The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-07-03
Glasgow tile Pioneer. il, Estab-
listing a Municipal Telegraph
Systematic Imperial Gov
~. eminent Proposes &c Mo-
nopolize the Telephone
e BY Frederick Upham Adams,
Author Of "John eurt' and "Thc kIdnap.
i Il FL ped MlllIonalres.
BUSINESS.

: ! Z 2 u - ID y FL
Il Author Of "Jofn surtn and "Thc kdnap.
4 II, ped Mllonalres."
7LAsGO1N's experience with tcle-
8IsA-F phones should be OF interest to
$IO those citizens OF this country
i ~I who are compelled 70 pay extor-
u IS tionnte rates for i11fcflor service
a.. us4a |, the Scotch metropolis was the
4 first city III tho kingdom to challenge
The supremacy OF the telephone trust,
which Iii Great Britain goes by tho name
or the National Telephone Company.
#,ss T1,osflght for d municipal franchise was
a complicated and interesting one In
1111 the imperial government, through
!ts postofiice departments. proposes to
system OF tho United Kingdom At that
time tho National Telephone Company
4 Will bc compelled to surrender It's prop
Scrty at Its actual market value. without
q penny additional for good will orsfrnn-
$cllises. The private company, therefore,
opposes all competition from tnunicipali-
y lies. The latter expect 70 arrive Mt some
agreement with the general government
Ny which they will be left In partial con-
troll OF their plants and to share s2its
profits. 30 this AZ It may, the last pri-
yately owned telephone will disappear
In about seven years from this date O
n II Iii more than ten years ago since
\ high charges and bad service Of the pri-
vate telephone company. a committee
OF. tho city council reported In favor OF
establishing a municipal plant, and " was
determined to apply to the postmaster
( general for permit. This prcc)pitated5
a light which lasted for seven yedrs. Va
rloua comi15s tees from the House OF Com
mons heard testimony. Tile postoftice
& department refused TO grantRtfc license.
The Imperial government was thus allied
with the telephone trust against Glasgow
/ IN this crisis the Various cities Of Great
Z Britain made common cause with Glasgow "
and backed lier}in the fight for q franchise.
Without going into details It may be
stated that the allied cities won. and on
4 Niarch /. 1900. Glasgow obtained the first
license over granted to city for the
4 PURPOSE OF constructing and operating
ID Telephone system.
5rhe telephone committee has as Its
! chairman Baille John Alexander wealthy
v carriage manufacturer OF Glasgow
II had delightful Interview with & this
gentleman. He is q firm believer In the
theory that he municipality or tho nation.
shall take over he control OF all in
dllstries or institutions susceptible OF
4monopolisuc control by private capital.
II IL seems strange to hear such radica ism
Il from the lips Of one who has acquired an
enormous fortune, but John Alexander
that matter In Great Britain.
& Having won the right to install a mu-s
4 nicipal telephone plant,&;hc Glasgow aus
Etthcritles set about the selection of a capa-
.Tble manager. After some carefs.N con-
4 sideratIon the position was offered "a 70
4, Alfred r. Bennett. Years before Mr..
Bennett had attained fame and standing
las an electrical engineer and inventor
II He made his start In india IN 1863. where
lie won the cherished Especial mention
slcertifcate's from the Indian government
\, for proficiency In submarine cable and
Hand line testing. On his RETURN 70 Eng
Hand no Vas made managergof the High
ton Batteries Company, and for a quar-
tier OF century has been at the fore
In matters electrical. His inventions and
a experiments cover the wholefrange Of the
4art. He placed the first telephone wires
in Great Britain. and was the pioneer
4 in the lighting OF mines by electricity.
In addition to inventive and engineering
talents Mr. Bennett possesses marked
literary abilities. He is the author of
several books and for several years was
the editor OF a successful technical maya
Zine. Men Of this type I'LL the great nd
llninistrnti1e Offices of Great Britain, and
y it is their tirclcss and intelligent super
vision that does 80 much to inspire the
4 SUCCESS or the enterprises financed by
public capital.
The work of contraction was begun IN
July, 1900. and up to the present time
GLASGOW has expended sl5O.obg on It's
telephone plant While the city contains
only % square miles of territory. the
telephone wires reach out over nearly
ten times that large a district.
Under the old telephone company no
effort was made to reach tho suburban
area. The private company catered on
ly to the congestcd district and imagined
that they would lbsc money IL they i'm
proved the service, extended the scope
3or.lowercd the rates. Under their manage
,nent the average annual cost Of a tclc-
phone was $6Oor more. II took from, one
10 ten minutes to make Il connection.
London Is In the same plight to-day that
4 Glasgow found itself In four years ago.
\ The private telephone systems OF Great
Britain are insufficient almost beyond be-
lief.
The n Glasgow telephone service is the
hest II have ever Inspected. NJ Bennett.
Informed me that their statistics showed
that the average time required to make
connection was less than fifteen sec
onds. 1 made a. test on my o Wn ccount,
and called UP ten subscribers, OF the
nine who responded. the average time
from unlocking the receiver to answers
from those addressed was fourteen sec
aonds - ahould be explained that the
telephone booth Is practically unknown
in the office of q Glasgow business ma ..
4 The instrument Is on the edge of MS
desk, and the receiver and transmitter
arc in one piece. This aluminium device
il connected with wire cord, and the
customer may converse leaning back ~
lis chair or walking about the room, as
q he prefers, 1t Is most decided ln.-t
\ provement over the clumsy and anti
suuated system which yet prevails In most
exchanges in tho United States.
Tho rate to a subscriber for service
with an unlimited number of calls over
the entire system Is $3.50 q year. There
4 Is no installation charge, and no dues
of any kind other than the annua; pay
ment OF this amount. A toll servi,c IS
rendered for SIT year, with an additional
charge Of q penny for each outward mes
sage, with unlimited inward calls free,
on party, line, with more than four
subscribers the rate Is So per annual, with
an unlimited number OF calls.