The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-04-22
CEASELESS CHATTER.
.ou.ylcrs AND E1sUESs sHo"iSS
ryr AMOUNT or SMALL TALK.
,n,.rs,tinx Statistics About the Is'eP"'"'
service In This cosntry-oAe'' s
Leads tho World.

r.ba fourteenth annual rePoi' Va
rec,ors Of the American Bell Ie'ep"o".
,..nv g,ves even more than the usuai
Information concerning the compass .
business and has much that Is OF inter
est TO the general public as we" Do ~
the security holders.
THE company had at the close OF ,he
lac, fiscal wear. December 70. 1893, 0oo'ioi
instruments in the hands OF hceHsee'
under rental. a gain Of BIN Tor the
wharf.-the smallest gain since lSs5; IL mas
90 4so miles OF wire in use, or i5,cSs more
- % the close of the previous year
oS this 2l4.G6 miles are on poles, lo,4s-
,,.,es on buildings and 1868 miles under
oround The underground mileage has
been increased 30, 459 miles during the
year. 80, ,.,
,,,bere are S3S exchanges and 51 branch
offices a gain over the previous year OF
% to ~ respectively. The company mas
m t2l employees, a gain OF 4ol; zVo'o5I
circuits and 237,1s6 stations. the est-
mated number of exchange connections
daily in the United States, made up from
actual count in most Of the exchanges,
is l.g71. 667. or a total per year OF about
coo OOO. 600 The number of daily calls, per
station. varies in different exchanges
from two TO eighteen, the aV-
eraoe throughout the United states
being eight, which Is about the
same as the number reported last
year. The average cost to the SUBSCRIBER
varies according to the size or the eX-
change and character Of the service from
less than 10 s IL cents per connection.
There are 4G.71 miles of pole lines Tor
the extra territorial and toll lines ana
l5i.lO6 miles of wire gain, Tor the
wear. in the former of 1888. and the
latter. Of q .lOi. The average daily terri
torial lines Is 3i321. or total for the
wear Of about II 100000. The toll revenue
reported by all companies for the year
1S,3. was S2146.677.77. and the earnings or
the extra-territorial lines, included in
the above sum, amounted TO ,5U. This
does not. however, include the earnings
of the American Telephone and Tele-
graph Company OF the s92l,5T, the
share Of the Bell Company is $li2.siO.Z'.
or sS165.73 more than for the previous
year. The American Telephone and Tele-
graph Company has 1889 miles OF under
ground wire, making the actual aggregate
Of underground wire in use 1880 miles.
The Financial Panic
The report further notes that the out
nut of telephones during the first seven
months Of the year amounted to more
than 5000. Then the financial panic
caused the returns of instruments TO
exceed the output, and a part OF the
gain thus made was lost, the total out
put for the year being 1911. Another
fact tending to show the intimate con-
nection Of the telephone system with
the commercial activity OF the country
is that the number Of daily exchange
connections fell off during the latter part
Of the year so that the aggregate, which
had previously shown a marked Increase
from year 90 year. has remained almost
unchanged since our last report. In spite.
however Of the financial strngency
which continued through the latter part
of the year, most Of the licensed COM
panies have found means TO complete
the work Of extension and improvement
already I'm hand 1t will be observed
that noteworthy progress has been made
in the development of the underground
system. At the close Of the year more than
a third of the total mileage of exchange
wire of the whole country was in opera
ton in underground conduits.
The Long Distance Service
Inere nave Dtcn dluCu 70 lUt ipiS us
lance system during tho year, 423 mile:
OF pole line, 1884 miles OF wire and eight
new Offices have been opened; making in
operation on January 1. 1894, a total of
$685. miles Of poles and $3.50 miles OF
wire. There are ia offices under its i'm
mediate operation.
The larger cities to which the lines
were extended. and IN which service was
opened during the year, are Detroit,
Cleveland Cincinnati, Dayton. and In
dianapOis The line from Dayton 20 In
dianapolis forms link tn a proposed
through line connecting Pittsburg and
places to the east with ST. Louis and
the principal cities en- route. The line
| connecting DertOit, by the way Of To-
! ledo and Alaumee. with Cincinnati, cross
es the above line near Dayton. and reach
Is directly. and through such connection,
large amount Of extra territorial work
! Of the Central Union Company in the
| States Of Ohio and Indiana. The Long
! Distance lines now reach and connect the
exchanges OF % companies licenses.
The general excellence Of the construc-
ton of the Long Distance lines is shown
by the fact that there were no serious
| Interruptions from storms during the
year.
The use Of the lines steadily increases,
anu lNt hummer OF toIltcllDNS lndu'
shows a very satisfactory increase IN
the past year over the year 1892.
The proportions which the telephone
work has assumed are shown by the fact
that the telephone companies operating
under license from this company have.
during the past nine years. lSSj-lSs3, ex-
pended Si2.0O0.OD within a few thousand.
upon the extension and betterment OF
their plant
The larger items are in round numbers
Overhead and exchange $l2,OOOOOO; sub
ways and cables. Sl4.50o.Oo0; buildings.
$50)0.0)0; toll lines, 100000.
Previously TO that period the construc-
ton account stood at the sum OF 81 900. =
Co., total, that IS. with the expenditures
since lSG, Of $73,CoO,0o0.
Uncle Sam ahead.
The report, In further speaking OF the
excellent telephone service enjoyed by
the people OF this country, cites Stats
tics. which have recently appeared in
foreign scientific journals. which show
that the United States. with a popula-
ton OF G3,Oo0,Oo0 people, has $4,000 ex-
change subScrlbers-a number larger than
that Of all continental Europe. with it's
population OF more than 100000. In
Great Britain with population Of 3S,-
001,cO0, there are but $500 telephone sub
scrDers in Germany. with 1900 900 peO-
pie only $500 and I'm France. with 3S,-
Oo00 people, only 240O0.-Boston Travel
er.
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