The Portland daily press., 1894-07-28
NEW ENGLAND TELEPHONE COM
PANY.
Wonderful Progress in Telephone Science
The Service Much Better in This than in
Foreign Countries-Arrangement for
Extending the Service in Maine.

| General Counsel Houston of the New
England Telephone and Telegraph Com
pany, was in the city yesterday, and in
an interview by PRESS representative
made many interesting statements of the
development of the telephone business
and of the plans for the extension of the
system of this company now being made
in this State.
Speaking generally of the progress
made in improving and extending tele-
| phone facilities, Mr.. Houston said
| 70 realize the wonderful progress that
has been made within the ten years over
which my experience in the business ex-
| tends, one must recall the time, not so
very long ago, when telephone ex-
| change was practically isolated. The
| subscribers within city could talk
| fairly well to one another, they could
communicate with towns few miles
distant, but it ended there.
| 1t was a great achievement when the
copper circuits between Portland and
Boston were completed and found to
|
man in this city, equipped with the i'm
| proved apparatus. can not only converse
with the thousand or more subscribers
| in the exchange and in adjacent places,
| but he may, almost on the instant, be
| placed in communication with a sub
scriber in almost any place of import
| ance in New England. Does he desire to
talk still further, New York, Philadel-
phia, Pittsburgh and even Chicago, are
| at his call. 1t is not too much to say
that with the extended system of con-
Meeting lines almost any individual of
twenty millions of people can within a
few moments be placed within sound of
| his voice.
| Of course all this has involved an enor-
nous outlay in equipping the Company's
| exchanges for this class of work, and
building the connecting lines, but we
| find that our subscriber as a whole,
value the improved service, and the
4 facilities for talking over long distances;
and the use OF metallic circuit equip
ment is increasing very fast. OF neces-
sity the cost of maintaining this class OF
service is much greater than that of the
| old. Everywhere two wires have to be
| supplied and cared for, in place of one,
| stronger batteries must be maintained,
new metallic circuit switch boards must
| take the place of single line boards and
| greater watchfulness exercised to keep
| the local equipment up to the standard
| suited to long distance service.
| Each line and connection in the whole
| system is tested out for troubles every
| morning, and on the routes of the long
lines relays of men are posted ready to
move at once to any point at which a
| break or cross has occurred.
While it occasionally, happens that
storms occur of such severity as to pros
| trate poles and wires of the most sub
| stantial construction, the Company real
ICES that the Importance of it's service to
the business community is such that, so
| far as possible, the lines must be con-
family kept up to the highest point of
efficiency, and it has spared neither effort
nor expense to accomplish that end.
Mr.. Houston, you have spoken of the
metallic circuit system as giving the
| best results IN good service. Will
you tell me how generally this
has come into use with your Company?
Well, of the 10000 miles of toll lines,
that is lines connecting the various cities
and towns in our territory, almost the
| whole pow consists of the double wires.
Of the %, 600 or 1000 subscri bers of the
New England Company, nearly half, do
not recall the exact mum Der, are now
connected with their exchanges by
metallic circuits We have however by
no means discarded the grounded wire
| service for new or old subscribers, many
of whom, not having occasion to talk for
great distances outside the exchange
| centre find the single line serviceable
| for their needs, and at much less annual
cost than that of the double wire system
| The change from grounded to metallic
circuit service is, however, going on very
| fast, and business men who employ the
telephone largely in the conduct of their
| affairs quite generally find the best
grade of service most profitable for their
use.
Mr.. Houston, is the service of foreign
countries equal or superior to our own?
By no means. America is in advance
| of the world in the development and
perfection of the telephone system.
Neither in local or long line service is a
foreign system to be found which can
compare with our own. The longest
distance over which conversation is car
| ried on in Europe is but little more than
third of the distance over which you
can talk in this country.
AS an example of the foreign methods,
| if subscriber in London desires to
speak with person in Paris, he cannot
| talk from his own instrument, as is done
in this country, but must go to the pub
| lie station and have his correspon dent
called to the public station at the other
| end of the line.
AS showing the greater development
of the business in this country, it is an
interesting fact that there are in our six
New England States several thousand
| more telephone subscribers than there
are in the whole French republic, with
| a DODu latiOn many tinaS Than