The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1904-10-08
Tue DOUBLE TELEPHONE.

third reading, granting to the Inter
tate Telephone company a franchise
TO establish and maintain a local ex-
change for a period OF twenty five
years. The citizens, and more
especially the business men, should
protest against the granting Of this
franchise so vigorously that there
will be no chance for q misunder-
standing as to their position in the
smatter. Any merchant who has had
experience with the double telephone
nuisance will oppose this proposition
without further argument. He knows
what it means in petty anuoyances
and the loss of time. Cities that
have this dual service are anxious to
get rid of it, but the franchise has
been given and the people who have
the service fastened upon them are
unable to get away from it. The
writer had some experience with such
service Ia Boise aud found 1t to be
an almost intolsrabls nuisance. The
merchants Of that city to a man
uould pay twice the cost Of the ser
vice TO be rid Of oae OF the com.
panies. Its city council, laboring
under the belief that competition
you'd result beneicially to the
public by lowering the rates and in
creasing the service both In number
Of phones and efficiency, granted the
franchise to the new company. The
blunder, entered into with the best
Of intentions, proved detriment to
the city and au annoyance to its citi-
zens. In Boise the double system
works n this way You hear the bell
ring and 90 to one Of the phones aud
usually iud that you have taken down
the wrong receiver; the bell rings
again and you discover your mistake:
hanging up the receiver, you take
down the other to End that central,
after ringing a couple Of times has
Informed the person putting In the
call that they don't answer. " You
ask central who put Ia the call and
the chances are that she cannot tell.
When you wish to call a person it
will often happen that after you
look up their number In the directory
and call for 1t, central will inform
you that they have taken the phone
cot OF their house; yOG viii hang up
and ring the other phone and may
or msy not find your party on that
line. People also get mixed up on
the numbers in the two directories
and one Of your phones will ring
only to be informed after you take
down the receiver that it is the wrong
number and that 10 is another party
having the sHsHe number on the other
line with!whom they wish to converse.
These are some Of the petty annoy
anees that result from a dual tele-
phone system.
The company asking for the fran.
chise will tell you that it is not
necessary to put In two phones, bat
II has been the experience that every
merchant Is compelled to do this be
cause his competitor has done so.
The Interstate company offers bust
Dess phones for 90 so, a reduction of
81 from the rates OF the present
company aud proposes to raise these
rates after it has $50 phones install
led. Suppose the old company re-
duees its rates to the figure offered
by the new, you will be compelled to
pay the two s25O each, making
total cost of s5 for a poorer service
than that for which you are now
paying 49, so. We say poorer service
because two Independent systems are
more inconveuient and annoying than
one and most people will admit that
there are enough petty suuoyances
connected with one system without
more than doubling them by adding
another phone.
We believe II would not be out of
place for the city council to grant
the Interstate Telephone company
the right to establish toll line with
an office in the city, but the fran
chise for a local exchange should not
be granted and the council assumes a
very grave responsibility il 1t tries
the experiment II is easier to get
the new company than II will be to
get rid Of one Of them and when the
merchants find how annoying the
double system Is they will fasten the
responsibility for the curse upon the
members Of the council who support
the proposition.
The service Of the Rocky Mountain
Bell Telephone company has not
been what 1t might be In this city,
the phones are several years out Of
date and many improvements might