Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-09-30
ASTO TELEPHONE TOLL LINES
Second Phone System Unnecessary to 40
commodate Out of Town Trade.
EXISTING FACILITIES COVER ALL POINTS
No Business IL Being Diverted from
Omaha for Lack of Inde-
pendent Toll Line Con-
nectiOns,


which is being conducted by the independ-
ent telephone promoters many specious ap-
peals are being made for public support,
but the most superficial plea advanced by
Messrs. Hunt, Fairfield and Pollock is that
by accepting the second telephone system
Omaha will open its commercial gates to
thousands of Nebraska business men whose
telephone orders would otherwise go to St.
Joseph, Kansas City, Lincoln. Sioux City
and Des Moines. The statement that
Omaha is losing trade from the surround
ing country by not having connection with
the independent telephone lines is not only
silly, but It is contemplate, because It is
published by people who know, or ought
to know, there is not an iota of truth in it.
Mr.. Hunt says Omaha wants the right to
connect with every Independent phone from
the Atlantic to the Pacific" inferring that
such a right would come from the estab-
lishment of a second telephone exchange
here, when he knows perfectly we'll that
connection with independent telephones,
even from the Mississippi to the Platte. is
impossible. Mr. Pollock draws a pessimstic
picture for Omaha's jobbers when he writes
about there being 100000 independent
phones in Nebraska which are not con-
nected with Omaha, while the fact is that
there are not more than $1,000 Independent
telephones in the state, and about one-half
of these are connected with the toll lines
of the Nebraska Telephone company reach
ing Omaha, and the other half are in towns
which can be reached better by the Me-
braska companys lines than they can by
the independent lines. Mr.. Fairfield emits
the same wall, although by taking in west
ern Iowa he increases Mr.. Pollocks figures
from 10000 to 125.OOO.
All this Misrepresentation. of course, is
for the purpose of enticing the business
men of Omaha to the support of the move
ment for city franchise, which can be
turned into thousands of dollars for the
promoters of the independent telephone
scheme, and for that reason, II not for any
other, the facts concerning telephone toll
lines in this state should be given pub
licity.
Nearly all Of the independent toll lines
In Nebraska were built by local companies
and were intended, at the time of their
construction, for merely local or county
business, and not for long-distance work.
For that reason they were constructed
with No. IL iron wire, which lacks the con-
ductive quality to carry a message any
considerable distance. Some of these county
systems have been connected up with each
other, and others have been connected I'D
with the Nebraska Telephone company's
copper metallic toll lines. The inter-
county system created by the connection
or the Independent county systems are
scattered throughout the eastern half of
the state, and many Cf them are isolated, so
that connection with Omaha, even II an
independent exchange were established
here. is impossible. The fact is that the
independent toll lines of Nebraska are scat
tered and separated, and hundreds of con-
Meeting links and the substitution of con-
per for iron lines are necessary to make
them into anything like a connected ana
serviceable state system
In the few instances where indsnandar,
county system have been connected for any
considerable distance it is impossible TO
secure satisfactory service. for the reason
that the iron circuits lack conductIvity. II
any one doubts this. let him go to the in
dependent toll station in South Omaha and
try to talk TO York. The writer, on Mon
day, August 25, with weather conditions
perfect found 1t impossible to get even
a connection with York over the independ-
ent line from South Omaha, The indie
pendents have some copper toll lines, but
the equipment is bad in other respects for
II is impossible to get good service over
these metallic circuits. as a test by the
writer last Monday demonstrated. had
to ring twice before could get a response
from Plattsmouth central. and was then
told by the operator to shake up the
phone so that she might hear me After
a wait OF fourteen minutes I secured a
connection with the Lincoln hotel at
Lincoln, but had to raise my voice to the
highest pitch to make myself heard. The
clerk at the Lincoln hotel said my voice
sounded like 1t was 400 miles away"
Afterward J called for Fairbury, which is
said by the independent people to be on
one OF their very best long-distance cir
cults. but I could not make myself heard
by the operator there. nor could hear
her. The central girl at Plattsmouth asked
me II l could hear the Fairbury operator.
and replied in the negative whereupon
the Plattsmouth girl remarked: Neither
can l."
Any one may go to the independent toll
station in South Omaha. and, II he has
the patience, demonstrate 20 his own sat
isfaction that he cannot get good service
over the independent toll lines TO more than
half a dozen towns in Nebraska. And TO
these half dozen towns he can not get as
good service over the independent as he
can over the Bell lines There is not a
business man anywhere in Nebraska, who
cannot reach Omaha over the Esii toll lines
easier and better than he can reach Lincoln.
81 Joseph OF Kansas City. over the indie
pendent toll lines. and all this talk OF the
promoters about Qpahs'H Losing trads to