The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-06

1 his net~hhor. lust a few years ago
| the first farm telephone lines Were
constructed. but so rapidly have tnsy
l multiplied that now one need NOT oe
surprised to find telephone In the
most unexpected locality.
A few weeks ago a party o. nunter
while in search Of small game IN 9
western Texas county, In thinls
settled locality, were forced 70 take
I.refure In a farm house 10 escape q
| shower, The house was small ana
very scantily furnished. ana the sur
Iroundings made II plain that the own
er was a poor man. Shortly aIter en-
! surprised to hear a telephone ring
1 When one Of the party expressed sur.
| prise at finding telephone in such
locality, the host remarked that near.
" all of hts neighbors had phones.
! and that they could not be induced to
do without them.
| Don't you find telephone rather
| expensivers asked ono Of the hunters.
after noting that the furniture In the
| home would not invoice $50, while the
house itself was very cheap affair.
well, no, consider that never
got SO much for my money a. do
! from the small amount that my tele-
phone costs. Last winter my little
girl became sick In the night. and I
ran a horse to death going for a doc
tor. If had had the phone then I
would have gotten the doctor quicker
and not have killed the horse. The
phone pays for itself in many ways.
besides the pleasure we get from II.
Several families on the line have musi-
cal instruments, and we often have q
concert somewhere on the line, which
all can hear over the phone. The tele-
phone brings neighbors into closer
touch and IL great time saver. In
the country neighburs are more or
less dependent upon each other, es-
| pecially In case of sickness or acci-
dent, ana a means of quick commune
cation II ono Of the best boons thar
has ever come to the farmer.
when ! am away from home I am
not uneasy about the welfare of my
family, since ! have had the phone
In the house. / know that IL anything
goes wrong during my absence-if a
doctor is needed or assistance of any
kind is desired. my wife has the tele-
phone. I would not be without the
telephone for twice It's cost"
1t had seemed rather improvident
that family as poor as this one evi.
IDENTIFY was should add the cost of q
telephone to the other burdens, but
after the explanation by the head OF
the household the members of the
hunting party saw very readily the
a convenience. and that II was of much
more real benefit to him than to the
city man.
Farm telephone lines are now con-
structed with a small outlay. In
many communities the farmers form
an organization and build the lines
themselves, each paying his pro rata
of the cost. In one instance that may
serve for an illustration, a telephone
service covering a half dozen counties,
having some thousand phones and CIV
ing long distance connections to all
parts of the country, for a first cost of
less than $50 to each subscriber. and
an after cost OF less than IS per year.
Is now in operation, giving the maxi
mum of benefit for the minimum OF
expense.
At the beginning of the construc-
ton of this system each farmer con-,
tributed his share of the labor. the
hauling and the money expense in
VOWED. When they got the line up
little more than SO each. They held
a meeting and decided to build the
line to the county seat The town was
only too glad to give them fran
chise, and they soon had their line iii
operation. They then issued little
ties to go and do likewise. This pros
pectus gave the plan for organizing
a general company, to have control
of all matters of general interest.
The plan was that each community
should have its own little company,
building all of Its lines and controll-
ing it's own affairs. Then the represen-
tatives Of all these little companies
were to organize the general company,
which in turn was to control the
affairs of general interest to all the
lines.
The plan has proved more success
full than even the most sanguine of its
promoters had hoped, and a splendid
service has been built up, giving the
rural population quick communication
with the outside world.
The growth and multiplication of
such rural telephone systems. with the
spread of rural mail delivery and the
of country roads, is max
ing life on the farm more inviting.
No three agencies will do more in this
& Ranch.