two coun- tries. ' '

Conversations also took place between J. Reuben Clark, Assistant Secretary of State, and J. Butler Wright, American Minister at Budapest; and between John Pelenyi, Hungarian Charge d 'Affaires at Wash- ington, and Count Bethlen.

Hungary was the fifteenth European nation to be brought within speaking distance of America. Buda- pest has about 50,000 telephones serving nearly a mil- lion people.

Czechoslovakia

On November 24 Prague, the capital of Czecho- slovakia, was added to the European points accessible over the transatlantic telephone circuit. Prague has a population of about 725,000 with 34,000 telephones. The service to Prague was opened with an exchange of felicitations between Secretary of State Kellogg and Dr. Edouard Benes, Foreign Minister of Czechoslo- vakia, who also spoke ^uth Ferdinand Veverka, the Minister of Czechoslovakia at Washington. In his conversation with Dr. Benes, Secretary Kellogg said:

"It gives me a great pleasure to greet you in the name of the govermnent and people of the United States upon the occasion of the inauguration of the telephone service between our two countries.

"It is most impressive to me to think of our voices bridging the space and distance between us at one

[70]

Notes on Recent Occurrences

bound and I cannot but feel that the result of the link- ing together of our two countries by this new means of communication will be the further increasing of the friendly ties of sympathy and understanding which have existed between our two peoples since the estab- lishment of your state."

In the course of his reply Dr. Benes said: ''Direct telephonic commimication brings our nation still closer to the North American nation, whom we esteem so highly for their momentous share in our struggle for liberty and whose sons made such sacrifices in the conmion fight and who play the role of pioneer in the daily economic and cultural life of the world."

Spanish Morocco, Africa

Transatlantic telephone service between North America and Europe reached a point in still another continent— Africa— on November 26 when connection was established with Ceuta, Spanish Morocco, Africa, which is linked to the telephone system of Spain by submarine cable across the Strait of Gibraltar.

France

Transatlantic telephone service, which has included Paris since March 28, 1928, was extended on December 15 to embrace about one hundred points in Prance cov- ering practically the entire coimtry and including 532,- 800 telephones. With this extension of service the total of American and European telephones which may be interconnected by means of the transatlantic circuit is brought to approximately 26,750,000.

COMSTOCK PEIZE TO C. J. DAVISSON

The National Academy of Sciences has awarded the Comstock Prize to Clinton J. Davisson, of the Bell Tel- ephone Laboratories staff of scientists. This prize is given each five years for "the most important discovery

[71]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

or investigation in electricity or magnetism or radiant energy"; this year it amounts to $2,300. It was granted ''for experimental work demonstrating that nnder certain conditions electrons behave as trains of waves might be expected to behave. ' '

Presentation of the award was made at the Autumn Meeting held at Schenectady, November twentieth, by Br. Thomas Hunt Morgan, President of the Academy.

DR. FRANK B. JEWETT AWARDED EDISON

MEDAL

THE seventeenth Edison gold medal has been awarded by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers to Dr. Frank B. Jewett, Vice President of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, in charge of the Department of Development and Re- search, and also President of the Bell Telephone Lab- oratories, New York City, "for his contributions to the art of electrical communication."

The Edison gold medal "for Meritorious Achieve- ment in Electrical Science, or Electrical Engineering, or the Electrical Arts," was founded in 1904 by the friends and associates of Thomas A. Edison in com- memoration of the first quarter century in the art of electric lighting. The medal was "to serve as an hon- orable incentive to scientists, engineers and artisans, to maintain by their works a high standard of accomplish- ment." It was designed by James Earl Frazer and bears on its obverse a portrait of Mr. Edison and on its reverse an allegorical conception of "the genius of electricity crowned by fame. ' '

It is interesting to note that Dr. Jewett began his work in the Bell System the year of the establishment of the Edison medal. After graduate study at Chicago University and two years of teaching at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he entered upon his life work of telephone engineering. As Transmission Engineer he did notable pioneer work in the development of the

[72]

Notes on Recent Occurrences

theory and practice of voice transmission over wires. As Chief Engineer of the Western Electric Company and later as Lieutenant-Colonel of the U. S. Signal Corps, he served with distinction on army and na\^ committees dm-ing the World War. The Distinguished Service Medal was awarded to him. Combining high technical skill and unusual executive ability, Dr. Jewett has directed the work of a large group of scientists and engineers who seek to advance the communication art in all of its ramifications. Author of brochures, ar- ticles, and public addresses on physical and electrical subjects. Dr. Jewett occupies a prominent place in pro- fessional engineering societies and educational circles.

The formal presentation of the medal to Dr. Jewett will occur on the evening of January 30 during the an- nual mid-winter convention of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, held in New York.

Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, was awarded the Edison medal in 1916, and Gen. J. J. Carty, Vice President of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was the recipient in 1918.

Me. Gifford is U. S. Steel Dieector

On December 18 President Walter S. Gifford of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company was elected a Director of the United States Steel Corpora- tion.

73]

Abstracts of Technical Papers from Bell System Sources

Decibel— The Name for the Transmission TJnit^ by W. H. Martin. In this article is defined the transmis- sion unit that was adopted by the Bell System in 1923 for expressing telephone transmission efficiencies and levels. A brief outline is given of the reasons for the adoption of the name *' decibel" for this unit.

The Principles of Electric Circuits Applied to Com- munication,^ by H. S. Osborne. This paper discusses the method of presenting in the curricula of engineer- ing schools the fundamental electrical principles em- phasizing the desirability of presenting them as far as practical in a general way and of making clear the relations of specific applications, such as the relation between circuit theory equations as applied to power systems and to telephone systems, and the relation be- tween ordinary circuit theory and the generalized elec- tromagnetic equations. An outline is given of some interesting problems arising and results obtained in the application of electric principles to telephone sys- tems.

Magnetic Properties of Perminvar/ by G. W. El- men. This paper describes the magnetic properties of a group of iron-nickel-cobalt alloys, named ^'permin- var." With certain heat treatments these alloys have unusual constancy of permeability and extremely small hysteresis losses at low flux densities, and peculiarly shaped hysteresis loops constricted in the middle as

1 Bell System Teclmical Journal, January, 1929.

2 Bell System Technical Journal, January, 1929. Presented at Pitts- burgh, July 18, 1928, at the Summer School for Electrical Engineering Teach- ers under the auspices of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Ed- ucation.

3 The Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol. 206, No. 3, September, 1928; Bell System Technical Journal, January, 1929.

[74]

Abstracts of Technical Papers

the maximum flux densities of the loops are increased. Methods of preparing and heat treating the alloys are described, limits of composition, and changes in the magnetic properties mth composition and with differ- ent heat treatments are illustrated. A theory of con- stitutional changes effected by heat treatment and re- sponsible for the unusual magnetic properties is sug- gested.

The Aluminum Electrolytic Condenser* by H. O. Siegmund. In this paper the anodic film-forming properties of aluminum are discussed and the unique electrical qualities of film-coated aluminum anodes are described. Special reference is made to an aluminum electrolytic condenser of the type used in low pass elec- tric wave-filters of direct current telephone power plant equipment. Electrical characteristics of con- densers are given and the manner is described in which the operation and life of the units are influenced by variations in composition of the electrodes and the electrolyte.

Contemporary Advances in Physics XVII. The Scattering of Light with Change of Frequency,^ by Karl K. Darrow. This article deals chiefly with one of the most interesting and important developments in phys- ics during 1928, which may be described as the recog- nition that quanta or corpuscles of light may be re- flected from molecules or atoms in such a way, that in the process they give up some of their energy to the reflecting particle, or take some energy from it. Owing to these transfers of energy the frequencies of the quanta are changed, a fact which is expressed by saying that light is scattered with change of frequency or change of wave-length. Several diif erent cases of this effect have been discovered, the earliest-known being

4 Bell System Technical Journal, January, 1929. Presented before the American Electrochemical Society at Bridgeport, Conn., April 26, 1928. 6 Bell System Technical Journal, January, 1929.

[75]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

the scattering of X-rays with change of frequency by free or nearly free electrons, the "Compton effect"; while the one which directed attention to the general principle, the scattering of visible light with change of frequency by organic liquids, was discovered by Eaman. The principle itself corresponds closely to a similar one for electrons, and emphasizes the resemblance between electricity and light.

Ground Return Impedance: Underground Wire ivith Earth Returns' by John E. Carson. In certain transmission problems principally those relating to induction and interference phenomena, it is necessary to know the transmission characteristics of a circuit composed of an underground wire with earth return. These can be evaluated by well known engineering formulas provided the ground return impedance is known. The present paper gives the mathematical so- lution of this problem and shows that the ground return impedance is substantially independent of the depth of the wire below the surface.

Application to the Binomial Summation of a Lapla- cian Method for the Evaluation of Definite Integrals' by E. C. Molina. The numerical evaluation of the in- complete Binomial Summation, a problem of major importance for many statistical and engineering ap- plications of the Theory of Probability, is a question for which a satisfactory solution has not as yet been obtained. Several approximation formulas have been presented, each of which gives good results for some limited range of values of the variables involved; but a formula of wide applicability is still a desideratum.

The purpose of this paper is to submit for considera- tion an approximation formula which seems to meet the situation to a measurable extent.

6 Bell System Technical Journal, January, 1929.

7 Bell System Technical Journal, January, 1929. Presented before Inter- national Congress of Mathematicians at Bologna, Italy, in September, 1928.

[76]

Abstracts of Technical Papers

A New Method of Obtaining Transient Solutions of Electrical Networks,^ by W. P. Mason. A new method for obtaining transient solntions of electrical networks is developed in this paper which depends upon the fact that a distortionless line can be made to approach as a limit all three of the circuit elements, resistance, in- ductance and capacity. The process of solution con- sists in solving for the current in a distortionless line— which is ordinarily a simple process— and then proceed- ing to the limiting case of the distortionless line which approaches the element or elements of interest. Some examples are worked out and a derivation of the La- placian integral solution is given. It is interesting to note that this method gives a formal solution of the Laplacian integral equation.

Acoustic Considerations Involved in Steady State Loud Speaker Measurements/ by L. G. Bostwick. Certain difficulties encountered in acoustic measure- ments of the performance of loud speakers are de- scribed. Because of the nature of these difficulties it has not yet been possible to specify a complete and simple set of measurements or conditions which will completely express the performance of a loud speaker. Data are given showing the performance of two repre- sentative types of loud speakers both when measured in outdoor space free from reflections and w^hen meas- ured mider varying conditions in a specially treated acoustic laboratory. The differences serve to empha- size the importance of certain precautions in the mak- ing of indoor acoustic measurements.

Recent Advances in Wax Recording/" by H. A. Frederick. This paper considers chiefly the fre- quency-response characteristics and limitations of the

8 Bell System Technical Journal, January, 1929.

9 Bell System Technical Journal, January, 1929.

10 Bell System Technical Journal, January, 1929. Presented before So- ciety of Motion Picture Engineers at Lake Placid, New York, September 26, 1928.

[77]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

lateral cut *'wax" record. It shows that the frequency range from 30 to 8,000 cycles can be recorded and re- produced from the record with practically negligible deviation from a flat frequency-response characteristic. The paper brings out the ease with which the record can be immediately replayed from the "wax" as an aid in assisting the artist to obtain the best results. A brief description is given of conunercial processing methods including both plating and pressing. These methods give essentially a perfect copy of the original " wax. " The time required for this work has been con- siderably reduced of late so that a test pressing can be obtained within three hours of the cutting of the orig- inal "wax."

Sound Reco7'ding with the Light Yalve,^'^ by D. Mac Kenzie. The light valve developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories is an electromagnetic shutter consisting of a loop of duralumin tape formed into a slit at right angles to a magnetic field. Sound currents from the microphone and amplifier flow in this loop causing it to open and close in accordance with the current va- riations.

The slit is f ocussed by a lens on the sound negative film. An incandescent ribbon filament is focussed on the light valve, and the light passed by the undisturbed slit appears on the film as a line at right angles to the direction of the film travel. As the valve aperture is modulated by sound currents, the film receives a vary- ing exposure and a sound record of the variable density type is obtained.

For talking pictures such a sound film is made on a separate recording machine synchronized vaih. the camera and is printed alongside the picture on the fin- ished positive. The prints are displaced so that the sound is advanced over the corresponding picture.

11 Bell System Technical Journal, January, 1929. Presented before So- ciety of Motion Picture Engineers at Lake Placid, New York, September 25, 1928.

[78]

Abstracts of Technical Papers

This is in order that the sound may be projected at a point of continuous film motion below the picture gate.

Synchronization and Speed Control of Synchron- ized Sound Pictures,^"" by H. M. Stoller. The repro- duction of the synchronized sound picture of today pre- sents no serious problem of synchronization, for this factor has been practically eliminated by the perfec- tion of electrical means for reproducing sound with equipment which may be coupled mechanically to the picture projector.

The important problem of the present day, in con- nection with the reproduction of synchronized sound pictures, is the provision of suitable means for main- taining a constant speed of the sound reproducing mechanism in order that the pitch of the sound being reproduced may not suffer any sudden change which would be sensed by a good musical ear. Control cir- cuits using vacuum tubes with a frequency bridge as a speed standard with provision for manual variable speed control are described and explained for use with both AC and DC motors. Remote synchronization per- mitting the recording of pictures and sound simultane- ously on equipment located some distance apart is ob- tained by a modification of the Michalke electric gear system.

A Sound Projector System for Use in Motion Pic- ture Theatres, "-^ by E. O. Scriven. The general prob- lem involved in the design of a system suitable to be used to record and reproduce sounds such as are re- quired for "talking" motion pictures is outlined. The general method of attack is indicated. There follows a description of the several pieces of apparatus which

12 Bell System Technical Journal, January, 1929. Presented before So- ciety of Motion Picture Engineers at Lake Placid, New York, September 24, 1928.

13 Bell System Technical Journal, January, 1929. Presented before So- ciety of Motion Picture Engineers at Lake Placid, New York, September, 1928.

[79]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

comprise the theatre equipment, including a discussion of some of their salient features and of the part each plays in the sound projector system.

The Communication System of the Conowingo De- velopment,^' by W. B. Beals and E. B. Tuttle. This paper describes the communication system which has been installed to serve the power plant at Conowingo, Maryland, and its associated transmission line.

The important features to be considered in design- ing a telephone system for a power plant are pointed out. The types of telephone switchboard and telephone instruments chosen in this case to meet the special re- quirements of the generating station, together with the layout and cabling arrangement, are outlined.

The paper also discusses the possible ways of pro- viding for the needs of the load dispatcher and the plan adopted at Conowingo; the facilities provided the pa- trolmen for calling from points along the transmission line ; the connection from the private branch exchange to the general telephone system; and the special elec- trical protection installed on the long lines leaving the power house.

Re-flection and Refraction of Electrons hy a Crystal of Nickel/' by C. J. Davisson and L. H. Germer. This is a report of further observations on the regular re- flection of electrons from the surface of a nickel crystal ; an earlier report was published in the same journal." In the present report data are given of the selectivity of reflection for angles of incidence from to 10 to 50 degrees, and for electrons of wave-lengths 0.6 to 1.5 A. The previously found result is confirmed that to explain the occurrence of the intensity maxima of the

14 Journal of the A. I. E. E., October, 1928, pp. 737-741.

15 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August, 1928, pp. 619-627.

16 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, April, 1928, pp. 317-322.

[80]

Abstracts of Technical Papers

reflected beam it is necessary to assume that electron waves are refracted on passing into the crystal. The data are used for calculating indices of refraction for nickel for electrons of various sjDeeds or wave-lengths, and a dispersion curve is constructed. This curve dis- plays a feature suggestive of the optical phenomenon of anomalous dispersion.

Optical Experiments ivith Electrons," by L. H. Ger- mer. A semi-popular account of a series of experi- ments performed by C. J. Davisson and the author upon the scattering of electrons by single crystals of nickel. These experiments establish the fact that un- der certain conditions moving electrons behave like trains of waves. In the interaction of these waves with a single crystal the optical phenomena of diffraction, reflection and refraction have been observed. Scien- tific accounts of these experiments are contained in the following papers : Nature, 119, 558 (1927) ; Phys. Rev., 30, 705 (1927) ; Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 14, 317 (1928) ; Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 14, 619 (1928). Although the present paper is of a popular nature it aims to be quite comprehensive. It attempts to represent the status of this series of experiments in August, 1928.

Buhher Compression Testing Machine ^^ by C. L. Hippensteel. This paper gives a brief account of a new compression test developed at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for more reliably judging the ability of rubber insulation on metallic conductors to withstand certain service conditions to which it is subjected. A recording compression testing machine, which has been built for applying the test, and typical results are il- lustrated. Other possible test uses for the machine are suggested.

17 Journal of Chemical Education, Part I, September, 1928, pp. 1041-1055. Part II, October, 1928, pp. 1255-1271,

18 India Kubber World, September, 1928, pp. 55-56.

[81]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

New Languages from Old— How Secrecy is Gained hy the Inversion of Speech Sounds/^ by C. R. Keith. The inversion of speech sounds may be accomplished with the aid of methods used in radio broadcasting and in carrier telephony. Among the possible applications, it is illustrative of methods used to achieve secrecy in electrical conmiunications.

The character of speech sounds is determined by the frequencies and amplitudes of the component waves into which the sound may be resolved. The process of inversion consists effectively in altering the frequency distribution of these components so that low tones ap- pear as high tones, while high tones appear as low tones. To the untrained observer, inverted speech is unintel- ligible, although the characteristic cadence is preserved. Inversion of the frequency scale is produced by mod- ulating speech with a carrier wave which lies just above the highest speech frequency which is to be transmitted, and selecting the lower sideband. For practical rea- sons connected with undesired distortion, it is more de- sirable to break up the modulating jorocess into two dis- tinct steps. The original speech sounds may then be regained by repeating the process which led to its in- version.

Joint Pole Use tuith Power Companies/^ by D. E. Lowell. The relations between the telephone company and the other wire using companies, especially the power companies operating in the same area, are dis- cussed in this paper. It recognizes the responsibility of the telephone company as well as that of the power company for good operating conditions in areas where both types of line are involved and also points out the necessity of close cooperation between Connecting and Bell Telephone Companies. The considerations in- volved in the joint use of poles by telephone and power

19 Scientific American, October, 1928, pp. 310-311.

20 Telephony, September 8, 1928, pp. 22-24. '

[82]

Abstracts of Technical Papers

companies are given with particular mention of the general joint use agreement. The importance of mu- tual advance notice of plans is developed. The reports of the Joint General Committee of the N. E. L. A. and Bell System form the background of the talk and are recommended to those who have not already read them.

Adsorption of Gases hy Graphitic Carbon. II— X-Ray Investigation of the Adsorbents /"^ by H. H. Lowry and R. M. Bozorth. This paper is supplement- ary to one by Lowry and Morgan appearing in the Journal of Physical Chemistry in 1925 ^^ and gives direct evidence that the adsorbents studied were gra- phitic carbon. The X-ray data shows that carbon pre- pared by the explosion of graphitic acid is graphitic in structure and that the individual particles are flakes averaging approximately 50 atom diameters in breadth and 10 atom layers in thickness. The significance of this finding is discussed in relation to current views of the nature of active carbon adsorbents.

Recent Toll Cable Construction and its Problems,-'' by H. S. Percival. One of the outstanding develop- ments in the Bell System has been the rapid extension of toll cables. This has required the development of new methods and apparatus. Material is carried into rough right of way and installed through the use of tractors, with equipjDed trucks and various types of automotive equipment. The development of permalloy now allows the complete loading of a full-sized cable in two pots where six were required before. Crossings over rivers are made in submarine cable or by long span construction with catenary suspension. Cables are tested before completion for sheath damage, de- fective splices, etc., which might cause service failures, by means of dry gas under pressure.

21 Journal of Physical Chemistry, October, 1928, pp. 1524-1527.

22 Journal of Physical Chemistry, Vol. 29 (1925), p. 1105.

23 Telephone Engineer, September, 1928, pp. 31-33.

[83]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

Quality Control hy Sampling;' by W. L. Robertson. A discussion of the application of the mathematical theory of sampling to commercial shop inspection. Also gives tables illustrating numerically the results obtained from the various sampling plans in use.

ProUems in Potuer Line Carrier Telephony and Re- cent Developments to Meet Them;' by J. D. Sarros and W. V. Wolfe. Power transmission lines as commonly encountered present relatively complex networks hav- ing irregular and unstable attenuation-frequency char- acteristics within the 50-150 K.C. band employed for power line carrier telephony. The high frequency noise may be very high.

A single side band carrier suppressed system operat- ing on a single frequency duplex basis has been devel- oped to overcome these transmission difficulties.

A comparison of this system with other types shows its superiority.

The initial installation of this equipment was made on the 220 K.V. lines of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

The Planning of Telephone Exchange Plants;" by W. B. Stephenson. This paper discusses procedures followed in planning future extensions to telephone ex- change plants to care for increased demand for tele- phone service. An outline is given of the methods employed in forecasting future demand for telephone service and in determining the most efficient design of the plant to meet the service requirements. The uses made of engineering comparisons in solving the economic phases of various kinds of telephone engi- neering problems are discussed, with particular refer-

24 Factory and Industrial Management, pp. 503-505, September, 1928; pp. 724-726, October, 1928.

25 Journal of the A. I. E. E., October, 1928, pp. 727-731 (abridgment).

26 Journal of the A. I. E. E., July, 1928, pp. 500-503 (abridgment).

[84]

Abstracts of Technical Papers

ence to location and size or extent of major items of plant as well as the time when they should be ready to give service. Emphasis is placed upon the importance of those factors less readily evaluated, such as service factors, practicability from a construction and operat- ing standpoint, flexibility, etc.

The Effect of the Acoustics of an Auditorium on the Interpretation of Speech/' by E. C. Wente. Studies of speech sounds in the Bell Telephone Laboratories have shown that 60 per cent, of the acoustic energy in speech lies below 500 c.p.s., although the intelligibility of individual speech sounds is reduced by only 2 per cent, if all the energy below this frequency is com- pletely suppressed. These results indicate that the sound absorption coefficient of materials placed in an auditorium for reducing the reverberation time should be high for tones of low frequency and low for those of high frequency. Most porous materials commonly used for this purpose have absorption characteristics quite the reverse. Rooms that have been treated with a rather large amount of such materials are therefore often unsatisfactory for speaking purposes, although the adjustment for reverberation time may have been carried out according to accepted standards.

27 The American Architect, August 20, 1928, pp. 259-261.

[85]

Organization Changes

American Telephone and Telegraph Company John H. Ray appointed General Solicitor.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Attorney, .American Telephone and Telegraph Company, New York City, February 15, 1923; General Attorney, De- cember, 1923; General Solicitor, January 1, 1929.

New England Telephone and Telegraph Company G. K. Manson appointed Chief Engineer.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Night Oper- ator, New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, Exeter, N. H., 1892; Workman, repair shop, Boston, 1895; Cableman at various points in New England, 1895; Special Inspector, 1896; Switchboard Man, 1899; Electrical Engineer, 1901 ; Engineer, 1905 ; Chief Engi- neer of Plant, 1910; Chief Engineer, Boston, 1913; Chief Engineer, January 1, 1929.

Southern Area

H. E. Darling appointed General Manager, Southern Area.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Assistant in Traffic Engineering, American Telephone and Tele- graph Company, Boston and New York City, 1906 ; En- gineer, New York City, 1909; Acting Office Manager, Operation and Engineering Department, August, 1922 ; General Traffic Supervisor, New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, Boston, August, 1923; Gen- eral Traffic Manager, December, 1925; General Man- ager, Southern Area, January 1, 1929.

[86]

Organization Changes

L. W. Layton appointed General Traffic Manager.

Entered employ of the Bell System as right-of-way Agent, American Telephone and Telegraph Company, New York City, February, 1905; Manager, Washing- ton, D. C, December, 1905; Clerk, Columbus, O., Juty, 1907 ; Manager, Indianapolis, September, 1907 ; District Traffic Chief, April, 1908; Service Inspector, Central Union Telephone Company, Cleveland Telephone Com- pany, Michigan State Telephone Company and Wis- consin Telephone Company, Chicago, July, 1911 ; Gen- eral Traffic Supervisor, January, 1912; Traffic Super- visor, August, 1912; Traffic Supervisor, Chicago Tele- phone Company, March, 1914; Toll Traffic Manager, October, 1915 ; Division Traffic Supervisor, May, 1916 ; Assistant Traffic Superintendent, July, 1918; Traffic Superintendent, Cleveland Telephone Company, Cleve- land, October, 1919; Division Traffic Superintendent, Ohio Bell Telephone Company, January, 1921; Divi- sion Traffic Superintendent, New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, Boston, July 31, 1923; Gen- eral Traffic Manager, Southern Area, January 1, 1929.

R. C. Harden appointed General Plant Manager,

Entered employ of the Bell System as Belief Oper- ator, New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, Claremont, N. H., 1894 ; Night Operator and Combina- tion Man, 1895 ; Lineman, 1895 ; Canvasser and miscel- laneous work. Northern Division, 1897; Chief Clerk, Burlington, Vt., 1897; Lowell, Mass., 1900; District Superintendent, Fitchburg, Mass., 1906 ; District Plant Chief, Manchester, N. H., August, 1908; Division Su- IDerintendent of Plant, June, 1917; Springfield, Mass., December, 1922; General Plant Supervisor, Boston, March, 1926; General Plant Manager, Southern Area, January 1, 1929.

[87]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

C. B. Allsopp appointed General Commercial Manager.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Clerk, Pa- cific Telephone and Telegraph Company, San Fran- cisco, April, 1909 ; Traffic Inspector, Oakland, August, 1909; San Francisco, May, 1910; District Traffic Chief, Napa, July, 1910; Fresno, October, 1911; Traffic Chief, July, 1912 ; resigned December, 1912 ; reengaged as Di- vision Traffic Agent, San Francisco, April, 1913 ; Dis- trict Traffic Chief, March, 1918 ; Acting Division Su- perintendent of Traffic, August, 1918 ; Traffic Engineer, October, 1919 ; Acting Division Superintendent of Traf- fic, Portland, Ore., December, 1919; Di\dsion Super- intendent of Traffic, May, 1920; Division Superinten- dent of Traffic, New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, Providence, P. I., August, 1923; Division Commercial Superintendent, December, 1925 ; Division Manager, February, 1926, Boston, May, 1927 ; General Commercial Manager, Southern Area, January 1, 1929.

B. J. Bowen appointed Engineer.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Service In- spector, New England Telephone and Telegraph Com- pany, Boston, 1902; Division Traffic Engineer, 1903; Equipment Engineer, 1905; Traffic Engineer, August, 1908; Assistant General Superintendent of Traffic, September, 1913; General Superintendent of Traffic, January, 1914 ; Staff Engineer, December, 1925 ; Engi- neer, Southern Area, January, 1, 1929.

NOETHERN" AeEA

A. Schultz appointed General Manager.

Entered employ of the BeU System as Engineer's Assistant, Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, July, 1909; Specification Writer, Jan- uary 1, 1911; Specification Clerk, January 11, 1911; Harrisburg, February, 1911 ; Equipment Engineer, Oc-

[88]

Organization Changes

tober, 1911 ; Plant Engineer, August, 1913 ; Plant En- gineer, Central District Telephone Company, Pitts- burgh, March, 1918 ; Engineer of Equipment, Bell Tel- ephone Company of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, De- cember, 1919; Engineer of Outside Plant, October, 1920 ; Division Superintendent of Installation, Western Electric Company, March, 1923; New York City, De- cember, 1923; General Plant Manager, New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, Boston, December, 3925; General Manager, Northern Area, January 1, 1929.

J. E. Harrell appointed General Traffic Manager.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Clerk, Amer- ican Telephone and Telegraph Company, Long Lines Department, Atlanta, Ga., June, 1913 ; Apprentice, New York City, August, 1913; Traffic Clerk, February, 1914; Atlanta, March, 1914; Assistant to Traffic Chief, Louisville, Ky., October, 1915; Memphis, June, 1916; Louisville, August, 1916; District Traffic Chief, Nash- ville, November, 1916 ; Memphis, March, 1919 ; District Traffic Superintendent, February, 1920; Detroit, May, 1922 ; Cleveland, May, 1924 ; New York City, November, 1924; General Toll Traffic Supervisor, New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, Boston, October, 1925; Division Superintendent of Traffic, Springfield, February, 1926 ; General Supervisor of Traffic, Boston, April, 1927; General Traffic Manager, Northern Ai-ea, January 1, 1929.

C. N. Tasker appointed General Plant Manager.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Inspector, New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, Cen- tral Division, October, 1900; Service Inspector, New Bedford, 1902; Division Inspector, Southern Massa- chusetts, 1903; Foreman of Maintenance, New Bed- ford, 1906; Division Inspector, Southern Massachu-

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Bell Telephone Quarterly

setts, 1906; District Foreman, New Bedford, 1906; Foreman, 1907 ; District Foreman, 1908 ; District Plant Chief, October, 1908; Acting Division Superintendent of Plant, Portland, Me., January, 1918; Division Su- perintendent of Plant, Springfield, October, 1918; Gen- eral Superintendent of Plant, Boston, December, 1922 ; General Plant Manager, August, 1923 ; Division Super- intendent of Plant, December, 1925; Providence, March, 1926 ; General Plant Manager, Northern Area, January 1, 1929.

B. T. Miller appointed General Commercial Manager.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Student, Col- orado Telephone Company, Denver, October, 1910 ; Stu- dent and Manager, May, 1911; Assistant Manager, July, 1911 ; Assistant Manager, Mountain States Tele- phone and Telegraph Company, January, 1912; Man- ager, July, 1912 ; Traveling Service Observer, Salt Lake City, May, 1914; District Traffic Chief, Boise, Ida., June, 1915; Pocatello, Ida., March, 1915; Division Traffic Supervisor, Salt Lake City, November, 1917; City Traffic Manager, February, 1918 ; District Traffic Chief, April, 1919; Denver Traffic Manager, Denver, October, 1919; District Traffic Chief, April, 1920; Den- ver Traffic Chief, May, 1921; Denver Traffic Superin- tendent, May, 1923; Acting Division Superintendent, New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, Worcester, December, 1923; Division Superintendent of Traffic, Springfield, September, 1924; General Su- pervisor of Traffic, Boston, February, 1926; Division Manager, Providence, May, 1927; General Commercial Manager, Northern Area, January 1, 1929.

F. A. Benham appointed Engineer.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Plant Engi- neering Assistant, New England Telephone & Tele-

[90]

Organization Changes

graph Company, Boston, July, 1906 ; Engineer, Novem- ber, 1913; Engineer, Northern Area, January 1, 1929.

Southwestern Bell Telephone Company A, C. Stannard appointed Vice-President.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Night Op- erator, American Telephone and Telegraph Company, Springfield, Mass., 1899; Chief Operator and Service Inspector, New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, White River, Springfield and Boston, 1901 ; Traffic Department, Southern Bell Telephone Com- pany, Atlanta, Ga., 1903; Traffic and Tariff Depart- ment, American Bell Telephone Company, Boston, Mass., 1906; Traffic Engineer, Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, San Francisco, Cal., January, 1908; Division Superintendent of Traffic, January, 1914 ; Acting General Superintendent of Traffic, Ches- apeake & Potomac Telephone Company, Baltimore, Md., August, 1918 ; General Superintendent of Traffic, May, 1919 ; General Traffic Manager, Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, St. Louis, Mo., January, 1921; Vice-President, September, 1928.

F. M. Hoag appointed Vice-President.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Cable Helper, Cleveland Telephone Company, Cleveland, O., 1898 ; Splicer, 1899; Foreman, 1900; General Foreman of Construction, 1902; Inspector, Engineering Depart- ment, Southwestern Telephone and Telegraph Com- pany, Dallas, Tex., 1903 ; Construction Engineer, 1905 ; Assistant Plant Engineer, October, 1909 ; Construction Supervisor, January, 1912 ; Division Superintendent of Plant, July, 1913 ; Division Plant Superintendent, De- cember, 1915; and at San Antonio, May, 1917; Plant Supervisor, Dallas, June, 1919; General Plant Super- intendent and State Engineer, Southwestern Bell Tel- ephone Company, Oklahoma City, Okla., May, 1920;

[91]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

title changed to Plant Superintendent, September, 1920; State Engineer and Assistant General Manager, October, 1920; General Manager, Dallas, Tex., April, 1921 ; General Commercial Manager, St. Louis, Septem- ber, 1926; Vice-President, September, 1928.

W. L. Holley appointed General Traffic Manager.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Traffic Stu- dent, Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, Los Angeles, August, 1910; District Traffic Chief, Santa Barbara, January, 1912; Traffic Chief, Los Angeles, April, 1913 ; Traffic Supervisor, Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company, Baltimore, Md., December, 1918; Acting Division Traffic Superintendent, July, 1919; Division Traffic Superintendent, October, 1919; Gen- eral Supervisor of Traffic, Southwestern Bell Tele- phone Company, St. Louis, April, 1921 ; Traffic Super- intendent, December, 1923 ; General Supervisor of Traf- fic, August, 1925; Engineer, American Telephone and Telegraph Company, New York City, May, 1927 ; Gen- eral Traffic Manager, Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, St. Louis, October, 1928.

New Jersey Bell Telephone Company

A. P. Monroe appointed General Traffic Manager.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Inspector, Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania, Philadel- phia, October, 1911; Traffic Inspector, March, 1912; Assistant Traffic Supervisor, August, 1913; at Allen- town, July, 1915 ; Traffic Supervisor, Philadelphia and Camden, N. J., August, 1915 ; District Traffic Superin- tendent, September, 1915; on furlough for military service, September, 1917 to August, 1919; District Traffic Manager, New York Telephone Company, New York City, February, 1920; Supervisor of machine switching, February, 1925; Service Superintendent, April, 1926; Division Superintendent of Traffic, May,

[92]

Organization Changes

1927; General Supervisor of Traffic, November, 1927; General Traffic Supervisor, May, 1928 ; General Traffic Manager, New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, New- ark, N. J., October, 1928.

Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company

Frank J. Reagan appointed Vice-President in charge of Publicity and Personnel.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Traffic In- spector, New England Telephone Company, Boston, August, 1909; Traffic Department Clerk, Pacific Tele- phone and Telegraph Company, San Francisco, Feb- ruary, 1910 ; Supervisor of Traffic Inspection, Septem- ber, 1911; Traffic Supervisor, May, 1913; General Supervisor of Traffic, February, 1920 ; Division Super- intendent of Traffic, February, 1922; General Traffic Manager, New York Telephone Company, Albany, July, 1925; General Commercial Manager, for North- ern California and Nevada, Pacific Telephone and Tel- egraph Company, San Francisco, June, 1926; Assist- ant to the President, in charge of Publicity, August, 1928; Vice-President in charge of Publicity and Per- sonnel, January 1, 1929.

J. H. Corcoran appointed General Manager, Northern California and Nevada Area.

Entered employ of the Bell System as Messenger, Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, San Fran- cisco, 1887 ; Operator, Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Company, 1887; Repairer and Inspector, Pacific Tel- ephone and Telegraph Company, 1887 ; Installer, 1889 ; Wire Chief, 1892; Wire Chief, Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Company, Los Angeles, 1895; Exchange Manager, Santa Barbara, 1897; Exchange Manager, Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, 1899; Ex- change Manager, Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Company, San Jose, 1900; Division Manager, Central

[93]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

Union Telephone Company, Indiana, 1902 ; Sunset Tel- ephone and Telegraph Company, Seattle, 1903 ; Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, Seattle, 1907; Di- vision Superintendent of Traffic, San Francisco, Au- gust, 1908 ; Portland, Ore., January, 1914 ; Acting Gen- eral Superintendent of Traffic, San Francisco, Decem- ber, 1919; General Superintendent of Traffic, Decem- ber, 1920; General Traffic Manager, January, 1926; General Manager, Northern California and Nevada Area, October, 1928.

M, R. Sullivan appointed General Traffic Manager, Northern California and Nevada Area.

Entered employ of the Bell Sj^stem as Clerk, Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, San Francisco, March, 1912; Traffic Inspector, August, 1913; Chief Clerk, March, 1917; Division Traffic Agent, August, 1918 ; Division Traffic Supervisor, January, 1919 ; Traf- fic Supervisor, May, 1921 ; General Supervisor of Traf- fic, February, 1922; General Toll Supervisor, July, 1925; General Traffic Supervisor, January, 1927; Gen- eral Traffic Manager, Northern California and Nevada Area, November, 1928.

[94]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

A MEDIUM OF SUGGESTION AND A RECORD OF PROGRESS

Published quarterly for the Bell System by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company

Subtcriptioiif $1.50 per year, in United States and Canada; single copies, 50 cents

Address all communications to

INFORMATION DEPARTMENT AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY

195 Broadway, New York

Vol. VIII APRIL, 1929 No. 2

The Dial Office ^^Cutover

!»9

SINCE the advent of dial service in the Bell Sys- tem, a new word is coming more and more into use. It is " Cutover." Its use is not confined to telephone workers. Telephone users, whose service has been changed from manual to dial, have encoimtered the word and have used it. More than 3,100,000, or 21.7 percent of the Bell owned stations, were served by cen- tral office equipment of the dial type at the end of 1928, and for more than 2,000,000 of these there was a trans- fer from manual to dial service. A great many people by this time know the word * ' Cutover ' ' and the change in service associated with it.

What is a '' Cutover " ? In instances wiiere the Bell System has acquired a dial plant with a numbering plan inadequate for the entire service in the citj^, the cutover has involved an expansion of the numbering plan so as to comprehend service to all the telephones in the city, the introduction of an additional train of switches in a working plant, and an increase in the num- ber of pulls of the dial necessary to call a number. In general, however, a cutover involves the transfer of part or all of the subscribers in a given manual office to a

[95] 7

Bell Telephone Quarterly

new dial office. The dial equipment may be in the same building with the manual, or it may be in a new build- ing a block or even a mile away.

To the layman, perhaps the most impressive type of cutover is the one that involves a transfer of the serv- ice from one building to another. It is mystifying to understand how the thousands of lines involved may be working in a manual office until nearly midnight on the day of the cut and at midnight they are all working in the new office with each line in its proper place. *' How long does it take?" "How is it done?" ** Are the lines cut off from service altogether?" " Isn't it very dramatic? " These are some of the questions that are asked.

Does a cutover have any drama? For the casual observer, no. It is not physically possible to watch all the steps involved in making a given cut. The time intervals between steps are too short to allow one to travel from point to point. Even actual observation of each step would not be sufficient, for it would be nec- essary for the mind to build up a picture of what each step signified.

But to the men and women engaged in the work, there is all the thrill that a First Night at the theatre has for the cast — and more. Actors rehearse for a few weeks, but the telephone operating forces have been in training for months, and work on the job has been in progress for a year or two. If actors fail to provide entertainment, they seek another vehicle for their ef- forts. But the principals in a telephone cutover can- not fail, and their audience— the telephone users— is the most critical in the the world. Their mistakes would disturb a service that is essential to the conmiunity. They have been rehearsed in each step in the cutover program. They have their cues. They all know that the success of the job requires that each one perform his or her allotted task at the assigned time. Pride of

[96]

The Dial Office '' Cutover "

craft requires that each one will not be found wanting. Indeed there is drama— plenty of it.

Preparatory Work

Suppose we consider some of the major steps lead- ing up to the cut, and then, eliminating time and dis- tance, attend all points of interest. For example, an old manual equipment in an old building is to be re- placed with dial equipment in a new building some blocks from the old one. A sufficient amount of equip- ment is engineered and ordered to care for the growth in that area for two years from the date when the new office goes into service. The new building is started and both telephone people and customers, located in that area, are interested in watching it grow. The operations are so timed that by the time the building is fiiiished, the equipment is delivered and the installers are at work.

While this work is in progress, the Plant forces are busy building the underground conduit and installing cables so that the subscribers' lines and the inter-office trunks may be connected to the new office. In due time each subscriber's line served by the old office is spliced to a cable pair leading to the new office. This is all done before the cutover takes place. StejDS are taken to be sure that each line is in its proper place in the new office before it is cut from the old.

While these steps are in progress, many others are under way, all of them being timed so that they are completed at the proper date with reference to the cut- over. The various private branch exchange boards must be replaced with new boards that will work prop- erly with the new dial equipment. Along with these changes, it is frequently necessary to change the night service arrangements required by the subscriber, these changes involving both equipment and directory list- ings.

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Bell Telephone Quarterly

The Plant forces must replace all the manual in- struments in the area with dial instruments, and must assure themselves that it is possible to dial satisfactorily from each instrmnent over the subscriber's primary loop to the central office. If a given line is found to be unsatisfactory, the condition must be corrected. Nothing is left to chance. By the time the cutover oc- curs, there must be assurance that each telephone is connected to the assigned terminal in the office, and that it is possible to dial from that telephone over the subscriber's line into dial equipment that will work in accordance with design.

Several months before the new office is cut into serv- ice, the traffic engineers must complete the work of as- signing each line to the proper terminals in the new office so that adequate provision is made for the normal calls from and to each subscriber. This involves a study of the requirements for each class of subscribers as well as individual assignments for each subscriber. This work involves many number changes but no un- necessary ones are made. Where nmnbpr changes are necessary, steps are taken to make them so as to cause the minimum inconvenience to the subscribers affected.

The Plant men w^ho must cut over the new office and maintain it receive their training for several months preceding the cut. As the new dial office requires op- erators to handle toll calls to nearby towns, to assist customers who have had difficulty, and to handle calls for numbers that have been changed or discontinued, it is necessary to train some of the manual operators in the duties they will have to perform when the new equipment is cut into service. This work is in progress for several weeks preceding the cutover.

Of course the change from manual to dial service makes it necessary for the customer to understand the new method of placing his call and the day, hour, and minute when this change becomes effective. This work of public instruction is carefully ]3lanned and executed.

[98]

The Biol Office " Cutover "

In a good many cases it involves a visit to the premises of each subscriber and a thorough explanation of the method of dialing. The work is not considered com- plete until the subscriber has actually dialed some prac- tice calls under the supervision of a telephone repre- sentative.

Shortly before the cutover takes place, the Plant forces conduct a series of tests from the multiple in the old office to the terminals in the new office to make sure that each subscriber is actually connected to the ter- minal in the new office to which he has been assigned.

The above paragraphs do not cover all the steps in- volved in a specific cutover but perhaps they will give an idea of the many important activities under way and the thought that is given to the responsibility of co-ordinating all of them so as to complete them neither too early nor too late.

Transfer of Trunks

As the day of the cutover arrives, there is an under- current of tenseness that cannot be wholly concealed by the smiles with which the men and women on the job greet the visitor. A visit to the old manual office is interesting. The operators are busy, but they seem to handle the old equipment tenderly. Some of them are tearful. Subscribers have called up to say good-bye, to apologize for cross words, and to express thanks for good service. A supervisor smiles a greeting with glis- tening eyes. The chief operator tells what the service index is for the month to date, and it is evident that she did not let the service slmnp even though her force was to be scattered. She tells of the good-bye party that was held the evening before and admits that most of the operators cried over the breaking up of old as- sociations. All welcome the new but there is a little pang at parting from the old.

Over in the new office there are some cutover activi- ties under way on Saturday afternoon. The inter-

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Bell Telephone Quarterly

office trunk plant is gradually being transferred from the old office to the new as the traffic lightens. On pre- vious Saturdays, records were taken of the way the traffic declines on a Saturday afternoon and evening, and estimates have been made of the number of trucks in each group that may be released each half hour, be- ginning about twelve noon. The Traffic and Plant men have agreed not only as to the number of trunks in each group that may be released at each interval but have selected the specific trunks. These trunks are listed. Traffic men in each office arrange to put them out of service a few minutes before they are scheduled to be cut. These operations are co-ordinated by a Traf- fic Dispatcher at a Private Branch Exchange section located alongside another one which is used by the Plant Dispatcher. When the Traffic Dispatcher has received an O.K. from each office on the trunks to be released at a given time, he clears with the Plant Dispatcher who gives the Plant men at each office orders to proceed with the scheduled operations. This process goes on all afternoon and evening up to eleven o'clock, by which time about ninety percent of the trunks have been cut to the new office without creating any trunk shortage in the old office.

The casual visitor would be little interested in this work. There is nothing spectacular about it. A word or two from the Dispatchers to each office is sufficient. And yet real happiness shows in the faces of the men who have planned and executed this work when they have completed the transfer of an ample supply of trunks to the new office without holding up a single call to or from the old office because of a trunk shortage. For them the day is full of drama. Loss of sleep and even serious illness are not sufficient to keep them from executing the plans that they have set up. Pride of craft is indeed strong among telephone men and women.

[100]

The Dial Office " Cutover

The Cutover

The first cutover in a given city is usually scheduled for midnight on a Saturday. The traffic is light at that hour. There is little use of business telephones on Sunday, thus widening the margin for curiosity calls from residence customers. The Plant and the Traffic forces need Sunday to be sure that everything is run- ning smoothly and is in readiness for a heavy load on Monday. Then too there is little possibility that some telephone users will confuse midnight with some other hour.

As the hour of the cut draws near, there is evidence of something unusual at both the old and the new build- ings. Many cars are parked before both buildings. Lights shine through all the windows. A visit to the old operating room shows the usual night force at the board for handling the usual light Saturday night traffic. But one notices that every operator is dressed in her '' Sunday best." Most of them never had any experience with a cutover and they are not sure about the attendant ceremonies, but, whatever happens, they wanted to be dressed for it. They are a little excited, and when at eleven fifty, they get word to start a sched- uled step in the cut, their voices tremble as they cut in on each talking connection and advise the customers that '' We are about to cut over the new dial office." The same information is given on new calls. If an emergency call is encountered, steps have been taken to handle it at the new office if it is interrupted by the cut.

At the main frame downstairs, men are stationed at close intervals. Cords run behind the heat coils. At a word over the telephone from the Dispatcher, the man in charge signals his lieutenants who in turn pass the word to the men to '' Pull. Take it easy." As each man takes hold of the cord at the bottom of the bay and pulls, a barrage of heat coils comes flying from the

[ 101 ]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

frame. Goggles or a visor protect the eyes of each man.

Of all the cutover operations, this one is perhaps the most spectacular to the casual visitor. It is of even greater interest to the men. In all the years that they have worked in that office, their problem has been to maintain service, but with a rip they have torn out all the heat coils and there are no subscribers connected with that office. When telephone men do a job so for- eign to their regular work of maintaining the service, it bespeaks their confidence in the soundness of the plans that have been set up. The operation is over in thirty seconds. The man in charge reports completion to the Dispatcher.

This particular cut involves the severing of certain cables in the cable vault at the old building. The quar- ters there are crowded but the men who are to do the cutting are lined up outside, each man equipped with a small ax. In a few moments they will be required to perform an unusual task. Their job has been to in- stall and to maintain those cables. In a moment they will take an ax to them. On signal they file into the vault and take positions to which they have been as- signed. The name of each man appears at his post. The cables he is to cut have already had the sheathing removed, and all is in readiness. The man in charge re- ceives the order from the Dispatcher, and quietly orders the men to cut. Quickly the job is done. The cable ends are fanned out so that short circuits will not be created by this operation. In a few seconds a comple- tion report is passed to the Dispatcher.

At the new office, it is necessary to show credentials in order to enter. There are signs of activity on every floor. A trip to the basement is worth while, to inspect the new power plant and the long, straight runs of cable in the new cable vault. The contrasts with con- ditions in the old office are as marked here as in other parts of the building.

[ 102 ]

The Dial Office " Ctitover

And now let us visit the new operating room a little before midnight. The small switchboard seems inade- quate to an observer fresh from an inspection of the old one. The flowers on the Chief Operator's desk and the many visitors are evidence that something is about to happen. At a few minutes before twelve the operators file in and take their places at the board. Like those in the old office, they have dressed especially for the occasion. They, too, are somewhat tense. They have had weeks of training for their new duties. In a few minutes the curtain will rise on a new performance. Each operator wonders what type of call she will first encounter and each wants to be sure that she does the right thing on that call. Though their tenseness may be unobserved and their emotions may be unknown to the casual observer, telephone people understand. In a few minutes some lamps at the board will light. Hands may tremble a little— it will be like a *' first night." But the confidence will come at once. The operators will be ready. They always are.

At the line finder frames in the new Switch Room, small insulating wedges were inserted in the cut-off re- lays a few days before the cutover, so that the equip- ment in the new office would not be affected by any calls that the subscriber might originate so long as the old office was in service. Each of these small wedges has a hole in it, and groups of them are strung together. A few minutes before midnight, a group of men file in and take their places before these frames. The man in charge is at the telephone. His lieutenants stand at the end of each row of frames where they can see him and also see their men. At the scheduled time, the sig- nal from the Dispatcher is relayed to the men at each frame. They quietly pull the cords, removing the wedges. Midnight strikes. The new office is in serv- ice, and the switches begin to move as telephone users dial their calls. An office has been cut over.

As a part of the over-all picture of every cutover

[103]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

there are, for those who look for them, little close-ups that give a human touch to what may seem to the casual observer merely a matter of routine. A certain cut- over, for example, involved the advance delivery of a new directory, accompanied by a request that the old directory be used until midnight of the day of the cut- ting in of the new equipment, and that the new one be used thereafter. The subscribers had been asked to destroy the old directory and the transmitter card as soon as possible after midnight. One of them dialed " Operator " a minute after midnight to make the fol- lowing report of his share in the success of the cutover : " I burn up my old directory. I tear up the card on my telephone. I use my new directory. I done every- thing you told me to. All right to go to bed now? "

Gratefully, he is assured that his part of the job is done. Gratefully, because such calls are evidence of a desire on the part of the public to co-operate with the telephone people in making service go smoothly. Such calls are by no means exceptional. One or more cases of this sort are encountered in almost every directory cut.

The Center of Cutover Activities

Let us enter the new terminal room on the night of a cutover. Near the Dispatcher's desk is a knot of men, talking quietly to each other. They are the men who have been intimately concerned with planning for the cutover and in the preliminary preparations for what is about to take place. Curiously proud of their part of the job, they are— yet curiously generous in sharing credit with others. The Plant men give us de- tailed figures that tell of the fine condition of the equip- ment— and then modestly attribute this to the good work done by the Western Electric Company installers. The Installation foreman tells his story of the job of getting this enormous amount of apparatus in place— but gives credit for his good record to the fine condition

[ 104 ]

The Dial Office '' Cutover ''

of the equipment received from the factory. And so it goes, each man with a wholesome pride in his own work, but a pride that sees his work in its true propor- tions and as related to the work of others. All are right. As we talk with them, we begin to see this job, not as just a Division job or a Company job, but as a System job.

We wander over to the Dispatcher's desk. A lamp lights. He plugs in, speaks a word or two, and dis- connects. He notes something on a sheet, plugs into another line, speaks a word or two, and disconnects, again with an entry on his sheet of paper. Many times this is repeated— until the observer begins to think of it as merely humdrum routine. Surely there is nothing dramatic in this plugging into jacks and scratching of notes on a form report.

And yet to the Dispatcher and his men about him who have been planning the job, there is in all this something extremely fascinating. These men know every step of the program. They know what work must be done at each point, how it must be done, who will do it, and when. They visualize the job, as a whole, from its beginning up to its completion, as an architect watches, from foundation to roof, the growth of a build- ing that he has helped to create. Step by step they have done this thing that is about to be finished. They, too, are builders.

The Old Passes

There is drama even in an empty stage, after the curtain has fallen. In the old building, the battery has been cut off the board, the lights have been extinguished, the doors locked. The man who installed that board, twenty-five years ago, was there tonight. Many of the men have worked on that equipment for years. Per- haps they realize that they, too, have been aging with the equipment. Perhaps it is because even machines, when one is long associated with them, assume some-

[105]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

thing very like a personality. Any one of a dozen ex- planations will do for the fact that, as they leave the building on this particular night, they joke a little more noisily than usual. There is something a bit like bra- vado in their cheery '' Good-night." But if you were to look at some of them closely, you would see that their eyes were glistening.

Perhaps there is drama in the new building, too. It has been emptied of visitors. Only the telephone peo- ple who have been assigned to night duty remain. The building is dark except where there is work to be done.

The casual visitor may have left with the feeling that there was not much of a show, and if he could re- turn and see these people going quietly about their work, he would doubtless think that this scene was still more lacking in the spectacular. Yet, for those who have finished their part of the job, and for these who remain to carry on through the night, there is not a little of romance in this routine thing called a cut over.

They have had a part in a job that has been well done, so far. They will be back Sunday and Monday to be sure that the new office meets the test of a com- mercial load. They have done a job that measures up to the standards of the System and to their own exact- ing standards. They will see this job carried on, and neither personal affairs nor lack of sleep, nor bodily weariness, nor even ill health can stop them. You can not make such people, engaged in such a work, believe that their job is a humdrum one.

But unless you can see their job through their eyes, there is nothing di'amatic about a cutover.

A. E. Van Hagan.

[106]

Seven Billion Toll Rates

IN the early eighties when the telephone was begin- ning to reach out and to cover territory neighbor- ing Boston, figuring long distance toll rates was hardly more than a matter of pad and pencil and the cost next to nothing. Assimiing 40 or 50 towns receiv- ing toll service, there might have been, all told, 2,000 rates involved. A little measuring on a map, a few computations, and presto ! a new set of tariffs.

Today, however, there are over 88,000 points on the lines of the Bell System and its connecting companies in North America and in order that each of these points may have the necessary long distance rates to each of the other 87,999 points involves setting up a total of over 7,700,000,000 station-to-station day rates, from which are derived an additional 31,000,000,000 rates for other classes of service.

If these 7,700,000,000 station-to-station day rates, now necessary for our business, were to be determined by the old method, the total cost would amount to sev- eral million dollars and the time required with, say a 1,000 clerks on the job, would be several years.

An example of modern preparation and issuing of rates was given in connection with the change in toll rates made effective February 1, 1929. This change affected many of the toll rates of all the 88,000 points in the Bell System. Work on the new rates was started about October 15, 1928, and the rates were completed and in the hands of the operators ready for use Feb- ruary 1, 1929, the total time required being about SJ months. There were over the country possibly 500 people on the assignment, only a portion of whom worked the entire 3J months and the total cost was probably not over $200,000. This was made possible principally through the use of a group or block system in computing and setting up the new rates.

[107]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

[108]

Seven Billion Toll Rates

The block system used by the Bell System and Con- necting Companies has been laid out to include the en- tire continent. The blocks, seven miles square, and the sections (a group of 25 blocks), 35 miles square, have been plotted on maps obtained from the United States Government at Washington, the Canadian Government at Ottawa, and the Mexican Government at Mexico City. A suitable nmubering scheme is used to desig- nate each block and section of the system and for rate purposes, each city is assigned the block and section number of the particular block and section in which it is located.

Toll rates under this system are determined by three methods. Up to 40 miles rates are based on the direct air line distance between the points as measured on the government maps. Between 40 and approximately 350 miles rates are based on the computed air line dis- tance between the centers of the seven-mile blocks and all points in a block take the same block rates. Fi- nally, for distances greater than 350 miles the rates are based on the air line distance between the centers of the 35-mile sections and all points in a section take the same section rates. As the blocks and the sections used are the same size throughout the continent, the same rates for equal distances are always obtained un- der a given rate schedule. Therefore, under a given rate schedule the charts can be printed in quantities from a single set up of type and used anywhere, it being necessary only to give them the proper block and sec- tion designations to make them applicable to a partic- ular locality.

The toll tariffs as set up for use of the operators, the accounting departments and conunercial offices, contain in each case a List of Stations, a First Refer- ence List, Block Rate Charts, Section Rate Charts and a Table of Rates. The First Reference List shows the names and station-to-station day rates to all points within 40 miles where the direct air line rate applies

[109]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

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[110

Seven Billion Toll Rates

FIRST REFERENCE LIST TOLL RATES

FROM ?.lW.»feur«h

TO

TO

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Lake Foreot

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Lansing

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Lockport

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40

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20 15 10

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1.35 35

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2.25 50

1.70 50

10 10 10

45

10 35 10

and also the names and station-to-station day rates to all points to which there is any appreciable volume of traffic, {a) The List of Stations shows the names of each of the 88,000 points reached over the Bell System and with each name the number of the block and section in which the point is located. (&) The Block Charts show the station-to-station day rates for points from 40 to 350 miles distant and the Section Charts the station- to-station day rates for points more than 350 miles dis- tant. The Table of Rates contains the corresponding rates for classes of service other than station-to-station, for each station-to-station day rate from 10 cents to 20 dollars.

With this material set up for a particular point, the rate may be determined from that point to any one of the other 87,999 points in the List of Stations. For example: Assume that a Pittsburgh operator desires the station-to-station day rate from Pittsburgh, Pa., located in Section T73, Block q, written T73-q, to Bangor, Ala. She will not find Bangor with its rate in her First Reference List as the distance is more than 40 miles and there is no appreciable volume of traffic. She will, therefore, obtain the number of the block in which Bangor is located, HH64-W, from her List of Stations and after first finding that this block is not shown on her block rate charts, the distance being more

[111]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

BLOCK RATES FROM

73

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Portion of Block Chart. Arr(»w Indicates Rate From Block T73-q to Block

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than 350 miles, will, by reference to the grid of her section rate chart, locate the section HH64. In this section she will find printed in red ink the rate $2.35. Rate charts show only the initial period rates for sta- tion-to-station day service and reference is made to the Table of Rates to determine the corresponding rate for other classes of service and for overtime after first determining the station-to-station initial rate as described.

[112]

Seven Billion Toll Rates

[113]

Bell Telephone Quarterly

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