Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-04-13
THE RURAL TELEPHONE.


We have been asked by number of
our farmer friends what we think
about the rural telephone. We think it
Is good thing, and we confidently hope
and expect to see telephone in every
farm house in Iowa, in time. The inn
por.ant thing to the farmer, If he wants
telephone, is to get it for what he
wants it for, and as cheaply as he
can. Now what use does the average
farmer expect to make of a telephone?
He wants it for the purpose of reaching
his nearby neighbors, to reach his mar
ket and trading town, in order that he
may have the markets daily, talk with
the men in town with whom he has
business relations, call for the physi-
clan and a thousand other things that
we could name. Proceeding upon the
theory that the farmer wants the tele-
phone, that he can get it, and that he
is going to have it. what is the best
plan? Without hesitancy we say, or
ganize among yourselves small neigh
3borhood companies, build your own
lines into your nearest town, and obtain
as you can. connection with every
other line and local exchange in the
town, along with the long distance lines
that enter all of the towns. When you
have done this you own the property
Ca small amount) that you desire to
use, with your close friends and neigh
gors, and are not subjected to assess
ments, changes in plans, increase in
rates, or possible loss of all you have
invested, including your telephone by
bad management, or designing officers,
and stockholders in a large company.
If you are member of a large COM
pany that reaches all over a county,
or many counties, outside of your own
immediate neighborhood, either rent a
telephone at the price asked by the
company, or build your own small
neighborhood line to your market town
Don't buy stock. Why should you in
vest in the stock of a company that
offers you a chance to talk hundred
places where you don't care to talk,
and where you will never talk? Re-
member if you buy stock. your own
money builds your own line, and you
don't own the line. For instance, where
do the farmers north of Britt desire
to talk? To Britt and Crystal Lake!
Where do the farmers south of Britt
oSSfiO " TAIN " loA2ll anu Mana
wha! Does the farmer near Crystal
Lake desire frequent. communication
with the farmer near Kanawha? Ger
tainly not. Does he desire to talk
with the farmers near Goodell, Klemme,
Corwith, or towns In adjoining coun-
ties? He don't know these people, but
the money he put into the stock of the
telephone company has built all these
lines. Someone else is using them
and he is not.
Build neighborhood lines to your
market town, connect with the local ex-
change free of cost, own what you pay
for and pay what it costs to get it.
If you rent a telephone, it is we'll worth
$100 to $500 per month You can
build small system of line in neigh
borhood with short poles and cheap
construction that will answer every
purpose for the kind of service desir-
ed at $50 to $50 per mile and the cost
of operating and maintenance is very
small. The results are sure to be sat
isfactory. Any telephone company not
desiring to sell you stock will help you
to plan your lines and buy your mater
ial; anyone can build the line. BY
all means get telephone.
To the farmers we say-don't buy
stock