St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1891-06-18
THOSE TELEGRAPH POLES.

EDITOR OAIEDONIAN.-
Several of your citizens knowing
that l had built telegraph lines, and
had litigation with the Western
Union company regarding rights Of
wav) have asked me about the neces-
sity of two lines Of poles on your
Eastern avenue, etc.
For Geographic purposes, or for
Geographic and electric light pur-
poses, one side of the street is ample.
Toillustrate, in the city of Brooklyn,
n. Y, all the wires, about twelve
hundred in all, were kept on one side
of the street (Adams) leading from
the Brooklyn bridge. For the use Of
St. Johnsbury thirty wires will be all
they will want for century. The
Western Union company have four
wires leading into your village, three
over the Passumpsic railroad and
one over that road that goes to
Swanton, with the regular local wire
to Swanton, so that there can be but
eight live wires up the avenue, as the
plain office is a loop, or each wire
goes up and back again. AS this is
twice the number of wires they had
short time ago, there is very little
likelihood of their using more wires
for at least twenty years.
But you say what is all this fuss
about? 1t is simple enough if you
see the point. The Western Union
company have for years recognized
the fact that the coming power is
electricity, that for street purposes it
must be taken along the curb line,
so they have been getting all the
rights of way on unoccupied sides of
important streets that they could,
SOFAS to be in a position to say to
any new enterprise, Give US a per
cent of your earnings and we will let
you on our streets"
They exacted an agreement from
the telephone folks, when they were
poor and just beginning, that they
should pay them fifteen per cent of
their earnings for the right to use, in
a very limited way, their rights and
franchises, the rights given them by
the public. That agreement is in
force now. When you pay Mr.. Bing-
ham 81 telephone rental you pay the
Western Union company 1 5 cents for
rights which you gave them.
know an instance where this same
company said to a newcomer in a
city, starting in electric business, IN
less you pay us, or give us valuable
interests in your receipts we will
drive you out of town, for we own
all the rights of way; and the young
man had to do it, and thepublic paid
for that which they had given away.
The line is up; but what will happen
when the trees are bent down with
snow and sleet? then the axe will
finish the Doctors shade trees-that
is the inevita BILE, and he must remem-
Der that the old-fashioned notion
that man can defend his castle is
not in force in Vermont when a tele-
graph company wants to take pos
session of it.
Regarding the workmanship, the
poles should be set in the curbstone
so that a team could turn out to
that point without danger of the
hub striking the pole, in a dark
night. The line was evidently built
by a lawless set of linemen who are
in the habit of working on railroad
rights where no attention need be
paid to small things; but if a man
driving down the avenue in the even
ing meets heavy loaded team and
in taking the right strikes his for
ward wheel against the pole, and is
killed, thing likely to happen, who
pays the damage? l warrant the
telegraph company were discrete
enough to get the authority as to
location, so as to clear their skirts.
Yours truly, L. B. HARRIS.
Lyndonville, Vt, June 10, 81