Besides the calls for numbers within the cities there are the out-of-town calls.  In this case central simply makes connection with “Long Distance,” which is a separate company, though allied with the city companies.  “Long Distance” makes the connection in much the same way as the branch city exchanges.  As the charges for long-distance calls depend on the length of the conversation, so the connection is made by an operator whose business it is to make a record of the length in minutes of the conversation and the place with which the city subscriber is connected.  An automatic time stamp accomplishes this without possibility of error.

Sometimes the calls come from a pay station, in which case a record must be kept of the time occupied.  This kind of call is indicated by the glow of a red light instead of a white one, and so “central” is warned to keep track, and the supervisors or monitors who constantly pass to and fro can note the kind of calls that come in, and so keep tab on the operators.

Other coloured lights indicate that the chief operator wishes to send out a general order and wishes all operators to listen.  Another indicates that there is trouble somewhere on the line which needs the attention of the wire chief and repair department.

[Illustration:  THE BACK OF A TELEPHONE SWITCHBOARD A section of one of several central station switchboards necessary to carry the telephone traffic of a great city.]

The switchboards themselves are made of hard, black rubber, and are honeycombed with innumerable holes, each of which is connected with a subscriber.  Below the switchboard is a broad shelf in which are set the miniature lamps and from which project the brass plugs in rows.  The flexible cords containing the connecting wires are weighted and hang below, so that when a plug is pulled out of a socket and dropped it slides back automatically to its proper place, ready for use.

Many subscribers nowadays have their own private exchanges and several lines running to central.  Perhaps No. 4341 Eighteenth Street, for instance, has 4342 and 4344 as well.  This is indicated on the switchboard by a line of red or white drawn under the three switch-holes, so that central, finding one line busy, may be able to make connection with one of the other two, the line underneath showing at a glance which numbers belong to that particular subscriber.

If a subscriber is away temporarily, a plug of one colour is inserted in his socket, or if he is behind in his payments to the company a plug of another colour is put in, and if the service to his house is discontinued still another plug notifies the operator of the fact, and it remains there until that number is assigned to a new subscriber.

The operators sit before the switchboard in high swivel chairs in a long row, with their backs to the centre of the room.

From the rear it looks as if they were weaving some intricate fabric that unravels as fast as it is woven.  Their hands move almost faster than the eye can follow, and the patterns made by the criss-crossed cords of the connecting plugs are constantly changing, varying from minute to minute as the colours in a kaleido-scope form new designs with every turn of the handle.