Notes and Events.

Manawatu Herald, 21 March 1893, Page 3

Notes and Events.

In thft government printing- office there is a very pretty automatic printing machine. It is used for railway ticketß and is as near human as machines can be made. On one side of the maohine there is a tall case, a L receiver for the bits of pasteboard, the tioket in blank. A lad fills this case and the machine does the rest. One by one the lowest ticket in the case is, taken below the press when < it* is numbered, then printed, and then placed in a receiver of the same gize and make as the receiver on the oppositeside, so that on one side the llioket is a blank and on the. other side it comes out duly numbered and ready: for ths railway department. The machine, without handling, - alters itself so that a consecutive number is placed on each ticket. We • ■houid- have bten very well pleased tjtin -with this work, but the machjne exhibits what might be termed even further intelligence as should any ticket fail to go through to the numbering 6;tid printing compartment, which is often the case owing to the .oardboard being a trifle too thick or been .turned a bit on the edge, the Battle machine says " there is some~32)rog wrong?" by ringing a little bell ' and ceasing to work. , The lad in charge removes the offending cardb»^irhen i ihe^mftchine^ngr i< (mt " all right " by again ringing a bell, and goes on with its day's work, whiohi mtam printing gom« §900 Mf kt(l IB U9UIV

f A machine cf the above description seems to be needed to work the telephone, system. We were kindly shown over the telephone exchange by the officer-in-charge and a puzzling place it appeared, to be. There are some 800, subscribers and accommodation is provided for 1000. Down the. centre of the room runs a partition to which the wires are connected by cables. Along the partition in front of which the operators stand are sixteen squares containing fifty numbers each, which look like a number of key holes with the covers up. In the centre an operator stands, having 100 of these numbers to attend to. There is none of that ringing which is associated with telephones in private establishments, and aU the handle-twisting done by impatient subscribers is so much energy misdirected, as a single tiun answers as well as a hundred, for instead of any hoise H^ ltm g» °»ly the cover to the number of the fiubscilL 1 ? 1 ' falls in front of the operator who immediately asks what other number is required. When the answer is received communication 1 is effected by inserting pegs connected with wire 1 ,: Iflto. the two openings. There is some little talking in the operators' room when, say, the manager of the first section of 100 has a subscriber desirous of communicating with one in the six hundred division, there being then necessary a request to. make to the 000 officer to- place a peg in the swi^chr|)par4,.4isprt of .sileijt piano running along the partition, whilst the operator of the first 100 does the same.- There is plenty to prevent there being much idle time, and the idea that the fair lady operators took novels to pass the time away is 'quickly exploded by ■ a 'visit. ? In Wellington*, tile telephone exchange is worked by both sexes, there being three ladies to one male opera--tor. The male operator being supposed to have charge of the ladies, but probably it is just the reverse. The ladies work for three hours, then have two houra spell, and then three more hours, wording only six hours in the day. The male operators work eight hours; A very comfortable lunch and retiring room is provided for the ladies. We noticed that in Wellington the operators did not wear the receiver fastened to the head, but lifted it each time the message came — In Dunedin they wear them all the time. It is said that operators cannot keep at the work after a few years, as the sense of hearing gets damaged. To show. the intricacy of this telen phone business, We nlay mention that on one of the poles just outside of the Wellington exchange there are 150 wires ! Some of the streets show a regular net work of wires, as the Electric . Lighting Company carry their wires overhead, and they are at times very close to the telephone wires. When it blows hard in Wellington, which it occasionally does, and the lighting wires are brought within six inches of the telephone wires, there is trouble, as it sets all the bells ringing connected with the wires [affected; and inquiries are anxious, and not always good tempered, as to .." who wante me now ?" Now ladies are connected with the exchange we ; liearni subscribers endeavour to soften their language. to. suit their hearers.