As will be seen, the switchboard cords leading from the plugs extend down to a point near the bottom of the cabinet where they pass through pulley weights and then up to a stationary cord rack.  On this cord rack are provided terminals for the various conductors in the cord, and it is at this point that the cord conductors join the other wires leading to the other portions of the apparatus as required.  A good form of cord weight is shown in Fig. 298; and obviously the function of these weights is to keep the cords taut at all times and to prevent their tangling.

[Illustration:  Fig. 300.  Rear View of Target Signal, Magneto Switchboard]

The drawing, Fig. 297, also gives a good idea of the method of mounting the hand generator that is ordinarily employed with such magneto switchboards.  The shaft of the generator is merely continued out to the front of the key shelf where the usual crank is provided, by means of which the operator is able to generate the necessary ringing current.  Beside the hand generator at each operator’s position, it is quite common in magneto boards, of other than the smallest sizes, to employ some form of ringing generator, either a power-driven generator or a pole changer driven by battery current for furnishing ringing current without effort on the part of the operator.

[Illustration:  Fig. 301.  Dean Two-Position Switchboard]

Switchboards as shown in Figs. 294 and 295, are called single-position switchboards because they afford room for a single operator.  Ordinarily for this class of work a single operator may handle from one to two hundred lines, although of course this depends on the amount of traffic on the line, and this, in turn, depends on the character of the subscribers served, and also on the average number of stations on a line.  Another single-position switchboard is shown in Figs. 299 and 300, being a front and rear view of the simple magneto switchboard of the Western Electric Company, which is provided with the target signals of that company rather than the usual form of drop.

Where a switchboard must accommodate more lines than can be handled by a single operator, the cabinet is made wider so as to afford room for more than one operator to be seated before it.  Sometimes this is accomplished by building the cabinet wider, or by putting two such switchboard sections as are shown in Figs. 294 or 299 side by side.  A two-position switchboard section is shown in front and rear views in Figs. 301 and 302.

[Illustration:  Fig. 302.  Rear View of Dean Two-Position Switchboard]

Sectional Switchboards. The problem of providing for growth in a switchboard is very much the same as that which confronts one in buying a bookcase for his library.  The Western Electric Company has met this problem, for very small rural exchanges, in much the same way that the sectional bookcase manufacturers have provided for the possible increase in bookcase capacity.  Like the sectional bookcase, this sectional switchboard may start with the smallest of equipment—­a single sectional unit—­and may be added to vertically as the requirements increase, the original equipment being usable in its more extended surroundings.