PLAN No. 1232. TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT
This department has charge of the telephone traffic. The operators, practically always young women, make connections on calls by subscribers. There are usually no men on the floor of a telephone exchange except the switchboard and maintenance men. A large telephone exchange may have a male traffic manager. Large companies may have a traffic-engineering department which plans and directs the arrangement of switchboard sections, and the division of lines between operators in order to insure efficient service. Men with some prior telephone experience who can not do heavy physical work, might qualify for minor positions under direction of the traffic engineer. These would be of the same general character as those with the engineering department, except that they deal only with traffic. Rates of pay, working hours, and future possibilities are practically the same as in an engineering department.
PLAN No. 1233. STEAM RAILROADS
Practically all steam railroads now have electrical departments. The men in such departments install and maintain the electric train lighting equipment and do such electrical construction—installation of generators, motors, wiring, and the like—as may be required on the system. Each steam road may have an electrical superintendent to whom electricians and their helpers report.
The railroad electrician’s work includes maintenance of electric train lighting generators, storage batteries, and electric wiring of cars and buildings; it includes armature winding and rewinding, and installation of generators and motors. Obviously, years of experience and training are necessary, but at the bottom of the ladder there are opportunities for inexperienced men to start in as helpers. The work is interesting and steady. Usually full use of hands and good sight and hearing are required. While there is some lifting and heavy work, on the whole the duties are not arduous. About half of the work is out of doors and half inside. The rates of pay for a beginner will vary from $40 to $75, for a journeyman from $75 to $150, and for a superintendent from $125 to $300. Men are furnished free with a certain amount of railroad transportation for themselves and families, the amount of transportation thus allowed increasing with the man’s responsibilities and with the length of his service.
PLAN No. 1234. BEEKEEPING AS A VOCATION
Acknowledgments.
Acknowledgment is due Dr. E. F. Phillips, Apiculturist of the Bureau of Entomology. United States Department of Agriculture; to F. C. Pellett and C. P. Dadant, editors of the American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Ill., and A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio, for suggestions, data, and illustrations; also to Dr. John Cummings, of the Research Division, for editorial assistance.
The increased use of honey during the war and the possession of some previous knowledge of bees may have directed the attention of a large number of you, who are disabled, to the possibility of making beekeeping your life work. During the war the shortage of sugar made the larger use of other sweets imperative, and it was essential that the use of these substitutes be augmented to the greatest possible extent. The necessary introduction of honey has made its deliciousness, palatability, and healthfulness widely known and will lead to its continuous and increased general domestic use. The export demand for American honey has recently increased beyond any former record and the price has doubled. Beekeeping and honey production present an opportunity to you for profitable livelihood with small investment. It is to your personal advantage to consider it carefully.