The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-07-22

snail cjtv To see the head of corporation
| on inonortanf business. Well, was sur
nr;sed q little later to receive telegram
countermanding the order for the tlckets.
| looked up the matter 70 see "n1o wy
trouble was, and found that the in'por-
| tant business had been transaG Mt III III
| the long distance telephone. Ihat leiis
| the whole story. 1t is happening every
day, and there is no use uryiAs W o'
| it,"
CALLS TELEPHONES sCALPERs.
"The long distance telephone is the pig.
gest scalper in the country, SAID ueheral
Passenger Agent o. W. Ruggles Oh 'he
Michigan Central. II guess you Will noD
find any one who will deny that the s'eie,
phone has been causing loss OF raliroau
traffic. said General Passenger Agent
Frank Reed of the Monon route. ouch
roads as ours which do more OF Nortn VI
and South business, am lncliheu "
| think, do not suffer as heavily us 1hose
roads connecting Chicago with the iarg r.
Eastern and Western points, put 1nao 81
suffer to some degree is an lnolspu'a'io
| fact"
''We have been noticing falling on N
business on account of the long distance
telephone for several years, +" said the Us us
trlct superintendent of the wagner al
ace Car company. "This falling Oh Hrsb
came in evidence about three years ago
and l presume that is about the Time, II
l remember correctly, when the long us
| lance phones began coming lnto use.
| The decrease is noticeable between such
points of prominence as New YORK, DOS
ton, Philadelphia, and Chicago, ana o.
| course to some extent ST. Louis. We $50
| the cause of the decrease and its reason
ableness by simply looking at our own
| case. Ii one of our offices in Chicago mas
| OF our officials in one of the large Eastern
| cities he will save time and expense py
attending to the business over the Uele-
phone, If possible, and of couse 1t IS possl'
| BILE in most cases."
HOTEL BUSINESS IS AFFECTED.
1.-THE last few years have witnessed
remarkable business revolution, SAID
Proprietor Southgate of the AUDITORIUM
and Auditorium Annex Hotel. 1T has
been quiet, but the result has been strong
and marked. The wonderful progress IN
electrical devices has been the leading
cause of this revolution. In the forefront
of the electrical wonders is the telephone,
especially the long distance telephone.
The man who used to go to New YORK
and Boston or Philadelphia once month
from Chicago on business now, perhaps,
makes one trip a year suffice, and now
| the men from those cities and other cities
of the country who used to make trips
| here just as often get along with single
yearly trip. That causes wonderful
change in business methods all around.
It is easily seen what damaging effects
result to the palace car companies, rail
roads, and hotels. Naturally the rail-
roads and hotels go hand in hand, and
what Injuries one must injure the other,
| for the downtown hotels are dependent
for business on the travelling public
| II think it is becoming more evident
every day to people who have occasion to
use the telephone how important a figure
! it is cutting in our every day life, said
| Manager Charles G. Hilton of the Trem-
ont House. "The increase in the use of
the long distance telephone between Chi
| cago and other great cities has undOubt-
eddy prevented our hotels from having as
guests, flor few days, men who now may
stay at home and take care of their bust
ness over the wire. This change has come
! about slowly and without hubbub, and
has naturally been observed only by those
whose business or profession brought
| them in contact with it; although the
| change has been slow it has been equally
sure and effective. The outsider who
has no occasion to see these things and
has not been affected by them may not
| realize their Importance, but he simply
exhibits the fact that he does not know
what he is talking about if he endeavors
| to belittle the influence of the modern
electric telephone. These ideas are all
new no doubt to the general public
| which is always little slow to be con-
WINGED of the Importance of things which
do not affect it directly"
TELEGRAPH COMPANIES FEEL 1T.
1.-THE telephone, both long distance and
local, has undoubtedly been one of the
causes in theEfalling off of telegraph bust
ness,'' said Assistant Superintendent E.
J. Nally of the Postal Telegraph COM
pany "But it is in local business that
the telephone has competed most strongly
with the telegraph. When it comes to
long distances, am inclined to think
the railroads than the telegraph"
81 can't say to what extent the tele-
phone, either long distance or local, has
! injured the telegraph, - said Colonel r.
| G. Clowry, President and General
Manager of the Western Union Telegraph
company. I am inclined to think, how
ever, that telephoning is an entirely new
DuollIcSS Which, iltiS sIoWh up VI luoCh oli
account of the excellence of the institu-
ton, and has not grown at the expense Of
any other business. The facilities for
| telegraphing are better than ever before.
and have an advantage over the telephone
which must not be overlooked. That is,
record is kept of every message sent,
and this is of course impossible when the
| telephone is used"
A number of other men of prominence
| in these various lines gave their views
on the subject. Upon the whole the con-
sensus of opinion was that the telephone,
especially the long distance feature of it,,
had resulted in great damage in general
to the hotel, railroad, palace car, and tele-
graph business in all the northern part of
the United States from the Mississippi
River to the Atlantic coast, this being
the territory which has thus far been COW
cred by the long distance telephone sys-
tenn.
n@o nnva