[Illustration: Bakelite telephone]
Year after year, the Bell System has provided service of steadily
increasing value to more and more people. Through times of boom and
depression, during all-out war and postwar readjustment, and now in a
period of defense preparation, the Bell companies have improved and
strengthened the communications network in order to do the best possible
job for the nation. Here are some of the accomplishments that have been
made in the period since 1920:
■ Fast, accurate dial service has been extended to more than four-fifths
of all Bell System telephones.
■ Sturdy cable lines, capable of carrying thousands of conversations,
now reach from border to border, and from coast to coast. These
transcontinental cable lines are invaluable for maintaining
communications in case of a national emergency.
■ A microwave radio relay route, carrying both telephone conversations
and television programs, now spans the nation.
■ The regional companies of the Bell System have enlarged their
facilities in order to take care of about 160,000,000 telephone
conversations per day—more than four times as many as in 1920.
■ Drawing Americans closer together, long distance facilities have been
expanded in order to handle more than 2,600,000,000 intercity calls a
year, compared to about 270,000,000 in 1920.
■ Radio-telephone provides regular service overseas, to ocean liners,
coastal and inland watercraft, motor vehicles, trains and airplanes.
[Illustration: _By pressing keys, these operators dial calls
directly to telephones in distant places._]