Shanghai Gets Phone Time in Two Languages

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 40, 17 February 1939, Page 11

Shanghai Gets Phone Time in Two Languages

SHANGHAl—Shanghai’s Americanowned telephone company provides a “time-of-day service” for its subscribers. To receive it, one merely dials 95678 and listens. At once the voice becomes audible, first speaking three words and then three English words. These words are the same in meaning and they give the exact hour and minute. Every five seconds the girls speaks, so long as a light before her glows show that some subscriber or subscribers are waiting. Her line will accommodate up to 32 “listeners-in” but even if they address her she can hear none of them. So monotonous is the work that the business of repeating such phrases as “ee-ehr-san, one two three” (meaning 1:23 o’clock) can be carried on but half an hour at a time by each girl. In other parts of the world, time signals arc usually given by some sort of automatic device, but hero the need for two languages keeps the human well to the fore. Every minute the girl on duty in tcrjects the word ‘‘time” and watches an electric needle to make sure her voice is registering in the proper key and volume. Counsel had taken great pains to show how the accused man might have accomplished the burglary. He showed how a man could cut away a pane of window-glass without making a sound demonstrated in court how he could muffle his tread to ensure that he walked in silence. When he proved that a safe could be blown open with dynamite, and yet not disturb sleeping householders, the prisoner shuffled uncomfortably. Counsel noticed this, and barked out, “And now you want to alter your plea to ‘Guilty,’ I suppose?” “No, it ain’t that,” returned the man, “but I just wanted to say that if ever you are out of a job, I’ll always be willing to give you a start.”