The Blue Bell Library. The San Francisco Kearny office and long distance operators are rejoicing in the possession of a library of their own. The library had 210 books on November 19, with more coming every day. The suggestion that the young women have a library was made originally by Miss M. A. Hartery, long distance chief operator, and Miss Hartery found enthusiastic co-operation on the part of Miss Alice Anderson, Kearny office chief operator, and the operating staff. The movement for the library began in the middle of September and progressed so favorably that the young women were enabled to make an excellent showing on occasion of the formal opening, which took place on October 31. There were then on hand 176 books, which filled the book case to overflowing. The opening was attended by operating officials, by General Superintendent Robinson, and Division Superintendent Phillips, and a number of others. There were addresses, followed by refreshments. Miss Sarah Joyce, chief operator of South Office, who was the originator of the library movement among Los Angeles operators, attended, and the San Francisco operators were interested to learn what had been done in the South. Miss Joyce was a welcome visitor in San Francisco for about a week. It costs ten cents a month to belong to the Blue Bell Library-that's the name and there are now 184 members, practically the whole local and long distance force in the Bush Street building. The books which have been selected have been chosen wisely, and include a number by standard authors and the best of recent fiction. Miss Sarah Welsh is librarian, and Miss Margaret Armstrong assistant librarian. The books are exchanged between eleven and one, and three and four, and the demand has been lively from the first. Many operators working broken hours put in their spare time in reading. As an offshoot of the library movement, the retiring rooms have been made more picturesque by addition of a handsome rug, and it is expected that there will be pictures and other decorations before long. The illustration shows the library as it appeared on the opening night, decorated with greens and flowers. The new turbine-driven monster, Lusitania, of the Cunard Steamship Lines, has been equipped with a complete telephone exchange system, the most extensive in use on any vessel. The Lusitania is the first of the great Cunard vessels to be equipped with turbine engines and at the present time is the largest steamship afloat. On Friday, November 15, the managers of the Coast Division were assembled in the office of Division Superintendent Keyser, for the purpose of discussing matters of general interest. This conference is one of many held since the organization of the Coast Division, which have been found to bring satisfactory results. Among the many topics which were brought up for discussion was the question of installing telephones. Conditions were cited by the various managers which brought out points of value and resulted in the outlining of a policy which would be most beneficial to the company and give satisfactory results to subscribers. The patrolling of toll lines proved an interesting topic, and the benefits derived from a monthly patrol were emphasized. It has been the practice in this division to make a complete inspection of all toll lines once a month, the result being that we expect shortly to have all toll leads in first-class condition, eventually resulting in considerable reduction in maintenance. Managers were impressed strongly with the importance of handling all reports promptly and with the greatest possible care. Correspondence was also a subject of discussion, and it was shown that prompt replies assisted in furthering the interests of the company to a great extent. Collections were considered and a general discussion was called for, wherein the advantages of inaugurating a system of collec tion notices were brought forth. It was shown that it was essential that bills be rendered promptly and it was made compulsory for managers to have their bills in the hands of their collectors on the first of every month. cussing things of interest in their respective departments. Feeling that harmony is of major importance in the conduct of any business, one of the main purposes of this conference was to harmonize the interests of the company in such a way as to make discord impossible, which will surely result favorably to the best interests of all concerned. Toll Traffic Expert Arrives. For the purpose of determining the extent of toll line construction to be made in the territory of The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company during the coming year, Mr. T. B. Doolittle, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company's toll line expert, is in San Francisco on a tour of inspection. Mr. Doolittle, who is perhaps best known. as the inventor of hard-drawn copper wire for toll lines, left Boston in company with Mr. Thos. Cotter of his department, who, with Messrs. Stannard and Downs, has been in the Pacific territory for some time. men Messrs. Doolittle and Cotter were met at Spokane on November 9 by Mr. O. Cole, Jr., superintendent of traffic. The traffic were joined in Spokane by General Manager Murray of the Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone Company, who accompanied them to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, with a view to determining the facilities which would be necessary for the connection of the Pacific and Rocky Mountain toll plants. The traffic men visited Seattle, Tacoma and Portland, and arrived in San Francisco on November 18. Mr. Doolittle and Mr. Cotter will remain until December 10, returning to Boston via Southern California. Mr. Doolittle is a veteran telephone man, and has been engaged in toll line work in every state in the union. His present trip takes him to the few important cities which It was decided that in the near future, and as soon as it could be conveniently arranged, the wire chiefs and chief operators would be assembled for the purpose of dis- he had not heretofore visited. Chief operators who met in conference. From left to right standing: Miss Sugrhue. Miss Cardwell, Miss Probst, Miss Allen, Miss Lyman, Miss Moriarty, Miss Davis. Sitting: Miss Malone, Miss Clark, Miss Thurber, Miss Lang, Miss Burke, Miss Elliot, Miss Jones, Miss Little, Miss Rubholdt. Oakland Division Chief Operators Probst; chief operator, Berkeley, Miss Allen; Meet. Chief operators of the Oakland Division were assembled in a most interesting and profitable convention on Wednesday, No vember 13, at Oakland. There were two sessions, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. At the afternoon session, the following chiefs and assistant chiefs were present: Chief operator, Livermore, Miss Burke; chief operator, Martinez, Miss Elliott; chief operator, Napa, Miss Lang; chief operator, Richmond, Miss Sugrhue; chief operator, San Rafael, Miss Rubholdt; chief operator, Petaluma, Miss Little; chief operator, Vallejo, Miss Thurber; chief operator, Haywards, Miss Clark; chief operator, Suisun, Miss Watts; chief operator, Benicia, Miss Malone; chief operator, Alameda, Miss chief operator, Oakland, Miss Davis; longdistance chief operator, Oakland, Miss Moriarity; assistant chief, Oakland, Miss Jones; second assistant chief operator, Oakland, Miss Lyman; east office chief, Oakland, Miss Cardwell. At the evening session, in addition to the above, there were present Mr. G. P. Robinson, general superintendent; Mr. M. D. Sedam, division chief operator, San Francisco; Mr. C. P. McGuire, Mr. James P. Dunphy, division wire chiefs; Mr. John Kearns, division superintendent, Oakland, and Mr. W. J. Phillips, division superintendent, San Francisco. All of the chiefs came prepared to do their utmost to make the meeting a success, and the number of questions asked on various subjects, relating to operating, both local and long distance, showed how interested the young women were in their work. Praise is due Miss Davis, the Oakland chief operator, and Miss Moriarity, long distance chief, Oak. land, for the assistance rendered. All of the chief operators remained in Oakland for the night and on the following day were taken for a visit to San Francisco, arriving there 11 a. m., where they were received by Miss Hartery, San Francisco long distance chief operator, who explained the standard toll board in use at that office. Various troubles experienced by out-of-town offices with San Francisco were discussed in a helpful way. Mr. Robinson, general superintendent, demonstrated the new pneumatic tube in the long distance room. The operators were then taken to the local operating room on the seventh floor, where they were shown the new standard switchboards. From there they proceeded to West office, and were shown through the public office, operating room and the class rooms of the school. At 2:30 they returned to the main office where luncheon was served from 3 until 5 p. m., Miss Hartery and Miss Anderson acting as hostesses. Altogether a more enjoyable and instructive time could not have been had. Oakland Men Reorganize. The Telephone Society of the Pacific States, an organization for the study of telephony in Oakland which was forced to discontinue meetings for lack of a meeting place, has been reorganized and starts with renewed spirit. The meeting for reorganization was held on Tuesday, October 31, with all officers present, and 75 members. Nomination and election of officers for the next term took place, which resulted in the following gentlemen being elected: Mr. P. H. Boomer, Wire Chief of Oakland Office, President; Mr. W. H. Hallett, Wire Chief of East Oakland Office, Vice-Presi dent; Mr. T. J. C. Burke, re-elected Secretary and Treasurer. An interesting regular meeting of the Society was held on the evening of November 19. There were about forty-five members present, and five new members were initiated. Mr. E. R. Bowie read a paper on "Line Circuit." Mr. Bowie, who was thoroughly conversant with the subject in hand, brought up interesting methods of testing for and locating different kinds of line trouble, and the means to be employed in clearing it. He also described in detail the various circuits. After the reading a general discussion of the points brought up followed. At the next meeting, the line circuit will be followed from the heat coils through the central office equipment complete. Farmer Line Collections. A suggestion in the November issue of THE PACIFIC TELEPHONE MAGAZINE that a discussion of the best method for handling farmer line collections would prove profitable, brought the following welcome. article from the Coast Division: As most of our farmer lines are owned either by one individual or organized companies having their regular set of officers, our bills are rendered semi-annually in advance to the president or treasurer of the company, or in case of the individual owner, to him direct, they in turn remitting to us. In no case do we send a collector out to get in these accounts, as we always have an understanding with the subscriber at the time. of signing, that the bills must be settled promptly at the company's office. We find that this method gives extreme satisfaction, both to the company and the subscriber, inasmuch as the company is not put to the expense of collecting, and the subscriber is not troubled by the collector calling on him. Feeling blue to-day? Take a walk. Feeling very blue? Take a longer walk. Oakland Division. Members of the Santa Rosa Potential Club and their wives were entertained at the home of County Manager H. S. Johnson recently. The first part of the evening the club held a short session during which maintenance was generally discussed, and the resolution adopted that the motto of the club would be the "Best Maintenance Along the Pacific Coast. Every member assured his hearty co-operation to that end. The remainder of the evening was devoted to cards and social conversation, after which refreshments were served. Miss Lena Phillbert, chief operator at Pt. Arena, recently won a gold watch in a popularity contest, defeating her nearest opponent by over 1000 votes. The subscribers of the Pt. Arena Exchange made a strong fight for her. Oakland chief operators, supervisors and trouble clerks of the local department visited the wire chief's office, on October 29, where Mr. Boomer, wire chief, explained the workings of his department. The first point of interest was in the main distributing frame, where the wires enter from the cables. The method of handling cuts, connects and changes on the main and intermediate racks was described; also method of testing and following up trouble at the wire chief's desk. The power boards, power machines and fuse panels also proved interesting. In the last issue, attention was called to the operators' library at Berkeley. The Oakland operators, however, are not to be outdone, and call attention to the fact that on or about the 25th of October, the local and toll departments decided to take advantage of the idea originated by Miss Joyce, chief operator South Exchange, Los Angeles, of establishing a circulating library. Having 50 volumes on hand, which had been presented to the operators by former Division Manager Peter J. Lynch, for their retiring room, they placed the books in circulation, under the name of the Pacific Book Club. Two librarians were selected to represent the local and toll departments respectively. On the first canvass for membership they reached the 100 mark. To date, they have 153 members, and 194 volumes, 187 of which were donated. They also have a beautiful book-case, which was presented to the operators by Division Superintendent Kearns. For the past few weeks the Oakland operators have been much interested in endeavoring to make the retiring room appear more homelike, and toward this end they have donated a number of pictures, and quite a few house plants, such as wood, Boston and asparagus ferns. Donations have also been received from persons not directly connected with the operating room, and altogether our retiring room now presents a very inviting appearance. The Antioch Exchange is soon to be made a checking office, two new sections of switchboard being on the way ready for installation. Manager Geo. R. Smith reports that Antioch is one of the best interior towns, and with the new equipment he will undoubtedly be able to go ahead and gain a large number of new subscribers. The operators at Santa Rosa have formed what they term the Operators' Auxiliary Potential Club, this club having been organized for their mutual improvement and the betterment of the service. They will meet once every week for the discussion of problems in handling the boards. Manager White of Berkeley has invited the men working with him to a smoker at his residence, on December 3. Mr. White plans also to serve a Christmas dinner to the young women connected with his change. He says that "Christmas without a Christmas dinner would not be just right," The office at Richmond has recently ex |