The Portland daily press., 1889-03-27
THE STATISTICS or THE TELEPHONE.
Hello Central" Sent Over the Wires
,o5 500 Times a Day.
A System Which Would EncircIe the
Earth Nearly Ten Times.
Cities Which are Getting Rid of the
Overhead Wires.

BosToN. March 26.-The stockholders of
the American Bell Telephone Company held
their ninth annual meeting In the Meionaon
this morning, the 70 gentlemen present being
called to order by President Howard Stock
ton at II o'clock.
The annual report Of the directors, pre-
sented through President Howard Stockton.
is an interesting document From the sta
tistics therein contained it appears that in
1889 there were 742 exchanges, an increase of
three over the preceding year; 452 branch
offices; 142, ,6S miles of wire on poles, an in
crease of a. 1872 miles ;.1O. .266 miles of wire on
buildings, an increase of Al miles; 1908
miles OF wire underground, an increase Of
9O29 miles, 036 miles OF wire submarine, an
Increase OF Ill miles; 143, ,687 circuits, an in
crease Of II, ,G83 circuits; 6310 employees, an
increase Of ~; l7i,454 subscribers. an in
There were 9i7 extra territorial wires on
January /. last, an increase Of 20; A,OlQ
miles OF pole wire, an Inc tease OF 1852; and
70, ,293 miles OF wire, and Increase OF l7,ll4.
In underground wire Albany has one mile +;
Boston, 1880 miles, being an Increase over
the preceding year Of 844 miles; Brooklyn
has 2l97 miles, an increase Of 754 miles; Chi
cago has 1927, an Increase OF 1127; Detroit
has 500. an increase of 325; Louisville has
469, an increase Of 23l New York has 5203,
an increase of 4083; Pittsburg has 2370, an
Increase of 1872; Washington has 1891, an in
crease Of 253. Thus they have 17,03S miles
OF underground wires, an increase OF 9029
miles over the number Of the preceding year.
There we're All, ,511 licensed instruments on
December 20. 1888, and during last year this
number was increased by 81, ,234. The esti-
mated number of daily connections in the
United States is 1,051, ,566, or total Of $685.
921 $50 per year. The extra territorial earn
ings for the year amounted to S77l, ,734 %, of
which the company's share was S79, ,79267,
an increase of S37, 1853 over 1887. The mile
age of wire is 243,764, as against 2O1,9ll in
1887
The lines of the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company have been extended
during the year 1888 from Albany to Buf-
talo, and new lines have been built from
Chicago to Milwaukee, and from Boston to
Providence. An additional pole line
New York and New Haven. Altogether
about 81, 100000 has been spent on the long
lines, which now comprises 26,038 miles OF
wire. The greater part Of this money has
been obtained by the issue on the 1st of Aug
ust last of S2,000,000 Z per cent debenture
bonds of the American Bell Telephone CON-
pany, which were offered to the stockholders
at par. The whole amount was subscribed
for except IL bonds Of $1,000 each, which
were afterward sold at auction.
The service on the long lines has been ex-
cellent, and the business is increasing, but
the best results cannot be expected until the
principal exchanges shall have adopted the
metallic circuit system; exchange subscrib-
ers in the cities connected by the long lines
will then be able to converse directly through
their exchange Instruments.