Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-11-11
Community in The South Seas is
Backward as to The Use
of Telephones.
CONSTRUCTION Is NOT MODERN
Very Few Instruments Installed and
the Service Is Far From Being
Satisfactory-old-FashionedG Ground.
ed Circuits Utilized which Fail to
Give the Desired Results.

IN" commonwealth of New Zealand
mas sometimes proclaimed MS an in
nnstrial paradise, sociQlistic stats
In which all the problems that. have
arisen to ycN humanity in the evo-
luton OF the. race are being settled.
a practically homogeneous popula-
hon, newly settled in an astonishing.
ly fertile group of Islands. has pros
per"l us Anglo-Saxons are apt to
prosper in such circumstances: hence
disposition among many writer's
10 attribute The success Of the colony
to its form of social organization.
In one important respect however
--and those most familiar with the
local situation assert that here arc
many other reSpccts-this Utopia of
the South Seas is still far behind
the times.
Telephone System Backward.
The telephone system which is do
Ing 50 much to unity tho entire con
tincnt Of North America. is in very
backward state in the government
ridden British colony off the Austral-
ian coast.
In the entire archipelago of New
zealand. with Il population in excess
OF 100000, the actual number of tel.
| cphonc stations OF all kinds was, on
| March 81, 1905, the latest date for
which figures are available, but -, 1913
us against l2,10J twelve months before
| that.
In Gther words this dominion with
an era OF 10i All stunrc miles and
IN population equal TO that of the COM
| blncd states OF New Mexico. Delaware
Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming. ana Nevada.
has fewer telephones than are to be
! found in the city 0f Seattle which
has about one tenth the population.
Grounded Circuits Used.
! New York city alone, with about
five times rs many people as tho
socialstlc commonwealth, has about
twenty times as many telephones.
The old-lashioncd grounded circuits
are used everywhere in New Zealand
except nj the four principal exchanges
in Auckland Wellington, Christchurch
and Dunedin.
The telephone in New Zealand is,
in fact, still Il local utility. The dis
trlo;s are carefully defined. though
they may overlap, and after regular
hours speech is permitted from an
Office in one district to an Office in
another where practicable. Most
! OF the arrangements for handling the
traffic appear to the American as
/ equally as primitive.
There are great distances which
might be telephonically traverscd
an. which undoubtedly would be so
tittversed under American manage
mont. Thus from Auckland ID Wei
lncton, the two most important cen
tres, it is nearly 500 miles. Yet
yoa cannot telephone between these
two cities.
Red Tape Around Everything.
Much red tape Is involved in the
subscribing to the governmental tel
ophcne service. \ formal application
has To be made and an entrance fec
TT one pound is eXactel before an
application VII! be considered. The
| Intending subscriber may not live
more than three miles from an OK
change. The rates, const le,:ng the
number Of persons with whom com
munication is possihc-anl obviously
the value of IL TELEPHONE increases
with the number If subscribers VINO
can be reached by t--arc by no
the Bell system in the Uuitcd States
Thus business establishments may
| pay $1,000. private residences. $24 81
rates which, considering the differ
cnces in the general scale OF living
between the two countries. are fully
equal to those charged in the smaller
communities of this country where
the subscriber gets for his money
direct communication with as many
or more people than he would I'M
Il New Zealand city.
Not Always Open.
The exchanges, furthermore, arc
nct open at all hours of the day
except in the largest places. In dis
tr'cts where there are less than g.
Subscribers the hours of tclephoning
no from A. NJ. to 5 p. M; over 60
ana NJ 10 100. S y. NJ. to p. NJ:
100 70 1926. A. NJ. to 10 p. NJ; 126
10 $50. s A. NJ. to midnight; over
I150. open continuously ii desired
by subscribers.
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