Html Wrap Table Cell

Html Wrap Table Cell

Html Wrap Table Cell

Posted on: December 15, 2011 - 11:34 pm
by Admin

During the last twenty years of the 19th century, only three companies were engaged in the manufacture of telephone switchboards. Other switchboards were being constructed by individual artisans who produced one-of-a-kind boards.

Western Telephone Construction Company

Western was located in Chicago, Illinois and produced one of the first 100-drop switchboards in America. It was designed to be mounted directly on a wall or on a partition in an exchange. The drops and jacks were built up between hard-rubber partitions which were shaped much like an egg carton, with each item occupying a single cell. Below the line drops was a row of ten clearing-out drops included in series in the tip side of the cord circuit. This row had a thin metal shield of magnetic material which prevented crosstalk between two neighboring drops.

The plugs were arranged in two rows of ten on the horizontal portion of the table, and in front of them was a row of circuit-changing levers. The entire case containing line-drops was hinged, allowing the board to be opened for repairs. The line wires were bundled into cables, one for each row, and encased in cotton-wrapped silk. The various cables leading to the underside of the table were formed into a bigger, tightly laced cable which then fell beneath the table where they were again allowed to separate and hang by weights.