TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH GIRLS
The telephone girl who enters her employment in a city gains the first
knowledge of her trade in a school which is maintained by the company.
She fills out an application, stating how old she is, how long she has been
at school, and whether she is living at home or boarding. She should be
sixteen or seventeen years old, and it is better if she has had one or two
years in a high school. Her work will require accuracy, and she must be
quick in thought and action. There should be no defect in her speech, and
she should be at least five feet in height since she requires a good reach
on the telephone board. Girls who go into this work should have strong
nervous systems. The necessity for rapid and constant action, the strain on
thought and nerve, and the call for resourcefulness and coolness, all of
which are connected with the work of a telephone operator, are a constant
drain on nervous energy.
The girl remains at the training school two weeks or longer and during
this time she is paid by the company exactly as if she were at work.
Payment varies in different parts of the country. But the girl at school
generally receives a beginner's wages.
In small towns and country districts, the beginner learns to be a
telephone operator by substituting for the regular operator. There is less
pressure in telephone work outside of cities, and there is more room for
initiative than in a large city exchange.
Telephone exchanges in cities are large airy rooms, well lighted, well kept
and ventilated. These rooms are pleasant places in which to work, and the
telephone company provides lunch and rest rooms for its staff. A matron
takes general charge of the girls, and a dietitian looks after the food
provided and advises the girl employees with regard to their health.
In the rest room are comfortable chairs and a lounge. The management
provides tea, sugar and milk and the dishes in the lunch room. The girls
may buy cold meat, bread and butter, biscuits and other food for a small
charge. The hours are eight in the daytime and seven for night operators;
this length of working day is regarded as the utmost which can be required
from girls in telephone work. There are two rest periods in the day,
besides time for lunch.
In the school the young operator is trained to answer requests for numbers,
to make and break connections, and to keep account of calls. She is taught
to enunciate clearly and to speak courteously and agreeably. She learns to
know the board and its numbering. The board is divided into sections and
each section comprises a complete multiple. Each multiple consists of eight
panels, the panels being divided into "banks." Each bank contains a hundred
"jacks," every one of which represents a customer. When a connection is
made, the telephone operator connects one jack with another by means of a
cord and two plugs. By the time the girl is an experienced operator, she
has become accustomed to the little flashing lights constantly appearing
in front of her, which mean that a connection is asked for.
The operator in a city begins with ten or eleven dollars a week. In two
or three years if she is a satisfactory operator she should be earning
fifteen. A supervisor receives from sixteen to eighteen or twenty.
The duties of the supervisor are to walk up and down behind the girls at
the board so that she may be certain they are giving satisfactory service,
to check delays, and to help in difficulties. For instance, if a call comes
through from a fire or accident, the operator will often give it in charge
of the supervisor immediately so that there may be no delay. The chief
operator who is responsible for the whole service and who has the
management of the working force is paid from twenty-four to thirty
dollars a week, according to the size of the exchange and the amount
of work involved.
Skilled operators are often employed in private exchanges and when they
are competent they earn from twelve to fifteen dollars a week or more.
The most important switchboards are in hotels, apartment houses, public
and governmental offices, stores and private offices. The work is often
exacting and in many cases requires executive ability and resourcefulness.
The operator is expected to answer calls, make connections, answer
questions and keep account of the number of calls made. Sometimes important
business depends on the good-will, executive energy, judgment and quick
thought of the girl at the switchboard. A young woman of strong vitality
and good mind--where she has responsibility and can use initiative--finds
this work fascinating. Such a worker sometimes wins important promotion
because she is able to show that she can manage both people and critical
situations and has business and financial judgment.
* * * * *
Telegraphy also offers employment for girls, but not to the same extent
as the telephone exchange. The automatic machine has made a considerable
change in this occupation. The Morse operator is now employed to a much
smaller extent than formerly. There are still a number of men and women
who are Morse operators, but they are being replaced to a certain extent
by girls who operate automatic machines. The machines are extremely
ingenious and do away with the necessity for the operator to understand
or use a code.
Telegraph companies in some cases maintain a school for the instruction of
Morse operators, and girls who enter telegraphy receive a weekly wage while
at the school, as is the case with girls in the telephone school. In some
cases instruction is given during work in the operating room. Schools are
at central points only. If the girl who wants to learn telegraphy lives
in a small town or in the country, she must be taught by the telegraph
operator. A number of girl operators are to be found in country offices.
The writer remembers specially two of these girls. One was in a telegraph
and cable office down by the sea. She had been a telephone operator and
had learned telegraphy from the telegrapher in the same office. The other
girl was in an inland railway office, and had learned from her brother,
who had held the position before her. Both these girls were earning good
salaries.
The hours in a telegraph office in the city are from eight to six, with a
luncheon hour. The room in which the girl is at work is crowded with
machines and people. There is a good deal of noise and a great pressure of
business, much of which is important. The girl needs to be thoroughly
interested in her work and to have steady nerves in order to do well in
telegraph operating. It will take her several years to become a competent
Morse operator. An automatic machine is operated by a typist. The companies
apply a simple psychological test by means of which they can judge whether
the applicant has the power of concentration necessary for accuracy and
success in this employment.
Many girl operators have charge of agencies in different parts of towns
and cities. These girls have agreeable work under no great pressure in a
quiet place, although with a certain amount of responsibility.
The wages paid girls who operate automatic machines vary according to the
age, ability and efficiency of the workers, and the locality where the
work is done. Typists may begin at seventy-five dollars a month, with
increases up to eighty-five. Girls in training as Morse operators are
called check girls and may receive thirty, thirty-five or forty-five
dollars a month with an increase in the second year to fifty dollars.
Women who are Morse operators belong to the same union as the men and
receive the same wages. In larger places they begin at eighty-five
dollars a month and receive increases up to one hundred and twenty-three
dollars and twenty-five cents.
Both telephone and telegraph operators are in a sense public servants, and
may win the respect and gratitude of their clients. They sometimes suffer
from a lack of appreciation of their really arduous work; but as a rule
the public recognizes good service. These workers often show loyalty under
trying and exacting circumstances. On many occasions girls have risked
death from fire and flood by staying at their posts to warn others of
danger. During the Great War there have been instances of telephone and
telegraph operators performing services as faithful and as brave as many
of the deeds on the battlefield.