Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1890-12-11
WrsTERN UNION A RIrAL.
The Bell Telephone Company to Have
Competitor After 1906.

New YoRK, Dec. g.--Soinething Ia going
on in telephone and telegraph circles Which
NAV prove to be of great public interest
one Of these days The Bell telephone
people are, perhaps, the most close-mouthed
CORPORATION in existence, and among them
are some of the most elaborate nnanciers
OF the age.
Although there is not much talebearins
between the men who control the western
Union Telegraph Company. and their
friends, the dear public, yet these officers
are loquacity itself as compared To the
directory of the Bell Telephone Company.
So that It must have been from somebody
connected with the Western Union that
the story of apprehension and of a possible
gigantic tussle between colossal monopoliea
has leaked out.
In NUTSHELL it it being said in well.
informed circles that the chances are that
within the next two years the Western
Union Telegraph company will find itself
confronted by rival whose plant Is COM
plete, whose service is perfect, and whose
capital is immense. In other words, II II
beginning to be suspected that the Bell
Telephone people, under whatever alias
they may choose to act, have conceived 9
scheme which, for subtlcty, patience and
audacity, exceeds anyone Of the remarkable
achievements by which jay Gould BULL
dozed the Western Union into taking him
in as chief partner.
In the year 1898 the first, as it is the CHIEF,
of the Bell telephone patents, will expire.
That is, the patent which controls the
tubc-like instrument which is held at tho
ear when message is being received. After
1893 anybody will be at liberty to manu-
facture these appliances, md they will be
doubtless put into general use for house
telephones and for neighborhood tele..
phones. II is doubtless the fact that this
patent expires which has led the Bell tele'
phone people TO decide practically to aban-
don the old style business of telephonink
and to substitute in its place long-distance
machines.
This change is going on much more rap.
idly than the public suspects, and yet not
so rapidly as to attract general attention.
The new long-distance plant is being SUBJ
stituted gradually for the old one, and the
first thing the public will discover will be
that they have got to do business through
the telephone on the new system.
In 1896 the contract between the Western
Union Company and the Bell Telephone
people expires. BY the terms of their con-
tract the telephone people have hitherto
monopolized telephoning and the tele-
graph people, the sending of telegraph dis
patches. But when 1896 has come it will
be found that the telephone. people will
have almost as many miles of wire as the
| Western Union now possesses, and that
these wires will cover the entire country,
and will, at least, connect chief cities with
| one another.
This plant will be far superior to the
Western Union plant, for il will consist Of
copper wires, built and maintained accord.
ing to the latest scientific discoveries, these
wires being capable of multiplcx tele-
graphic messages and at the same time
carrying telephone message. For the
| astounding discovery has recently been
made that it is possible to send quadruplex
messages over these wires, between New
| York and Philadelphia, for instance; and,
At the same moment, use the wires for the
transmission of spoken messages
With a plant extending all over the
country, capable of instantaneous service,
both Geographic and telephone, controlled
by a corporation as powerful financially as
any in the country in proportion to its in
terests and with no resting contracts to
prevent the use of this plan for telcgraphic
| purposes, it is now believed to be the pur-
| pose of the Bell people as soon as their re-
1ations with the Western Union are ter
minated legally to appear before the public
as a competitor for Geographic business,
and in the capacity of being able to serve
the community at the same time either as
carriers of teegraphic dispatches or tele-
phonic messages.