The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-17
COMPANY WILL
 SPEND $18O,OOO Big Improvements Planned by the Bell Company LETTER SENT TO COUNCIL MT. Gentry Tells of the Difficulties That Have Confronted the Com
 pany In the Past Six
 Months.

eral manager of the Southern Bell Tele- phone Company. has submitted the fol- lowing to the Mayor, to be read at the meeting of the City Council tonight.
 ITO the Mayor and Aldermen. Birming-
 ham, Ala;
 "Gentlemen-The southern Bell Tele- phone and Telegraph company will never rest satisfied until 1t is furnishing it's patrons in Birmingham and vicinity with telephone service equal to the best fur nshed anywhere in the world, and our motto Is and will be, first class service, courteous treatment and reasonable rates
 We have been confronted in Birming ham with serious problems during the past six months, and I feel sure the fol- lowing statement of facts will convince you that we have been fully alive to the situation.
 During the past three months we have connected up 1412 new telephones and this means that one new telephone has been connected up for each twenty-five (25) minutes of working time counting work ing hours of working days including all of the necessary work of running lines, making cut-ins, placing the telephones, making switchboard connections, com pletng records and preparing data for linemen, inspectors and operators That we had facilities for connecting so many rew stations demonstrates clearly that we had looked ahead to some extent and had made preparation for a large growth in Birmingham.
 Expended Last Year.
 During the year 1905. we have be- gun work which, when completed will cost $1S0, O0.00 and the greater part of this work has already been completed, and all of the material for the remainder Is either on the ground or en route, and we have a very large force of construc- ton men engaged on this work now
 "Included in this work Is a trunkng cable system between the main exchange in Birmingham and the branch exchanges in the suburban towns and cities, which cost more than $30.00000 and the expendi- ture of this amount Is purely for the pur- pose of making the service first class as it will not produce any additional reve- nue. due to the fact that no charge is made to subscribers for connections between Birmingham and the suburban exchanges. This work Is a little more than one-third completed Is being push ed forward vigorously and we hope to have 1t entirely completed by April i,
  ment in the service between the various exchanges.
 For 1906 Outlay.
 "We haze laid out for the year 1906 work which will cost approximately $1S5,- O0O.O0 which includes the construction of a new five-story building on the lot which we now occupy, a new switchboard, exten- sive underground extensions and other in1- portant pieces of work, all intended to provide, not only frst-class service, but ample facilities to take care of the enor- nous growth in the business which we expect. While we have made net gain of only 14S1 telephone stations during the year 1905, still, in order to do this, it was necessary to install nearly 5000 new telephones, on account of the large number of "take-outs" for various causes. We will submit to the city engineer and Mayor and board of aldermen within the next few days, with request for the | necessary authority to begin work im- medately and to complete the same dur ing 1906, underground plans calling Tor ex- tensions to our present underground sys- tenn of nearly ten miles of trench, or about sixty miles of underground con- duts. and when this work has been com pleted and underground cable secured and drawn in the conduits and the poles and overhead wires taken down, still further improvenient in the service will | tions to individual telephones than ever before.
 EnsIey and Bessemer.
 "We have completed a new building at Bessemer and installed an entirely new system there. and completed five new trunk lines between Birmingham and l Bessemer. which enables us to take care of more than 2OOO calls per day between Birmingham and Bessemer alone. We | f1r building at Ensley and have ordered new, multiple switchboard for that town. and this work should be com pleted within six months, when we will be in position there to take care of all the business which can be secured. I've have added large number of new operators to our force, ten of whom are the most expert operators which could be found in other large exchanges, and who have been in Birmingham for the past sixty days, not only for the purpose of operating, but for the further purpose of assisting in teaching new operators in Birmingham how to handle the service with dispatch and promptness. We have added during 1905 new clerks. collectors messengers, inspectors, switchboard men, combination men and other employees, to our force in Birmingham, which adds to our fixed pay roll there S22,4 40 per an- nun. We have secured the services of new chief inspector, who Is from one of the largest exchanges in New York city and who Is reputed to be a man of fine telephone experience, and who will have charge of the maintenance of the plant and will give his entire time to repairing all troubles and Interruptions of every description, with as little delay as possible and he has been furnished with a corps of competent, first-class men as his assistants.
 New Chief Operator.
 "we have secured the services of a hrst-class chief operator from Pittsburg, Pa, who was assistant chief operator in an exchange of 12,000 subscribers. and who is reputed to be man of experience and ability and who will give his entire time to the operating room to see that everything possible is done in order to leave no room for complaint about our service.
 Engineers have been at work on plans for our new building for the past six months having prepared one set of plans which it was found could not be used, and now having the second set of plans very nearly completed and the Birming ham architects who are in charge of | the matter. inform me that these plans | will be ready for contractors to submit | bids within the next ten or fifteen days. | If is absolutely necessary to keep the | switchboard in operation during the con | structfon of the building, put as much l of the building will consist of Iron and | steel. as there will be more or less con aNlf fd-