The Savannah morning news., 1904-04-10
RIVAL TELEGRAPH
cos. AT WAR
OVER WIRES INTO DE SOTO
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WEST
ERN UNION AND POSTAL,

G0AAHA w AEH On GHtGFn OnAOI
Poles and Has Appealed to City 70
Keep Manager of Western Union
From Pulling Them DOwn-Mnyor
Referred Matter 10 City AttOrncy
While Police Guard Wires-Man-
aEer of Postal says western Union
Has Wires on His COmpany's Poles
Also.
"Their wires are on our poles and
khey must take them Manager
PEBBLES of the Western Union Tele-
graph Company, in speaking of the
Postal
''They never get mad until they are
beaten. They have wires on some of
our poles on Bay street and don't know
st.. The city would not let us put up
more poles and the director of public
works told me to let the wires stay,
and they are going to stay.-Manager
Hughes Of the Postal Telegraph and
Gable Company. in speaking OF the
Western Union.
The placing of wires by the Postal
Telegraph Company on poles belong
ing to the Western Union, in order to
get wires into the De Soto Hotel, has
led to a row between the two compa-
mics.
The matter reached such an acute
stage yesterday morning, that the Pos
tel manager appealed TO the city au-
thorities to keep the Western Union
manager from pulling the wires down.
Mayor Myers received the letter
ho ppGta1 rafpr-
red the matter to the city attorney for
an opinion and ordered that the wires
be let alone until the question is set
FED.
PntroIman Guarded Wires.
uniformed man guarded the wires
TO see that they were not molested.
Mayor Myers having written letter
to the superintendent of police asking
that the wires be protected.
Manager PEBBLES had written Man
ager Hughes that if the wires were rot
taken down at once they would be
pulled down. When Manager Hughes
received the letter he appealed to the
Mayor.
The office of the Postal in the De
Soto has only recently been opened.
in running the wires on Drayton
street, near the hotel. the poles of the
Western Union were used. No per-
mission for using the poles was OBJ
'sained either from the Western Union
pr the city.
Fight Between Companies.
Il am acting under orders from
Headquarters" said Manager PEBBLES
of the Western Union. The wires
were put on our poles without permits
sion and they must come down. OF
course we are not going to have any
trouble with the city about the mat
ter. The fight is entirely between the
two companies"
Manager PEBBLES said the Postal
was using his company's poles In nine
ty-four different places and that it
must stop. There are forty-one poles
in all involved in the dispute.
Manager Hughes of the Postal says
the Western Union has been using the
Postal poles here for years. He stated
that a number of poles on Drayton
street had been used by the Western
Union and that the wires were taken
off only yesterday.
Poles Enough Are Up.
And they still have wires on some
of our poles on Bay street that they
don't know anything about" he added.
1--WE did not get permission to put the
wires up because they have been using
pur poles. The poles about the De
Soto are owned jointly by the Savan-
nah Electric Company and the West
ern Union.
After the kick was made I went
10 the director of public works, and he
told me to let the wires remain. The
city did not want any more poles in
the street there, and would not let us
put any more up. So we can't put up
our own poles.
Intends to Stay I'm.
THE truth is they are trying to keep
us out of the De Soto. They never
get mad until they are beaten. We
Are in there and We are going to stay"
The Western Union manager stated
the fact that the Postal had establish
ed an office in the hotel had nothing
TO do with the matter.
Some of the city officials are of the
opinion that there is an ordinance
which provides that poles put in the
street by one company may be used
by another. when the city does not
want ad6itil nal poles put up. This
ordinance, however, could not be found
by the Mayor, aha he referred the
question to Col. Garrard.