The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-04-19
LEGISLATIVE sCOMMITIEE HEAR-
 TNG
The Proposed New Telephone Company
 President Tyler R ecaIIcd.

l The Proposed New Telephone Company President Tyler Recalled.
 The adjourned hearing on the resolu- t1on for the incorporation of the New York and Boston Telephone company was begun before the committee on in corporation at o'clock yesterday after l noon. Morris F. Tyler, president of the Southern New England company was again called and presented a map of that company's lines in the state. He said that the lines covered every town
 that a railroad touches with station. A rule was laid down some years ago so that no one would have to drive their ten miles without reaching a telephone was gradually narrowing that to five miles. There are 4,S40 miles of wire not including the long distance wire of
 the American Telephone and Telegraph
 company. MT Tyler explained how his
 company's lines are used in conjunction
 
 that there was no strip of territory in
 the world 100 miles long and 50 miles
 wide that can be compared in telephone
 connection with Connecticut. He said
 he had yesterday morning received a report that the company was operating 11,000 stations, an increase of about 400 since January i. There was net gain of 1,200 stations last year. When con- duits are laid the company lays more than are needed at present to give the system elasticity, that is to make room for the stringing of more wires in the future
 Asked by MT. filling if the new conl- pany was to give free service to mu- nicipal offices what the result would be, MT, Tyler said he did not look upon that as business proposition. He thought that there was no reason why municipal service should be given free, although he thought it proper to give such ser vice at reduced rates. He thought that the new company, if it gave free ser vice to municipal offices, would find that there are in the state more munich pal offices than they now have any idea of Free telephones would be an expenditure that some one would have to pay for. The average payment per telephone rental was about S43; for the smallest telephone, 43 per cent of the cost of the largest ones. It cost the company last year S463, 900 to run the service. The propo- sition to take the state of Connecticut and say they wont charge more than a certain amount, he characterized as ab- surd. There must be elasticity in the rates. A telephone business cannot be done over an area like Connecticut without having wide range of rates. He then quoted figures to prove his statement. In answer to questions by MT. filling, he said that his company has about 59000 poles in the state, and that it's rates average lower than the rates of other companies. Speaking of statements made at the last hearing by MT. Holbrooke as to the number of sub- scribers in the Bell system exchanges in western cities, and the number of sub scribers to the competing exchanges in those cities, he alleged that MT. Hol- brooke had made incorrect statements and gave what he claimed were the | figures. He said that in Atlanta the lines of the independent company had been erected at intervals corre- spending to the time at which bonds had been disposed of. So far as he knew he believed that the independent | in the west had paid divi- | dends. He was next questioned by MT. | filling as to what he knew of the finan- cial standing of Simon Borg & Co. of | New York, firm which is connected | with the new company, and | also as to what he had heard of the | telephone experience of the gentlemen who are named as incorporators of the | new company.
 MT Tyler was then cross examined | by ex-Governor Waller. and in answer