The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1903-03-20


j. III. I.
When the above proposition was out
lined briefly by Mr.. Thatcher at the tel
phone meeting, was heartily in favor
of it, but now that he has put it in def
mite shape and hedged it in with so many
Objectionable features, | beg leave to
append the following objections and
suggestions. Although | give Mr.. Thatch-
er due credit for integrity and honesty
of purpose, | appreciate the position he
is in and clearly forcsee the difficulties
which both the farmers and the com
pany will have to contend with under
the conditions of his proposition.
Mr.. Thatcher will charge us so cents
a month for telephone rental, 81 per
month per mile line and pole charges
where his poles are used, $3.50 per
month terminal charges for each line
into his office, and 45 cents per year tor
battery charge. These charges to be
evenly divided between the subscribers
on each line. The farmers lines Will
parallel nearly every mile OF the compa-
ny's lines, for sometimeat least there will
not be TO exceed one subscriber to the
mile, sometimes not so many, which
would make the line charge at least VI
per month per man, which added
to the other charges brings the amount
up to $l.70 per month, and IN cases
where there could not be secured 10 sub
scribers on line, may go beyond the
present charge of ~ per month, besides
the expense OF erecting and maintalnlnga a
line from our residences to where it in
tersects the company's line.
Again, when under the old regime, 1t
was almost impossible to get necessary
repairs when the charge was " phone
what may we expect when it is but 5O
cents phone, as it will be il we build
our lines all the way into the central
office? We have had the best of man
ayers, best OF line men, all OF them good
friends Of the country subscribers, put
the fact remains it took five or six weeks
to get a five minutes job done so that
the phone would work satisfactorily and
this only mile and half from town
Will the company put on sufficient force
under the new regime to give better ser
vice, or will we bring in disabled tele-
phone and wait month or two Tor one
to take its place?
Another thing, while having good
opinion of Mr.. Thatcher, believing MIN
to be fair and honest III his intentions,
it is a little suggestive of desire on his
part to defeat the farmers movement by
encouraging and advising them by I'M
plication at least to putup unsatisfactory
and insufficient supports as A nailed
To fence posts. Such fiimsy supports
for the wires will lead to dissatisfaction
among the subscribers and between
them and the company.
In regard TO the use OF the long dis'
tance telephone being denied to the
farmers ii we do not accept Mr.. Thatch.
ers proposition, it will be remembered
that the Western Union telegraph COM
pany here in Hood River will gladly
transmit such messages as we desire
to send beyond our lines. But Mr..
Thatcher has not denied us this courtesy
except by inference, and we hope his
company will see it to their interest to
accent our business on the same basis az
that of the remainder OF the pubic.
One OF the greatest objections to Mr.
Tbatcher's proposition is that 1t limits
ms ia Hood River and the valley. II we
Wish To TALK Will AhoatStf AHN
Mount Hood, NicOlai, Viento, or any o.
these nearby points, which We VIII ten
times as often as to some lar distant
point. we will have to pay the regular
long distance rate under his proposition
while ON the other hand, within year
an these points will doubtless be con
nected with Hood River under the lnde
pendent system and practically free
communication established between
them all.
Another objection to the propositior
as il stands is that there is nothing L
prevent Mr.. Thatcher's company IRON
Gathering up all the old out OF date dis
carded telephones in Portland, Tacoma
and Seattle, and unloading them on u
havseeds. don't think Mr.: Iha'che
would wish 70 do so, but to the average
director OF the company the schen'
would appear a great stroke OF eeonom!
and that these old machines we're goo'
enough for us.
Bur the greatest objection Of all an'
the one which I consider fatal to IN
proposition is, the injustice that II WORK
upon the citizens Of Hood River proper