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Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1772, 10 June 1913, Page 6

' Tho prospective installation of automatic telephones in a number of New Zenland towns and cities, including Wellington, raises a question as to whether tho innovation will interfere with the use of the small private exchanges which arc used in numerous business buildings, factories nnd similar establishments. An officor of tho Post and Telegraph Department informed a reporter who made inquiries on tho subject that tho introduction of automatic telephones would not complicate to any material extent tho u«o of private exchanges. Whero- a small number of automatic telephones nro installed it will bo possible to retain tho present small exchanges of tho manual type. In point of fact a combination of tho manual and automatic switchboards is flt present being operated in tho central exchango at Wellington. Tho "longdistance" call i 9 given on tho automatic telephono and the telephone is linkod up with another in tho manual switchboard. On tho other hand where privato exchanges serve such a considcrablo number of wire.q as to require constant attendance it will probably pay to instal automatic exchanges. The first cost of n small automatic exchango is fairly heavy, but where it is installed the wages of an attendant are saved. In the United States public exchanges serving hundreds of subscribers aro left unattended, in full operation, during tho niglit. Tho privato automatic exchango has another atlvnnlago in that, as connections aro effected more speedily, moro wires, from the building in which tho exchango is situated to the central exchange, will in most cases 6ufiice than are required under tho ffl&ttual, jastsmi