Miscellany: Telephone

Industries never tire of reciting their greatness. Occasionally the recital is an astonishing reminder of the size and complexity of social and industrial organization. Last week, for example, the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. issued a booklet of statistics on its busi- ness—just figures—but large ones: ¶ 20.5 billion telephone conversations a year in the U. S. ¶ 24.5 million telephones in use. ¶ 67.8 million miles of telephone wire strung from pole to pole. ¶ 63% of the world's telephones in the U. S.

¶Per capita conversations number 182 a year in the U....

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