The San Juan County index. (Aztec, N.M.) 1890-19??, 1900-12-14

Aouuon lH IelIIuN ready Tor n big
light, and Thirty miles Of street are
torn up for tlf conflict. which a little
army Of a ihbusand me is bringing
on as rapidly as possible. In all
probability nc blood will be shed, but
a heap Of gold Is at stake.
After the Struggle is over we shall
know more than ae do now about the
vexed Question as to whether it profit
eth a people 70 RUN their W tele-
phones. lncidntaily, the contest will
put a lsrge aus Of money into Ameri-
can pockets. fsr it brought to an Am
erican compaIf the largest telephone
contract evei iven IN Europe.
The sirane feature Of the fight IS
that It VIII Re q struggle for trade
between tho ritish government and
some Of les trn most respected citi-
zens who ford the National Telephone
company. soFe Of the company's di-
rectors and some Of the
stockholders are peers Of the
realm But the government is
gOiag 70 crowd hem out OF business IL
it can, and tanient has granted
10000, 200 mich to begin this
queer competition.
The National Telephone Company is
the biggest Tins OF its kind in Eng
land. % Is Practically a monopoly,
rich end poWirfuL It has given a
phenomenally bad telephone service
to London. Consequently fewer tele-
phones per caIita are in use in the
worlds metropolis today than IN any
American city Of 10000 inhabitants.
Complaints vel inenectual until sud
denly a bill popped up in parliament
authorizing tie postofnce department
to establish q lval service. The tele-
phone people IL the house Of commons
were bowled over, and now, before
London folk farly realize it. the post
office is laying its wires in mile after
mile Of streets, and the existing mon
opoly is preparing to battle for its
life.
The CONTRACTOR the enormous guam
tity OF electrical apparatus required by
the government was awarded to the
Western Elective company of Chica-
go. For the central exchange alone
$4,000 telephones will be required,
while many mlre instruments are be-
ing made for the suburban districts.
No single factory could hope to have
all the work done on time, and so the
apparatus is being made in the shops
Of the Western Electric company in
three cities simultaneously, the key
boards and their attachments in Chi
cago, the cables in North Woolwich
and the telephones In Antwerp.
At the ~postofice they estimate that
the whole district of $40 square miles
cannot be completed for five years. but
Of the new telephones will prob
ably be in use IN about two years. The
in charge of the whole vast OBJ
is John Gavey, assistant chief
engineer Of thk p~ostotnce, and under
him the wnE NheinR haadled by
three separate Aorces-.he contractors
will lay the ducts, which are ali on
the American pattern; the Western
Electric company will equip the CEN
from cellar to garnet and lay the
to the ground, end the postomce
force will take up the work there and
lay the wires and cables.
The p~ostofice will give a much
cheaper service than the National
Telephone company has given. The
present price for unlimited use Of a
telephone is Ell (about $3.50 a year.
while the p~ostofice telephones are ex-
pected to rent for less than $50. The
toll system will be in use in many Of
the shops nodded on the Swiss plan.
By this the tradesman will pay SIS,