The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-27
WAR
At SAN JOSE
Price of "HellOS Will
Come Down.

SAN JOSE, Nov 26.-The Sunset and
the PEOPLES telephone companies are at
daggers' points and the Sunset is doing
all in it's power to bring about such
a. condition of finances in its rivafs
excbeouer that it can swallow the Peo-
ple's. The two lines have never been
friendly. and it looks now as though
the people of San Jose will before long
aniov a telephone war, in which the
nrice of ''hellos'' may be cut in two.
More than competition enters into the
febt there is local politics, which
do+as hack to the charter election or
last April. ..a,-o+e
At that time there were two tickets
in the feld-one named by the gang
and the other by the citizens ana laA-
navers The campaign was a pltter
one. Prominent among those opposeu
to gang rule and the mlsnnanaSeliie 49,, W
citv affairs were nearly all the large
stockholders and officers of the People
Telephone Company. These men were
active and aggressive. aofoo+aa
The citizens ticket was defeated.
Then Rea and Mackenzie decided 70
teach DR.. H. ]. B. WriPht ana 0tneI
mer,hers of the Peoples Telephone
Hnr1nanv TO keep out of politics by
crinpling their business. stockholders
friendly to the gang" were given the
fin 10 get out of the company Erhesl
Lion and Gus Lion, nepheWs OF Mayor
Martin. who was Rea'S candidate IN
the charter election, Withdrew ana SOU
their stock. A boycott was tne 49, ~
eIared against the Peoples Telephone
Company. c.
A willing ally was found III the sun
set Telephone Company
The Peoples Telephone Company was
organized in 1896. Before this time the
business men and residents or san Jose
were at the mercy of the Sunset Com
many and they were made to pay AL
the traffic would bear" Business
houses paid IS and. in some instances
81 a month, and residences 81 month.
The service was poor, and telephone
employees were autocratS VINO pa1d no
attention to the complaints of subscr1b-
ers. The Peoples Company was organ
lied by local capital, and in 1T mer-
chants saw their salvation. This
forced the Sunset rates to be cut to ~
a month for business houses and 81 20
for residences, and the Sunsets income
was materially reduced. The People
Company gives good service with low
rates. and it's list is rapidly growing
The first move made by the political
leaders against the Peoples Telephone
Company was to order the phones out
of most of the civ and county ofnces.
Five were. taken out of the Courthouse
and five from the City Hail. Inc Ndtto
kenzies, who are said to hold franks
over the Sunset line, were Instruments
in this move Their friends dlscon-
tinued the phones of the local corpora
ton. and it is said that over lOO lnstTu-
ments were removed through the poS-
colt. ,.. of o
The company pays royalty OF o..
cents per phone a month 10 the CITY.
Until the charter fight the, city never
collected it, but now that they are pc
ing boycotted they are also being maze
to pay the royalty ,a of
The fight is still on and the people y,
San lose are becoming deeply lnteresIeo
in il. They fear lest the sunset may,
through some of the tricks known "
cornorations, crush the local company
and that then rates will be adVane es
and they again be at the mercy Oh the
oi1 Th,s warfare against the company
that has been the means OF saving the
,.aonla several thousand dollars yearly
T. arousing much feeling and the BOY
colt may prove a boomerang, as the
neonle realize they must stand by the
new company. eo. go,
many to Inconvenience the people was