It might be thought that the complex mechanism of an automatic exchange would constantly be getting out of order, but it is found to work with great smoothness. Each automatic switchboard has a skilled electrician in attendance, and he is informed instantly of any faulty working by means of supervisory lamps and other signals. Even without these signals the attendant would be quickly aware of any breakdown, for his ear becomes so accustomed to the sounds made by the apparatus during the connecting-up, that any abnormal sound due to faulty connecting attracts his attention at once. However detected, the faults are put right immediately, and it often happens that a defective line is noted and repaired before the subscriber knows that anything is wrong. On account of its high speed in making connexions and disconnexions, its absolute accuracy, and its privacy, the automatic telephone system has proved most popular wherever it has been given a fair trial. Its advantages are most obvious in large city exchanges where the traffic during business hours is tremendously heavy, and it is probable that before very long the automatic system will have replaced manual methods for all such exchanges. The telephone system is more highly developed in the United States than in this country, and some of the exchanges have been made to do a great deal more than simply transmit messages. For instance, in Chicago there is a system by which a subscriber, on connecting himself to a special circuit, is automatically informed of the correct time, by means of phonographs, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. New York goes further than this however, and has a regular system of news circulation by telephone. According to _Electricity_, the daily programme is as follows: “8 a.m., exact astronomical time; 8 to 9 a.m., weather reports, London Stock Exchange news, special news item; 9 to 9.30 a.m., sales, amusements, business events; 9.45 to 10 a.m., personal news, small notices; 10 to 10.30 a.m., New York Stock Exchange and market news; 11.30 a.m. to 12 noon, local news, miscellaneous; 12 noon, exact astronomical time, latest telegrams, military and parliamentary news; 2 to 2.15 p.m., European cables; 1.15 to 2.30 p.m., Washington news; 2.30 to 2.45 p.m., fashions, ladies’ news; 2.45 to 3.15 p.m., sporting and theatrical news; 3.15 to 3.30 p.m., closing news from Wall Street; 3.30 to 5 p.m., musical news, recitals, etc.; 5 to 6 p.m., feuilleton sketches, literary news; 8 to 10.30 p.m., selected evening performance--music, opera, recitations.” Considering the elaborate nature of this scheme one might imagine that the subscription would be high, but as a matter of fact it is only six shillings per month.