Part 15

Why Do Coats Have Buttons On the Sleeves?

The practice of putting buttons on coat sleeves, which serve no useful purpose at all and do not add to the beauty of the coat, is a relic of very old days.

There was a time when people did not use handkerchiefs, and it was common practice for men to wipe their noses on their sleeves. They had coats also in those days, but they did not have buttons on the sleeves. One of the old kings finally developed the idea of dressing his soldiers in fancy uniforms and, as he sat in his palace and reviewed his troops, he noticed many of them using the sleeves of their coats as handkerchiefs. He immediately issued a decree that all sleeves should have a row of buttons sewed on them, but at a point directly opposite to where they are now on the sleeves. This was done to remind the soldiers that the sleeves of their beautiful uniforms were not to be used as handkerchiefs, and those who attempted to draw their sleeves in front of the nose were quickly reminded of the decree by the buttons which scratched them. And so the buttons really had a quite useful purpose at one time, and so also all sleeves had buttons sewed on to them at this place. Later on, however, when the unsightly practice had been cured and people had learned to use handkerchiefs, the buttons remained as a decoration, but their former purpose was lost sight of. Then some tailor or leader of fashion had the buttons set on the under side of the sleeves for a change, and it became the fashion to have them there, and the tailors have been sewing them there ever since.

Why Has a Long Coat Buttons on the Back?

The buttons on the back of a long coat, i. e., one with skirts, had a more sensible reason originally. At one time the skirts of such coats were made very long, and when the wearer moved quickly the tails of the coat flapped about the legs and interfered with progress. So an ingenious gentleman had buttons sewed on to the back and buttonholes made in the corner of his coat-tails. Then when he was in a hurry he simply buttoned up his skirts and went his way comfortably.

Showing in outline the apparatus necessary to complete the simplest kind of a telephone call--to a number in the same exchange]

The Story in the Telephone

~WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE TELEPHONE~

Mrs. Smith, at “Subscriber’s Station No. 1,” desires to telephone to Mrs. Jones at “Subscriber’s Station No. 2.” When she lifts her receiver, the movement causes a tiny white light to appear instantly on the switchboard at the Central Office. Directly beneath this light is another and larger lamp, which glows in a way to attract the operator’s attention immediately.

The operator inserts a “plug” in a little hole on the switchboard called a “jack,” directly above the tiny light which appeared when Mrs. Smith lifted the receiver. This connects her to Mrs. Smith’s line. Then she pushes a listening key on the board, connecting her telephone set to the line. “Number, please?” she calls.

Mrs. Smith gives the number; the operator repeats it to be sure there is no mistake, places another “plug” in a “jack” corresponding to the number of Mrs. Jones’ telephone and makes the connection.

Each subscriber’s telephone has a particular signal on the switchboard to which it is connected by a pair of wires. Mrs. Smith’s wires run from her instrument to the nearest “cable terminal,” a gathering point for the wires of various telephones in her neighborhood. Here they form part of a group of wires going to the Central Office. These groups, called cables, are made up of from 50 to 600 pairs of wires, according to the telephone needs of the district the “terminal” serves.

When the wires reach the Central Office they pass through the “cable vault” to the “main distributing frame,” which is the Central Office terminal of the cable.

When the wires come to this frame they are in numbered order in the cable. Subscribers living next door to Mrs. Smith may have entirely different call numbers and yet use consecutive wires. It is the task of the main frame to redistribute these wires, so that they will be arranged according to their call numbers and to make it possible to connect Mrs. Smith’s line with the line of any other subscriber with the least possible delay. This frame has two parts: the “vertical side” and the “horizontal side.” Before the wires are redistributed they are taken to pairs of springs equipped with devices for protecting the lines against outside currents.

After leaving the main frame they are taken to the “intermediate distributing frame,” the central connecting point for various branches of the lines going to the switchboard, signaling and other apparatus. From the “horizontal side” of this frame, wires go to the switchboard, where they terminate in little holes known as “multiple jacks.” They also connect with the line and position message registers, where the calls from each Line and the calls handled at each operator’s position at the switchboard are recorded. The “multiple jacks” are additional terminals placed at necessary intervals throughout the switchboard, where they can be used by operators to make connections with any other line on the board.

From the “vertical side” of the intermediate frame Mrs. Smith’s wires reach the “line and cut-off relay,” an electrically controlled switch which turns on the light signal that appears on the switchboard when she lifts the receiver from the hook. This “line relay” also extinguishes the light when the operator makes the connection, or when Mrs. Smith returns the receiver to the hook.

The swift moving electric current that was set in motion when Mrs. Smith began the call, instantaneously passes through all these devices for safeguarding and protecting the subscriber’s telephone service. The light announcing Mrs. Smith’s desire to make a call is called the “line lamp,” and is flashing on the switchboard. Directly beneath it is the “pilot lamp,” which glows whenever any “line lamp” lights. With the “line lamp” is a “jack” or terminal, where connection can be made with Mrs. Smith’s line. This is the “answering jack.”

When the operator sees the flashing signal of Mrs. Smith’s “line lamp,” she inserts one end of a pair of “connecting cords,” which are on the board before her, in the “answering jack” for Mrs. Smith’s line. These “connecting cords” are flexible conductors that put the wires of subscribers in electrical connection. Then she pushes forward the “operator’s key” directly in front of her and is connected with Mrs. Smith’s line.

The operator ascertains the number wanted and places the other “connecting cord” in the “jack” corresponding to Mrs. Jones’ line. If she finds she cannot herself connect with Mrs. Jones’ “jack,” because it is on another part of the board out of her reach, she makes a connection with another operator who can reach Mrs. Jones’ line. The second operator then makes the connection with Mrs. Jones’ “multiple jack” and places her line in connection with Mrs. Smith’s line at the first operator’s position. At the same time the first operator pushes the operator’s key back, thus ringing Mrs. Jones’ bell.

“Supervisory lamps” on the board before her, connected with the “connecting cords,” tell the operator when Mrs. Jones answers the summons. They flash when the connection is made and one goes out just as soon as Mrs. Jones takes the receiver from the hook to answer. If one of these lamps flashes and dies out alternately it tells the operator that either Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Jones is trying to attract her attention and she connects herself and ascertains the party’s wishes. When both subscribers “hang up,” both lights flash to indicate the end of the conversation. The operator then disconnects the cords from the subscribers’ “jacks” and presses the “message register” button recording the call against Mrs. Smith.

The subscriber, after looking up in the directory the desired number, takes the telephone off the hook, which causes a tiny electric light to glow in front of the operator assigned to answer his calls. (In some exchanges equipped with a magneto system, a drop is released by the turning of a crank.)]

A MULTIPLE SWITCHBOARD]

On the top floor of this building, in 1875, Prof. Bell carried on his experiments and first succeeded in transmitting speech by electricity]

How the Telephone Came to Be.

It is hard to realize that there was once a time, not so very many years ago, when the telephone was regarded as a scientific toy and hardly anyone could be found willing to invest any money in the development of the telephone business.

The story of Professor Alexander Graham Bell’s wonderful invention is full of romantic interest and the early days of its exploitation were replete with dramatic incidents.

~THE MEN WHO MADE THE TELEPHONE~

Young Bell had come to America in 1870 in search of health, the family settling at Brantford, Canada. He numbered among his forebears many distinguished professional men. For three generations the Bells had taught the laws of speech in the universities of Edinburgh, Dublin and London. He himself was an accomplished elocutionist and an expert in vocal physiology.