Evening star., 1900-02-14
New Company Wants to Commence
Business
STATEMENTS BY ITS OFFICERS
Progress Made in Soliciting Sub
d scribers Here.
o P ER ATTN FIG RE S


| The bill Oh. r. 2J4D provides as follows:
| That the Commissioners of the District
| of Columbia are hereby authorized and
| directed to permit the Washington Tele-
| phone and Telegraph Company to install.
| maintain and operate telephone plant and
! exchanges. and the recess airy services con-
| nected Herewith, in the city of Washington
| and the District of Columbia, under such
| rules, regulations and restrictions as now
| exist or as may hereafter be made relative
| to telephone and telegraph companies IN
| said city or District; and that they permit
| said company to lay all necessary under
ground conduits in the streets and avenues
| to carry its wires and to string wires op
| poles in the alleys of the city of Washing
| ton and in the District of Columbia outside
| of the limits of the city of washington,
| subject to the regulations and re-
| strictiorfs which. may now apply or may
| hereafter be prescribed for the regulation
| Of telephone and telegraph companies in
| the District of Columbia: Provided, That
the rates to be charged by the sa1d WASH
| ington Telephone and Telegraph Company
| shall not at any time be more than $50 per
| year for residence telephones, nor more
| than $4S per year for business telephones
| in the city of Washington.
Section .. That it shall be lawful for the
Washington Telephone and Telegraph Com
pany to acquire, by purchase, rental. or
otherwise, the use of any conduit or ducts
now laid or hereafter to be laid under any
of the streets, avenues or alleys OF the CITY
of Washington, or any of the roadwayS OF
the District of Columbia.
Section 3. That this act shall take elect
| fl ON the date of its passage
Present Mt the Hearing.
There were present at the hearing today
Samuel W. Ross, president of the company;
| George R. Webb, vice president of this
! company and president of the Maryland
| Telephone Company of Baltimore; Attorney
| H. w. Rusk, W. j. Hayward Harry Parr,
James Bond, H. W. Webb and John Head
den, directors of the Baltimore company,
and also directors of the Washington COM
pany, and r. H. Johnson, Frank b. Noyes,
| Thos. w. Smith and L. P. Berry. directors
| of the Washington company; sydney IL
Browne. general engineer of the baltimore
| and Pittsburg companies, was also present.
Mr.. V. A Hubbard, chief clerk of the
| Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Com
| pany, was present, also Mr.. Hemphill, Mr..
Staples and Mr.. Danenhower representing
| the local telephone subscribers association.
Mr.. Rusk's Statement.
| Ex-Representative Rusk of Maryland
| first addressed the committee. He said this
| BILL which had the unanimous approval of
| the District Commissioners, proposed to
permit the Washington Telephone and
| Telegraph Company to construct and oper-
ate q telephone system in the District of
Columbia. - 1t was a duly organized cor
|
some time had been securing subscribers
| to the proposed telephone system. The
| board of directors included well-known citi-
| zens of the District and some Baltimore
| men who were prominent in financial cir
cleS of the latter city, and connected with
| large corporate interests. The personnel
| of the directorate was guarantee of the
ability of the company to fulfill it's obliSa-
| tions and carry out the work in hand.
| Mr.. Mudd of Mary and wanted to know
| If the company proposed to do a telegraph
business, as the title might imply.
| Mr. Rusk said there was nothing in the
bill authorizing the company to do tele-
graph business and it was not intended to
do so. Mr.. Mudd thought the title should
be amended. then.
Mr. Rusk said the company had been
ganized under the laws Of New Jersey
which provided for a perpetual charter
rather than under the District of Columbia
where a charter would be limited to twenty
years.
A Local Charter Suggested.
Chairman Babcock said this was a draw
back People familiar with the New Jer-
sew laws know that stockholders are re-
leved of responsibility He suggested that
the incorporators should at once consider
the feasibility of getting local charter.
Mr.. Rusk said the company would be per-
fectly willing to give up Its New Jersey
charter and be chartered by the same act
of Congress which granted the franchise.
The only object to be kept in view in this
regard would be not to limit the company
to the twenty-year charter provided by the
District law.
Mr.. George r. Webb. vice president of
the company, then spoke upon the bill. In
answer to questions by Chairman Babcock
he said that the capital stock of the COM
panv was 81 100000. AS it is impossible to
float a corporation before the franchise is
obtained, only a nominal amount of capital
stock had been paid in He said that some
of the interested in this company
i ,tpo oly t,,t PAL mr.
He spoke of the difficulty of floating bonds
of a company with a twenty-year charter,
and said there would be no objection to
having a charter from Congress.
Mr. Webb said that the situation regard
ing independent telephone systems in this
country did not seem to be very well under
stood by the public at large. There are now
26DO independent telephone companies,
scattered throughout the country. When
the independent system was first taken up
many companies were started up without
sufficient backing financially. Recently,
however the people who have gone into the
business have been of higher standing
financially, and able to carry out the pro-
jects they attempted.
| He told of the extension Of the indepen-
dent telephone system in Cleveland. Mon
eyed men took hold of it, street railway
magnates We're interested, and connection
was made with 40 independent telephone
companies in the state of Ohio
Growth of Independent Companies.
IF we get this franchise said Mr.. Webb,
I'VE will build to- Pittsburg. The Pittsburg
line will Build 10 Beaver Pa, the Ohio
company viii come down to Beaver, and we
will have long-distance communication be-
tween Washington and Cleveland.
Continuing Mfr. Webb described the
growth off7the independent telephone sys-
TEN in other cities. In New York promi-
nent financiers had hold of the enterprise
and 25OOO subscribers have been obtained
In Boston fwelFkhown capitalists are con-
cerned and the, system is spreading Stock
holders intrt the Baltimore company own a
line at Wilmington, Del; at Havre de
Grace. Md.I and expect to extend it through
Bel Air tosBaltgIore.
Respecting hesproposed local project Mr..
Webb saidr the company came here about
DecemberyI andeopened offices. Solicitors
We're started outIafter subscribers. He sub
mitted to the committee a typewriter list
of subscribers who had signed contracts to
take phones at SIS and $36 year He said
the list included nearly every prominent
business man in Washington.
1--WE don't come here to fight any one"
said Mr.. Webb. THAT is not our plan
The fact is, the Bell Telephone Company
has not developed the local field. We pro-
pose to do So" He said that of the 214
reSidepce contracts which his corn pa nv ba 4 |