European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 11, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Agazine a for a Short and incomplete list of phone f arts to make a Call irom a pay phone i Naly you need a phone Token a Bronze color Coin with a Channel carved through the Middle. Many Small shops and cafes use them As change. The easiest Way to make b Call in Holland and in Many european countries is through the Post office. In Holland it s the ., the Post Telefson Tele Graaf. Many of the  Offices in larger towns and cities remain open in the evening. Go to the Tele phone counter fill out a slip with your number and get on assignment Tor a Telephone Booth. If you Are calling dutch information and there Are callers trying to get information ahead of you. You will be briefed As to your status in line. Hel cantal Wach Tonden voor u is Negen Means you re no. 9 in line the number of people waiting ahead of you is  also when using directory assistance be prepared Lor a rapid string of names As the operator confirms the per son you re looking for with the dutch name  Victor. Anna Nico. Alco. Utrecht up Salon Simon is dutch operator spelling for Van Guys for example. In Spain pay phones can be found inside bars train stations and movie Heaters. Many inside phone Booths still require the Fyna. The three peseta phone Token. Pay phones on the Street usually take coins. Three pesetas is the minimum charge. Spanish phone books Are next to worthless there s a charge for making changes in the directory and few people bother to notify the phone company when they move. Dial 003 for information. Germany has two types of pay phones. Inland Booths Lor Calls within Germany. Ausland Booths Lor International Calls. The minimum charge is 20 pfennig. There Are usually slots Tor 10 and 50-Pfennlg coins and 1 Mark pieces in the Inland Booths 10 pfennig. 1 Mark and 5 Marks in Ausland Booths. Add More Money when you see the Sprech Zeit Zug ende time is up Light come on. Calls can also be made at most of the 20.000 Post offices in Germany. Go to the counter marked telethon or Fer Sprecher. Hand Over your number and you la be directed to a Booth. Don t be surprised or upset ii the German you Call seems terse to the Point of rudeness. Germans Are charged for making local Calls and have developed an abrupt but cheap manner of conversing on the Dep site the Cost however the Bunde Spost reports that 25 billion phone Calls were made in Germany last y a word of caution Tor those who have a huge store of 10-Plennig pieces and figure they la make a Call to the states Don t bother. A Call to the East coast will use up the pfennig faster than you can get them into the finally gel your Call through what you hear depends entirely on the country. We might my hello in America but that s about the Only  ready. Russians say i m  the French say hello who is on the line. And chinese with hey hey who Are you 3 course the sound of being Hung up on is in. . Mem Lnla Vereal. Sa5 photo by Gus Schuettler Nom com outdated and War Sefc technology in t the Only thing plaguing Britain Call Bott. Her majesty s secret service by Dave Diehl . Bureau finding a pay phone to use May be the least of worries for travellers in Britain. What May be a problem is finding one that . Britain s phone boxes Are hard to miss. Those Bright red cast Iron monoliths have become one of the most recognizable pieces of architecture in the British Countryside. Seasoned travellers though know that they usually House one of the most out of Date and unreliable bits of telecommunication in the world. A recent Survey done by the daily mall a nationwide newspaper found that just 37 out of 100 phone boxes tried in London had a working Telephone inside. And it you think London is the worst in the country when it comes to depriving tourists and residents of the Chance to stay in touch you re wrong phone boxes in Liverpool Birmingham Glasgow and Newcastle were also tested with similar results. Of the 100 tested in those cities Only 43 worked. Only nine of the 25 tested in Newcastle would allow a Call. A spokeswoman Lor Ottel the watchdog Agency set up last year to keep an Eye on British telecoms the Mabell of the . Said they found that 50 percent of those who use Call boxes have  the recent de nationalization of British telecoms May be the answer to phone Booth users woes. The reorganized company is making Progress in installing phone works with a new look and fortunately new phones that Are supposed to deter vandals. Much to la Chagrin of the lovers of the traditional phone Box though the new Standard is made of plexiglass and aluminium a tar cry from those lovable red boxes. But Why do phone Box users experience so much trouble most often the Booths Are vandalized rendering them useless. Another common problem seems to be that the phones Haven t been maintained property. Any regular and therefore frustrated user of the British Call Box will recognize a few of the following troubles that can face anyone swinging open those cast Iron doors you pick up the receiver if there is one and there is no dial tone. No sound. Absolutely no sign of life. You pick up the receiver place your 10-Pence Coin in its holding position the phone won t fully accept a Coin until the party on the other end answers and a beep sounds. The other party answers and the contraption won t Lake the Money. You stand there looking foolish the person you be called yells vainly into the receiver. You do the same As above but the machine lakes the Money and gives it right Back via the change Slot. And does t connect you. When you do find a phone that works you la More than Likely recognize it by the line forming at the door. Take it As a Good Opportunity to learn the great British Artol  stand in line and Wail. Chances Are. The next phone is several blocks away. It probably does t work. It it does the line to use it is probably just As Long. If everything on the phone is working but the Money mechanism you re still in Luck if you live in great Britain and have a phone at Home. Call the operator dial 100 and say that you Are at one of their Lew inoperative phone boxes and would like to charge the Call to your Home Pine. This works As Long As your Call is important because the list of questions they la be asking won t Jushpy a Call to say hello to a Friend across town. What if you want to Call collect inside great Britain no problem. Outside the country better Call the operator. And Good Luck. Hore Are a few things to remember before venturing into the mystical realm of Britain s red boxes always make sure you have at least one 10-Pence Coin before you try to use a pay phone. That s the minimum charge. This goes Lor the older phones Only. The newer boxes beginning to turn up in most major cities accept 2 Pence 10 Pence and 60 Pence coins. If you re Lucky enough to find one of these gems you la see that British telecoms is getting closer to 20th Century communications the new phones Are the push Button Type and give change Back if your Call ends before the Money runs out. The most important numbers to remember Are 100 the operator and 192, for directory assistance. In London directory assistance is reached by dealing 191. Chances Are you la need one or the other number because the phone May not take your Money and you la be among a rare few if you can find any remnant of a Telephone Book inside or near the Box. If your Call is going to be lengthy or a Good distance away remember to have enough Money on hand. In the old boxes Only one 10-Pence Coin can be accepted at a time. That initial tone you heard will be repeated when it s time to feed the phone More Cash. Monday november 11, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 13