esent excellence of this highly interesting system.

=Characteristics of System.= The name "automanual" is coined from the
two words, automatic and manual, and is intended to suggest the idea
that the system partakes in part of the features of the automatic system
and in part of those of the manual system.

We regret that neither space nor the professional relation which we have
had with the development of this system will permit us to make public an
extended and detailed description of its apparatus and circuits. Only
the general features of the system may, therefore, be dealt with.

[Illustration: POWER APPARATUS FOR COMMON-BATTERY MANUAL OFFICE OF
MEDIUM SIZE]

The underlying idea of the automanual system is to relieve the
subscriber of all work in connection with the building up of his
connection, except the asking for it; to complicate the subscriber's
station equipment in no way, it being left the same as in the
common-battery manual system; to do away with manual apparatus, such as
jacks, cords and plugs, at the central office, and to substitute for it
automatic switching apparatus which will be guided in its movements,
not by the subscriber, but by a very much smaller number of operators
than would be necessary to manipulate a manual switchboard.

=General Features of Operation.= A broad view of the operation of the
system is this. The subscriber desiring to make a call takes down his
receiver, and this causes a lamp to light in front of an operator. The
operator presses a button and is in telephonic communication with the
subscriber. Receiving the number desired, the operator sets it up on a
keyboard in just about the same way that a typist will set up the
letters of a short word on a typewriting machine. The setting up of the
number on the keyboard being accomplished, the proper condition of
control of the associated automatic apparatus at the central office is
established and the operator has no further connection with the call.
The automatic switching apparatus guided by the conditions set up on the
operator's keyboard proceeds to make the proper selection of trunks and
to establish the proper connections through them to build up a talking
circuit between the calling subscriber and the called and to ring the
called subscriber's bell, or, if his line is found busy, the apparatus
refuses to connect with it and sends a busy signal back to the calling
subscriber. The operator performs no work in disconnectin