Perhaps a small boy has thrown a snake across the wires or driven a nail into a cable.

Perhaps some self-reliant citizen has moved his own telephone from one room to another.

Perhaps a sudden rainstorm has splashed its fatal moisture upon an unwiped joint.

Or perhaps a submarine cable has been sat upon by the Lusitania and flattened to death.

But no matter what the trouble, a telephone system cannot be stopped for repairs.
It cannot be picked up and put into a dry-dock.