Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-10-17
New York JournalA

NANeW 1Ork JOurnal.)
1t is the persistent boast Of the New
York Telephone Company, the local
branch of the telephone MONOPOLY
which extends all over the United
States, that the equipment and service
In this city is the finest in the world
Inc tact that telephone service in New
1ork costs more than similar service
anywhere else on earth should form
Justincation for this boast AS mat
Yer OF fact there is not a second class
city In the United States that has NOT
petter service, and the New York
service IS growing poorer all the time.
not only is the mechanical service
piu' put the employees are insolent
ana inefficient To call q number rri
IL ana complete Il conversati ton with
out eXaspcrating delays and Interrupt
ions IS the exception rather than the
rue; protest is met with cheap
quaiity OF repartce from the girl i'm the
central Office and n call on the man
uecr generally results in gratuitous
ADVICE relative TO the freshness of
the unfortunate compelled to use the
telephone.
The rate for a telephone in this CITY
is S2lO year. The charge for a single
can in the Borough of Manhattan is
zen cents for five minutes converse
tlon. The capital stock of the Amer-
.i icie,lone ana Telegraph Com
phny is $I5,0000 00 of which about sea
Ooo.ooo Is paid in. The corporation has
paid in dividends in twenty years
nearly $50, 600 ,000-almost twice as
much as the legitimate capital stock
The time has come in New York fo,
nVe-ccnt telephone calls and service
that will be serN ice and not a. bur
lesquc, as ii is at present
Numerous fights have been rnade in
the Legislature for a telephone service
that would be reasonable in price and
allow persons desiring to converse
over the wires an opportunity to do
SO Without difficulty.
LOBBY HAS BEEN ACTIVE.
The lobby of the New York Tele-
phone Company and of the American
Telephone and Telegraph Company has
prevented the passage of these bills.
The telephone people have asserted
that they are giving as cheap a service
as possible. and they have set up the
preposterous claim that the more bust
ness they do the more expensive be-
comes the operation of the system.
y Legislative committee, two years
ago, showed the falsity of this conten-
ton, but the New York Telephone Com
pany sticks to it: nevertheless the New
York Telephone Company has an army
of solicitors out over the city all the
time. striving to increase business. The
telephone officials are placed in the
anomalous position of stating that the
present rates are reasonable and are
barely paying expenses. and still hus-
thing for more business i'll order that
they may incur more expense and thus
cut down the profits. If the statement
OF the New York Telephone Company
is true ii must, with the Increase of
business. eventually operate at Il loss.
That five cents is ample charge for
n telephone conversation of five min
utes has been proved in many cities in
the United states. That perfect ser
vice can be maintained at the figure
has been demonstrated in MANY cities.
large and small.
That nve-cent rate. to apply
throughout Greater New York, would
pay. is the judgment of experts who
have built and operated at profit lines
charging that sum-
OPPOSITION HAS CUT RATES.
Wherever the American Telephone
and Telegraph Company has met with
opposition it has cut rates to meet the
opposition. 1t has gone so far as to
give telephone instruments and SER
vice away. In some cities the Ameri-
can Company has been competing for
years with independent companies that
charge but cents for message. and
the business has paid in those cities.
In Pittsburg. Pa, there is an excel
lent telephone service. controlled by the
Pittsburg and Allegheny Telephone
Company. The cost to subscribers is
from $50 to SIS year and the company
is making money The exchanges are
equipped with the latest improvements,
there is no difficulty in securing con-
nections. and conversation over the
wires is clear and uninterrupted by
incompetent operators.
In Baltimore, Md. first-class tele
phone service is maintained by the
Home Telephone Company. The rate
to subscribers is the same as that in
Pittsburg. All of the latest improve
ments are used in the company's cx-
changes and stations, and no difficulty
whatever is experienced in carrying on
conversatio For single calls the rate
is 3 cents for five minutes converse
ton. and the same rate applies in Pitts
burg.
BALTIMORE COMPANY PROSPERS.
The Baltimore company is exceed
ingly prosperous and is branching out
all the time. Ii is worthy Of note that
this company pays its linemen 20 cents
more day than does the monopoly
telephone branch in the same city.
In Oakland Cal, and in Alameda
Cal. there are telephone systems that
rent instruments to subscribers for SIS
year. The use of the telephone is
Almost universal in those towns, and
the companies are coming money.
Down In Charleston, S. c., the tele-
phone monopoly fought to keep out an
independent company for years, and re-
Gently lost the fight. The independent
company placed telephones in business
houses and homes at rates ranging
from va TO $50 q year, and the mon6p-
oily branch was compelled to follow
suit The rate for a call of Ave minutes
In Charleston Is now five cents over tha