Mar, 27, We have become more or less accustomed to the occasional yet delightful vagaries of our]
1 telephone service (vagaries) which, at times, lend a little spice to ovr otherwise uneventfal and hnléyon office life); to the complaints, reproachful and mild, vituperative and gentle, that so frequently are made. by exasperated subscribers (or those making use of _subscribers' telephones) to the ever-obliging, mystic and clusive voice that lives (as an actual foet, we typed loves' but fortunately discovered the error immediately) at '499"; and to the anathema and contumely that some of us, tried and tested beyond endurance, are wont to east on our telephone operators, their lineal ancestors. mate and' female, their friends and] their relations, their heirs and their successors. However, this soreed is not intended to' deal with the faults and failings, the idiosyncrasies and inaccuracies, of our friend the operator, but} rather to indulge in a gentle knock at some of ourselves and to give a little prominence to a telephonic fault of which all of us, more or less, at times can be held guilty. We refer to the prevailing custom—when one} who is busy wishes to make a telephone call—of instructing the boy or coolie in the office to obtain connexion, and taking] jup the receiver when the cal eventually is through. Admit-tolly the practice is a necessary one in Shanghai, where telephones of the cinema variety decidedly are -not: it is the abuse of the custom that calls for comment. Wo will quote a conerete example to bring home our point. A few days ago the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.