The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-10-24
By Josiah S. Meyer.

y Stockholm, Sweden, Oct. 1O.-My,
hotel BILL in Copenhagen had an item
Of cents for long distance telephone.
That was the charge for three-m min
ute, chat with. a man ffty-fve miles. out.
In the country. thought that re-
markedly cheap talking for the dis
lance, at least. In Sweden, however,
they would regard such a tariff scan
dalously high.
Nowhere in the world is TELEPHONY
ing SO cheap as here. Nowhere has
the telephone done so much for the
public. It's quite as cheap to phone
as send "a letter and you can do it in
one-tenth the time. 4: Everywhere: you
hear the ring, in places conceivable
and li mt1conceivable youa find. a phone:
In hotels the walls are fairly covered:
with them-corridors, rooms, office,
basement, kitchen, lobby, they are al
ways within reach. IF you happen to
need a phone while on the street you
will have no occasion to go on a hunt,
for there are dozen signs in sight al
ways. You must only decide which
one you wish to take. There is not a
house in any town or village: in all
Sweden that cannot boast of this con-
venience. tits used in private houses
quite the same as it is used with us in
large shops and manufacturing places.
The housewife directs her servants by
telephone, and the minutest details in
social and commercial circles are ar
ranged thru it's instrumentality.
AS you may surmise, the state owns
the telephone system in Sweden, and
thru constant effort it has brought the
same to d state of very high perfec-
ton. I had a talk with Mr.. Midden-
dorff, the director general of the sys-
tenn in his office this morning and in
response to some questions, he said.
of of &c. 81
serve the public in the highest
measure. We feel that the telephone
is of even greater Importance, than the
postoffice. In this age Of activity it
is Of the greatest use. Correspondence
is. a slow process; you must always
wait for an answer. In one minute,
with the aid Of a phone, you can trans
| act a, world of business. Our people
appreciate this and we have but the
one object in view. better service and
| cheaper rates. It is true postoffice re-
ceipts have fallen off some since the
advent of the cheap system, but the
public in this case Is the arbiter; they
the postoffice has been superseded and
| locally at least the postoffice is only
| a supplement of the telephone system.
We have still many improvements to
| make, but we are proud Of what we
have done.
1t will be of interest to note a few
of the tariff rates. For Stockholm
and a, sixty-mile zone, ~ cents for
three minutes. In this zone the tele-
phone tariff is quite as cheap as. let
ter postage. The a36O-mile zone limi
has a rate of 13 cents fbr three min
utes, while 600 miles costs rs cents
The rate for 1000 miles is SO cents
over that distance it is about s Q cents
This latter is the highest rate in the
kingdom. For private houses the I'M
limited use of the: telephone costs So
per year, and for public places, hotels
ETC., $12 per annum.
While at the post office department
I saw unique device which has ma
/ terially reduced the number of letters
missing, lost or gone astray. Each
mail collector has a bag with an iror
Hid. This, when he wishes to collec1
mail, he attaches closely to the bot.
tom of the letter box; while thus il
a fixed position and by means Of &
spring, the lid Of the bag opens down.
ward, the bottom of the box opening
at the same time;, the mall matter nov
drops down into the bag. Both boz
and bag close instantly when the latter
is detached. The mailman at no time
gets a sight Of anything he has bagge6
until he arrives at the postoff1ce
where he opens the bag with aasta,