Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, September 22, 1924, Page 2

bl} er The Girl Would Have to Be Mindreader to Do All Pub- lic Expects ELLO! Hello! Is this informa- H t{on?. My kitten is up atree on the topmost bough; he’s crying piteously. Can't’ you tell me how to get him down? Oh, I'm afraid he'll fall and break his neck.” “Get a clothes prop and tie a bas- ket to the end of it.” was the advice of the quick-witted telephono opera- tor. A few-minutes later the sub- scriber phoned back, saying that tho advice was excellent, and that kitty, standing upon the brink of destruc- tion, had been snatched from an un- timely end. “Hello! Hello! Is this informa- tion?” queried a female voice of the information operator last week. “Information, information; this is information,” warbled the young la- dy seated at her chair at the switeh- board. There was no reply. “Did you call information?” asked the op- erator again. “Hello! Hello!” The girl called vainly for a minute or more, then these words came over the wire: “That will do, operator, Thank you ever so much. I just wanted baby to hear your voice. It always puts her in such a good humor to hear someone speaking over the telephone.” Want Bets Settled. Such are some of the incidents happening every day in the life of that very busy and much-persecuted person—the telephone information operator. A great percentage of the public is extremely literal minded and when it reads in its phone book that there is an information operator, it imagines that said person exists to dispense information concerning every subject under the sun. If they want to know when_the next ship sails for the Isle of Yap or the approximate size of dinosaur eggs they simply call in- formation. When the operator says whe doesn't know or that she is sup- posed to simply. give o.t telephone numbers, the patron becomes indig- nant and wants to know what she’s paid for, while the wires become choked with such epithets as “block- head” and “dumbbell.” The sort of questions asked the in- formation operators is unbelievable. “Now, look here, operator. I want you to settle a bet for us,” someone will say over the telephone. “Was King Tut married when he died, or had his queen divorced him?” An- other person will ask how to spell such and such a word ér who was the world’s champion wrestler or yy if 7, We? wy, m/ Ut jiujitsu artist in 1801. On Sunday people call up and ask: Ask for Best Sermon, “Where is the best preaching to be found?” “Is the minister in the Church of the Copper Offering a good speaker?” “Say, operator, how can one pass Sunday afternoon in this burg? I've read up every magazine and Sunday paper in the hotel.” These questions have actually been asked, Then, there is the busy housewife puzzled over some phase of the do- mestic or culinary art. “Does it im- pair the flavor of onions to pare them under water? I certainly don't want to get my eyes all red.” “How do you cook spinach?” Late one night aman called up information and asked the operator how to make coffee, “You see, we are going rab- bit hunting at 3 o'clock tomorrow morning, and we want a bit to eat before we set out. There's not a woman in the house, so could you tell me how to make coffee?’ The operator, fortunately enough, knew how to make coffee, so she gave the required information, and) the gun- ning party was able to have some- thing hot before starting off on the chase. Gav» Time for Medicine, As a rule, however, information is refused in all cases except when the matter in question touches a tele- phone or its numbers, It is pretty hard to stick to this rule, however. Tho other night & woman called: up ,the operator and asked that she be phoned every hour. “My baby-is sick,” slfe explained, “and the clock is broken. The doctor has Ieft med- icine and ordered me to give it to the child every 60 minutes.” The opera- tor personally saw to the matter and aN Wf Zh the baby got {ts medicine at proper intervals, About the most frequent question put to the information operater con- cerns the movement of trains and trolleys and ships, and about which she in al] probability, knows nothing. “What is the fare “When is the next train to Cobb t t (Coveresy Panaveirma Reccssy Center?” “How can I get to South Carolina?” One time a woman, ap- parently the creditor of some blue- coat, asked when policemen got paid, Some time ago any information to be found in the large telephone direc- tory was denied to anyone for it. This rule recently changed. They used to give queer excuses for the absence of the directory. “Baby to Boston?” Reproduction of a striking portrait of ‘Terae Hara,’’ a Pol: George Biddle, iden (5-leanings~ lynesian type, by an American artist, is sitting on the book and I can't * disturb her.” “The book is in the bathtub.” ve loaned it out to the neighbors. ‘I've got a child an my Jap and can’t move.” No Monetony. The information operators are not always cursed by sameness and rou tine. Sometimes some very humor- ous things come over the’ wire, and the girl has got to call up all her self-control to keep from guffawing into the mouthpiece. For instance, it is a frequently occurrence for some- one to ask how much it costs to in- stall a telephone for a small family.” One day a patron called up in+ formation and asked for such and such a man near the corner of —— and —— streets. The girl looked up her records. and then asked for a little more information, “Is it the third house from the corner?” “No, the fifth, the one /with the brown shutters,” was the reply, _ Here {s another little story that illustrates the lack of imagination in so many people: One day a man asked for the telephone number of a certain person on a certain street. ‘Phis was furnished and the connec- tion made. In a short time the man said: ' I hayen’t got. them.” Now on a telephone switchboard the electric Nghts in the sockets go out when a connection is made, so the operator in an unguarded mo- ment said: “The lights are out.” “Well, then, I guess they are in bed. Good-bye.” . To Save Trouble, . About a week ago a very thrifty Person called. up information and made the announcement: “I am Mr. Greengold. Don’t send your men around to disconnect my phone, as I had asked. I save you money, I’ve cut the phone logse with my knife and will take it in the wagon to my new house.” The information operators never sive any advice to the lovelorn or where sultable spouses may be found. They do, however, sometimes have something to do with things of Then would you quarrel he S And in peace and love rejoice, the heart. You know there are a lot of lonely men—maay of them strang- ers—salesmen, perhaps, unacquaint- ed with a single soul in town. Many. of these fellows are great Big, he- fellows, go-getters. anf proceed to give information upon their deso- late state. Won't sho pin a red, red rose upon her bosom and go forth to meet the man with a hollyhock in his lapel? The writer has been un- able to uncover any instances of tel- phone operators marrying million- ~ aires, though it may”have. happened. One operator tells how a woman put in a word for her son. “Dearle,” said the woman, “I like your voice, You must be a nice girl, My Abie’s such & fine boy; I know you two would get along fine together,” “Who were you calling, please?” is avoid, witc Ix was the operator’s reply to the prof- fer of entering the family of the sub- scriber, People frequently get very angry when the operator can’t do anything for them, Again, the fault arises from-a lack of imagination. Here is a sample of what it meant: ~ “I want a photographer who lives on Girard avenue. No, I'm not sure wheher it is Girard avenue.” “But what is his name?” asks the Operator. is “I’m not sure, but I think it's Brown.” “Well, I can’t do anything for ‘you. I must have a “little more definite information,” replies the operator. “You can’t do anything for me} Aren't you an information operator? What are you paid for?” Jt is not an uncommon thing for a female voice to make a request for “the number of my fishman.” If the operator intimates that she does not know the fishmonger in question, she is apt to face a torrent of abuse, The information operators are al- ways exposed to that fringe of s0- ciety whose brains are used for pack- ing out thelr skull case and for. no other function. Recently a telephone company completed a survey of the information calls. They learned some very enlightening things about the pedple who use the telephone, che Mere. Inattention, 4 man asked information forthe telephone number! of Mr, Frank Brown, a mew é6ubscriber. « “Central 3008M,” said the operator. “Central 3405M,” repeated the man. Central 348M," was thé number when he gave it to the regular op- erator, “Central 348M is incorrect. There is no such number,” said the operar Keep anger not only out of your words, But keep it out of your voice, hboardg For Her, Life Is _Just One Foolis. Question After ~-* Another — tor, “But information just gave me that number,” wag. the retort. Then the man called up informa- tion a second time and was giventhe number again—3008M. ~“Centra}.348M,” he repeated after the information operator, * “Central 3408M,” was the number § he gave’ to the regular operator, “There is no such number,” said the regular operator, The man, however, was satisfied the number was correct, so he at- tempted to use it again, but with no ‘better luck than before. Then he tried the information operator a third time. The whole procedure took 520 seconds, or almost nine minutes, and then the fellow gave up without reaching his party after all, The man was simply dizzy in the head. The fault was not a bad con- nection, because the entire conver- sation could be heard without the ut- most clarity, More than that, he was apparently sane, or at least not , Suffering from any malady causing ‘People *to be put into confinement, Absent-Mindedness, People are given a number one minute, only to forget it the next. This is often due to preoccupation. The speaker is so busy thinking about what he is going to say that he lets the number lapse into the back- ground of his mind, where it be- comes balled up, when he attempts to recall it, Then, too, he is apt to be looking at his notes or be far away from the mouthpiece doing some- thing else when he is giving his number’ to the operator. He chews up the numbers and it is difficult to understand’ him. ¢ But just let the operator ask for the number to be given over again and a torrent of abuse begins. - “Blockhead” and “dumbbell,” if nothing worse, are the epithets usu- ally employed. Men use a form of talking over the telephone that they would not dare employ elsewhere, They say things to the operator that they would not think of saying if the young lady were before them. Be considerate of the operator and’ re- "member. that ‘she is not allowed to; answer back. | / LP Aes ACE Ua Seas Thunder {s rarely heard more than fifteen miles, but heavy gun firing is heard for much greater distance. This is sometimes explained by the statement that the sound fs reflected back to the earth by clouds. —Anon.