Volume I

Number 6

sidered, he was offered the position of vicepresident and general manager of a company then being formed by Mr. George S. Ladd, the originator of the telephone movement in California. Being unable to give up his steamboat business to take a position which offered merely hope of future reward, the post was tendered and accepted by the late John I. Sabin. Some years later, however, in 1887, Mr. Eaton was for several months president of the Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Company, then in control of Bell interests on the Pacific Coast. He became a director of the Pacific Bell Telephone Company in August, 1889, following the death of George S. Ladd, and has been continually a director of this company and succeeding Bell Telephone Companies.

Mr. Eaton was elected treasurer of The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company and the Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1892, and secretary-treasurer in 1893. This latter position he has held continually since that time with the succeeding telephone companies.

Tackle the hard job to-day; the easy one will then be play.

This is the time of year when the Christmas magazines contain advertisements of radiators and fur coats, and friends in the

Winter Is With Us.

East and Middle-West deluge us with post cards and Christmas cards showing red-nosed citizens stamping in the snow to keep warm. It is a season also for night schools, dancing clubs, and card parties. We on the coast know little of the frosty winters of the Middle-West and East, but the change of seasons even here is sufficiently marked to make appropriate some of the activities which generally go with the "long winter nights" of our friends in the East. From now on there will be rain and sleet and mud and slush, and there will be less desire to seek out-door amusements. The next five months should be months of self-advancement. There are good books to read-thousands of them-and good plays to see, and good company to foregather with.

Courage, brother! Get honest, and times will mend.-Carlyle.

Chasing Opportunity

ex

All of which leads naturally to a particular dissertation which has to do with study. In Washington there has recently been organized the Pacific Telephone Society of Seattle, and a report of its operations given on another page says that the society now numbers 101 members. Some of these fellows are perienced telephone men and hold good positions; others are young men just starting out in one of the most interesting of all lines of trade. Yet in this society these men meet as fellow-students, all anxious to learn more. The Seattle men have started a systematic study of telephony, using a correspondence school course as a basis of instruction, and are going after knowledge with an enthusiasm which spells success. There is a meeting once a week, where papers are read and experiences exchanged. The night switchboard men have formed a class of their own. Some traffic experts who visited Seattle a few days.

The Pacific Telephone Society of Seattle, organized on October 15, has held interesting sessions since that date, and has advanced in strength and membership. At the second regular meeting a committee reported on the merits of the various study courses, the name of the society was decided upon as the Pacific Telephone Society of Seattle, and the following committees were appointed by the president: Membership M. Miles, J. A. Bennett, Grass, Overly, Jordan; Instruction -Messrs. Fleager, Noltner and Treen. Mr. J. F. Muldoon was voted an honorary member and short talks were made by Mr. Corcoran, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Fleager and Mr. Lundy.

At the third meeting, held on October 29, arrangements were made to continue a temporary course of study until it should be decided what particular course would be adopted. An hour was devoted to study, after which there was a quiz of forty minutes, and examination papers were passed out to be worked out at home and returned to the committee at the next meeting. The class was divided into ten tables with ten at each table, and one instructor, appointed by the instruction committee from the members present. The session closed with an interesting talk by Mr. Jansen, city manager.

The

At the fourth meeting on November 9 the class devoted almost the entire time to study and quiz, Mr. Noltner taking charge, and Mr. Fleager holding the quiz. following committee on demonstrations was appointed by the president: Mr. Corcoran, Mr. Jansen, Mr. Parkinson, Mr. Chambers and Mr. Fleager. Mr. Shyrock and Mr. Treen made short addresses.

The fifth regular meeting, held on November 12, was a most interesting session. The usual hour of study was interrupted by the appearance of Mr. J. H. Corcoran, division superintendent, accompanied by Mr. T. Cotter, toll line expert of the American

Telephone and Telegraph Company, and Mr. Gray of the Pacific Telephone engineering department. Mr. Gray, the first speaker, took for his subject, "The Induction of Telephone Circuits Which Come in Close Contact With High Tension Lines." After covering the subject in a very general way, Mr. Gray called for questions, which came in rapid succession. Following this, Mr. T. Cotter was introduced and gave an exceedingly interesting talk on, "Toll Line Development and the Phantom Circuit." Mr. Taylor, of the American Telephone and Telegraph engineering department, who has been making a development study of Seattle, followed, speaking on the subject, "Development Plans as Applied to Telephone Engineering." Continuous use of the blackboard for illustrating circuits, diagrams, etc., was made by each speaker, the members of the class copying in their note-books.

The membership of the organization now numbers 101. The following new names have been added since the last issue of THE PACIFIC TELEPHONE MAGAZINE: W. H. Addison, G. H. Benson, H. E. Bennett, A. J. Campbell, J. H. Corcoran, H. L. Creagh, J. Diamond, F. Edwards, H. Edwards, C. Erickson, C. M. Fry, J. W. Fields, Thos. Faithfull, Fred Grass, Thos. Griffith, L. P. Hubbard, F. M. Hinkleman, E. A. Hutchins, R. B. Jansen, C. C. E. Lambdin, William Ludlam, G. W. Marshall, O. H. Marden, T. D. Mathews, T. M. Miles, E. Mann, John Nelson, F. Noone, Frank O'Neil, Jos. J. Patterson, H. T. Parkinson, C. E. Powers, E. B. Smith, T. Search, Wm. Snow, Earl Shallier, L. W. Smalley, L. M. Tripp, S. M. Treen, Chas. H. Thompson, L. Vogel, L. A. Wade, J. J. Wilson.

It's crowded in the rut; lots of room out of it. Climb out.