Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-10
THE MEASURED SERVICE
Explanations and Corrections by the Local
Telephone Company.
Optional With the Subscriber as to
the Number of Instruments
on One Wire.

To the Editor of The Evening Star:
Referring to the editorial in Thursdays
Star regarding telephone rates, I send you
this note. in the hope that you will cor
rect as far as possible any misapprehension
that may have been caused by the state
ments in that editorial. The following are
the facts concerning the rates which you
have taken occasion to critcise:
Realizing that there was large body of
people in Washington whose use for the tel
ephone was so relatively small or whose
means were so limited that they could not
afford to pay the maximum rate of $125 for
metallic circuit and 500 for grounded cir
cult service, in 1896 the company intro
duced what is known as measured or
message rate service under the theory
of which the subscriber pays for exactly
the amount of service received by him and
the company is compensated for the service
actually rendered This is not a new device
introduced to meet the seXigencieS of the
has been in existence for several years, and
at the present time more than one-fourth
of the subscribers of the company are on
that basis. II
By ascertaining the Rumber of calls trans
mitted through the c9mpany's exchange in
a year and the expsnse of operating and
maintaining the plant the cost to the COM
pany of each call is arrived at. The
charges made in this message rate system
are based upon this cost per call and are
adjusted with reference to the number e
calls subscribed for in a manner as equita-
Bile both to the company and to the sub
scriber as can be devised. In order that
these rates should be still further reduced
to come within the reach of all this message
rate system was also applied to party line
service, the charge for 700 calls upon
special line being $50, upon a two-party line
$50 upon a three-party line $40 and upon
four-party line s56. These. charges are for
the metallic circuit dong distance equip
ment. L
In your editorial you say that the public
has no control over the number of sub
scribers on a single wire. The company can
regulate that matter TO suit itself" This
statement is entirely erroneous. The sub
scriber decides for himself which class of
service he will take. If he elects to go upon
a special Tor one-party) line no other sub
scriber is ever placed upon the line with
him without his consent. If there were he
would Immediately become aware of 1t. II
he elects to go upon a Two. three or four
party line he may do so, and is charged
only the rate for the class of service actu-
ally subscribed for. with the understanding
that no more than the stipulated number
shall be placed upon the line with him. This
is a matter that is regulated, not by the
company. but by the subscriber Your
statement that service upon party lines is
not as efficient as that upon special lines
is correct, and it is for this reason that the
charges for party line service are less.
1t is also true that from four subscrb-
ers upon a four-party line the company.
would receive S144. or SD more than it
receives from subscriber upon a special
line for unlimited service; but it must be
remembered that the number of calls for
which the company would receive $l44
would aggregate $500, and that there
would be four telephones to be installed
and maintained instead of one. Your COM
putation of the number of calls per day
that would be permitted the subscriber I'M
der the schedule is also misleading. 1t has
been our experience that for telephones
used for business purposes 700 calls would
be more than two day, for usually bust
ness telephones are not used on Sundays
and holidays: and the same is true of any
of the other groups of calls.
Referring to the statement in this COM
panys advertisement that mileage charges
are dispensed with excepting in few
mote sections of the city," you say: Just
city does not appear. Yet the fact remains
that it is in these self same remote sec
tons that the need for telephones is great
est. In the first place. the company has
entirely dispensed with its mileage charges
in Georgetown, the northwest, southwest
and Capitol Hill excepting in the extreme
northeast and southeast In the second
place., the mileage charges in the remote
sections nave been very greatly reduced
OF course, mileage charges are absolutely
necessary where the subscribers station is
an unusual distance from the exchange
and there Is not a single company operat-
ing in any of the large cities that does not
make an additional charge for mileage to
points outside some given radius. 1t would
not be fair to the company that sub
scriber in Brightwood, Chevy Chase or
Mount Pleasant. for instance, should pay
the same amount as subscriber in the
section covered by the company's conduit
and cable system The statement that the
need for telephones in the remote districts
Is greatest is not borne out by the facts.
1t has been the experience of all eompa-
mics that the great. bulk of their tele-
phones is within a mile of the exchange
TO ]. H. FILL,
General Contract Agent. Chesapeake and
Potomac Telephone Company