The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1898-12-16
TsfDlOrs Lines Llis.y 10 Go
UlisIDUli
LlTtsI IN LINE CONSTRUCTION
o.'ss,ns Troiiey Induction y
Two Wass-use OF T.i.phors
here and Abroad.

lu she uuUIr' % % 'IsHaI 'hhI y.
fsrday. John Cassidy. superintendent
~ the Mutual Telephone Company, ..
.udcd to the service OF DO, exchange
Ia the states whor, th' lines were "a
posed To- The trolley wires. such im'
proyement ln construction has bosn
made lu late years that the Induction
IS 20 reduced that DO De- scarcely noticed
at an on private i.ucs~urhinaTy con
nections. Mr. Cassidy mentioned esp'-
,.ally the long distance line from san
Francisco 70 Portland. This wire car
rtes very clearly through 10 passes
through number Of towns having
trolley systems ana for miles upon
miles b. alongside telegraph wires sus-
tanning a heavy current
The tendency ln telephone line con
.truction In the States now, says Mr.
Cassidy, is 10 have the lines in the
ueutars Of the cities underground
They could have been placed under
ground on Queen. Merchant and King
streets here for less than the amount
that was expended In constructing or
installing the expensive and well-nigh
useless cables that are In place. u Is
the belief Of the superintendent that
the Mutual company will find 1t to its
interests in time 20 place lines be-
neath the ground, changing gradually
b. a 4I
tl all talking Is through conduit lines.
The only way in which induction can
be overcome In aerial construction, Is
70 use what Is called the metallic cir
cult, which has practically been en-
dorssd by the company here 10 meet
the expected trolley lines Of the Ha-
Nai!an Tramway Company and the ilo-
nolulu Rapid Transit Company. cor
tain II Is that the Mutual company,
having such . complete plant and hay
ing given such admirable service for so
many years, will continue to supply all
that Is needed in telephone commun-
Ication for the city.
The story Of the remarkably general
use OF the telephone in Honolulu Is al
most threadbarc. but can be reverted
60 once more. Mr.. Cassidy said tina
the telephone men in the United States
seemed to he almost incredulous wher
ne told them how marketing was done
through the exchange here and cspe.
cially with the butcher. The men OF
the States were much amused 70 learn
Of the issuance of invitations TO meet
iugs for business ana social gatherings
by telephone and to the practice OF
aides OF making calls by telephone
Absolutely nothing OF this sort would
be tolerated for an instant by the com.
panirs OF the States. over on the main.
land the telephone is for business only
and moreover outsiders are under nc
circumstances permitted to use the
telephones OF subscribers. The charges
to non-subscribers are heavy.
In the large cities on the mainland,
Mr.. Cassidy found that the business
houses used the telephone more than
do the business houses OF Honolulu, in
this way: is reasoned that II Is
money for the house TO have a CUSTOM
er secure attention at once when he
calls up the establishment. II is i'm
perative that a possible buyer shall
not be answered that the line Is en-
gagged. The house OF Baker & Hamil-
ton at San Francisco, which Is we'll
known here, for instance, has twenty
nine telephones in its stores.
4 good many of the tourists coming
in here lately, think the local telephone
system one OF the public conveniences
OF the place. They use It by the hour
largely for the novelty OF the thing. A
good many of them have not been &C.
customed to talking over lines OF wire
Others have always had to pay for the
privilege and the way they foist over
time on the system here is a caution,