over open-wire circuits. This led to
the preparation by P. H. Pierce and

The messages were carried on cur-

rents of twenty frequencies between
3,000 and 11,000 cycles. Each oneway transmission had its own carrier
frequency and adjacent frequencies
were used for transmission in opposite
directions. The outgoing and incoming currents at each end were separated
in part by the use of a balanced cir-

O. A. Pawlick (now Long Lines), of

an experimental carrier-telegraph system by which four duplex telegraph

channels were provided over a single
circuit, using carrier

frequencies

five, six, nine, and

ten

of

kilocycles.

Like the original carrier telephone,
this depended, for two-way operation,

oe

i.

TUNED
RCUITS

“sll

:

?

The receiving apparatus for the experimental installation at Maumee

on the balancing of the impedance of
the open-wire line at the carrier frequencies by means of an artificial line
or network. This experimental appa-ratus was set up at Maumee and
Chicago in September, 1917; and in

its test the Laboratories engineers
cooperated with the engineers of the
American Telephone and Telegraph
Company. The system included, at
South Bend, a carrier-current repeater
in which for each direction of transmission a single amplifying circuit
repeated all the messages. The experimental tests were followed by

cuit, including a network to balance
the impedance of the line. The
apparatus was mounted on unit racks,
some of which are shown in the picture
of part of the Pittsburgh installation.
Among the Laboratories engineers
who worked on this system were G. C.
Cummings, N. H. Slaughter, M. B.

Long, A. J. Eaves, J. B. Harlow (both
now in the Western Electric), H. J.
Vennes (now in the Northern Electric),
and L. W. Wickersheim (now with the

Pacific Telephone Company).
Following the success of this system,
the so-called Type “‘A”’, a number of
commercial operation with satisfac- similar carrier-telegraph systems were
tory results.
installed. These systems were arAbout the beginning of 1919, prep- ranged for directional grouping of
arations were made for the installation frequencies, using eight frequencies
of a carrier-telegraph system between between 3,600 and 5,500 cycles for the
Harrisburg and Chicago with inter- transmission of messages in one direcmediate terminals at Pittsburgh. Ten
tion, and eight frequencies between
two-way telegraph channels were 6,500 and 10,000 cycles for the
provided over a single circuit, in opposite direction.

addition to the usual channels for tele-

{ 189}

After several of the Type “A”

channel

carrier.

In

addition,

the

lent to twenty-six channels or messages

ordinary telegraph circuits, obtained
by compositing,
can be operated simultaneously with the voice-frequency
carrier, thereby providing two more

per wire, whereas, as I pointed out at
the beginning of this article, LeSage
proposed to: use twenty-six wires to
transmit one message. The total improvement in message capacity is thus

signal channels in each direction over

|

the two cable pairs.

(26)? or 676 times.

The rate of

\

(

i

(

‘

OAKLAND

26

(

--

4

i

>

nro

wooesta

\

Fresno

05 ancturs

Ss?
\

ba

=

\
4

key weer

Routes and locations of carrier telegraph systems, present and proposed

operation over these channels however

— Although we may, in the fullness of

is not as high as over the carrier chan-

our greater knowledge, smile at these

nels and would enable only two
printers per channel to be operated as_

early efforts, still we are indebted to
many of these pioneers of an earlier

against four printers per carrier channel. This, however, would add four

age for a little something which we
have extracted from their achieve-

more printer channels, making fifty_ two printer channels in each direction,
or a total of 104 printer channels over
one four-wire circuit. This is equiva-

ments and adapted to our structures
of today. Perhaps it will not be many
years before posterity indulges in a
kindly smile at our own efforts.

“*

{ 192}

|

|

AN

ENGINEERING

CAREER

By E. H. Cotpirrs
A note of appreciation

of the scientific

and engineering work of Harold W. Nichols

S ONE intimately associated
with Dr. Harold W. Nichols
during the eleven years in which he

only to carry on investigational work
himself but also, as soon appeared

was active in the research and devel-

evident, to undertake direction of the

sonal characteristics fitting him not

work of others.
In no respect did
his performance
disappoint those
broadly responsible for the work

opment work of
the Bell System as
a member of the
Engineering

De-

partment

of the

Western

Electric

Company,

Inc.

(now the

Bell

with which he was
connected.

His personal
contributions to
the development
of the communication art can to

Telephone Laboratories, Inc.), I
welcome the op-

portunity

||
|

of

recording a few

a slight degree be

words appreciative of his work as

measured by the

an engineer.

He entered the

Harold W. Nichols

work of the West-

ern Electric Company in 1914, at a
period standing out as one when new
tools and new methods applicable to
communication were being found and
applied. The first commercial applications of vacuum tubes in telephone
repeaters were being made; and in this
device, and in the application of the
more complete theory of electrical
circuits then becoming available, radically new developments were foreseen
in the fields of radio and carriercurrent systems, as well as in applications to voice-frequency telephony.
He entered upon his work with training, initiative, imagination, and per-

fact that twentyone United States
patents were issued to him and

some eight applications are still pend-

ing. These patents cover important
elements of carrier currents and radio.
Through his papers on scientific and
technical subjects, as well as through
his personal contacts, he was well and
favorably known in the scientific and
technical world. When in February,
1923, he delivered an address before a
meeting of the British Institution of

Electrical Engineers at London on the
Methods of Transatlantic Telephony,

|

he was awarded by the Institution’the

Fahie Premium. He served for some
years on the Board of the Institute of

Radio Engineers; and just prior to his

{ 193}

|

death he had been nominated as one

underlie much of the art today. To
attempt a discussion of this, however, would too greatly expand this

of the candidates for President of that
Institute.
What promises to be a basic con-.
tribution to the theory of propagation

note.
He was recognized as an authority

of electric waves in radio is contained

in electrical theory, and his advice and
suggestions were highly valued and

in his most recent paper, a joint
publication with J. C. Schelleng, in
which the authors discussed the effect
of the earth’s magnetic field upon

appreciated. Very generously hemade
himself always available to his colleagues as a consultant

radio transmission.

on problems

which arose in connection with their

“As I view his career, however, im-

work in lines outside of his own par-

portant as were his own personal contributions, his greatest contributions

ticular activity.
I cannot conclude this brief and

general note without expressing the

were indirect, in the guidance and
stimulus which he gave to the able

deep sense of loss which I know is felt
by the whole group who in the Laboratories and in the American Telephone
and Telegraph Company were associated with Dr. Nichols.
In the
relatively few years of his engineering
career, he won a position attained by
few men, even of those to whom many
more years of activity have been
allotted.

group of engineers and scientists who
in

our

functionalized

organization

looked to him for broad general direction. The contribution of this group
to the fields of communication employing high-frequency

currents

ranging

from voice frequencies up to the frequencies in “short wave’’ radio have
been of the greatest importance and

Our

BuDGET

By A. O. JEHLE
<+

URING 1926 the Laboratories
will expend a very considerable
sum, millions of dollars, in carrying
on the work with which it is charged.

ern business administration. In our
Laboratories a budgetary procedure
is required to coordinate the activities
of the various functional departments
Authority to spend this money* will and to serve as a basis for centralized
arise from the action of its Board of executive control. The budget which
Directors in the approval of a budget our Directors will approve for 1926
of expenditures; and with this ap- will be presented to them by the Presiproval our executives may proceed dent, and represent the summarized
with their working program for 1926 reports of anticipated expenditures
and know definitely what expense prepared and estimated by the departmental heads. The individual
may be incurred.
Budgeting is an essential of mod- _departmental estimates of expense,
classified by the kinds of work in*“Who Pays our Salaries” in the October Record, p.- 62,
tells where this money comes from.

volved, will be consolidated

{ 194}

into a

Company budget by the Statistical

Department. This budget, after approval by the Executive Vice-Presi-

the various functional departments of
the Laboratories the probable expense
for their departments for the coming

dent, is forwarded to the President
for his consideration and approval
and subsequent

year in terms of (a) salaries, (b) supplies and outside shop work, (c)
traveling, and (d)

miscellaneous.
The first two of
these groups represent by far the
major part of our
as prepared by
SALARIES
expense. In fact,
the Statistical De=
partment, sumsalaries alone are
en FURS =
|
almost threemarizes the operquarters.
“Supating expense for
the entire year
plies and outside
and also the exshop work’’ cover the cost of
penditures to be
materials and
met in plant and
equipment. A
supplies withknowledge of
drawn from the
plant expenses
storerooms, or
each dollar of operating expense is divided.
for the year is How
purchased from
“Miscellaneous” includes interest charges,
necessary for the
the Western Elecbenefit fund reserve, rentals for property
preparation of the
tric Company or
other than West Street, etc.
budget of operatoutside suppliers.
ing expense, since the latter must It covers the material with which our
include the additional depreciation scientists and engineers work. Under
corresponding to the recently added miscellaneous expense, as estimated
plant and equipment.
by the department heads, are such
It is the budget of operating ex- items as outside rentals—for example,
pense, however, which from the standthe space occupied by the Tube Shop
point of the laboratory engineer is at Hudson Street—and other expense
most interesting and important. This like express and freight charges.
determines the total salaries which
In arriving, however, at the
may be expended and the value of total operating-expense budget
supplies and shop work which may the Statistical Department includes
be obtained for carrying on our in addition to these items, as estiresearch and development activities. mated by the department heads,
This operating-expense budget is several others. First among these is
prepared on two bases: in one the depreciation and outside repairs.
proposed expenditures are classified This expense arises from the fact
as to type of expense, and in the other that plant items, such as buildings,
as to type of work.
permanent fixtures, machinery, and
In obtaining the data on which to furniture cannot be kept in service
make its budgetary conclusions the indefinitely but must from time to
Statistical Department, in the late time be replaced or retired.
It is
autumn, requested from the heads of recognized as sound business practice

consideration by
the Directors.
The budget for
the Laboratories,

|

|

SUPPLIES
ISe.

|

{195}

|

b

to set aside each year reserves against
such plant depreciation. Therefore,
the cost of such plant should be distributed as evenly as may be throughout the service life of the property.
Another item which is included in
the operating-expense budget is the
payments made to employees for
pensions, sickness, accident, and dis-

ability, in accordance with the provisions of the Benefit Plan of the
Company. It is interesting to note
that these are not included as salaries
although
budget.

they enter

into the total

For any proposed expenditure of
the

Laboratories,

as

expressed

in

kinds of work, there corresponds an
equal proposed expenditure in kinds
of expense. Suppose, for example,

that all the engineers and scientists in

the Laboratories were to be engaged

on

a single

one

of the executive

control classifications of work, for
example, ‘Transmitters, Receivers
and Induction Coils.” The cost of
this piece of work would then include
all building expense, heat, light,
service, and the like as well as all

other expense of a clerical and com-

There is presented then to the
Board of Directors a budget for our
Laboratories as a whole, classified as
described above and giving the total

mercial nature.

Since, however, there

are several different types of work,
each of them must bear its proportionate part of this general expenditure. The Statistical Department,

operating expense for the year. Although this covers the total expense therefore, advises the heads of the
it does not tell the kinds of work pro- functional departments as to the proposed and the expense involved in portion of such general expense with
each kind. With the formation of which their departments will be
our Laboratories the first of last year, charged as a result of their departthere was set up an entirely new mental requirements for floor space,
classification of expense, by kinds of telephone service, and the like. With
work.
The Laboratories’ work is this information in hand the departestimated on an annual basis and is ment heads are able to estimate the
grouped for statistical summaries in expense which will be met by their
so-called “executive control classifica- departments in each of the types of
tions,” such for example as “Trans- work with which they are concerned.
These estimated expenditures, by
mitters, Receivers and Induction
Coils,” “Wire Transmission Systems,” types of work, are then summarized
“Research and Development of Gen- and their total is, of course, equal
to the total budget by kinds of exeral Application,” and a
Systems and Apparatus.”
pense.

A Binder for the Record
Those who wish to preserve a permanent file of the RECORD may
secure through the Personal Purchase Department a binder of the
same style as that used for the technical reprints.

{ 196}

|

SouND

i

RECORDING

By Josep P. MaxrFie_p
T the time of its formal introduction to the public, the new
method of sound reproduction developed in our Laboratories was outlined

by the RECORD.”

As

was

there

noted, to take full advantage of the

new apparatus records of equally high
quality must be used. Since the technique of making these records has
been developed in our Laboratories,
it is felt that an account of the general
features of the problem and its solution will prove of interest.

Experiment has shown, however, that
the shape of the room and the position
in which the curtains and other absorbing materials are hung play a
part in the excellence of the music.
By a proper control of the acoustic
properties of the recording room, it
has been possible to record the socalled “atmosphere” surrounding the
music. When this result has been
accomplished, the listener seems to
“feel” the presence of the artists to
whose record he is listening.

Before considering the methods in-

volved it may be well to make a rough
division of the problem into its component parts. A first consideration is
the character of the sound which is to
be recorded, including the effects of
reverberation and general studio de-

we

sign. The storing or recording of
sound requires first a mechanical system which will respond faithfully to
sound waves. There is also required
some ‘material in or on which this
sound may be recorded, and an intervening electro-mechanical system
which permits the sound waves to
make the record in this material.
Srup1o

Acoustics

IMPORTANT

In recording work, therefore, one of

the important factors deals with the
acoustics of the room in which the
recording is done. It is probable that
the most comprehensive single factor
in this connection is the time of
reverberation, i.e., the time taken for

a sound of given intensity to die away
after the source has been stopped.

Errects

oF DAMPING

If a studio is too highly damped or
as a musician would say, “too dead’,
all of the instruments lack the vibrant,

ringing tone which lends life and
spirit to the music and to which we
areallaccustomed. The impression on
the listener is very similar to that
produced by music played in the open
air where no floor or sounding boards

are provided to reflect the sound. Ifa
room is insufficiently damped, cr in
the musician’s terminology “‘too live,”

two effects are produced,
which are disagreeable.

both of

The first is a

tendency of one set of notes to blur
with those produced immediately before and after; and in the case of large
orchestras, blurring is so bad as to

make it impossible to pick one instrument from another. The second effect
is to leave the listener with the
impression that he is listening to
music being played in a totally bare
and empty room. It is interesting in
this connection that the studio must

1197}

|

be slightly more damped than the
rooms in which we are accustomed to
listen to music, because the phonographic process is what we call single
channel—that is, it “listens” with one

ear only. The effect of slightly too
live a room can be produced by
stopping up one ear and listening with
the other one alone. However, where
acoustic conditions are correct, the

illusion produced is so good that the
reproduction is raised from the class of
minor amusement to that of an artistic
production.
In the case of large orchestras and
similar types of music, the reverberations in the hall or theatre constitute
part of the musical and artistic effect.
The solution of the problem of recording these effects in such a manner that

when the music is reproduced in a
living room the effects appear to be
those desired, has constituted one of
the real advances in the recording art.

The second important factor is the

range of notes or frequencies which
it is possible to record and reproduce.
This subject was covered sufficiently
in the RECORD article* mentioned.
In attacking the problem of improved recording methods there are

two obvious lines of procedure. The
first is to make use of the energy of the
sound waves for the purpose of operating the recording instrument. This
is the method which has been in use
for many years. The second is to
make use of high-quality electrical

apparatus, associated with vacuum-

tube amplifiers, in order to give more
freedom to the control of the process.
This second method has been adopted
because the amount of the energy
available directly from the sound to
be recorded is so small as to make its
use extremely difficult, particularly if
the artists are to play or sing in a
natural manner. In the case of the
weaker instruments such as the violins,
“*Bell Laboratories Record, November 1925, page 99.

4

|

|

To record by the old acoustic method it was necessary to crowd the players close to the collecting horn,
and equip some of the violins with special resonators, such as shown in the foreground

{ 198}
|

it has been possible to use only two of

happened that after the instruments

standard construction.

rest of

had been arranged in such a manner

the violins are of the type known as

that the relative loudness of the
various parts had been balanced correctly, it was found that the whole
selection was either too loud or too
weak. This usually meant a complete

The

the “Stroh”, which is a device strung
in the manner of a violin but so
arranged that the bridge vibrates a
diaphragm attached to a horn. This

The modern recording studio looks very much like that of a broadcasting station with the orchestra
grouped in comfortable positions with normal instruments

horn is directed toward the recording
horn, as shown in one of the accom-

panying illustrations. With such an
arrangement of musicians, it is very
difficult to arouse the spotaneous enthusiasm which is necessary for the
production of really artistic music.
In the picture showing the new
method, the musicians are sitting at
ease more nearly
in their usual arrangement

and all are using the instru-

ments which they would use were they
playing at a concert. Furthermore,
the microphone is now sufficiently far
away from the orchestra to receive the
sound in much the manner that the
ears of a listener in the audience would
receive it. In other words, it picks up
the sound after it has been properly
blended with the reflections from the

walls of the room. It is in this way
that the so-called “atmosphere” or
“room-tone”’ is obtained.
In the old process, it sometimes

—

rearrangement of the players. With
the flexibility introduced by the use of
electrical apparatus including amplifiers, the control of loudness is ob- -

tained by simple manipulation of the
amplifier system and is in no way
related to the difficulties of the relative
loudness of one instrument to another.
The only problem for the studio
director in this case is to obtain the
proper balance among the various
musical instruments and artists. The
advantages derived from this added

ease of control are also made manifest
in that it is much easier and less tiresome for the artists and it is usually
possible to make more records in a
given time.

It may be interesting to follow the
course of the sound vibrations from
the time they are produced until they
appear as an irregular groove on the
phonograph record. The sound is
first picked from the air by means of

{199}

a special telephone transmitter which
is essentially an instrument which

order factors which have been left
out of this diagram, as they would

translates into voltage fluctuations the

greatly increase its ety.

air-pressure fluctuations which strike

Referring to Fig.2, the inductance

its diaphragm. These voltage fluctuations, which are exceedingly small, are

labeled m: represents the mass of the
armature which when acted on by the

magnetic field forms the driving por:

\

\

\

\

tion of the mechanical*system.

\

The

condenser c, represents the flexibility
of the shaft connecting the armature

1

to the stylus holder; m: represents the
mass of the stylus holder and stylus;
c, the flexibility of the shaft connecting the stylus holder with the
metal piece which fits into the rubber
damping element; m; the mass of this

metal piece; and c; and r represent the
characteristic of the damping element.
The two condensers, shown dotted and

“4

N

unlabeled, represent two of the second
order factors mentioned above.
Those who are at all familiar with

NASR

electrical filter design will immediately -

see that, providing the two undesignated condensers are omitted, this
Fig. 1.

A sketch of the rubber line recorder

amplified by distortionless vacuumtube amplifiers until they are of sufficient power to operate the device
which cuts the permanent record in
the disc of soft wax. This instrument,
known as the recorder, is one of the

examples of the application of the wavetransmission theory of
electric circuits to
mechanical systems.
A picture of one of

is a filter of the low-pass type.* In this
particular case the filter has three sections and a terminating resistance. In
designing mechanical analogues of

such a system, the problem presented
is three-fold—first, that of arranging
the parts so that they form repeated
*Bell Laboratories Record, October 1925, page 59.

:

these recording instruments is shown in Fig.
1, while a simplified di-

Al

agram ofits equivalent
electric circuit is shown
in Fig. 2.

In actual

practice

it has

necessary

to take ac-

been

count of some second||

~J

An up-side-down view of the “rubber line” recorder

{ 200}

separate sections all have the same
characteristics; third, that of providing the proper resistance termination.
The use of the third section and the

a loss of response at the low-pitch end.
This loss is unfortunately necessary in
order to avoid the large amplitudes
which accompany the low pitched
notes and which would cause the trace
on the record to cut from one groove

terminating

over into its neighbor.

While we have

=

Tie

filter sections; second, determining the

magnitudes of these parts so that the

resistance

was

decided

4

5

upon after a considerable amount of

experimental work.

It was hoped that

the resistance of the wax to the backand-forth motion of the cutting stylus

i

might be used as the terminating
|

resistance.

It was

found, however,

that under the conditions existing in a

i

commercial recording-room, the value

of this resistance, even though of a
right character, varied so greatly from
aa’

one wax blank to another as to be un-

suitable for the purpose.
able

also

that

the

It is prob-

value

of

this

resistance is not the same for all notes
or pitches lying within the range
which it is desirable to record.

recorder

In the

as finally developed,

this

terminating resistance has been made

so large that effect of the wax
negligible in comparison.
{

is

Practically,

therefore, it acts as the complete
control element of the mechanical
filter.

Such a filter when properly designed
will have: a response versus pitch
characteristic

which

is flat, within

practical limits. The actual recorder
owing to the presence of the two
undesignated condensers of Fig. 2, has
mM

i

—=

i"

The amplifier operator in a.recording studio has

ready control of the overall loudness of the record

no accurate calibration of the older processes of recording, thereis considerable
evidence to indicate that the fundamentals of notes below middle C were
not recorded and that fundamentals or

harmonics lying above the middle of
Ma

(0000 4

|

M3

ELECTRO-

'

|

MAGNETIC
MOTOR

C 3

ELEMENT
AMPLIFIER
FROM

=>

¥

=
Fig. 2.

Schematic of Electrical System Analogous to Recorder

{ 201}

tones

i

accompanied

phono-

the music while the higher harmonics

=

&

i

which

graphic reproduction, while the loss
of the higher harmonics was responsible for the general muffled quality
and the inability to hear the sybilants
of speech. In other words, the low
range is responsible for the naturalness or what is termed the “‘body”’ of
i

A rubber-line recorder being adjusted by
Harry Summers

the upper octave on the piano also
failed to record.
The loss of the
fundamentals of the low notes was

largely responsible for the metallic

DLE
MeEcHANICAL

are largely responsible for the details
and clarity of the tone.
When this complete range of notes
is properly reproduced in conjunction
with the proper amount of reverberation effect, it is easy for the listener
to imagine himself actually present at
the original performance.
The exactness of the sound records
produced by this new method has
already made something of a revolution in the phonograph art and will
permit the application of that art to
new fields.

LES YE DLE YE YE PE PEPER,
DEVELOPMENTS

ANUFACTURE by the Western Electric Company is the
stage in the production of communication apparatus which follows its development in our Laboratories and its
final specification as a design acceptable to the engineers of the American

factured

AT

HAwTHORNE

article

whether

telephone

cord, coil, transmitter, complete
switchboard, or radio broadcasting set,

there intervene a number of processes
of manufacture, each a step in the
evolution of the final form. It is the
task of the Development Branch to

Telephone and Telegraph Company. maintain at the highest state of
In the functionalized division of the development these processes and macreative work of the Bell System it - chines so that manufacture will always
falls to the Laboratories to specify the be carried on at lowest possible costs
design—i.e.,what
shall bemade—and to consistent with a high standard of
the Manufacturing Department of the quality and the best working conWestern to determine the manufactur- ditions for the employees. Several
ing processes—i.e., how the specified hundred engineers and scientists are
apparatus shall be made. Between
engaged in fulfilling this task under
the raw materials, such as metals,
glass, wood, insulating textiles and

the leadership of David Levinger,
Superintendent of Development. As-

compounds, and each finished manu-

sisting him and in charge of various

{ 202}

|
|

divisions of the work are: R. A. Price,

F. W. Willard, J. R. Shea, C. D. Hart,

A. H. Adams, H. L. Ward, and F. C.

Spencer.
Their work

interest
|

|
|

is always

a source

to their colleagues

of

in the

Laboratories. In the first place, for
the proper design of commercial equipment the Laboratory engineer needs
to be informed of the possible methods
and limitations of different manufacturing processes and methods. In the
second place, there is the pleasure
which he takes in observing development work well done, a finished performance and the accompanying
economies.
One of the responsibilities of this
group at Hawthorne 1s reduction in
cost of manufacture by improvements
in methods. Some recent developments in cost reduction were described to members of the Laboratories
ina talk by Mr. Levinger upon the
occasion

of a visit to New

of more rapid and economical produetion. Where, for example, the existing
plants rolled from billets to onequarter inch rod with eighteen passes,
the new Hawthorne plant started out
with sixteen and was soon operating
with fourteen passes. Similarly, in
the drawing of wire the studies of the
principles of wire drawing and the
determination of the optimum shape
and size for dies resulted in an increase in the speed of drawing fine
copper wire from about 700 feet per
minute to cover 2000 feet per minute.
In addition the plant occupies only
from one-quarter to one-third the
space that was ordinarily required for
the same output. Such improvements

York,

December fourth and fifth.
His visit to the Laboratories was
unexpected, but when he consented to
speak our largest classroom (R. 411)
was quickly filled with interested engineers who applauded enthusiastically
his accounts of recent advances in
technique and their resulting economies in cost and human effort. At the
request of George B. Thomas, who
made the arrangements, Mr. Levinger
repeated his talk the next day for
another roomful.
Among many matters discussed perhaps the most spectacular was the
rod and wire mill which was built at
Hawthorne comparatively recently
upon plans made by the Development
Branch. The rolling of rods and the
drawing of wire had become rather
definitely standardized processes before this groupstarted its development
studies which showed the possibility

pe

Mr. Levinger explains old and new ways of
making transmitter face-plates

in producing one of the necessities of
communication equipment mean continuing savings to the Bell System
and a source of pride to the colleagues
of the Hawthorne engineers.

{ 203}

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To the Employees of the Bell System:
_

This is the season when friendships are
renewed and when we like to say the things

which are in our hearts but which are us-

ually left unsaid in the rush of busy days.
The spirit of service and the satisfaction

which comes from doing useful work is some-

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thing which can be shared, and I believe, is

shared by every individual, young or old, in
the Bell System.

I know of no other business

‘where the opportunity for service is greater,
or where the individual effort of each man
and woman

We can

counts for more.

all be proud of the splendid

enterprise in which we are

engaged.

It 4s

worthy of the best that is in us, and I want

to express the hope that, in the year just

closing, each ofyou has found real happiness
2

—that happiness which comes from serving
others.
|
Zz‘congratulate you upon the success

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Wi

Hi

and

happiness that have been, and wish you all
greater success and greater happiness in the

J

year to come.
Walter 8. Gifford
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{ 205 }

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His

First

HEN R. L. Jones came to the
Laboratories from Massachusetts

Institute of Technology

in

Ig11, our era of scientific research was

various frequencies, natural frequencies and damping constants.
This

investigation was a part of the Research Department’s outstanding

just getting under

problem of the day

way. Mr. Jones had
been thinking of
hydro-electric power

— the development
of atelephone
repeater.
Before long, his

engineering as a lifework.
But Dr.

associates began to

see evidences of the
abilities which were
to carry Mr. Jones
to his present position as head of Inspection Engineering. His interests
were those looking
to the future; study-

Jewett had been one
of his instructors;
H. S. Osborn, a close
friend at Tech, had

i

enteredtheA.T.&T.
a year before; Mr.
ShreevecametoTech
and talked to him
about telephone research. So on July
31, 1911, after ob-

ing the

4

broad

as-

pects of his problems,
planning methods

taining his Doctor
of Science degree, he
if

Jos

of attack, develop-

R. L. Fones
ing men to carry out
reported to E. H.
these plans, and inColpitts and was
fusing
them
with
his own enthusiasm.
assigned to Mr. Shreeve’s group to
work on mechanical telephone re- Gradually a group was assembled
under his supervision, and in 1914 he
peaters. Our present series of numbered laboratory notebooks had just was put at the head of the Transmisbeen started and Book No. 8 was sion Branch reporting to Dr. Jewett,
assigned to Mr. Jones. Its first entry then Assistant Chief Engineer. As
is a study of the motion of carbon the Engineering Department grew, it
finally became apparent that transgranules in a glass-walled transmitter
button. Another project was a mag- mission investigations were a logical
netostriction element to drive the part of its research work, and Mr.
mechanical repeater.
But his most Jones and his group were made a part
important early contribution was the of the Research Department. Some
idea of making accurate quantitative years later Mr. Jones carried his remeasurements of the mechanical char- search point of view into the developacteristics of vibrating apparatus— ment of a new department, that of
such quantities as amplitudes at Inspection Engineering.

{ 206}

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YEO YE YE YE YL
Earty

DEVELOPMENTS

IN [TELEPHONE

ALS,

SIGNALLING

ATURALLY, the apparatus for
N transmitting speech-currents
and for reproducing the speech are the
most vital parts of the complete telephone. Yet there are many indis-

guidance of the operator and enable
the modern telephone plant to function smoothly and efficiently.
It is a universal practice to attract
the attention of a subscriber by means
of an electric bell. Although the elecpensable accessories to the telephone,
of which one of the most important is tric bell antedates by many years the
the intricate but highly efficient sys- telephone, various methods of signalling were employed before the bell was
tem of signalling.
The simplest telephone system is associated with the telephone circuit.
formed by joining two telephones perEarty SIGNALLING METHODS
manently through a single line consisting of a pair of wires. The next
The first outdoor telephone line
step is a line connecting more than was between the office of Charles
two telephones. In neither of these Williams at 109 Court Street, Boston,
forms is the question of signalling a and his home at Somerville. When
very great problem. But the modern
Mr. Williams wished to call his home
conception of the telephone plant, the he thumped with the butt of a lead
ultimate aim of which is universal pencil the diaphragm of the instruservice, is that every line shall connect ment which served both as transwith some intermediate agency where mitter and receiver. If there was
it can be connected at will with any someone close to the telephone at the
other line. Were there no means other end, and if the room was quiet,
whereby the individual initiating a the tapping noise could be heard.
call could attract the attention of the However, it was unreliable at best and
person at the other end of the line the the repeated tapping injured the diatelephone would be of but little use in phragm and rendered it useless in a
any form, nor would a modern ex- short time.
change be possible could not the caller
The first commercial telephone user
attract the attention of the inter- was Russel C. Downer of Somerville,
mediate agents who make the neces- Massachusetts. In May, 1877, sersary connections and so complete the vice was established between his
calls. Therefore the matter of signal- Somerville home and the banking
ling is one of prime importance.
office of Stone and Downer, Boston.
Electrical signalling used in con- Mr. Downer leased two telephones
nection with telephony may be broad- and connected them with an existing
ly divided into two classes. The first private wire telegraph line.
includes all the methods whereby the
For signalling purposes the telecentral office operator attracts the at- phones on this line were equipped with
tention of the subscriber; the other the then late development known as
embraces all those signals which are Watson’s “Thumper.” In this device
used for the information and the a small hammer was mounted within

{ 207 }

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ef

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Watson’s “Thumper”
Number 22 of first series manufactured.
The small hammer strikes rear edge of
diaphragm when button is pressed

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the telephone in such a manner that
pushing a button in the front of the
box would cause the hammer to thump
the edge of the diaphragm. The only
advantage that this system had over
the pencil method was avoiding injury
to the diaphragm.
There followed a period of experimentation, with many attempts to
devise a telephone instrument capable
of transmitting speech with sufficient
loudness that a loud “‘ahoy” or “‘hello”’
at the transmitter would attract the
attention of the person at the other
end of the line. All of these attempts
were failures, fortunately, -as_ the
privacy with which telephone con-

versations may be conducted is one

of the most desirable and useful
features of the modern plant.
All of these methods were obviously
transitory. Although they made pos-

sible a limited use of the early private
lines, they were impracticable for use
with a switchboard. So, with the advent of switchboards, it became cus-

tomary to call by electric bells operated by batteries. A switch was provided in the circuit so that the bell
could be cut out of the line when
talking. This was a great improvement, but it was not satisfactory because of the limited length of line over
which batteries of a reasonable voltage could operate the bells. Furthermore, the batteries and bells needed

constant attention and the cost of
upkeep was prohibitive.
In 1878 Thomas A. Watson devised
a calling system which became known
as Watson’s “Buzzer.” It was a development from one of Dr. Bell’s early
harmonic telegraph experiments and
utilized a vibrating reed and an induc-

{ 208}

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tion coil. When

the reed, or spring,

was twanged it caused

a make

and

break contact in the primary circuit
of the coil.

Then, as the secondary

was connected to the line, a rasping

noise was produced in the receiver of
the called station.

This system pro-

vided enough current to operate over
moderately long lines.
Although it was more satisfactory
than any previous method the buzzer
was short-lived. It was succeeded the
same year by the “magneto bell,” so
called from the machine which generated its electric power. A popular toy
of that day was the “shocking machine,” a hand-driven generator with
permanent magnets, hence called a
magneto. The ringer consisted of two
coils and a polarizing magnet with an
armature pivoted at its middle. Practically, the ringer is a small synchronous motor which makes one
complete vibration for each cycle of
alternating current from the magneto.
This form of ringer permits the use of
alternating current and avoids the
troubles which occur in an ordinary

electric bell where moving contact
points must make and break the
current for every blow of the clapper.
With the expansion of the telephone
business it became desirable to have
more than one subscriber on a line.

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Watson's Hand Generator
Used with polarized ringer

So party lines were adopted and the
ringer for each subscriber was connected in series with the line. This
arrangement materially decreased the
transmission efficiency of the telephone circuit because all the ringer
coils offered paths through which the
speech current passed to reach a distant telephone receiver.
In 1890, J. J. Carty invented the
bridging bell. There was provided «
ringer the coils of which offered a high
impedance to the talking current.
When this ringer was bridged across
the two wires of the line the transmission currents were little affected
and yet the signalling currents could
operate the bells effectively.
SUBSCRIBER’S SIGNALS

Watson’s Polarized Ringer

Used

in conjunction

with

Watson’s

generator; the forerunner of modern
ringing apparatus

hand

The development of the magneto
generator with its associated ringer
brings telephone signalling down to
the present era, for this method of
signalling is still used in rural systems.
Since telephones of the type with

{ 209}

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which the magneto generator is asso-

Two-Party SELECTIVE System

ciated employ local batteries for furnishing the transmitter with current,

This is one of the most widely used
methods of selective signalling. Its

they are generally designated
“magneto telephones” to
distinguish them from
‘‘central battery telephones,” which have no
local battery and no magneto generator.
The magneto telephone
is more generally found in
rural districts, where party
lines are universally used.
Such lines may have from
two to twelve or more sta-

fundamental idea is the fact that
three circuits may be ob-

tions.

as

tained from the two wires

of one metallic circuit by
the use of the ground as a
third conductor. The bell
of one station, in series
with a condenser, is con-

nected between ground
and one wire of the pair
leading to the subscriber’s
set. The bell of the other
station is connected similarly with the other side of

Each station is, in

the line. Thus, each wire

effect, a complete plant
with its own battery for a
power source and its own
signalling apparatus in the

is used with ground to
form a circuit for ringing,
while the two wires together constitute a metallic circuit for talking. The
central-office operator has
two keys each of which
grounds one side of the
line and applies alternating current to the other
side to ring the bell connected thereto.
This method may be
expanded into a_ semiselective system if it is
desired to apply it to a
four-party line. In that

form of a magneto generator. When a subscriber

or an operator rings onsuch
a line all of the bells respond. Such a system is

\

“non-selective” and signal-

ling must be by code.
Each station has its individual signal formed by a
combination of long and
short rings. This method
has several disadvantages.
It may annoy subscribers
and ‘lessen privacy by
giving

general

notice

Law Subset—
Long Type

of conversa-

case,

there

are

two

bells on

each

tions. There are also limits to the
number of stations on a line because
of the small current generated by a
magneto.
In order to overcome these disad-

side of the line. Both bells on a side
respond to the ringing current on that
circuit and the subscribers are distinguished by code, one ring for one
and two rings for the other.

vantages and limitations, there have

been evolved several systems, each

THE PoLarity SYSTEM

aptly named by a word picture of the
fundamental idea of the method involved.
They are the two-party

The polarity method depends for
its operation on the use of bells which
will respond to a current in one direction only. The idea of selective signalling by changing the polarity—thatis,

selective, the polarity, the harmonic,

and the step-by-step system.

{ 210}

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the direction of a current—was well
known in telegraphy before the birth
of the art of telephony.

The desired

result is obtained by “biasing” the
armature of the bell, which means

holding the armature at one end of
its stroke by a spring in such a manner that it can only respond to current

impulses tending to move
direction.

it in one

A “polarized” current is one obtained by superposing a battery in
series with an alternator.

a current

flows

through

When such

a biased

ringer, its direct current component
may aid the biasing spring, in which

case the alternating component will
not be able to overcome the resulting
force on the armature and the bell will
not ring. Ifthe direct current flows
in the opposite direction, it will
oppose and in effect cancel the biasing
action of the spring, and the alternating component will be free to move
the armature and ring the bell. In
practical use, one terminal of the
alternator is grounded, and the other

is connected to the negative pole of
one battery and the positive pole of
another battery. The other battery
terminals are connected to the appropriate ringing keys to give positively

and negatively polarized currents respectively.
This system in combination with
the two-party method just described
forms a widely-used four-party selective system.
In this scheme two
biased bells are connected between
each of the line wires and ground.

with a current properly polarized.
In common battery telephones a
condenser must be connected in series
with each bell so as to block the flow
of direct current from thecentral-office
battery through the line relay; otherwise a steady signal would be given
to the operator. When polarized current is applied to such a circuit the
direct-current component is blocked
by the condenser, and the alternating
component is then free to operate both
bells. One method used to overcome
this difficulty was to connect across
the condenser a resistance which would
pass enough current to aid or oppose

system, the proper one of which serves

to connect the desired side of the line

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the biasing spring, but not enough to

operate the central-office relay and
signal the operator.
In present standard practice this
resistance is eliminated in an ingenious
way. A special alternating-current
relay is provided in each set bridged
across the line in series with the condenser.
With the application of
polarized currents to the line for calling any of the parties, alternating current flows through all four relays and
in operating they connect the respective bells directly between both
sides of the line and ground.

4

The

polarized current then operates the
bells selectively as described above.
Inasmuch

as with this arrangement

the bells are only connected to the
line during the ringing period they do

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not interfere with the signals to the
operator.
Harmonic SystTEMs

On

each side of the line one bell is rung by
positively polarized current and the
other by negatively polarized current.
The two bells on the other wire are
operated in similar fashion.
Four
ringing keys are necessary with this

A

Harmonic systems utilize the fact
that a pendulum or an elastic reed so
suspended as to be able to vibrate
freely will have one particular rate of
vibration. In this method of signalling
a different type of ringer is employed.
The armature and striker of the bell
are mounted on a rather stiff spring so

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{211}

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that the moving parts constitute, in
effect, a reed tongue possessing a
natural period of vibration. Therefore, it may be easily vibrated by impulses of the same frequency as its
natural rate of vibration while those
of different frequency will not disturb
it sufficiently to strike the gongs.
Ordinarily harmonic systems are
limited to four stations on a line and
the frequencies usually employed are

ator presses once the so-called “calling
key” which sends out a large current.
This single impulse of large current

thus operates both types of magnets,
by one releasing all the lock arms on
the line and by the other moving the
wheel forward one step at each station.

After this another key is depressed.

This throws on the line a series of
weak impulses the number of which is
predetermined to correspond to the

1624, 3334, 50, and 66% cycles per

setting at the station of the desired

second. These frequencies correspond
to 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 cycles
per minute.

subscriber. At all the stations the
contact arms move gradually. When
the required number of impulses have

StEp-By-STEP

been sent, the ratchet

SySTEMS

In the step-by-step method the
bells are not connected to the line
normally but, preliminary to ringing,
any bell may be made responsive by
sending a certain number of impulses
over the line. Although several methods of step-by-step signalling have
been successfully reduced to practice
they are used very little in ordinary
central-office telephony. The principles are applied, however, in train
dispatching and radio telephony, and
in the stock exchange ticker and other
applications of telegraphy.
A typical step-by-step system illustrates the underlying principles. At
each subscriber’s station there are in
series two electromagnets of high and
of low resistance respectively, the
tormer operating on a much smaller
current than the latter. The high resistance magnet operates a ratchet
wheel which carries a contact arm and
a stop arm and the low resistance
magnet controls another contact arm
and a separate arm which locks the
ratchet wheel when the desired contact is made. These contacts are adjustable and each station has a different setting.
7
When signalling a station the oper-

wheels

have

turned, but only at the called station
are two contacts opposite each other.
The operator then depresses again
the calling key, sending out a strong
impulse which operates the other
magnet and closes the contacts of the
bell circuit.
LimitTiInc Facrors

While selective signalling places
limits on the number of telephones
that may be served by one line, this
limit is usually greater than that imposed by traffic conditions. Rural
lines are often built and maintained
by their users, and in order to reduce
the expense they put a rather large
number of telephones on each line.
Although this means that they may
have to wait until others have finished
talking, they are not often seriously
inconvenienced by the delay. Further,
the cheery tinkle of the bell breaks
the monotony of the long days and
suggests to subscribers an opportunity for neighborly gossip. Since
few calls for such lines originate outside the local central office, the cost of
handling calls which receive a “busy”

signal is small.
In suburban and small city areas,
on the other hand, the parties per

{ 212}

4\

circuit, each applying ringing current
to its side of the line; or by using the
so-called “jack per station” switchboard. In the multiple of this board
there are two jacks for each party line
and the talking wires are interchanged
when they are cross-connected at the
main distributing frame. Hence applying ringing current to the “tip”
conductor of the cord circuit will apply
it to one or the other line wires according to which of the two jacks is
plugged into. This system simplifies
the ringing circuit and will effect an
overall saving in areas where only a
few party lines are served. It also
gives no indication of the class of
service.
For four-party selective ringing
four keys are usually provided for
each cord circuit. A simple mechanism locks down the last key to be
pressed, as an indication to the
operator.

Section of a key shelf of 1880

line are

limited

to

four.

Where

the calling rate is still higher, as for

example business telephones, no more
than two parties are connected to a
line, and most of these telephones are
served by individual lines.
Rincinc EQuIPMENT ON THE
Kry SHELF

Associated with every cord circuit
there must be some means for starting
and stopping the ringing current. In
the simplest case this is merely a pushbutton key which disconnects the line
from the rest of the circuits and connects it to the ringing generator. In
magneto and toll boards a ringing
key is associated with each cord of
the pair; in most other boards, only
with the calling cord. T'wo-party
selective ringing may be given in two
ways: by two ringing keys in the cord

Where ringing is controlled

only by the operator the last key to be
pressed locks half-way down as an indication to the operator to relieve her
memory, in case a re-ring is necessary.
All the later “B” boards and some
““A” boards have “‘machine”’ ringing
in which the operator merely sets upa
relay circuit. When most of the lines
are individual, the B-operator glances
at the keys to be sure that “party W”
is depressed, and plugs into the line
jack. In the latest type of machineringing boards, a common set of ring-

ne
4
>

A listening and four-party selective ringing key

{213}

=

ing keys controls the ringing on all of
the cord circuits.
In contrast to the signals just dis-

through the primary of a transformer
which delivers a suitably higher voltage to a low-pass filter. In larger

cussed is the so-called “audible ring-

offices,

back.” It was introduced because of
the psychological effect on the calling
subscriber of receiving an indication
that his call was being attended to.
Traffic observations show a large de-

crease in recalls by the subscriber to
ask the operator to “ring them again.”
The most common circuit involves a
small condenser bridged across the
ringing key so as to allow the higher-

frequency harmonics of theringing current to flow to the calling subscriber.
PoweErR For RINGING

In the smallest magneto offices,
ringing current comes from a hand
generator mounted under the keyshelf. Where traffic keeps the operator
busy, she is relieved from turning the
generator crank by the provision of a
pole-changer. This device is a relay
with a heavy armature whose period
is twenty cycles a second. It is kept
vibrating by a number of Edison
primary cells, and auxiliary contacts
on the armature reverse the polarity
of a battery of dry cells. Two polechangers are used in the smallest common-battery offices; they are driven
from the 24-volt battery, and they
reverse current from this battery

one

pole-changer

and

one

motor-generator outfit are used; in
the still larger offices, two or more

motor-generator outfits. These consist of a motor driving a double current
generator. From a commutator at
one end of the armature comes direct

current to excite the field and when
desired to operate the coin mechanism
in public telephones; from a pair of
slip rings at the other end comes
twenty-cycle alternating current—
usually at eighty volts—for ringing.
Another commutator interrupts current from the central-office battery to
give the “trouble” and “busy” tones.
A slow-speed shaft driven by a worm
and gear from the main shaft carries
a number of commutators to control
currents for intermittent ringing,
“busy flash,” and other signals.
To guard against failure of the
public service power by which these
machines are driven, one ringing machine is always equipped with a motor
which can be run from the centraloffice battery. In some of the largest
offices, both motors are built into the

machine. Then if the outside power
fails, a relay at once throws the other
motor onto the central-office battery
and the machine never stops.

All who are interested in the trend of modern atomic theory will
welcome the announcement that the Nobel prize for physics for
1924 has been awarded to Prof. Manne Siegbahn of Upsala. His
most notable researches, and those for which the award has been
made, have been in X-ray spectroscopy. Since Moseley’s first
measurements, the technique has been improved to such an extent
that it is now possible to measure wave-lengths in this region of the
spectrum to six significant figures. This advance is due, almost
entirely, to the work of Prof. Siegbahn. In addition to these high
precision measurements, he has made an exhaustive study of the
soft radiations which lie between the ultra-violet and the ordinary
X-ray region. From “Nature,” November 21, 1925

{214}

Our
HE

Transmission

CaANnaDIAN
Engineer

CorRESPONDENCE

of

the Northern Electric has many
friends in the Laboratories and they
will be interested in the following
letter written by him to Burton W.
Kendall. In this letter Mr. Vennes
refers to the statement on page 152
of the November RECORD that “The
Australians compliment themselves
upon the fact that, with the exception
of the United States, Australia is the

only country in the world operating
long-distance telephone traffic on the
carrier-wave principle.” The Sidney
“Daily Guardian,” for example, said
in its issue for September roth:
“With the exception of the United
States, Australia will be the only
country in the world operating long-

distance telephone traffic on this
system.”
Actually, the carrier-current systems developed for the Bell System
have been made available to other
countries through the International
Western Electric Company.
The
Australian installation is not the only
installation of this Western Electric
equipment for there are installations
in Canada and Brazil. The Aus-

“Dear Kendall:

I have read with great interest the articles
in the December issue of the Record, dealing
with carrier-current systems.
I was particularly interested in noting how successfully
the Australian project “went across” and
more so on account of my early connection
with that job. Mr. Jammer is certainly to be
congratulated on the successful way in which
he has made the carrier “talk for itself.”
There is one point, however, on which I must
comment, and if only the Editor of the Sydney
“Daily Guardian” were not so far away I
might be able to vent my feelings in the
proper direction. Does Australia forget that
she has a sister country by the name of Canada
and that carrier-current telephones have been
in successful operation in that country for over
four years? or is Canada considered to be a
part of the United States as far as Australia is
concerned? I feel sure our Alberta friends
would beat it across the Pacific with sixshooters if they were shown the “Guardian”
article.

Mr.

Vennes refers, being intended to
show the attitude of the Australians
toward their new equipment, was
made up of direct and _ indirect
quotations from their newspapers;
and hence no criticism of their comments entered the article.
Mr. Vennes writes:

Your article on “Carrier-Current Telephone
Systems” is very interesting, and I note with
much pleasure the honorable mention you have
given me. Memories of Maumee come to me
quite often, and even Baltimore leaves no uncertain recollection of pleasant work. Even
the memorable Sunday morning on which the
System was to be cut into service can be looked
back on with fond recollections.

newspapers

were

laboring

under a misapprehension
comments.
The article

in their
in the

RECORD,

however,

to which

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How about our friend Mills who burnt
midnight oil in writing up operating instructions for the Edmonton-Calgary System? He
should have challenged the statement of the
“Guardian.” How about your good self who
knows very well that the Edmonton-Calgary
System has band filters?
In writing this I am trusting that you will
have checked your razor with the doorman
when I see you next time—but I simply had to
get this off my chest. I feel better already. I
have heard several cutting remarks from some
of our people here and hence the reaction.
Only dead balls refuse to bounce.

tralian

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In

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Montu’s

News

Durinc the recent conference of
building and equipment engineers
held by the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company, about forty-five
of the visiting engineers, at the invita-

Speech” and “Through the Switch-

tion of Amos F. Dixon, made an in-

Scientific Fraternity on “Putting a

spection trip through the Laboratories. The visitors, who represented
the American T elephone, Western
Electric, and associated telephone
companies, were divided into small
groups and guided through the various

laboratories by supervisors of our Systems Development Department.
Harvey FLercHer spoke to the
students and faculty of the Cornell
University School of Electrical Engineering on ““The Physical Nature of

Speech,” and to the Ithaca Section of
the A.I.E.E.
“ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION OF
SPEECH,” a motion picture film, was

presented by the Laboratories at the
December 9 meeting of the New York

board.”
Joun

J.

delivered

an

address before the New York Alumni
Chapter of Gamma Alpha Graduate

Kick into Submarine Cables.”
Francis

F.

Lucas

described

to

students of the Harvard Engineering
School the technique of high power
photo-micrography of metals, and discussed

the structure

of steel under

very high magnification.

NationaL ACADEMY ofSciences
and the National Research Council of
the United States have announced the

forthcoming publication of International Critical Tables of Numerical

Data of Physics,
Technology.
The

material

Chemistry

and

for the Tables has

been collected and critically evaluated
by some 300 cooperating experts, including chemists, physicists, and en-

Electrical Society. The meeting was
given over to a discussion and demon-

gineers of the United States and many

stration of the use of motion pictures
as a pictorial record of the progress of
science and industry.
Kart K. Darrow recently spoke
before the physics’ colloquium of
Harvard University on researches in
thermionics, photoelectricity, and the
scattering of electrons by atoms.
Lecrures BEFORE the student body
of Lehigh and before upper-class

tributors is Harvey Fletcher of Bell
Telephone Laboratories.
His con-

engineering

students.

at

Lafayette

were given on November 12 by John
Mills, speaking on the “Choice of
an Engineering Career.” At Lafayette
there was also a showing of the films
“The Electrical Transmission of

foreign countries.

Among

the con-

tribution was numerical constants of

speech and hearing. The material
which he furnished is essentially that
contained in his article “Useful Numerical Constants of Speech and

Hearing”? which was published in
Bell System Technical ‘Fournal, Vol.
IV, No. 3, of July, 1925.

Mr. Jewett

and Mr. Craft were trustees for the
publication of these tables.
SERGIUS P. Grace delivered an
address on “Research in the Bell

Telephone Laboratories”

before the

Rochester Section of the A.I.E.E.

{ 216}

il

IE YE

EYE

I Give

YE PE PES

BEQUEATH
|

Ya to all my worldly goods, now
or to be in store,

I give them to my beloved wife, and
hers evermore.

I give all freely; I no limit fix;
This is my will, and she’s executrix.”

Such was the unique last will and
testament said to have been drawn
by one Smithers, a London

lawyer,

in which he made provision for
the disposition of his property upon
his death. In the past many means
have been used for the disposition
of property by will and many odd
ways

have

been

devised;

but,

as

the making of a will is now generally
governed by statutory requirements,
the odd and novel method is not
usually a safe one to employ.
Many years ago the matter of making a will was considered an omen of
approaching death, but this superstition no longer prevails. The prudent man or woman looks upon the
making of a will as similar to any
other business transaction except that
in the case of a will it does not become
effective until the death of thetestator.
Everyone admits the necessity of
making provision for his or her dependents, but many, while they have good

intentions in regard to the making of a
will, for one reason or another put the
task off too long. Failure to make a
will results in the distribution of
property in accordance with the laws
of the state; and the law will, in such
cases, make a will for the person who
fails to make one for himself or herself.

The results in cases of this character
are that the distribution of the property at death is not made in the
manner or proportion which always
works for the best interests or needs of
those dependent.
For example, suppose a man in New
York died without a will and left
an estate of $10,000.00.
If he left
surviving him a wife and one minor
child, the estate would be divided,
one-third to the wife and two-thirds

to the minor child. It would be necessary to apply for letters of administration of the estate, for the administrator
to file a bond covering the faithful

performance

of his duties as such

administrator, and to arrange for the

appointment of a guardian who would
be in charge, during the infancy of the

minor, of the person and of the estate
of the minor. All these proceedings
would involve expense much of which
would have been avoided if a will had
been made and provision inserted for
the payment of the legacies in the
proportion desired, for the waiving of
the bond of the executor, and for the

nominating of a relative or friend who
would act without expense as guardian
of the minor.
The administration of an estate disposed of by will is through an executor,
or an executrix if a woman handles the
estate. The estate and the person so
charged with this responsibility are
under the jurisdiction of the Surrogate or Probate

Court, to whom

accountings covering the management
of the estate must be made from time
to time. In many states at least one

{217}

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The preparation of a will, like an

year must elapse before an estate can
be finally settled.
The general legal requirements to
be considered in the preparation of a
will are:

other business document,

should be

accomplished only after careful consideration and after competent advice
is obtained.
are

desirable

The services of a lawyer
not

only so

that the

body of the will may properly reflect

1. The person must be competent to make
a wiil.

the testator’s intentions as to the.dis-

2. It must be in writing, signed, sealed, and position of his property but also for
the purpose of ascertaining that the
attested before at least two witnesses
who must not be legatees.
statutory requirements are adhered to
with respect to the execution of the
3. An executor or executrix must be
will.
appointed.

|
On

THE

Roap

DurRING

N the September issue of the
RECORD there was described in
“Our Far-Flung Outposts’? some of
the work carried on outside of New
York by members of the Laboratories
who have more or less permanent
assignments in the field. In-addition to

these “outposts”? many occasions arise
when our engineers make trips of
short duration on special assignments
or in connection with their usual
duties.
These short absences from West
Street are usually one or another of
four kinds. In the first place they
occur in the co-operation of our
engineers with those of the American

Telephone and Telegraph Company
in the field trials of recently designed
equipment. In the second place and
with more frequency they arise from
the need of co-operation and conference with the engineers at Haw-

thorne in connection with equipment
which the Western Electric is to manufacture. A considerable number occur
as part of the engineering services
which were mentioned in ‘Who Pays

NoOvEMBER

Our Salaries” (RECORD, Vol. I, No.

2) as performed by the Laboratories
for the Western Electric Company.
These include all absences for the
engineering and installation of public
address systems, radio broadcasting
stations and power line carrier. Jn addition another group of absences from
New York are occasioned by attendance at meetings of professional and
scientific societies and by the acceptance of invitations to speak on technical subjects before technical societies
and university audiences.
As an example of the range and

variety of these outside contacts of
members of the Laboratories the
RECORD presents a brief statement
as to the travels and business of some
of the men who were on the road during the single month of November.

From the Apparatus Development
Department L. W. Conrow was in
Chicago, Milwaukee, Champaign, and

Des Moines, making surveys for prospective public address system installations. He was also in St. Louis completing work on a public address

{ 218}

|

system for the Hotel Coronado, where
T. L. Dowey assisted in the final tests.
R. E. Kuebler in Philadelphia demonstrated to Mr. Shibe, at the Shibe

Ball Park, the application of the No. 1

Public Address System for announc-

ing athletic events. KF. M. Ryan is
in Hawaii in connection with a radio
survey

|

to check

the feasibility

of

connecting the telephone systems on
the various islands by means of radio
toll circuits,

and

to determine

the

‘ general requirements to be met by the
radio transmitting and receiving apparatus which would be required.
P. H. Evans made a three weeks’
tour of inspection of some of the broad|
casting stations using Western Electric
equipment. The stations visited were
WWJ (c KW), WCX-WJR (5 KW),
Detroit; WENR (1 KW), WQJ (500
watts), WLS (5KW), Chicago;WCBD

(5; KW) Zion; WCCO
neapolis; WOC

(5 KW) Min-

(5 KW)

Davenport

and WSAI (5 KW) Cincinnati. On the
Pacific Coast
D.H. Newman was super-

|

vising

installation

of

broadcasting

equipment (500 watts) for Nichols and
Warinner, Long Beach; Pasadena
Star News (1KW), Pasadena; and the

First Avenue Baptist Church (500
watts), San Jose.
W.L. Tierney and J. C. Herber in
Chicago supervised the installation of
1 KW broadcasting equipment for the
Chicago Daily News. This equipment
replaces the 500 watt equipment
installed in September, 1922. Mr.
Herber later made surveys for proposed installations at the Universities
of Illinois and Notre Dame.
P. A. Anderson returned from Jacksonville, Florida, where he supervised the installation of a 1K W broadcasting equipment for that city. J.
C. Crowley supervised the completion

of 1 KW broadcasting equipments for
Larus Brothers, Richmond, Virginia,

and M. M. Johnson and Company,
Clay Center, Nebraska. C. Flannagan
in Baltimore supervised a 5 KW installation for the Consolidated Gas,

Electric Light and Power Company.
J. S. Ward expects to complete the
installation of the 5 KW equipments
for Sears, Roebuck and Company,
Chicago, and the Bankers Life Com-

|

pany, Des Moines, and to get back to

New York before Christmas.
L. B. Cooke installed a power-line
carrier system on the lines of the
Northern States Power Company between Minneapolis and Eau Claire.
W. V. Wolfe was investigating carrier
transmission characteristics on powerlines between Toccon and Stevens
Creek, Georgia.

R. D. Gibson

and

J. B. Irwin were installing power-line
carrier telephone equipment for the
Augusta-Aiken Railway and Electric
Company, Georgia. D. C. McGalliard
was similarly engaged for the Alabama
Power Company between Magella
and Sheffield, Alabama.
W. T. Booth, H. H. Glenn, E. B.
Wheeler, F. F. Lucas, H. N. Van
Deusen, J. T. Butterfield, J. R. Townsend, W. Fondiller, R. E. Schumacher,
J. E. Harris, R. L. Burns, C. D.
Hocker, W. C. Redding, and C. H.

Matthewson were at Hawthorne discussing questions of apparatus design.
R. H. Hart, R. M. Moody and W. C.
Miller attended service conferences on
various types of apparatus.
C. R. Steiner has been in Hawthorne studying the manufacture of
step-by-step central office apparatus.
H. A. Anderson attended a meeting .

in Cleveland of the American Society
for Testing Materials.

Together with

H. T. Martin and H. N. Van Deusen
he visited Camden, New Jersey, to
discuss improved designs for parts
of the Victor talking machine.
H. C. Harrison spent several days

{ 219}
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at Camden in the laboratories of the

are in England

Victor Talking

Company.

national Standard Electric Company

A. B. Sperry, also of the Systems
Development Department, has been
at Hawthorne in connection with the
manufacture of step-by-step machine
switching equipment. J. A. Mahoney
and T. C. Campbell of the Equipment
Development group are spending
three months at Hawthorne on a
special training program planned to
acquaint them with manufacturing
methods and the work of the Switch-

by supervising the installation and
final test of the Rugby Transatlantic

board Planning Division.

with patent matters.

W. C. Jones of the Research Department has been in Boston. R. R.
Williams went to Huntington, West
Virginia, for a meeting of the Club

Scranton with Mr. Lysons of the
Northern Electric Company and Mr.

Machine

Radio Station
Office.

assisting the Inter-

of the British Post

Several other research men, includ-

ing W. A. Knoop, W. S. Gorton, W.
Orvis, J. F. Wentz have been working

in England on permalloy-loaded cables with G. A. Anderegg.

From the Patent Department, E.
W. Adams is in London in connection
W. H. Matthies

made a trip to

Brockwell of the staff of the Com-

missioner of Telephones of Manitoba.
The trip was made in order that Mr.
Brockwell might see the working of
Engineers at Cincinnati.
the 200 point line finder in the ScranJ. A. Becker presented a paper to ton trial. The Manitoba Administrathe American Physical Society at its’ tion is considering equipment using

of Industrial Research Directors and

also attended the annual meeting of
the American Institute of Chemical

Chicago

meeting,

which

was

also

attended by K. K. Darrow.
Radio tests took G. Thurston, F. A.
Hubbard, F. B. Llewellyn, S. Wright,
E. G. Ports, G. Thurston, E. Bruce,

similar apparatus

and Mr. Brockwell

desired to familiarize himself with its
characteristics.
Many members of the Inspection
Engineering Department

are located

R. A. Heising, J. G. Chaffee, J. F.
Farrington, J. C. Schelling, F. R.
Lack, and E. Kraut to various parts
of the country.

outside of the city in the regular

P.B. Flanders has been assisting the

December first W. K. St. Clair, for-

Victor Company of England in applying the latest improvements in the
phonograph art to their product; and
T. C. Kinsley is assisting him.
A. A. Oswald and H. R. Knettles

course of their business. Two changes
in location which were in the nature

of promotions
merly Local

occurred

when

on

Engineer of the New

York district, became Local Engineer

of the Philadelphia district, and J. A.
St. Clair was appointed Local Engineer of the New York district.

{ 220}.

|

WestTERN

Evectric

INcorPoRATES

HE morning papers of December
23, carried the interesting announcement that the electrical supply
business

of

the

Western

Electric

Company had been segregated from
the telephone manufacturing business
and incorporated under the name
“Graybar Electric Company.”

ton, the partnership formed between
Professor Elisha Gray and Enos M.
Barton in 1869 to manufacture electrical equipment. The small shop of
Gray & Barton, which produced telegraph apparatus, call boxes, fire and
burglar alarms, developed into the
Western Electric Company.
It is

of

believed that this is the first instance
where a corporation after such a lapse

President

Western Electric, becomes President;
Frank A. Ketcham, General Manager

of the Supply Department, becomes
Executive Vice-President; George E.
Cullinan, General Sales Manager,
becomes Vice-President in charge of
sales; Leo M. Dunn, General Mer-

chandise Manager, becomes VicePresident in charge of merchandising
and accounting; Elmer W. Shepard,
General Credit Manager of Western
Electric has been made Treasurer; and

N. B. Frame of the legal staff of the
Western Electric Company has been
made secretary of the new company.
The board of the new company includes George E. Cullinan, Albert L.
Salt, Charles G. DuBois, Frank A.
Ketcham, Leo M. Dunn, R. H.

|

DEPARTMENT

Western Electric is Chairman of the
Board of the new company; Albert
L. Salt, formerly Vice-President in
charge of purchases and traffic of

Charles G. DuBois,

|

SupPLY

Gregory, Controller of Western Electric, Howard A. Halligan, Vice-President of Western Electric; George C.
Pratt, General Attorney of Western
Electric, and William P. Sidley, VicePresident and General Counsel of
Western Electric.
The name of the new company is
derived from that of Gray and Bar-

|

of time and a period of such tremend-

ous growth has reverted to its original
designation for a corporate name.
Changes have been made in the
organization of Western Electric necessitated by creation of the new company. Jay B. Odell, Assistant to the
President of Western Electric Company, becomes Vice-President, succeeding Mr. Salt. Mr. Odell will be
in charge of purchases and traffic.
F. L. Gilman, manager of the Kearny
works, becomes Treasurer of Western

Electric, succeeding J. W. Johnston,
who is retiring after thirty years of
service. C. G. Stoll, manager of the
Hawthorne works in Chicago, will be
general manager of manufacturing,
in charge of all manufacturing in addition to his present duties.
R. C. Dodd, assistant manager othe Kearny works, has been appointed works manager at Kearny
under Mr. Stoll.
As a result of these changes, Mr.
Salt, Mr. Johnston and Mr. Ketcham

are replaced as directors of Western
Electric by Mr. Odell, Mr. Stoll and
George C. Pratt, the company’s
general attorney. The changes are
effective January first.

{221}

|

Nores

CLuB

David D. Haggerty, Secretary

CLus

ELECTIONS

MEMBERSHIP

Membership cards are obtainable

As a result of the recent elections

the following candidates

have been

elected to office:
For President

William Wilson

For First Vice-Pres.
For Second Vice-Pres.

Daniel R. McCormack
Marion G. Mason

Apparatus Design
Patent Inspection
Shops

No election for mayor of New York
City was ever harder contested or
better managed than the fights carried
on by the campaign managers for the

i

108 or
Besides

being certificates of membership these
cards are very valuable as a means of
identification
taking

advantage of
any of the
Club’s_priv-

L. B. Eames
G. Heydt
J. Motley

various candidates.

by either calling at room
telephoning extension 542.

when

Departmental Representatives

CArRDs

The popularity

of all the candidates made the election
extremely close, and during the count
of ballots some of the elections were
not decided until all votes were in. A
. total of 3100 ballots was cast.

ileges.
Pins

During the

past few months
the club has enrolled

over

:
Daniel R. McCormack

1,000new members. In David D. Haggerty’s office
there is available a supply of very
attractive club pins. They are of ten
carat gold with blue enamel face, gold

lettering and safety catch; and the
price is $1.65. All members, new and
old, are invited to inspect these pins.
CuHeEss ACTIVITIES

Ve’
“J

;

7

|

William Wilson

If the results of the chess matches
which have been played so far this
season may be taken as any indication, the Potter trophy will have the
West Street Trophy Case as its permanent home.
Again our chess
players are carrying off the honors in
the championship matches of the
Commercial Chess League of New
York City. On November 21, captained by F. A. Voos, the West Street
team met and defeated the repre{222}

|

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December 14, they won three out of

Apparatus Design.
Toll Circuit’s
speedy and wide-awake quintet staged
a sensational rally during the last
few minutes of play and pulled out a
victory over Apparatus Design after
apparently being beaten. The final

four games from the Western Union

score was 23-18.

sentatives of the Henry L. Doherty
Company

four straight games.

On

December 5, they repeated the performance by defeating the McGraw-

Hill Publishing Company 4—o.

On

representatives.

The team will play the Chase
National Bank, New York World,
Guarantee Trust Company, New
York Edison Company, Tidewater
Oil Company, and Brooklyn Edison
Company, in the order mentioned.
The Club’s own tournament for
“A” and “B” class players is now in
progress. [our groups of five men
each are entered in the first Round
Robin contest. From the result of
these matches will be determined the
grouping for the second contest which
will start early in January.
The ladder tournament for class
“C” players is now under way with
thirteen contestants.

Those

who finish at
the top are entitled to compete in the final
Round

Robin

Two games are played every Tues-

The Colvoy Quartette: F.M. Costello, F. von
Schlichten, F. F. Lee, R. P. Yeaton

day and Friday evening, starting at

5:30, at Labor Temple, Fourteenth
Street and Second Avenue.
Club
members are. invited to attend.

tournament
which will be
held to determine who shall

represent West
Street in the
match with Haw-

Miss Marion G. Mason

telegraph
thorne.

chess

Basket

ror MEN

CLUB QUARTETTE
The quartette representing and
made up of members of The Bell
Telephone Laboratories Glee Club is
working on a program of favorite
songs of long ago; songs which,
though old, will always be enjoyed.
The personnel of this quartette, known
as The Colvoy Quartette, is as fol-

8, when

lows: F. F. Lee, First Tenor; R. P.
Yeaton, Second Tenor; F. M. Costello, Baritone; and F. von Schlichten,

President Kendall threw up the ball
which started play in the first league

Bass. This organization has broadcast on numerous occasions through

game.

WOR,

The

basket

ball league

for men

started the 1925-26 season on Tuesday

Evening,

December

The game

was between

the

teams representing Toll Circuit and

WGY

and WEAF,

and the

program of old songs is being pre-

{ 223 }

|

pared to fill a request for this class
of song. At the dance held recently
by The Bell Laboratories’ Club at
the Pennsylvania Hotel the quartette
sang a number of selections and was
received with great enthusiasm.
Basket

BALL

ror

WomMEN

The women of the Club are organized into four basket ball teams which
represent Equipment, Transcription,
Patent, and Research Departments,
respectively. These teams are play-

file entry blanks at once with Mr.
Haggerty or Miss Hence.
Women’s

Each

SwiMMInNG

MEET

On January 20, the club will present
something new—a swimming meet
for women, to be held: at the Carroll
Club, 121 Madison Avenue. It will
include swimming and diving contests

evening

at 6

party in the rest room.
Miss
Murtagh, who is in charge, invites all
the women of the building to take
part. She is glad to plan for a new
player. Players are assessed a small
sum for the prizes.
SEWING

CLASSES

“Women’s Wear’ hints that this
year’s display of feminine apparel
will exceed

in

charm, grace,
and simplicity
of line the
gowns of any
other

WoMEN

Wednesday

Partigs

o’clock our Club women hold a card

ing three series of games: the first on

Thursdays in December, the second
during January, and the third in
February. Games start at 5:30 p.m.
at Friends School, Stuyvesant Square.
It is hoped that Correspondence
Files, winners of last year’s championship, will be ars in the January series.

BripcE

season.

|

The very latest
are being designed and
created by the
girls of the Laboratories under

Ervin

E. Hence

for Club members and a swimming
and diving exhibition by the Volunteer Life Saving Corps of America.

the skillful
guidance of Mlle. Bowman.
We
are told the designs include simple

Although the contests are for the girls

frocks for office wear,

party frocks,

and

for the more

only, members and their guests are
welcome. No entry fee nor admission
charge.

All members, and especially those
who asked tor the meet, are urged to

evening gowns

formal occasion.
studio classes are

Mlle. Bowman's
in session every

Thursday evening and
$4.00 for eight lessons.

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{ 224}

the fee 1s

Bell Laboratories Record 1926-01: Vol 1 Iss 5