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Chicago Telephone Company
| Name | Chicago Telephone Company |
| Ortssitz | Chicago (Ill.) |
| Art des Unternehmens | Telefongesellschaft |
| Quellenangaben | [Am. Inst Elect. Eng.: Chicago electrical handbook (1904) 115] |
| Produkt |
ab |
Bem. |
bis |
Bem. |
Kommentar |
| Telefonverkehr |
1879 |
Entstehung |
1904 |
tätig |
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| ZEIT | 1904 |
| THEMA | Allgemeines |
| TEXT | The Chicago Telephone Company has been for the past twenty-five years furnishing telephone service in the City of Chicago and the surrounding territory embraced within a radius of about forty miles, and is operating at this time a total of 104.000 telephones, of which 82.000 are in the Chicago city exchange, the remainder being operated in about 150 suburban exchanges. In the outside territory the service is furnished by means of equipment which is modern in every respect, metallic circuits, relay common battery switchboards and modern apparatus being used throughout. Toll lines extend throughout the territory in every direction, and in the country surrounding nearly all of the exchanges farmers' lines have been developed, furnishing not only a neighborhood service between the farmers and nearby villages and towns but direct toll line service to Chicago and to the entire country by means of the long distance lines of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. The exchange in the City of Chicago has always presented most interesting problems to telephone engineers and operating men. For more than twenty years it has been recorded of it that more service per instrument is furnished than in any other exchange in the world. In Chicago the telephone is availed of constantly during the business hours of the day by the busiest of Chicago's business men, and is found ready at his hand as an indispensable article of desk furniture. Records have been made of telephones in business places which have been used more than 300 times in one day. This pressure of traffic at an early date brought out features in the service which have since been found indispensable, not only in Chicago, but in' the large exchanges throughout the world. The first private branch exchange was established to fit thé peculiar requirements of a large and busy manufacturing establishment in Chicago. Today there are more than 1.200 private branch exchange switchboards in business places, one establishment requiring the service of thirteen trained operators to handle its
business. Electric lights as signals on telephone lines were first used in Chicago, and the development which has led to their general introduction in all large exchanges was started by their use in several of the Chicago Exchange offices. The so-called automatic ringing was first used in a downtown Chicago office and has since been, generally used throughout the country where inter-office trunking is necessary. The general introduction of underground conduits began in Chicago in 1890, and has continued steadily each year until at the present time the Company is
operating 235,36 miles of underground conduit, comprising 1.372.28 miles of duct. The wire in underground cables at this time aggregates 149.233.68 miles, and of aerial wires in the Chicago Exchange 40.480.05 miles. In the downtown district the telephone wires operated by the Company are buried throughout. Cables are led from the exchange offices through the underground conduits and directly to the buildings or particular business blocks to be reached. In the large buildings, direct cable terminals are established in basement rooms near the elevator or wire shafts which have
been provided. Distribution is made by lead-covered cable to terminal boxes on each floor of the building and thence by individual wire led in behind moldings extended throughout the halls, so that in this way any particular office or room may be reached, the wiring being concealed throughout its entire length. Behind these moldings and in the underground runs, low tension wires only are provided for, it being arranged that electric lighting, power or other high tension wires are separated from them at all points. The standard of 200 pairs for underground cables was adopted in 1893, which has since been increased to 300 pairs and 400 pairs for certain portions of the business district, all insulation being of paper encased with the usual lead cover. In the outlying districts the distribution of wires to the premises of subscribers is accomplished by means of pole lines, built in alleys. Underground cables are led directly to terminal boxes located upon poles in such lines, distribution being made by overhead wire for a distance of one or two blocks in either direction, so-called "drop wires" extending from these poles to the rear of the residence or place of business to be reached. There are very few pole lines located in the streets. The territory of the Chicago Exchange being about eighteen miles long by six miles wide, many long lines in the outlying portions were inevitably involved. This territory is now covered by fourteen sub-exchange districts.
In 1894, a four-party line service was introduced for the accommodation of private residences, a system of The Chicago non-interfering signaling being provided which has continued to meet successfully all requirements in this
respect. By ordinance requirements in 1889 the rates for service in the Chicago Exchange were based on an annual sum
for which the subscriber might use the telephone to any extent desired. Later on the requirements of very heavy users necessitated private branch exchange systems, and the requirements of private residences were such that one circuit might readily accommodate a number of subscribers, which made variations in this plan inevitable. The injustice of this so-called flat rate plan continued to be more and more apparent. The very small business user under it must of necessity pay just as much as the greatest. The storekeeper who used his telephone five times a day paid just as much as one whose use might be fifty or more calls. Measured rates were introduced in 1896, and immediately these were adopted to a large extent. It was not, however, until 1900, when the measured service plan was introduced upon what is known as the "nickel" basis, that the Chicago Exchange took on a tremendous growth, which
has since continued. Upon this plan the user of the telephone pays for the service at the time it is rendered, depositing a nickel or 5c piece in the coin box provided for that purpose. Upon this plan service is furnished, not
only upon direct lines but in private exchanges, two-party and four-party lines, and also, for very small users, upon ten-party lines. In the latter class the telephone is installed in a residence upon a guarantee by the subscriber that the earnings shall not be less than 5c per day or in a place of business 10 per day. Nearly 50.000
telephones are now operated in Chicago on the nickel plan, and it is used by all classes of customers. The ten-party lines are separated from the general body of exchange lines and operated on special switchboards so that they may not in any way delay the general service of the exchange, other classes of service being operated in the usual manner, the type of coin box making it possible to accomplish this without retarding the service. Twelve of the fourteen Chicago Exchange offices are operated in buildings owned by the Company, the two remaining being provided for by perpetual leasehold in fireproof office buildings. Relay multiple switchboards, accompanied by the usual storage battery and power plants, are operated in all of the offices, the system of trunking for intercommunication comprising a total of 3,658 trunks or junction circuits. In the territory outside of the Chicago Exchange the
Company owns eleven buildings in which its switchboards are operated. The annual statistics for the past ten years, showing in a general way the growth of the Company's business, are indicated in the following table. The entire plant of the Chicago Company, including cables, switchboards and instruments, is now of the most modern class. Its efficiency is attested in the very large amount of traffic successfully handled. The engineering plans of the Company are based on an ultimate capacity for 250.000 telephones, and the widespread and increasing use of the service makes it appear not unlikely that this number may be reached even earlier than has been anticpated. |
| QUELLE | [Am. Inst Elect. Eng.: Chicago electrical handbook (1904) 115] |
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