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Title: Good Transmission
Description: A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the interest of the Employees of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company
Issue Date: Volume IV (Issue No. 2) February 1938
Year: 1938
Language: English
Rights
Place of publication: Manila
extracted text: VOL. I\. FEBRUARY, 1938 No. 2 I I ®ur ~nuer ... PERHAPS the best maflner of expressing the significance of the walls of Intramuros, is in a paradox. For their meaning is found in something inconsistent with their history and origin. It is not found in the character of the Spaniards who built them; nor of the Americans who saved them from the iconoclasm of their soldiers. Their symbolism must be sought for in the Filipino character, in its quality of exclusiveness, which foreigners diversely call reserve, shyness, provincialism, narrow-mindedness, aloofness, or indifference. But 'if such trait is to be criticized, its good aspect should not be overlooked. Exclusion is merely another way of looking at inclusion. So that if walls exclude those who are not worthy to be allowed within them, they also include those who are. And an outsider, once allowed to break through the Filipino's reserve, will find his friendship warm and sincere, his hospitality limited only by his capabilities, his loyalty unfailing, his generosity overflowing, his soul noble and true to the trust of a friend. Good Transm.ission VoL. IV A Mon::hly Magazine Devoted to the Interest of the Employees of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company Manila, Philippines DOMINGA A. RUIZ, Editor ASSOCIATE R. A. SOBRAL (Encutive) J. A. PAREDES, JR. (Commercial) M. C. PARRENAS (Accour.ting) EDITORS J. P. TABUENA (Plant) T. OSORIO (Traffic) A. FERNANDEZ (Radiophone) Entered as ..:;econd-class mail matte,,. at _Manila Post Office, ;lugust 25, 19Jti. FEBRUARY, 1938 No. 2 Editorial PUBLIC UTILITIES AND THE GOVERNMENT m HE public utility companies have been in the limelight recently due to the investigation of their books of accounts by the government auditors at the request of the committee of the National Assembly for the reduction of public utility rates. There have been charges filed against most of the public utility companies and denials made by their officials as a result of this investigation. Our position in this respect, however, is contained in the instructions by our General Manager, .Mr. Stevenot, cabled from the United States to our people in Manila, "to cooperate wholeheartedly with the government auditors.'' Our views on this point are not new, the present check-up of public utility companies is but a matter of course, inasmuch as the franchises creating them clearly provide for such periodical government examination. Public Utility Companies, knowing that they are the object of public interest because of the nature of their activities, keep their books of accounts and everything connected with their business open at all times to public scrutiny. As far as the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. is concerned, we welcome any investigation by the National Assembly or by any of its committees, of our activities and operation. We have absolute faith and confidence in the ability, integrity, and fairness of the members thereof, and know that whatever conclusions they may arrive at will be the result of an unbiased. impartial, dispassionate and searching analysis of the merits of the case. We venture to anticipate, however, that the investigation will dissipate and clear away the clouds of misunderstanding which has unfortunately been created in the minds of the public. GOOD TRANSMISSION Manila. PhilippineS' EMPLOYEES' ROLL OF HONOR The following is a list of Manila Area employees who secured extensions to their credit as of January 25. 1938. No. of Employees Dept. Exten- Employees Dept. sions MANILA AREA MANILA AREA Jones, M. A. S.P.O. 9 Cruz. F. de la Plant Sacra, M. Plant 5 Cruz, G. Com'l. Cruz. E. Com'l. 4 Dionisio, J. Plant Sta. Domingo. A. Plant 4 Garcia, J. B. Com'l. Cuison, J. 3 Garcia, M. Traff. Ocampo. A. M. Com'!. 3 Garcia. s. Plant Palisoc, A. Plant 3 Gelacio, R. Paredes. J. A .. Jr. Com'!. 3 Gonzales. J. Traff. A.butan, L. Plant 2 Inexcelso, G. R. Com'l. Atanacio. c. v. 2 Javiier. M. Acctg. Corpus. D. s. 2 Llamas, Y. Com'I. Cuasay, L. Com'!. 2 Lozendo, T. s. Plant Cuison. F. L. Plant 2 Nazareno. M. Com'I. Mariano. E. L. 2 Noblejas, c. Plant Martin. F. 2 Olavidez, c. M. Traff. Perez. C Com'!. 2 Pilar. M. Plant Periquet, F. 2 Prado, F. Zaldarriaga, F. 2 Prado, M. Com'l. Asuncion. L. I Rosales, R. Plant Couto. R. L. I San Pedro. c. Acctg. Villaverde, P. Com'I. "-=-=-=-=c-.The following is a list of employees who secured stations and extensions in their corresponding districts as of January 25, 1938. Employees Dept. No. of Sins. Employees Dept. No. of Ext ensions I -l I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I No. of Stm. · - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mar, R. V. del Villacrucis. M. Ocampo, C. M. Sevilla, M. A. Gaerlan, A. Ledesma, E. Lim, C. J. Montejo, R. Ramirez, A. Torre. A. de la CEBU DISTRICT Com'l. Traff. Com'I. Traff. Radio. Plant Traff. Com'l. Twaiio, H. Bondoc, R. Leyba. V Twaiio. T. CENTRAL DISTRICT Traff. Borja Cuartel Duay Grande Jovl'llanos Com'l. Traff. NORTHERN DISTRICT Traff. Plant Traff. 4 I I I Riarte, de la Rodriguez. L. Vidal Cadiz Constantino Heise Jainga Lebrilla Mendez Peleiia Carpio Demadara Espinosa Mansillo Gum ban. E. PANAY DISTRICT Plant Com'l. Radio. Traff. Plant Traff. Plant NEGROS DISTRICT Traff. Plant Plant Traff. SOUTHERN DISTRICT Plant 5 4 3 I I I I I I I h-bruary, I 9 3 8 GOOD TRANSMJSSION Con1munication Systems of the Manila Stock Exchange ·T HE Manila Stock Exchange, the largest of its kind in the Philippines, transacted during 1937 approximately 1"271,000,000.00 worth of mining shares and P2 7 2, 000, · 000.00 of commercial and industrial stocks and bonds. The speed with which thou· \ How the telephone company helps speed up wheels of modern business sands of pesos change hands daily in the Manila Stock Exchange is Il!ijde possible by its modern communication Syste:ms. Before the installation of the ticker service. the Manila Stock Exchange and its various members depended solely on the tel· floor of che Manila S tock Fxchange. A h. J . G . Eisenberg at the ticker board. GOOD TRANSMISSION Manila. Philipp!nc; ephone for its means of communication. In the first days of the Exchange, each member broker had private line telephone installed between the trading floor and his office. These telephones were used for transmitting orders from the broker's office to the Exchange floor and also for transmitting trading information to the brokers' quotation board. Thus each broker bad his own communication system independently of the others. As time went on and there arose a need for posting on the quotation boards in the brokers' offices indentical trading information, the individual private line telephone for broadcasting were supplanted by the installation of a microphone on the trading floor of the Exchange with lines running to the offices of the broker mem hers. Here tradin~ information was given by one man and received simultaneously at the brokers' offices. A little later, however, at the suggestion of Mr. Theo. L. Hall, Assistant General Manager of the Telephone Company. the present broadcast svstem was designed and built by both Mr. Eisenberg, technical advisor to the Exchange, and Mr. Edwards. Building and Equipment Engineer of the Telephone Company. The design is simple but at the same time it effectively serves the needs of the Exchange. It consists of two broadcast channels. Each channel is made up of a transmitter unit installed on the floor of the Exchange and connected by means of a private telephone line to a loud speaker set located in the Sta. Cruz Office of the Telephone Co. Private lines running to the brokers' offices are connected to the output of the loud speaker set through resistance coils. also located in the Sta. Cruz Office of the Telephone Company. This broadcast system has been found very dependable and efficient. The output of the loud speaker set is adjusted to suit the needs of all the members. Two broadcast channels are used so as to speed up reporting by dividing the quotation boards into two sections with separate personnel covering each section. The technical staff of the Exchange and the Telephone Company men keep close watch over this broadcast system as an out of order report for a few minutes during trading hours would paralize the Exchange activities. Aside from the above mentioned broadcast system, the Exchange had installed the ticker service. The Telephone Company had cooperated in the installation of the ticker service by providing the necessary private lines. Mr. Eisenberg, the man responsible for the installation of the ticker service, was kind enough to show the writer the ticker equipment and to explain to him bow it works. The system appears to be simple enough. Brokers are divided into groups of approximately six members. Each group is connected to a ticker panel which may be disconnected from the whole system in caso the particular group circuit develops trouble. The tickers in each group are connected in series. A miniature keyboard similar to that of a small piano operates the ticker service. The ticker service does not supplant the telephone broadcast system but both facilities supplement each other. The ticker transmits only such information as sak:;. The telephone broadcast system hown·":r keeps the brokers' offices informed of the fluctuations of the market. Besides the broadcast system and the ticker service described above, there are other communication and signalling refinements which have been thoughtfully installed by Mr. Eisenberg for the use of the brokers. There are for example. jack outlets and telephones equipped with plugs conveniently located on the trading floor so that brokers may answer their individual telephone calls from the nearest point. Then there are signal lamp: with the brokers' initials which are flashed to notify the brokers of their telephone calls. The technical advisor to the Exchange, Mr. J. G. Eisenberg, is a man of wide experience in the communication field. He has been connected with the New York Quotations Company, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, the Radio Corporations of America and others. He WJ) in Manila in 1926 and 1927 to supervise the installation of the original KZRM (Radio Manila) station and became its first broadcasting director. He also supervised the installation of the central office equipment of the transpacific radio circuits. It is no wonder that a man of his wide experience and technical training has been chosen to supervise the maintenance and operation of the communication system of the Manila Stock Exchange. It is thru the ticker, the telephone broadcast system and the telephones used by the Stock Exchange that investors and speculators alike keep in touch with market fluctuations. -E. B. L. Frbruary, 1938 GOOD TRANSMISSION Our New Toll Maintenance Office By A. MARIN Clerk. Toll Maintenance Section L OCATED on the third floor of the Ayala building in a room at the northwest corner of our Sta. Cruz Dial office is the new home of the Toll Maintenance Section and the office of the Supervisor of Maintenance. Outside Manila Area. The transfer to this new office and the cutting over of our toll lines, radio control lines and toll equipment was accomplished without a single toll service interruption: in fact no one, except those actually responsible for the transfer. was aware of the change in which the toll lines were re-routed through the new office before entering the Manila switchboard. The ticklish job of transferring and cutting over the toll lines and associated equipment without interruption was supervised by Mr. S. Santiago, our Supervisor of Maintenance Outside Manila Area, in the absence of Mr. V. Hagos who was confined to the hospital, due to illness. The work on the three panel board was started on Thursday, January 20, 1938. Due to the fact that working equipment was involved in the transfer. the work necessari· ly had to be done rapidly but of course accurately. For these reasons the Engineering Section personnel as well as the T oll Maintenance force were on duty twenty-four hours on the day in which the equipment was transferred to the new office. On the morning of January 21, 1938, the rack and the two bays were set up. The rack consists of fourteen 2 x 26 vertical terminal blocks and provides terminal connections for all the protectors, repeating coils. toll test jacks, miscellaneous equipment, etc., facilitating inter-connections one with the other. On the line side are two banks of three 2 x 20 type 65 terminal blocks per bank. The upper bank of the terminal is the termination of the quadded toll cable from Azcarraga cable terminal and that of rhe lower bank. the termination of the quadInteresting piece of engineering work told by maintenance section man ded cable to Plaza Lawton Office which serves as the drop side of the cable. The first bay of our terminal, known as Bay- I. is equipped with twenty-five protectors and twenty-four repeating coils. All are wired and terminated on vertical blocks on the M. D . F. with two protectors and four repeating coils as reserves for future additional circuits. On the second bay are mounted the composite set, telegraph repeaters high pass filter, etc. Two motor gen(Continued on page 12) Central Office T oll Plant, GOOD TRANSMISSION Manila. Philippines F. A. Collector's Job By F. ZALDARRIAGA F. A. Clerk, Com'/. Dep'r., Manila Area N EXT to the undertaker, the F. A. Collector is the most welcome visitor. His wraith haunts many a house. There are no known subterfuges with which to meet the. undertaker; they are all reserved for the F. A. collector, and they are many and varied. No other line of work so tries the patience or demands a higher degree of judgment, tact and ability. Subscribers adopt many ingenious ways of evading payment. Service bills are looked upon with special contempt, and the collector is a bere noir to be gotten rid of in any way short of murder. For the past year it has been the writer's lot to record experiences of more than passing interest. Debtors are quick to take advantage of the weaknesses and the foibles of the collector; they are par excellence students of human nature. They know as well as do the employees of the company the day on which the bill falls due, and their ears are attuned with uncanny distinctness to the foot-falls of the collector. They keep a strict look-out. If the collector is young and unsophisticated (Ed's. Note: like the writer), he is met at the door by a pair of ravishing brown eyes, and a row of evenlyset white teeth showing through smiling, perfectly rouged lips. With many a dainty curtsy, he is told that the subscriber is not in. He is asked to come another day. Those smiling eyes have completely disarmed the collector, and he goes away satisfied with everything except his employer's service. On one occasion the writer met a young woman at the door. Between sobs and tears she told him how a ruthless husband had left her, with a mountainous pile of unpaid bills, to be hounded by a pack of money-hungry bill collectors. She offered her services as a servant-girl. At another house, before the writer could turn and flee, he was caught in an unwonted Tale of romance in business of reviving dead and dying accounts embrace by a withered hag, who tried to bring him under her hypnotic spell that she might thereby evade payment. He was rescued from his predicament by a comely maid who tickled him under the chin. The bill has not yet been collected. When it comes to collecting telephone bills, however, the writer finds that the female of the species is less deadly than the male. A man will meet you at the door with an excuse that sounds altogether reasonable, The next time you call, you will find slight discrepancies in his stories and a difference in his attitude. As you call again and again, you find that his imagination is improving by leaps and bounds, that his stories are getting a bit too tall for belief. You are now treading on dangerous ground. and you find that you need no longer regard his inventive ability, but must pay heed to his physical make-up. Here is where tact comes into play, If you are skilful enough to evade an encounter, he will invite you for a drink. By accepting the invitation you will soon find that the drinks are costly. February, 1938 GOOD TRANSMISSION That Airplane Rldel By Miss FLOSSIE J. CORDOVA TraL'eling Supervisor, Negros District ON Monday morning, January 24, 1938, Mr. Espino (our District Manager) advised me that Mr. Hall who was then in Iloilo had suggested that I make a trip to that exchange to discuss the joint operating methods of the Iloilo-Negros long distance circuit with Miss Heise, the Iloilo Chief Operator. I motored from Bacolod to Pulupandan and took the two o'clock steamer from there to Iloilo. This is fairly a large boat but the sea was so rough that most of the passengers were seasick before we were out half an hour and by the time we reached Iloilo two hours later, a good many including myself were very ill. Miss Heise very kind1 y met me at the boat and assisted me to her car, and then to our office. After lying down in the operators' rest room for about an hour I felt better and I was able to sit up and listen in on one of the toll positions and observed the operating methods at the end. As a matter of information to our readers, all of the exchanges in Negros are magneto equipment and the Iloilo exchange is common battery equipment. This gives considerable advantage to the Iloilo toll operators in handling long distance calls as they have visual supervision of toll connections, I discussed this with Miss Heise and it was arranged that in the future Iloilo would be responsible for giving the clearance signal in all long distance calls incoming from Negros as well as on her own outgoing calls. This arrangement has already resulted in considerable benefit and will be of great value to our operators in prompt disconnects and timing. We also arranged at Mr. Hall's suggestion to have the terminating toll operators at each end of the circuit listen in on it at all times excepting during the progress of a conversation. This will also mean a considerable saving of time. Mr. Hall was giving a dinner for the lloilo employee• that evening and he kindly Thrills of trip among the clouds vividly related by "first-tripper" included me as one of his guest. I was very fortunate in this as the dinner was a nice one and I was treated so royally by .the Iloilo employees that I enjoyed every minute more than I can tell. On Tuesday morning I attended a conference at which Mr. Hall, Mr. Rodriguez, Miss Heise and Mr. Kincaid were present. At this conference we discussed the proposed changes in our operating methods and Mr. Hall suggested some further changes in Pulupandan which is the terminating point of the circuit in Negros. These suggestions were put into effect with excellent results. I had been so busy that I almost forgot the trip back home but when Mr. Hall suddenly asked me when I was going home and how, I realized that I would have to make that terrible boat trip again. I felt deathly sick at the very thought of it. I am sure he noticed the blanched look on my face because he knew how sick I had been on the day before. He smiled sympathetically and made me about the happiest person in the world by asking me if I would not like to take the trip back by airplane with Mr. Kincaid who was going that way. I was so overcome that I just filled up like a school girl and could not say a word, for all at once, one of my dearest dreams was coming true. I guess I managed to say something or nod my head because he laughed a little and said, "allright we will make a reservation for you on the noon plane." I could hard! y wait for the time to come and finally when Mr. Kincaid came into the operating room and told me it was time to start I think I almost ran downstairs and out to Mr. Rodriguez's automobile which was waiting for us. Mr. Hall and Mr. Rodriguez went down to the airport with us. There I saw the huge airplane waiting to take me on my great adventure seeming to tower above me like a mountain. The bell rang and after bidding Mr. Hall and Mr. GOOD TRA.NSMlSSIO~ Manila, Philippines Rodriguez good-bye we stepped into the plane. It has three motors and carries eleven passengers in addition to the pilot. I noticed that it was equipped with radio sending and receiving apparatus and all the modern improvements that airplanes have these days. In addition the seats were as comfortable as a parlor chair and I dropped back into mine with a happy sigh and deep breath of happiness. Suddenly the big motors begun turning the propellers, sending them around and faster until they were whirling so fast that I could no longer see the blades of one on my side. Then the pilot took the brakes off and we taxied out into the airfield just like we were in a motor car. I waved good-bye to Mr. Hall and Mr. Rodriguez as we started down the long run-way to the end of the field. W.e turned around facing the wind and sudden! y the great motors begun roaring and our plane started back gaining speed with every second. I held on to the arms of the chairs with all my might wondering what was going to happen next. Before I knew it the plane was off the ground and we were passing the airport office where I waved a final good-bye to Mr. Rodriguez and to Mr. Hall who had given me all this happiness. The plane rose higher and higher sailing out over the two-mile strait between Iloilo and Guimaras Island, and negotiating it in about a minute and a half. We flew over Guimaras Island which is about twenty miles wide so quickly that I hardly knew we had started. The view of the trees and the greenfields and the nipa huts of the farmers and the farms laid out like irregular checker boards, was magnificent. As we passed out over the ten-mile stretch of sea which separated Guimaras Island and the coast of Negros, I saw something which I had never dreamed of before. It was the beautiful coloring of the coral in the ocean. At the shore-line it seemed a light green then it turned to a light blue, then to a darker blue and finally into a deep purple, beautiful beyond description. To my amazement I could also see right to the bottom of the sea and the irregular curvatures of the rocks and fis•ures at the bottom were as plain as could be. I had not realized bow high we were until I saw some fishing boats down below us which look like floating toys. I understand that we were flying about a mile high at that time. Looking ahead I could see the coast of Negros with Pulupandan Point stretching out into the strait far beyond the coast line and further on, the great massive volcano of Kania-on towering high, its top covered with great banks of clouds. To my left our own town of Bacolod loomed into view growing plainer every second for we were flying a hundred and fifty miles an hour. I had never realized how Bacolod would look from above. I picked out the Plaza which is in the business center of the town and the majestic Capitol Building spreading out its beautiful grounds at the north outskirts of the town. I saw the San Sebastian church where I go to hear mass on Sundays and holidays and the Bishop's Palace adjoining it. I picked out the buildings one by one and tried to find my own home. Just then we circled around over the southern part of the town and I could feel the plane sliding downward. Again I gripped the arms of the chair wondering what was going to happen next, my heart in my throat as we skirted some coconut trees which it seemed we surely would hit. Then I felt the plane give an almost imperceptible bump and we were on the ground again running along toward the airport where we drew up and were soon filing out the door just like nothing unusual had happened. Perhaps it hadn't to other people in the plane but it had to me. It had been my big moment and one that I shall always remember. Iloilo was thirty odd miles away and we bad arrived in just fifteen minutes, no waiting; no seasickness, no two hours rolling and pitching across the channel. but just a smooth wonderful ride that I will never forget. Thank you, Mr. Hall, I wonder if you will ever know bow happy you made a girl down in Negros on that day. It was one of my happiest moment. Mrs. Wayupp: "Yes, we have every possible kind of servant." Uncle Walt (from country): "Who is that fellow over there in the uniform?" Mrs. Wayupp: "That is the footman." Uncle Walt "Ye don't tell me! Say, I wonder if he couldn't do something for them corns of mine?" "Do you approve of trial marriages?" "Sure, I bad a regular wedding, and it's been a trial ever since." February, I 938 GOOD TRANS:\HSSION Cutting Grass! As told by P. A. Reservist GODOFREDO AQUINO Checker, Service Section to J. A. PAREDES. JR. FRED is an efficient employee of the PLDTCO. That is why he is worth writing about for the Good Transmission. He is also a Reservist of the Philippine Army. That is why, three weeks after exactly 5 Yz months of strenuous training at Bayambang Cadre, Pangasinan, he was called on to participate in the first maneuver of the Philippine Army sometime about the middle of last month. He came from the war games, a few pounds heavier, sun-burnt and smiling, but a trifle disappointed. And this is the reason. "As far as we were concerned, the war games meant neither war nor games. It was just cadre life all over again. We left the hustle and bustle that was Tutuban station on January 8, with dreams that must have been in the minds of hundreds of thousands of soldiers leaving for the front, during the Great War. Dreams of crisp orders, followed by reckless action, wild dashes, earsplitting explosions by barbed-wire entanglements, roars of cannon and drone of planes, dropping death-whistling bombs on no-man's land-in short, all the thousand and one details that make war-pictures so exciting. But not for us, were these thrills. Wt were destined for other things." "Just what did you do anyway?" we asked, mystified. "Well, supposing we start from the very beginning", he bantered and then continued. "We arrived at San Fernando, early January 8, and from the station proceeded immediately to the barracks. Physical examination was the only feature of the day, and for six days afterwards, so strict were the Army doctors. The barracks were filled to over-flowing. Many of us had to sleep in the mess hall, on tables and benches, witho~t blankets, mats or pillows. Though the night was cold, we enjoyed it,-it was all "Lieutenant" tells how his sword mowed down enemy during "war" part of the soldier's life we were resigned to lead. "On January I 3, after a week or so of preliminary review in the things we had learned as trainees, we finally boarded the trucks that were to bring us to the site of the maneuvers. Scores of Army trucks threaded their way from San Fernando to Capas, Tarlac.-a long line of khaki, bouncing over road mounds and into holes. At Capas, we turned into what looked like a road, but was really only the beginning of one, which zig-zagged us in and out of a typical Philippine forest, and finally stopped on a plain, a vast field of cogon and talahibs. We cleared a camp site and by nightfall were able to oitch our tents. Friday, January 14, found us dreaming, expecting that we would soon go in action against the American troops. At reveille, the next morning, we were ready for action and our faces all wore expressions of eagerness. "The officers shouted us into formation. We jumped into our positions. with the thought that the next move would mean "fighting," at last. But much to our disgust, we began to do our physical drill, just like we used to in the cadre. The day wore. on, but still no "fighting." The next day was no better; nor was the next, and so on, turning our hopes into despair. We did not have anything new, except some instructions on the use of machine-guns and automatic rifles. "As days passed on, we began to feel the hardships of camp life, the scorching pain of the sun, the monotony of our daily routine. Every day six reservists from every company were assigned to do some work, cutting tall ~rass while others had to act as sentinels. "On January 2 I. we went up a mountain from where we could watch the U. S. Army troops go through their maneuvers. They (Continued on page 18) IO GOOD TRANSMISSION Manila. Philippines COMMON MISTAKES (From EVERYMAN'S GUIDE TO BUSINESS SUCCESS: VOLUME ON BUSINESS ENGLISH) PUNCTUATION Carelessness in punctuation is likely to cause trouble. Compare "The office boy says the boss is a fool" with "The office boy," says the boss, "is a fool." The fashion in punctuation, as in words, changes from time to time and the best way to acquire good habits of punctuation is to notice th2 usage of standard magazines. The following rules, however, will cover most ordinary cases: The period is placed at the end of a declarative or an imperative sentence, and after all initials and abbreviations. It is not placed after !st, and, 3rd, I 0th, etc. The comma indicates the smallest degree of separation of thought in the ·sentence, but it is the most troublesome of all the marks of punctuation. It is better to use it too little than to use it too much. It is used: 1. To separate words, phrases, or clause1 in a series. He laid his coat, hat, umbrella. and cane on the table. 2. To set off "Yes," "No," and words of direct address. Come here, John. Yes. sir. 3. To set off explanatory modifiers. The last day, Friday, was very rainy. To set off words which interrupt tho regular grammatical flow of the sentence. Speak the speech, I pray you, trippingly on the tongue. 5. To clarify the meaning of a long involved sentence, especially when there is danger of misinterpretation. When the heat of midsummer made the boys irritable and lessened their efficiency. practical economy directed the manager to install electric fans and other devices for making them as comfortable as possible. 6. To separate the members of a short compound sentence. Be square with your workers, but make them realize that you are square. 7. To show an omission. Industry is the key to success: idleness. the bolt that bars the door. Macon. Georgia. June 16. 1920. 8. To give emphasis. He worked hard, and won success. 9. Before not when it introduces an antithetical phrase or clause. Acquire the habit of questioning every· thing you read. not to find fault with it. but to learn the truth from it. 10. To separate a direct quotation from the rest of the sentence except when it is very long. Then Jackson said. "Let me hear from you." The semi-colon is placed between the members of a compound sentence when either contains a comma, when a comma is insufficient, or when the conjunction is omitted. When he hands in his report, his power ceases: he has no authority to enforce his decisions. What I tell you is no consequence: what I do-behold! The colon is used to introduce. It is placed after as follows. after the salutation of a business letter, and before a long quotation or an enumeration of details. It is also used in writing the time of day in figures. Here was the proposition: Twenty men were to work for eight daysMy dear Sir: The statement is as follows: He works from 8:45 to 5:30. The dash. Many people have careless habit of using the dash when they are in doubt as to what other mark of punctuation to use. It is properly used to indicate an abrupt break in the thought, to replace marks of parenthesis, or to emphasize some part of the sentence. Just at that moment the door opened slowly and-but you had better finish the story for yourself. If you decide to keep it-and you surely will-send five dollars to-day. (To be continued) h:bruary. 1918 GOOD TRANSMISSION 11 Our New Toll ... (Continued from page 5) erator sets are also included for the teletype service. These motors are controlled from the Teletype room in the Plaza Lawton office by means of remote control switches. This bay is also provided with a small writing desk just as in an ordinary toll switchboard. On the morning of January 21. 1938, after making all the temporary connections at the Plaza Lawton office, the toll test panel was released and brought in the new office and mounted beside the adjoining bays which were already set up on the Sta. Cruz office. The necessary inter-connections to the test jacks and keys had begun earlier and been worked out through the night. The t.oll lines were without testing facilities for three days, while the regular testing facilities were made available. on Monday, January 24, 1938. Our regular routine of testing was resumed at that time. Besides the regular equipment of our testing panel known as Bay-3 we have also mounted on this relay rack the composite ringers and in addition to it the type 111A- I relay testing equipment. The relay test panel provides facilities for testing types 215-A, 209-FA, 228 and other kinds of standard relays. The installation of the relay test equipment will co-ordinate the testin~ of all relays used in the teletype and the telegraph repeater service throughout the system. Pending the arrival of our high-grade toll testing equipment which will provide both A.C. and D.C. testing, our present .quarters are still to be considered as incomplete. Under Estimate 244-C- l, it is also planned to ·install additional toll equipment in our toll office in order to provide additional telegraph and telephone channels. The grouping of all Central Office Toll Pla_nt in one line of Bays will facilitate tho maintenance of this equipment by the toll mamtenance personnel. The present equipment layout, is, therefore, considered another step forward in putting our toll plant and testing equipment on a 100 % basis. SOME RELIEF A man ordered the barber to clip all of h:s hair from his head. Upon returning home his wife asked him, "Why did you have it clipped so close'" He answered, "Oh, just to get a load off my head'" "BETTER ENGLISH" CORNER By RICHARD KUPSCH Concerning our "Better English" class in this month's issue. the Instructor would like to give a few words of advice to the students of our "'B. E." classes. In order to supply an interesting and instructive background, our classes are centered on the story of the crusades, by Harold Lamb. The author's style is simple and clear. Paragraphs are read, by the pupils; words analysed and pronunciation corrected. The instructor, however, can only explain and help. It is up to the students, therefore, to ask questions, and thus cooperate with the teacher. Many have the wrong attitude of leaving everything to the instructor. Of our three weekly classes, only the Wednesday class students have so far adopted the right method of thinking for themselves. Henceforth, lessons will be projected on the screen and more time given to the grammar and construction of sentences. Students are asked to prepare in advance any questions pertaining to English and also to. devo.te some time in careful reading of the lessons at home. Whenever an unfamiliar wori crops up, a dictionary should be at hand an i notes made concerning the exact meaning. Briefly, therefore, students should exercise a little more of their own initiative, so as tJ bring satisfactory results. MESSAGE OF THANKS Through this column of the Good Transmission, I wish to thank all of you, my CO· employees and friends, for giving me your helping hands and consoling me during the time of my distress. Your thoughtfulnes3 has greatly lessened my troubles over the loss of my beloved wife. Hoping that I may be given a chance to reciprocate and further hoping for the continuance of the wonderful spirit of brotherhood within our Company. I remain Yours truly, P. D. CRUZ, c / o Purchasing Agent's .Office. I 2 GOOD TRANSMISSION Manila. Philippines HEALTH CORNER By MISS A. VALEN CIANO CRASHING THE HEAL TH GA TE (Reprint from the Health Messenger, May-June, 1937 issue.) CRASHING the health gate is a pastime of a great many people, both young and old. The usual incentive in this instance is to increase the hours of leisure by stealing from the hours of sleep; or it may be to increase the income by extra work. Whatever the reason, a heavy strain is put on the human mechanism. As in actual gate crashing, it is fairly easy to "get by" for the time being for Dame Nature frequently seems to be asleep at her post. But sure as death she taxes the crasher of the health gate sooner or later and is made to pay nearly always in bodily injury of one kind or another. Modern youth is prone to start the evening program at an hour which in the days of old would have been nearer to closing time. The dance ends at daybreak, scarcely giving the participants time to change their clothes and get to the office or other place of employment on time. And Youth, in the vernacular of the day, thinks he is "getting away with it" and he may for a while, but, unless loss of sleep is made up and work balanced by extra rest, even the resilience of youth cannot stand the strain and nervousness, irritability, or even acute illness results. Continued over indulgence in food or drink brings retribution sooner or later. An occasional extra hearty meal may cause nothing but temporary discomfort. Young people usually burn the extra bodily fuel by vigorous exercise but the heavy eater pays for it in obesity. It is a well-known fact that fat people are particularly susceptible to diabetes and certain other diseases. Heavy drinkers of alcoholics must also pay the price of over indulgence for they are prone to diseases of the liver and the hardening of the arteries. Dame Nature has still other methods of retaliation. The unused muscle of the person who takes no exercise become soft. The frequenter pf poorly lighted and ventilated places soon appears pale and anemic. Anyone who continually overstrains his eyes has headaches and is likely to suffer from granulated lids or more serious eye troubles. Sometimes people do not realize that they are crashing the health gate. They overdo unconsciously. Then there are the types who boast that they can stand anything. But the stronger they are and the longer the day of reckoning is put off, the harder they fall when that day comes. SANITATION AND HYGIENE I Employee Co-operation) At drinking fountains, drink from the water stream only. Do not touch the lips to any part of the nozzle or stand, do not drink from a cup or glass used by another person until it has been thoroughly cleaned. Spitting on walls or floors is a filthy habit and likely to spread germs. Before eating and before going home, wash hands, arms and face with soap and water. A daily bath is an important health measure. Do not eat in the wash room or toilet rooms. Help keep the locker rooms, wash and toilet rooms, and other service equipment clean and sanitarv. Put all refuse in the containers provided. Change work clothing at frequent intervals. Soiled clothing should be cleaned or laundered frequentlv a• a health measure. "FIRST AID" Very likely you can remember some friend or acquaintance who had a bad case of blood poisoning. Usually he neglected first aid for some slight wound and it became infected. You also may think that because you are well and strong you should pay no serious attention to little cuts and scratches. It may seem silly to stop work for such small injuries. But no matter how healthy you are you cannot afford to take chances with infection. The small wound may be unimportant at first; but delay in caring for it can make it serious. Stop whatever you are doing long enough to get the right kind of first aid treatment. Do not touch an open wound, or wash it out, or use a rag to wrap it up. A little (Continued on page 18) February, I 9 3 8 GOOD TRANSMISSION 13 Dangerous? No! THAT the telephone is an unimportant factor in the spread of disease germs, as compared with the many other common sources of infection, is the conclusion of two investigations recently made by eminent authorities. During a telephone conversation, the mouth of the speaker and the mouth-piece of the instrument are necessarily close together. Naturally, people have sometimes wondered whether this could result in contagion, particularly at public telephones with their many users. The medical profession and those responsible for furnishing telephone service, both here and abroad, have long been concerned with this aspect of the service. Experience with millions of telephones used for tens of millions of conversations daily has never disclosed a single authenticated case of disease contracted through using the telephone, Because of the importance of the subject, the Bell Telephone System wanted to get the best up-to-date information. It therefore arranged for independent investigations to be carried out under the direction of two leading and impartial scientists: Dr. E. 0, Jordan, distinguished service professor of bacteriology in the department of hygiene and bacteriology, University of Chicago, (now deceased); and Dr. Haven Emerson professor of public health practice in the Institute of Public Health, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City, A total of nearly 450 telephones, principally public telephones, was examined. The general procedure in both the New York and Chicago investigations was the same; a bacteriologist wiped the telephone mouthpiece with a sterile moistened swab, and then made laboratory cultures from the swab to discover the presence of germs. Extensive The medical profession looks at the telephone mouthpiece; cives its O.K. and painstaking laboratory tests were also made to cover other aspects of the problem. Harmless bacteria were found on many telephone mouthpieces, and certain types of disease-causing bacteria on some. But it was shown that nearly 90 per cent of most types of germs were dead within 15 minutes after they were deposited on the transmitter, and that there was no tendency for living bacteria to accumulate on the transmitter. Also, it was proved to be next to impossible for a germ to be transferred from the mouthpiece of a telephone to a person using it in the normal way. In summing up the conclusions of the Chicago investigation, Dr. Jordan wrote; "Taking into consideration the relatively small numbers of bacteria transmitted from the mouth to the telephone mouthpieces and their short life in this situation, and also the evidence that disease germs on the mouthpieces of much used public telephones are certainly not common and probably exceedingly rare ... it is my belief that routine disinfection of all public telephones would not be a justifiable public health requirement, "To be of any conceivable practical value, such disinfection would have to be carritd out after each use of the instrument, Even so, there would remain so many other sources of contact for every active city-dweller that the effect of such disinfection on the spread of disease would be negligible," In a similar summary of the New York findings, Dr, Emerson said: "Until the requirement and technique of our ordinary conduct of life has gone far beyond any present common practice, the telephone mouthpiece will continue to create no greater sanitary hazard than that of the hand rail, the door knob, and articles in frequent contact with human hands and exposed to airborne dust." (Reprint from The Michigan Bell of December, 1937) 14 GOOD TRANSMISS!o"N M;:inila. Philippinl!S ]Vew~ of the Month Our Cebu District in the Boy Scouts Movement By T. C. SINAY Mr. C. M. Ocampo, Manager of Cebu District, was the guest of honor at the Court of Boy Scouts of the Philippines at tho Southern Institute. He spoke on many in· teresting points which had never been brought to the court before. The Court of Honor was composed of government and Philippine Army Officials. They were Major Taiiedo, Attorney Leyson, Attorney Binanura, Mr. Sabelino an J Mr. C. M. Ocampo. The troops of Boy Scouts which attended this Court of Honor were from different educational institutiom in Cebu. A passing review, stunts and a bugle contest were some of the .events. Th' most important event of the day. however. was the awarding of prizes. Major Taiiedo and Mr. C. M. Ocampo were the principal speakers of the day. Mr. Sabelino acted as the master of ceremonies. Mr. Ocampo spoke upon the subject "Joy of Service." He likewise talked about the meaning of Initiative. In explaining this subject he cited the famous message to Garcia, and quoted Egbert Hubbard's explanation for INITIATIVE, which was "To do the right thing without being told. But next to doing the thing without being told is to do it when you are told once. T hat is to say, carry the message to Garcia". Mr Ocampo. guest of honor and Speaker at Court oi Honor. Boy Scouts, dPfit)ering his speech. Passing retJiew of Boy Scouts- Major Tafiedo: At· torney Leyson, Attorney Binanura, Mr. Ocampo and Mr. Sabe{ino. He emphasized this subject so well th~t he captured the admiration of the entire audience. The Boy Scouts gave him three rousing cheers. > f'-·: In Mr. Ocampo·s speech the public· was once more shown that the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. has a sincere and an unselfish zeal in the growth and welfare of every community it serves, and stands ready and willing to promote that growth and wellbeing by giving the highest grade of telephone service at its command. We have the right to feel that the Philippine Long Distance T elephone Company is always a part of the progress of this country. Today we can say that the Philip· pines stand almost on equal footing with the rest of the world in progress in business. education, industry, politics and communica~ tion and our Company has always played its part in pushing the country's progress. The event was a very successful one and once more we have shown the puQlic our sincere desire to cooperate. MISSING PAGE/PAGES February, 19 3 8 GOOD TRANSMISSION 19 l·~~~Y. ~· "~ 11~11511?101i~li By J. A. PAREDES. JR .• Correspondent A lot of things have happened in th2 Commercial Department since the New Year came around. We suppose, it" s just th2 Company's way of "ringing out the old and ringing in the new." G. Hubilla. our distinguished predecessor, has been assigned to the Directory office to work with Mr. Giles, soliciting extra-listings, advertisements, etc., for the new directory. Sick leave slips were handed to !. Concepcion (canvasser) and P. Escolar (collector), early this month. The latter has been replaced by one Arturo Lorenzo, of whom we know very little. F. Periquet, former Supervisor of the Service Section, and recently Business Office man. has been returned to his old love. Sales Promotion Office work. The S. P. O.'s gain is Mr. Cuasay's loss. This loss. however. is filled up in part by Mr. Ocampo· s being assigned to devote part of his Service Section Supervising time to answering calls in the Business Office. And Mr. Ocampo can now do this, because all regular checking of Service Orders is being handled by G. Aquino. who has been promoted to this job from his position as typist. This automatically. placed G. Cruz, typist in Aquino's old shoes, and created a vacancy ~ the typists' ranks, to fill which, Sergio P. Javier has been recalled. This man Mr. Aquino, is certainly getting the breaks. First. he was called to the Philippine-U. S. Army war games. Upon return. he was designated Checker of the Service Section and. as if these were not enough. Dame Fortune still smiles once more along his way, in the form of an invitation from the Philippine Army to attend the officers' training camp at San Miguel. Tarlac. But. why the officers' camp. you ask? He's a Lieutenant. (cf. letter of February 3, addressed to him by the P. A. District Adjutant.) We will not be surprised if he also wins the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes and the Shanghai lottery. * Mr. !. Coronado. efficient foreman of the S. P. 0 .. has just returned from a two-week vacation. which. by the way, is enshrouded in mystery. All that we can say is that he is looking unusually happy. Are congratulations in order, Brad? Forecasters (perhaps) of more new things in the Manila Area are the frequent preliminary meetings on the Service Representative plan which is expected, if not to be the panacea of all collection headaches. at least to give plenty of relief. Speaking about meetings, several have also been held by heads concerned, for the better and more efficient functioning of the Service Section. Here's hoping. these meetings eliminate over-time sessions for the S. 0. S. during the next directory season. The present one, has poured such an avalanche of work on our over-worked typists and Supervisors. that they even have to prepare. check and issue Service Orders on Sundays and other holidays. Active Company employees and their long lists of extra-listing prospects have a lot to do with this. Collections in January broke the highest collection record ever reached for the month of January. which was established last year. Maybe Prosperity has at last turned the corner, after being "just around" since I 935. F. A. collection. too, is trying hard to pickup. with closer follow-ups of new F. A. bills, under the personal care and supervision of our smart and efficient Mrs. Carlson. * * Hailed by Government officials as the best guarantee of speedy service for their respective offices, is the new arrangement for dealing with orders for Goverment telephones. According to this. the Company will deal directly with the Departments or Bureaus concerned, instead of waiting for B. P. W. orders. Other tid-bits are: The Manila Area's net gain for January. of I 4 3 stations. of which 7 6 were secured by prospecting employees: the 9999th call to the Business Office which came on February 7. in the morning; and the little known fact that our acting chief-clerk. Mr. B. R. Visco was once a basket-ball star and that he introduced organized soft-ball into the company-but that was long ago. 20 GOOD TRANSMiSSION Manila, Philippines By A. R. AZARRAGA, Correspondent When Mr. A. B. Caro announced one week before January 28, through his very capable campaign manager, that he was a candidate for the post of Director of the PLD Employees' Club, things began to happen. Who was Mr. Caro, anyway? Mr. Parreiias was the fellow made to order for that post. But, you know, Caro had suggested a lot of things for the Club and we soon found out. The campaign was featured by a mulitude of announcements posted at strategic places, a lot of coming here and going there and so much individual campaigning and coaxing and haranguing about the two that everyone got wildly enthused. And one day, January 28 (to be exact), one of those very much hackneyed days of the month, the waters were given a chance, social justice done outright and in one solid wave of enthusiasm, Mr. A. B. Caro was sent carreening to the post of director of the LD employees' Club and subsequent representative of this big department. When the waters had calmed down, we kept wondering about one very itching fact: Who was responsible for that great mass of votes which caused the landslide for we have finally decided it was that wily and witty campaign manager. We warmly congratulate him and if we could only afford. we would like very much to hand him a bunch of wild orchids from Makiling. However, we can afford only roses and violets and that's what we are handing to both Mr. A. B. Caro and Mr. Parreiias, good fellows both of them and fine sportsmen. We regret very much the absence of Mr. L. D. Laforteza, our Payroll supervisor who was recently given sick leave. No one would have suspected that there was the slightest thing wrong with him as his looks gave one the impression of his being healthy and sound. We could say a lot of things against this disease but upon second thought we would rather keep our peace. There is one thing we would like to say, however, and that is that our Company for which we are all working so hard and loyally is doing everything in its power to fight this dreaded disease and safeguard its employees. We have this to be thankful for and we don't spare a word to say it. * '"It's great to be alive and in the army!" said Mr. Ted Arce when he visited us one day two weeks ago. He made us wish we were enlisted men ourselves when he kept on babbling about the joy of it all; of the beauty of nature in the rough, of blue skies and clear waters and pleasures of camping. We are rather inclined to nature, you know, and simply rave to talk about dawns •nd twilights. Mr. Ted Arce is surely having a fill of it himself. We on! y hope that there will be no regrets five months hence . . . in the meantime we are with him in his happiness. We were mistaken last month when we reported that he was in the wilds of Rizal. He is at Sibul Springs, Bulacan. That makes it more wonderful considering the beauty of Bulacan nights and fair '"dalagas." New faces, new strength and new vigor; that"s what has happened in the Accounting Department recently. Mr. T. H. Milo, was assigned to the Auditor's Office and Mr. L. L. Recio replaced Mr. F. Geronimo's. M. Agtarap took the place of Mr. A. R. Azarraga in the Cost Sub-section and the latter was assigned to the Payroll Subsection. Mr. A. Salientes, replaced Mr. Arancillo who replaced Mr. Panergo, a sick vacationist. Mr. V. Serrano is temporarily holding the post in the Stock Sub-section in place of our Mr. Ted Arce; Mr. Vicente Alegre has been assigned to the Payroll Section; Mr. Enrique Zafra. Mr. Pedro Ludovico, and Mr. M. Ontafion are assigned to the Revenue Accounting Section. And our charming lady accounting member. Mrs. Loretta Sanchez, has replaced Mr. Vivas who was a Toll Billing Supervisor and who has taken a vacation. Isn't that hopeful? We simply rave to see Loretta at her new post. It proves to us that, after all, women are destined to replace men in the long run and we men to idle at home and on street corners. Congratulations and congratulations again . Oh, well, we are very sincere in our best wishes, Loretta. In the hush on a noon day lull, we are always greeted and entertained by the me(Continued on page 2 /) February, 1938 GOOD TRANSMISSION 21 ~ LANT .~• - ~·)A~TIVITIES ·· By LEO. P. DUMLAO. Correspondent Mr. 0. Kasner, Superintendent and Engineer of Outside Plant, Manila Area, went back to the mountains the other day tu handle the work on Estimate No. 244. We understand that he was quite happy to get back to the "High Country", because of the fine climatic conditions and the many happy associations he has developed with the people there. Mr. Kasner will probably stay on the job until the estimate is completed. * * Mr. Cliff E. Hamilton, has recently been appointed temoorary Construction Foreman, in the Plant Department. He seems to be a very fine fellow and plainly shows the excellent training he had while in the United States Army. He has had a long and varied experience in telephone work in the United States, where he was employed in construction work with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, and other telephone companies. Mr. Hamilton is now with Mr. Kasner, in the Baguio Mountains, working on Estimate No. 244. We hope that he will like his work there as well as his association with the Igorots who inhabit the country which the line traverses. and who compose most of the laborers on the job. * Mr. Carlos Nietes, Apprentice Lineman, was one of those recently affected by Commonwealth Act No. I. National Defense Law, when he was drafted by the Government for compulsory military training. While we regret to see him leave we know from the experience of others of our own Company, who have been similarly drafted, that he will enjoy the training and come back to us greatly benefited physically. The illness and consequent absence of our Acting Engineer, Mr. V. H. Hagos, finds us very much handicapped in the performance of our outside duties. This is not surprising, to say the least, because we are like a boat deprived of its pilot and left adrift in the midst of a great· sea. However, strange as it may seem, through the disinterested efforts of the Big Three, name! y, Bernabe, Acuna, and Cruz, coupled of course, with their knowledge of the job, not to mention the hands so freely extended by everyone concerned; the central office installation work in San Fernando, La Union, has been successfully completed and is giving excellent results. This undertaking incidentally, met with the approval of our General Superintendent of Plant, Mr. McCain. While we are just! y proud of our success in this case, we very much regret that our Boss, Mr. Hagos, was not here to see our work first hand so that he, too, could say, "Well done, boys". * About a fortnight ago, Messrs. Bernabe, Acuna, and Cruz (the Big Three), breezed back into the town of San Fernando, La Union. Bernabe (or Roman, as we call him) was, of course. the spokesman for the group. The first thing he did on reporting back to the office was to tell everyone what a swell job they had done up there. To emphasize his point he quoted the exact words of the General Superintendent of Plant, which were that it was "a fine job". According to the acting assistant foreman. it was not, however, all work and no play, because that makes Jack a dull boy. The job was handled in excellent way and the play part confined to after-hours, during which time, we understand, the group made many friends and enjoyed a pleasant time. R. ARISTON. Accounting Brevities (Continued from page 20) lancholy strumming of a guitar and the plaintive wailing of someone singing an old, old song. We listen attentively to that melody and remember that piece that tells of this fair city of Manila. "In Old Manila. down beside the moonlit bay. " And that song sung in the days of cabriolets and phaetons pulled by horses back in U. S. "Sweet Adeline. " Mr. E. Cruz sings these old tunes in the stillness and hush of noonday, when one ordinarily feels at a loss just what to do. No doubt he is a dreamer, an ilusionist, an ancient mariner. We really admire him for it when we hear the silly and foolish tunes now hummed and played everywhere. 22 GOOD TRANSMISSION Manila. Philippines By TOMMIE OSORIO, Correspondent Rice and old shoes, for our own January bride, who is none other than Miss Pilar Santiago. The knot-tying ceremony took place in Cebu which is the bride's hometown; she and the lucky Mr. Warren Barry promise to love, honor and obey with the usual "I do's" and now we have a brand new Mr. and Mrs. Barry to congratulate: Mrs. Barry will nevertheless continue working in our midst much to everybody's satisfaction. Best wishes from us to you both, may you live happily ever after. Misses Cuenca, Lakindanum and Miranda of the Long Distance section took their annual two week's vacation last month, and are now back with us looking and feeling rested and ready for another busy year. • Another warm welcome to Miss Ruth Puna, recently appointed Long Distane< Operator. DID YOU KNOW: l. That 04 does not give out information to such questions as "Where is the fire' Is there a typhoon signal up? When will it be full moon? or Is the tide high or low?" (These are just a few of such questions). 2. That our Time Service gets more thin 20,000 calls everyday? 3. That in 1930 the amount collected from Teletype messages was only '1'508.00 while in 193 6 the amount rose to over '1'23,000.00? (1937 has not as yet been figured-out). 4. That Manila has an average of 200 out-going Long Distance calls daily' 5. That Pilar Miranda, Overseas Operator gets more than a dozen letters every week from Shanghai' (I wonder if the war has anything to do with it.) 6. That Jesusa Marco, of the Long Distance, knows more about food diets than all of us put together' (She succeeded where most of us failed.) (To be continued in next issue.) INTERESTING FACTS • •• ? That Baguio supplies fifty per cent of the Company's toll revenue on the Manila-North lines? That San Fernando, Pampanga, the home of sugar barons, comes next to Baguio? That San Pablo, Laguna, leads all other towns on the Manila-South line as toll revenue producer? That there are 3 0 towns connected to the Manila-North lines and 27 to the Manila-South line? That the total toll revenue from the Manila-South line is only half of that from Baguio alone? That as of December 31. 1937, the Company had 799 employees, 214 of whom are women? That of the total number, 23 are Americans, 6 Spaniards, I German, and the rest Filipinos? That the Executive Department employs 34, the Commercial 85, the Accounting 75, the Traffic 205, the Radiophone 28 and the Plant 372? That there is not a single male employee in the Traffic Department" Tv.,•in.~-Afan1 and AnniC' 1WcGurk. Afar~/ is our telf!typist in Baguio February, 1938 GOOD TRANSMISSION 23 By A. D. SISON, Correspondent Here is something new in radio. One British manufacturer charges the equivalent of $20 for a radio receiving set installed in the prospective purchaser's home on a demonstration basis. If the set is purchased this amount is applied on the payment. If the set is returned, the $20 becomes a rental fee. Thus families wishing to "wow" their friends with entertainment have to pay one way or the other. * * Going to France. They will soon have a television transmitter on the lofty Eiffel Tower, providing a regular television program. France will probably "go commercial" on television this year like the German and the British. As if you know, the Philippines is now generally covered by telephone communication providing one of the most modern and up-to-date services available in our present day era, be it inland, ship-to-shore, or coastto-coast. Lookino: further ahead. the Bicol region may soon boast of a radiophone station that will link it with our telephone net-work. Someday, perhaps. an amateur stat1st1ctan may compute the number of times that th" s. y. Casiana has steamed past Corregidor island. Whatever the total mav be we can only say at present that on the 26th of January, the yatch entered the dry-dock at Cavite after she had scored several such trips. The boat, it is rumored, will soon make a long trip to test the effectiveness of the radiophone apparatus installed on board, by the technician of our Company. * * * On the night of January 15th, a "Let'sGet-Acquainted" party was held in a local pan.citeria in honor of the newly appointed radiophone employees. It is a traditional custom of the Radiophone boys to give a fitting welcome to their new comrades. Th· greenhorns pay the bill, of course, but later on they have their turn as the force increases. On the list of new employees appointed to the radiophone Department are Messrs. D. Hayag, Frederick B. White and Edilberto Asededo. boys. Here is wishing you good luck. * * Mr. Santarromana, our Maintenance Supervisor who was detailed on the s. y. Casiana. the Presidential yatch, for sometime is again back at his regular work. The writer was instructed to further train the present radio personnel on board in the operation and maintenance of the radiophone equipment, as well as in traffic procedure. * * * Mr. S. Padilla, our Acting Terminal Operator, took a first class government examination recently to qualify himself for the position he now holds. In another case. Mr. V. R. Maliwanag, our Terminal Office Operator, was recently advised by the Bureau of Civil Service that he had passed the Federal Junior Clerk examination. This only shows how busy our radiophone people are trying to keep abreast of the times. * * * Effective January 17. 1938, three shifts of operators were scheduled at the Radiophone Terminal Office to cover the establishment of the 16-hour radiophone service between Manila and Iloilo, and between Manila and Cebu. Mr. Daniel Aniban, of the office of the Radiophone Superintendent, was unanimous1 y elected member of the board of directors of the Long Distance Telephone Company Employees' Club.* Since the additional terminal equipment was installed in the Radiophone Terminal Office, circuit routing of commercial traffic to and from the Visayan provinces is being handled without delay. The additional facilities have greatly improved the service to these points and relieved the congestion of traffic which we formerly experienced. aux THE. BE.AIZ FACTS ABOUT ~lkt RAOIO GOOD T RANSMISSION Manila. Philippines ~~ ~ -£mm ~1 f.f:il _jJ1R, PRCIYI NC Efl BAGUIO By CARMEN MERLO. Correspondent During the Christmas and New Year ho1idays we received a number of overseas calls and had quite a busy time arranginS( the appointments with our Manila overseas operators. Unfortunately, there was a failure in the circuit shortly after it had been established on Christmas morning and some of our customers had to wait for the midnieht neriod which begins at twelve o'clock. Thi~ by the wav was exactly noon Christmas Day in N ew York City. and four o'clock in the afternoon at San Francisco. Some of our customers who were evidently not used to such late hours fell asleep on the office settee while they were awaiting their turn and we had to awaken them out of a sound sleep when their calls were ready. We put in some long grinding hours in handling these calls but all the hard work was forgotten when we heard the excited voices of the called parties so far away and saw how happy our own customer was that he could wish loved ones on the other side of the earth a Merry Christmas and Happy N ew York almost as if the two were side by side. When you experience these things you just have to admit that the telephone is a much more wonderful thing than even we give it credit for, and the long distance and overseas service that it furnishes is about the finest thing in the world barring none. * Some of the members of the "All-Star Salesmen Club" of the Erlanger and Galinger Company, of Manila, who held a Convention in the Pines City on January 5th, visited our Office and were very much interested in the working of our T eletype machines. They were plainly surprised at the speed with which our T eletype messages are handled to Manila, and made many favorable comments on the speed and reliability of our service. In the evenine of the same day they held a party at the Baguio Grill. to which they invited Misses Petra Ramos. Sofia Evangelista. and Mary McGurk. This we felt was in return for the courtesy we extended them during their visit to our office. We understand that the girls were treated royally and had a snlendid time. * * * T o add to the Holiday Cheer of last month, the Traffic Department distributed cash prizes to the operators who had the least number of mistakes during the Year 1937. The first prize went to Miss Ceferina Hernandez: the second, to Miss Sofia Evangelista: and the third prize, to Miss Petra Ramos. Cono:ratulations ! * * * Not to be outdone in the present women's participation in Politics, Miss Beatriz Narciso, our Baguio Chief Opera tor took ad· vantage of an opportunity during Election Day to visit her home in Tarlac and cast her vote. Miss Dolores Lopez, one of our operators followed suit by taking advantage of her day off and motored to her home in Bacnotan, La Union. to cast her vote for her favorite candidate. · ·* • Before the New Year arrived we were all busy making resolutions for 1938. We are going to admit however that at the time of this writing we have broken all of these resolutions except one to avoid more fines during 1938. CEBU By N ENA RODRIGUEZ, Correspondent Among the visitors to Cebu District during December was Mr. Luis Rodriguez, Acting Manager, Panay District, who arrived HMd table at the dinnrr dune(' parry at the '·Et Lido" where Mr. Hall played hosr to a group of employees. February. I 9 3 8 GOOD TRANSMISSION 25 Anoth(!r part of the table . on the s. s. Corregidor on December 30th, to spend the New Year holiday with his relatives and friends. * Mr. J. A. Kincaid, Special Representative, came to Cebu again on January 14th via the s. s. Don Esteban to resume his survey towards improving traffic operations. * * * January 17th was a day of strain and expectation for us. We were somewhat nervous, but at the same time confident that there was nothing amiss with our carefully projected plans and everybody was doing his or her duty in the proper way and place, with the office all spick and span. The reason for all this was that on that day our wellliked Assistant General Manager, Mr. T. L. Hall, was scheduled to arrive by plane to pay us one of his rare but always memorable, and welcome visits. He came, he saw, and (we hope) left satisfied with the impression he got of our Cebu Exchange. As for social events, the Cebu Plant had two big ones during the current month. The first was the picnic held on January 9th, in Talisay, noted all over the Islands for its wonderful swimming pools. Headed by our District Manager, Mr. Ocampo, who for that day ceased being our chief and just turned himself into one of us, a happy group journeyed there to enjoy a nice day, and picnic in the breath of the cool breezes coming from the sea. The entire personnel of the Radiophone Department and Commercial Department and half of the Traffic Department boarded the big bus at secheduled time and by eleven o'clock everybody was present, and accounted for in Talisay. A swimming contest was the first big event of the day in which the Radiophone Department proved themselves better swimmers than the Plant men, in fact better athletes because the same department later on won an overwhelming victory of 21 . to 8 in a hard fought volleyball game. After lunch there was an imprumpto program in which Miss Pilar Santiago proved herself master in the art of declamation; and the writer, yielding to an insistent demand, sang one of the songs our people love so well. Then there was a NEPA number rendered by two of the plant boys who played entrancing music on native string instruments. After some additional musical numbers were rendered, District Manager Ocampo gave a short talk. Games of all sorts and swimming played a large part in the afternoon events. After the games were over and refreshments began running low, the party broke up and arrived home again late in the afternoon with everybody sleepy-eyed and all tired-out but unanimous in saying that it had been a perfectly perfect day. Through these lines, the Cebu Exchange expresses its sincerest gratitude to Dr. and Mrs. V. Gonzales who gave us the run of their lovely summer house and swimming pool for the day. * * * The second big social event of the month took place when our Assistant General Manager, Mr. Ted L. Hall gave the employees a dinner dance party at the "El Lido," January 18th, the last evening of his visit. The attendance can be best expressed in figures by saying that out of the fifty-three employees in the exchange, forty-one were present. Mrs. C. M. Ocampo honored us with her presence, as did Dr. Jose Coligado and Hon. Celestino Rodriguez. After a well served appetizing dinner, there was dancing until ten in the evening. Everybody had a wonderful time and would surely have re26 GOOD TRANSMISSION Manila. Philippint>~ mained longer had it not been for the fact that everyone had to be at the office early the following morning. * In view of the recent innovation in the long distance service, that is, the opening of sixteen-hour schedule on the Radiophone, a number of our employees were given several weeks extensive training in Radio Telephone work and allocated to that department. These were: Mr. F. Kuison Mr. A. Bondoc Mr. A. Polache Mr. J. Suarez Mr. E. Buenconcejo Mr. R. Ruiz Shortly after they took over their new assignments, they gave a "Pancitada" party at Emiliano's Restaurant with Mr. T. Sinay, our Radiophone Supervisor, as tho guest of honor and the operators from the traffic department as guests. We enjoyed the evening immensely and had a wonderfully fine time to go along with it. We are formally introducing to you here our new Toll Operator, Miss Lide Urquiaga, who was recently appointed to that job. She is a native of our own Cebu City and a graduate of St. Catherine's College. She has a charming personality and a pleasant voice which we hope, with the excellent radiophone service we give, will make the public feel more than ever like calling Long Distance and giving us a lot of business. Miss Asuncion Ramirez and Miss M. Abellana have been assigned as relief operators in the Traffic Department. They are both very capable young ladies. DAGUPAN By E. E. ARGAO, Correspondent A successful party was held in our Exchange on December 24th, 1937, to welcome the Christmas season of the Year, and honor the birth of our Lord. A tree symbolic of Christmas was prepared and decorated by our girl employees and generously loaded with gifts of all kinds hanging from its branches. An excellent dinner was served. This was arranged by a Committee headed by our Chief Operator, Miss Malana. and was so appetizing and delicious that it more than satisfied the appetites of our Dagupan people. After dinner they made the night even more significant by singing Christmas Carols and the Loyalty Song of our Company. They departed for their homes at a late hour feeling that Christmas had indeed been properly and royally welcomed by the employees of Dagupan Exchange. * The Reverend Parish Priest of Dagupan recently appointed Mr. Herrera, our District Manager, one of the members of a Committee to organize a new Boy Scout Troop in Dagupan. In a Jamboree, held by the Boy Scout troops of the entire province of Pangasinan during the town fiesta, the newly organized troop signally honored Mr. Herrera, and the other Committee members who had brought it into being, by winning the general championship of the meet. Mr. Herrera was also honored by a review of the Troops. held at the Plaza during the fiesta. * * * The Operating Section of our Dagupan Office were overjoyed to receive a Christmas Greeting from abroad sent by none other than our beloved Traffic Manager, Miss A. Cedrun. In spite of the beautiful things she must be seeing, and the wonderful times she must be enjoying she lets us know that her thoughts are still with us and we were wonderfully happy in her greeting. The message she sent was only a brief one but it meant a mighty lot to us and inspires us in our efforts to do a bigger and better traf· fie job. We wish her lots of good luck and happiness where ever she may be. * Mr. F. D. Belenson, our Wire Chief. pleasantly surprised us recently by giving an ice cream party to celebrate the birthday of his daughter. The party was held in his residence near the Agno River. Everything served was delicious beyond description. The men were specially favored by some wonderful punch which we think had quite a bit of "kick" in it. The ladies cast longing glances in its direction now and then. but had to be satisfied with that. Every employee who could be spared for the occasion was there and are still talking about the wonderful time they had. * * * Mr. Paco Zamora, our Commercial Re~ presentative from Manila. arrived in Dagu~ pan on January I 2th, accompanied by his charming wife. We were indeed glad to see him for he is an old and tried friend Ftbruary, I 9 3 8 Gooo TRANSMISSION of everyone here. especially our District Manager and his wife, who extended every possible courtesy to him and Mrs. Zamora while they were here. He and Mr. Herrera, made a number of calls to pay their respects to the Governor and newly elected officials of our Province. Mr. Herrera also accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Zamora to San Fernando. La Union, where they made courtesy calls on the Governor and Provincial Officials. Though their stay was brief it was a happy event to all of us here and we hope they enjoyed being with us as much as we enjoyed having them. One of the features of their visit was a party held in their honor at the Oriental Hotel by some of the friends of Mr. Herrera. We shall always have the welcome sign out for Mr. and Mrs. Zamora, and shall always be happy to see them arrive and sorry to see them leave. We have heard with deep regret of the sad death of the father of Miss Feliza Jovellanos, one of our former employees here who now lives in Tarlac and is employed by our Company there. Through this column we extend to Miss Jovellanos and her family the sincere sympathy and condolences of the entire Dagupan personnel. ILOILO By F. B. BLANCO, Correspondenr Our Assistant General Manager. Mr. Theo. L. Hall, with that contaminating smile of his, honored us with a long-expected visit, spreading sunshine and happiness all around. Just to show him how proud and how elated we were to welcome him, we held a party in his honor. Taking advantage of his infectious smiles and his pleasant humor, he was requested to pin the prizes on the 193 7 winners of the canvassing competition. Mr. Genaro de la Riarte ran away with the first prize, while Miss Filomena Vidal came in second. Dr. Cullen. Mr. Powell and Governor Confessor topped the list of invited guests. !Governor and Mr. Powell happened to be filling some previous engagements elsewhere and were unable to be with us.) It was a mighty jolly evening with speeches popping out now and then. Mr. Hall gave such an interesting and instructive talk that all the employees' temples wrinkled with concentration. He spoke so clearly and understandingly that everyone felt they were being taken into the confidence of the Management and that they were more than ever an integral part of our splendid company. With the exception of those who were on duty, the telephone men and women answered the call of the party with a one hundred percent attendance. Eats were in abundance and afterwards there was dancing with the orchestra music produced by the writer's phonograph and Mr. Rodriguez' records. One of the happy surprises of the evening came when Mr. Hall placed a radiophone call to Mrs. Marie Carlson, our absent manager who is in Manila and allowed all present to speak with her then by Long Distance. That was about the finest long distance call ever placed from our Exchange. Note: We are not sure our 1937 topnotcher, Mr. Genaro de la Riarte, did not bite his pin to be sure it was gold. • * * For the biggest surprise of the season. we take off our hats to Mr. and Mrs. Warren Barry. Mrs. Barry was known to us as Miss Pilar Santiago until she recently marched up Jloifo 1•mployees wt'/comc Mr. Holl with a partlj. 28 GOOD TRANSMISSION Manila. Philippin~s the marriage aisle arm in arm with Mr. Warren Barry. The Panay employees were agog and a-twitter to shake hands with Mr. Barry and to give their very best wishes to him and his bride, but their eagerness ended in disappointment when Mrs. Barry arrived in Iloilo alone. Mr. Barry. we understand. is on his way to the United States. * Mayor Campos recently requested us to give him a picture of our Panay Telephone Office. Does that make our noses that long' However, he did not ask for our employees' pictures which would have been still nicer. * * Not all of us are natives of lloilo, as a city, but we are proud of its rapid progress since its inauguration. A long projected sewerage system is under construction. and bridges and many other public improvements are under way as well, including street repairs in many parts of the city. * * * Canvassing is again hot in the air. Rival teams are being formed under the captainship of Mr. De la Riarte and Mrs. Cadiz. Competitors looks like it will be closer than ever this year. Let's hope for victory for the best team and many more stations for the company. * * * A test is being made by Mr. Kincaid who is now in Negros to make use of an available government telegraph cable and add another toll circuit between Iloilo and Pulupandan. It is hoped to eliminate a heavily grounded section and by this and other arrangements get a satisfactory circuit. All efforts of the government personnel to remedy this ground were in vain and now Mr. Kincaid is applying his long experience to the purpose. We wish you success, Mr. Kincaid. NEGROS Negros District experienced a very happy event last month in the form of a visit from our beloved Assistant General Manager, Mr. T ed. L. Hall. One of Mr. Hall's main purposes for coming here was to try to close a deal for new quarters which had been pending for a long time and held up due to conditions beyond our control. He was, as is usual with him, successful in this and we hope soon to see Bacolod Exchange housed in an attractive office, in a quieter and more appropriate surroundings. As a fitting conclusion to his short stay in Negros, Mr. Hall gave a dinner to all the employees on his last visit with them. Everyone who could possibly be spared came in from the out! ying exchanges and formed themselves into a happy group of people. Everyone had a splendid time. The evening was in reality a series of events. The employees had quietly planned to entertain Mr. Hall and he made bis plans for dinner without knowing this. Both plans were combined, however, making the party doubly successful. In the order of events there was first ice cream and cake at 6 :30 p. m., then everyone trekked to the spacious University Club which is built over the water like a boat with its prow pointing out to sea. Here some of us sat around in easy chairs and talked while others engaged in a bowling tournament in which the girls showed the men how bowling really should be done. It was a great game and a lot of fun. About 8: 3 0 we all went back to the hotel and found a private dining room arranged for us with places set at a long table beautifully decorated with " cadena de amor" and plenty of fruits. We all found our places and spent the next hour or so in one of the most delicious meals imaginable. mostly of the Filipino order of cooking for we have our particular taste. you know. But Mr. Hall and Mr. Kincaid liked it, too, so we were all satisfied. Any meal is. of course, made better by happy conversation and laughter and there was lots of that. We are sorry to chronicle here that one plate Negros Districr ptnonnd rnte-rtain for Mr. Halt. February, 1938 GOOD TRANSMISSIO~ 29 among the many there, was sadly neglected. It belonged to none other than our very charming and popular Cashier, Miss Gayonga, who spent most of the dinner hour at the telephone. Just calls from a "girlfriend", she said, but Mr. Espino who answered the telephone once or twice said that the girl-friend had about the most masculine voice he had ever heard in a young lady. Well maybe it was worth missing so much of that wonderful dinner for, and as Mr. Carpio said while eating her ice cream to keep it from getting cold: "ain't love grand". After we finished eating, Mr. Espino called on some of our people for a bit of entertainment and did they come through in fine style? We will say they did. It consisted of songs in the Visayan language by employees from each of the exchanges. First, came Silay with a song entitled "Ang pagbiya mo sa aeon" (When you left me), sang by Mrs. Demadara. the Chief Operator. Then the lineman, Mr. Baldomar, sang "You Had Promised to Love Me True". Talisay sang "Inang Huy um Mo" (Your Smile) , bv the Chief Operator, Miss Espinosa. For Pulupandan, Miss Tobias sang "Many Months Ago". Mrs. Lopez, our Chief Operator, sang "Na llo Sa Gugma" (Orphan of Love) and, lastly. came a song by Mr. Palermo, the Bacolod lineman, "It's a Shame to Tell a Lie". Visayan songs you may be interested to know have a sort of minor plaintiveness of air that touches something down deep inside of you and whenever we are together we like to sing these songs and feel the deep sentiment they give. We do not want to blow our own horn too much, so we will just say we are sure that Mr. Hall and Mr. Kincaid liked the programme. and let it go at that. The real treat, however, came at the very end of the dinner when Mr. Hall talked to us. He told us all about his trip, in that sort of confidential way he has of speaking-of what he had seen; of what he had suggested and of what he hoped from us in the future. We cannot tell you about it here because it sort of loses its force with the telling. but we all feel every word he said and neither the good advise. nor the encouragement he gave us, shall soon be forgotten. Thank you. Mr. Hall, for coming; someway we forgot you were our Assistant General MJnager because you seemed just like one of us, understanding our problems and our ambitions and joining in like one of us in trying to find the best way to do our jobs. TARLAC By G. L. DUAY, Correspondent Our sincere thanks are extended to Miss Beatriz Narciso, for her very welcome call at our Tarlac exchange during her recent visit to her family in Tarlac. She was, as you probably know, our Chief Operator for a number of years and while in that position made an enviable record and did much to endear herself to her co-workers and the public. In recognition of her splendid work here she was transferred to Baguio as Chief Operator. We understand that she is duplicating her success in that exchange and that both our officials and the public are much pleased with the quality of her work. The mountain climate of Baguio seems to have agreed with her immensely, and she looked exceedingly healthy and fit when she called on us. We hope that this visit was merely a forerunner of many more to come and that no matter how great her success in our Summer Capital, or the many new friends she may make there, her old exchange and her old friends and relatives will always have first place in her heart. Our deepest sympathy and most sincere condolences go out to Miss Feliza Jovellanos, and her family in the sad bereavement they suffered on January 15th, last. in the loss of her father. He was loved and respected by all those who knew him and his death leaves among us all a void that will not soon be filled. He was laid to rest the following day at Capaz, Tarlac, with a host of grieving friends at the graw,ide to pay their last respects and bid him a final good-bye. The Traffic Employees' deserve and ha,·e a million thanks for their thoughtful kindness to the writer of these articles during her recent visit to "our Big City". She arrived in Manila on January 14th, a stranger in a strange land, and was at once taken into their collective arms as one of their very own and made to feel the warmth of their friend-' ship and kindly help. l(J GOOD TRANSMISSION Manila, Philippines OVER THE TOP-ALMOST PLDTCO PIN SHOOTERS COP SECOND PLACE IN RECENT BOWLING TOURNAMENT By defeating the strong Ang Tibay Bowling Team Monday, January 11th, at the City Y.M.C.A. Bowling Alleys, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company Bowlers, copped second place in the last Inter-Commercial Open Bowling Tournament of l 9 3 7. The San Miguel Brewery team captured first place. This game was a very interesting one from the start. In fact I consider it the most thrilling and sensational bowling game that I have ever bad the pleasure of witnessing. Before the game started the Ang Tibay Bowlers were favored to win by heavy odds, but with the presence of Messrs. Hall, Kincaid. Gallipaue, Javier, Tagle, Herrera, Recio, Aniban, and the writer and a score of other TELCO rooters, to encourage and coach them, our bowlers put everything they had in them in the game and won it by fighting doggedly to the final ball of the last frame. In the first game, each team showed they were out to win by putting the best they bad to give in every play. This resulted in a very close contest which left both teams in the air until the very last ball was thrown. but the "Footwear" bowlers finally bowed down to the TELCO squad by a difference of ten pinfalls. In the second game, the TELCO players were again leading, up to the last frame. when Victoria. the Footwear Team star. made a spare in the last set. Although be made this spare, be also bad to make a spare of seven pinfalls to win the game and we were still confident we would be victorious. Every spectator and player, nerves on edge, stood up to see Victorio shoot the last ball. The crowd became a wild cheering mob. Unaffected by the excitement, Victorio took his time and shot so carefully and so cleverly that be made a spare of exactly seven pin falls, which decided the second game in favor of the "Footwear" aggregation, with a difference of just one pin. The last game was the most thrilling and most sensational of all. It, too, was a close contest. The run of scores was like a seesaw, one side going up, and then the other, and then both down again, in order. In the last two frames, the TELCO bowlers were leading by two pin falls, but Victorio, the Footwear star, came up from behind and made a strike and then a spare. After that even the most enthusiastic one of us lost hope and the Footwear bowlers practically conceded the game. Then like the "Mighty Casey at the Bat", Federico Ramos. our veteran player, and star Construction bowler. stepped up to shoot the last two frames for the TELCO team. We cheered him wildly. and told him to take bis time. Working as cooly and as methodically as a professional be also made a spare and then calmly equaled the Footwear star's record by a strike. Again the crowd went wild. Our hearts were in our throats for be still had to make a strike of seven pin falls to decide the game in our favor. As he was getting ready to shoot the last two balls, I stepped up and anxiously asked him if be thought he could make it. He did not say anything. but answered me with a smile as he took bis place to make the shot. On bis attempt to shoot the first ball, be stopped and made a Balasa as we call it in Tagalog. The crowd yelled mad! y and everyone was on h:bruary. J 9Hl GOOD TRANSMISSION 31 their feet to watch him make the shot. He made only four pins with the first ball and our hopes dropped to zero for he had to make three more to win the game and only one ball to go with the pins in difficult posicions. They were so far apart, three on the left and three on the riStht side. that it looked as though we were lost. After resting a minute he stepped up. looked the pins over for a minute, and calmly shot the last ball. When it got to within about two meters from the pins, he turned around, waved to us, and shouted: "There goes your old game". And sure enough, there it was: three pins, and the game ours by one pin, but that was as good as a million. The points in all were three to one: three points for our "good old Telephone Company", and one point for the Ang Tibay Footwear combination. If a crowd of people ever went wild, we did, for with all the odds against us, and against one of the strongest teams in the League, we had won. This is our first time to capture a place in the Inter-Commercial Open Bowling Tournament, and we hope to do it one better next year and capture first place. "Who knows .. . . . . "' Our players are already training hard and consistently for the coming year and, judging from all indications and the fast pace they are making toward perfection of their various styles, timings. aims and strokes, I think I can say with reasonable assurance that they will be the Champions of next year's tilt, or the teams that will beat them will have to play the hardest bowling games ever played in Manila. The present Champions may take this as a mere boast, but time will tell. The scores in all the games were as follows: far Telco. Game. )\ndrada 101 Esmell;mer 104 Hernandez I 08 Jiao Sablada IOI Ramos 104 528 Ang Ti bay. Salumbre Ill Angeles 94 Millanes I 09 \1.arquez 110 Victoria 94 518 Znd 3rd Game. 90 91 I 05 115 116 519 112 97 98 I 06 I 07 520 Game. 116 104 90 I 08 122 540 I 06 96 115 121 I 0 I 539 Totals. 307 311 108 195 324 342 1.587 329 287 122 J3 7 102 1.577 Through Good Transmission, I wish to congratulate our bowlers for their fine playing and splendid success, and hope that they will fulfill all of our expectations and capture first place in this year's Contest for our "dear old Telephone Company". -Leo. P. Dumlao. WAS THIS YOU, SISTER? A woman motorist was driving along a country road when she noticed a couple of repairmen climbing telephone poles. "Fools." she exclaimed to her companion, " they must think I never drove before." Him-Well, I suppose you're angry because I came home with this black eye last night. Her (sweetly) -Not at all, dear. You may not remember it, but when you came home you didn't have that black eye. Cop: "Say! Howja like to see our jail?" Motorist: "Full of my wife's relatives!" Our own Mr. Christianson was a baseball player onct. At his right is Mr. Prtty Corcoran of San Francisco. California. IN THIS ISSUE The Telephone at the Exchange Toll Maintenance Office F. A. Collector's Job That Airplane Ride! · Cutting Grass! Dangerous? No! comPEn5ATIDn does NOT relieve 11 I I I I ~ LIFE'S THORNS T HE trouble with a lot of us is that we want to accomplish many things, but aren't willing to pay the price. If life were a game in which the rewards were handed out on a silver platter to anyone who happened to ask for them, lots of folks would sleep in rose-beds. But, unfortunately, you've got to reckon with the thorns. "He who would climb a tree," said Thackeray, "must grasp its branches-not the blossoms." Which means that you've got to pull yourself up over the rough places and not expect simply to coast down hill all the time. We get pretty much what we go after-if we go after it hard enough and persistently enough. About the only thing that has ever come into my life without being worked for or sought after is trouble. And a lot of that could be traced back (if I were in the habit of looking back, which I'm not!) to a desire to take hold of the blossoms instead of grasping the branches. Thorns serve a purpose. They teach us the lesson that, even in plucking roses, one must go about it with care and skill and practical knowledge-or get stuck. ---S. R. Bulletin Sugar News Press, Manila