Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1883-09-06
Education and IabOr.

tined. lie said the condition of the
laooflng man was pretty much the
same the world over; though the coal
miners IN England are better off than
In TINS country; their homes We're
pieasanter and their hours of labor
shorter. Witness thought that the
general intelligence of the skilled
workman was greater abroad than
here. The only thought of the work
man In this country was to get money
enough to pay his rent and get enough
to live on. Witness asserted that
! II blow was not struck
at monopoly before the
expiration OF ten years one of the
! blOOdleSt revolutions that ever oc-
CURED would happen. There seemed
to be a growing tendency to encour-
/ age monopoly and he predicted that
unless some action was taken to check
1t the country would be ruined. The
next witness, Dr. Marvin Green, testi-
tied that he had been president Of the
! Western Union Telegraph company
for about five years. He became con
nected with the Western Union in
1866. He alluded to an appropriation
of $50, 900 made by congress for ex-
/ pertinent on the first attempt made on
the underground line from Baltimore
to W Washington, but the knowledge of
the insulation was not very good and
the current escaped through the rub
| Der 1nsulatOrs Dr. Green held that
! whenever they were compelled to put
their wires undr groundit would result
IN detriment to the public service. He
had seen statement in some paper
that the wires in England were all
under ground, but he noticed when
there not long ago, upon looking out
OF ms hotel windows, a perfect net
work OF wires overhead. Theirs was
as much complaint against the wires
there as here. Many of the govern
ment wires there were under ground.
but the poles began long before you
! got out OF the city. The w. U. had
absorbed large number of smaller
companies. In respect to telegraph
/ service, the witness said that there was
no such telegraph service in the world
as in the United States. In giving a
historyo of the development of the tel
egraph Dr. Green said that the
Morse invention was first brought
before the public in 1897, and
an appropriation was made by con
gress for experiments the following
year, and for attending to the diff
Guilty OF laying wires underground.
The witness said that communication
was had for a long distance under
water; that there was great troubles
/ experienced III the experiment of lay
ing wires under ground between
Washington and Baltimore. The
pole system was adopted in place of
the underground plan. At the time
the witness went into the business
lines had been extended into the
South and West but not one of these
lines had paid q dividend. The New
York, Albany & Buffalo was paying
) per cent. per annum aud one or two
others Of the Northern lines was yield
ing a small percentage upon The orig
inal investment The New Orleans
& Ohio company was entirely
sunk its owner. Many of the
smaller companies had been absorbed
by the larger companies. Telegraph
property in 1856 began to yield divi-
dends and heavy expenses were in
Cured on running their offices and
caring for their lines. The public,
witness added, seemed slow in appre-
ciatin- the difficulties under which
the telegraph companies labored. In
every instance, when there was a con-
solidation of companies, it had been
a positive gain to the public. The
Western Union company in 1866 had
absorbed the U. S. telegraph COM
pany. which had extended its wires to
Salt Lake and the northwest and also
the American telegraph company.
The capital of the W. U. at that
time was 81, 061, 900. The Bell tele-
phone company had to-day a capital
Of about $21, 100000. 1t was neces-
rary years ago to buy up rights-of-
way along the railroad, and the com
pany now owned about 900. The
capital of the Western Union, witness
said was formerly 5000 a mile, but to-
day was less than 5000. The miles Of
wire in this country had been in
creased from $500 to over 5000
miles. During the last five years the
number of mile poles have
been increased from 91,0O2
to 131, $50 miles of wire from
O6,2O2 to 374, 36S; offices from 8.O14
to 12,06S; messages from %, 918, 1874 to
IS, $40, 247. The witness stated that
the capacity of the company was
double what it was five years ago.
Witness asserted they could do the
business much cheaper if they adopt
ed the English postofice system, and
took their own time to do it, and he
was satisfied that there was no tele-
graph service in the world as perfect
as that of the Western Union. The
capital stock Of the w. =. was about
/ $4,000, 900. In the course of his testi-
mony DR. Green spoke of the franchises
they owned on railroads along which
they had the right-of-way and ex-
planned to the committee that the rail
road had the use of certain wires for
/ the conduct of their transportation
business as pay for such franchises.
The railroads had their own operators
and used the company's wires or had
! a S6DaTatn Wire hofEepn variOJlS OOIntS