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LtiVj AXJLiAJNTA (JEUKUIAN AND NEWS. BTOim£PH0NE WHAT IT HAS ACCOMPLISHED MONDAY. OCTOBER 7, 19(77. COMPANY; IN ATLANTA Has Kept a Few Years Ahead of The City’s Growth and Built One of The Finest Plants in The Country. NY CITIZEN who take* the slightest Interest In the growth of Atlanta Is ktvare of the Important part that Is contributed purchased on Auburn avenue and a contract made for a new exchange, to be completed July 15. 1806. The equip ment for this building arrived In At lanta In advance of the completion of the building and the telephone compa' by the Southern Bell Telephone and J nv W as prepared to complete Its part Telegraph Company. The development j of the work In short order. On ao- of the telephone business In Atlanta t count of delays, over which the con- has surpassed the hopes and expecta- j tractors tf(td tho telephone company tlons of the most enthusiastic telephone ; ijjd n0 control, the building was not official. Just as the growth of Atlanta j completed until ten months later. Aft- hae been a continuous marvel to those | er ;}jbuilding waa’completed the work Cltlsrns who ire' most responsible for j „f connecting the underground cables the City's greatness. ; was held up by the city pending Ihe , The telephone has evolved slowly I settlement of a franchise matter, front an experiment Into a practical I The Ivy Exchange, as It now stands, necessity; tlie city of Atlanta .has ! Is four stories high. It Is so construct. Furnishes Telephone Service of a Sat isfactory Nature Suitable for Small User or Greatest Business Concern. MAIN EXCHANGE. Locatsd on South Pryor 8treet. WEST EXCHANGE. Located on Ashby Street. times a month who otherwise would not visit to city personally once in three months. Transactions bringing thou sands of dollars to Atlanta merchants are made by long-distance telephone every day, at less cost than would be possible In any other way. This is only a small part this company plays In the commercial life of Atlanta, but It is an Important feature. While electricity Is the main factor In giving telephone service, this unknown quantity Is handled by human beings. In the persons of young lady operators. .Most of these are residents of Atlanta, who are earnest workers, Interested In the welfare of > their city and Intent upon performing their duties well. Like all other human beings, they are liable to make mistakes. They arc not mere ly machines, and at times their "kbnian The general offices of the company were bodily moved to Atlanta and these officers and their families and a large corps of clerks and their families were brought to tills city. The affairs of the company In seven Southern states are directed from Atlanta, making Impor tant Increases in the poatofflee receipts and the bank clearings.' The Southern Bel! Company pays ap. proxlmatcly CtSft.noo tier annum In sal aries and wages lu employees In At lanta alone. The greater portion of tills sum la spent i.ltil Atlanta mer chants and these employees, of which there Is a small army, are permanent residents of the city. The location of tho headquarters of the Southern Bell Company, resulted In the establishment here of a branch of- of the Westers Electric Company, EAST POINT EXCHANGE. Located In East Point, tors are employed and each prospective operator Is paid a salary while taking a course In the school. The monthly cost of this training school Is 8700, but every' operator who takes a' place at one of the switchboards In Atlanta Is well equipped for her work. Is an Old Citizen. The Southern Bell Company came to Atlanta many years ago. It took Its place along with other Industrial citi zens and has been a factor In the city's progress. It has demonstrated Its sin cere desire to give Atlanta a telephone system second to none other In this country. Its Investment here Is per manent. It has no political or other ax to grind. It Is moving in the even tenor of Its way, earnestly and sincere ly endeavoring to accomplish the ob ject tor which It was organized and earn a reasonable profit for Its stock holders. The Southern Bell Company owns real estate and handsome buildings here and has spent thousands of dollars In overhead and underground equipment. The big Investment here, coupled with the fact that greater extensions arej contemplated, demonstrates the faith of | the officials of this company in Atlanta, i Two years ago when the plant In At- ! lanta was severely wrecked by an un-1 precedented sleet storm It was repaired quickly and efficiently at a .cost ex- j reeding 8100,600. Every possible con-1 slderatlon was shown the public and j the company performed Its duty In ev- j ery way. As a result of that storm It j was seen that the underground conduit 1 system must bu extended In order to NORTH EXCHANGE. Located on North Avenue. sprung from a town Into a great city In n fqw short years. The telephone Industry in Atlanta ha* therefore been heavily handicapped to keep pace with the city. Despite this ths development of the Southern Bell Company Is far In advance of the city, and with the com pletion of the work In the new Ivy Ex change. on Auburn avenue, sufficient ' telephone facilities for many future years will be provided. In 1904 It Was apporrnt that the fu ture growth of Atlanta would bo rapid and enormous. It was realized that the telephOno needs of the city must be provided in advance. The most capa-s hie telephone engineers In Ihe country were brought to Atlanta to make a special study of tho needs of the city as compared with the prospective growth. The conclusion* reached were based upon the past growth, the condl- j ttons that prevailed then and were likely to prevail In Ihe future. The Southern Bell Company was alive to Its duties to Its patrons and pre pared to meet the situation by provid ing faculties long before they were needed. Tho present magnificent tele phone plant Is the outgrowth of this foresight. The work that is In progress nnd In contemplation will keep the tele, phone plant always a few years ahead of the city’s growth. 1 The engineers who made a study of Atlanta estimated that in 1919 there would be not less than 56,000 telephone subscribers. They advised the con struction of un additional building, with ft present eap’clty of 15.000 stations and on animate capacity uf 45,000 sta tions. Tit' 1 " advised the extension of the underground system and the elim ination of all pole* and wires from certain streets. , Extension of th* Plant. ' More than two years ago u lot was ed that three more stories ran be added and these will be constructed as rapidly as they are needed. Ultimately this building will take care of 45,000 sub scribers. The switchboard and termi nal equipment were manufactured es pecially for this building at a cost ex ceeding 8100,000. ...The object of this heavy and costly ronslripjtjqn.jyprk .1* to .keep the tele- phon^r plant'just n few-years ahead of Atlanta u'nd to maintain satisfactory service, no matter how great the num ber of subscribers or heavy the de mands upon the operating force. It Is realised fully by < officials of the Southern Bell Telephone* and Telegraph Company that the public pays for and demands good telephone service. Tho aim p.f every employee. Is to see that thy public gets what It pays for., and at the same time receives courteous treat, msnt. There Is no deviation from this rule. The cases where service Is un satisfactory and employees are discour teous are the exception, and prompt and vigorous action is taken to correct these faults. All the energies of a great organisation are bending toward giving good service, and overcoming difficul ties that tho general public knows nothing of. Telephone service Is the only commodity In which this company deals, and Its duty to the public and to Itself demands that every effort be made to accomplish thls-eml. In order to provide efficient operators, nnd avoid Ihe necessity of placing'un trained operators on the switchbonrds, a handsomely equipped training school has been established In Atlanta at a cost of 810,000. Every prospective op erator, who stands the required exam ination, Is sent to this training schobl, whore she receives . practical Instruc tions covering n period of one month or longer, If necessary. Competent tu- —25; **"2* COLUMBI ■gaaJ CLL'lflBS Colo ALLAHA9SCC 1 Map of Georgia showing tho long distance lines of the Bell Company radiating from Atlanta to ail Important points. give tho moaf efficient aervlce. Fol lowing the heavy lose work was Im mediately begun upon extensions and ultimately all the wires will be under ground and the terminal poles now standing In the streets will be moved upon private property where the com' pany Is securing rights of way. The extension of the underground system was not required by the city and the contemplated removal of poles Is a fact not generally known. The company Is prepared to furnish telephone service of any class or char acter, from a message rate party line at 82 per month to a private branch exchange with sufficient trunk lines to accommodate a business concern of any slxe. The classes of service ore so nu merous and the cost so reasonable that the wants of the casual telephone user can be filled as easily as the needs of heavy users. The telephone has become a house hold and business necessity. Where the telephone Is once used It Is seldom abandoned. It saves the business man time, trouble, money and travel and Is a constant comfort to the housewife, flo other agency can nil Its place and the service and tho rates offered by the Southern Bell Company are so attrac tive as to be well worth consideration. Important Toll Lines. Radiating from Atlanta and reaching all Important points In this and adjoin ing states are thousands of miles of toll lines. Over these wires more than 1,000 calls come Into Atlanta every day. Peo ple visit Atlanta by telephone fifty Instinct will assert Itself by the return of a sharp reply to an angry or Insult ing remark. These Instances are the exception and It Is the constant effort of the Southern Bell Company to elim inate them entirely. Oftentimes slight consideration upon the part of the sub scriber would benefit the service Im mensely. But subscribers arc human also. They can not see what the op erator Is doing toward giving aervlce, and to an Impatient man or woman sec. onds seem like minutes and minutes like hours. The Southern Bel! Com pany does not defend poor aervlce; It' Is the company's worst enemy. ' All the efforts of tho organization are directed toward rendering a service as nearly perfect ae It Is possible to make It. The Southern Bell Company Is a per manent citizen of Atlanta. It hae grown with the city, contributed to Its success and shared In Its reverses. It has not merely come here and opened Its hands to receive a constant flow of money. It has worked honestly and earnestly to give value received and Investigation by an unbiased mind will reveal that It has earned Its smalt profit. The Importance of Atlanta as a tele phone center reached such a stage in 1903 that the headquarters of the com pany were moved to Atlanta, thereby Increasing the population by 1,000 new citizens and Insuring the expenditure In Atlanta of a vast sum of money paid In salaries and wages. This move was due largely to the Influence of Colonel W. T. Gentry, vice; president of the company, then general manager. which Is one of the largest manufactur ing concerns In the world, having of fices In New York. Chicago, London, Berlin, Antwerp and Paris. The West ern Electric Company erected a hand some and costly modern warehouse In West End, and employs several hun dred people, It disburses a large sum of money In salaries and wages. From Atlanta telephone apparatus Is shipped Into a territory comprising the majority of the Southern state*. This Industry was made possible for Atlanta solely by reason of the development of tho telephone business In this section by the Southern Bell Company. As the city of Atlanta grows there is every' Indication that other kindred In dustries will be brought here by rea son of the telephone development. Tho Southern Bell's plant here has been built with the Idea In view of giving a service as nearly perfect as possible and to ’be at all times prepared to take care of any growth, no matter how great. In order to accomplish this. It has bcch necessary to secure' the most expensive apparatus of the very latest design. Atlanta has been given tho benefit of every new Invention and of every Improvement. At times It has appeared wise to discard apparatus long before its usefulness was exhaust, ed. but tho Southern Bell Company has borne this expense In order to main tain Its established policy of providing the very best apparatus procurable. There Is no question thnt this policy has been appreciated by Its patrons anil the publle generally and the Atlanta system stands as u model among the cities of the South.