The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-05-08
HE TElEPH MEN HAVE
POSSESSIONIOF TOWN TODAY

iss w 8 ~ y sits @Ak.&A ~ u \.
lie lies by reason OF his great experience
with tlem: And mark you. when the
president grasps the big stick for a
deliberate onslaught aimed at mo-
nopoly, he says, g Go to. now: not let
us us regulate, but let us annihilate3 this
5trnst-root and branch. Let 1t b be
iHstlrhblc st and ashes under the peoples
feet forever" u /.
a: But youe gentlemen have been more
reasonable ami conservative in the
policy you havaS pursued toward your
rival. Your. business ha as been CON con
structive. and not otdestrnctive. 5Yo,i
have reg1llated. mitigated and anchor.
ated, but you have not annihiIated.
unless 1T be sin9 the matter or exorbi.
;tants charges for abbreviated 4 priv:
ileEes. ~ 81 g!
s5a sss ne same evolutionary process. By;
virtue Of whose marvellous laws man
has emerged from state OF be-.
niEhted ignorance to an atmosphere
OF comparatively high intelligence and
refinement. Is the same process by
virtue of which we have the improved
telephone service which you have Civ.
en- us. together with the innumerable
,conveniences and 5contrlvances which
to /. make man comfortable and
happy. VI l5ss.
II is an interesting factsthat West
virginia is the cradle in which was.
70 rocked the first fndepend ent telephonr.
AZ Al Clarlx burg. only twenty-five miles
from here was put into operation the.
first telephone system which did not
belong TO the trust. This venture
proved unfortunate for1its promoters.
and on account of a technical infringe.
lnent OF patent right, the property
was confIscated under a.. decree of
court t',it and burned in the public.
square y Iiss
Persecution, in this Instance, I as Is
usually the: case, proved to be bless
Ing sin disguise, for the men behind
.,, Prise we're iired to redoublc
nn N Q snort time other
- 49, y . sltnliar nature were
set on foot, whose promoters. profttinz
by the experience OF the past. were
" meet tne resqt'lrements OF the:
''laut'urate itt1l ati TEA a system which
:. ~ st4nslns the test OF the,
80, % A ms ms slilail ginning like the
'1 VAS us so"n ,T IN fertile SOIL, has
an al, aptlna 'll alt harvest OF say
- ~ ~ - 'tes Ut an huhdred at 1F' told
M In looking back over the recent mast
one Is impressed with the fact that:
these thousands OF miles OF independ-
ent telephone wire must have snrunr
up In a night like Jonah's rourd vine.
but they differ vastly from the vine. In
that nat they. will not wither or fail under I,
the The competitive and unfriendly inhr
ences OF the succeeding day.
81 Caesar built wonderful bridge
across the Rhine; wonderful to lis be-
cause We followed its intricate con-
struction letter by letter. syllable by.
syllable.% In the original Latin tongue
but large as this undertaking seems.
I as 8 Its vivid description still fingers
In the vale that separates memory
from forgetfnlness. it was but, an cpl
sooe compared to the building Of this
: si'laer :"en of wire with which you
sentlettlen nave nave encolmpassed our COM
i'lon Weait n and into which you have
woven en- the warp and woofiof the com-
Iaerce' 1s progress and success Of our
state. state steadyinnd almost uninterrupt-
gu t i'rosress lEss. mas marked your course.
me me 'ndependellt en- companies which
you lr'enresent control 10000 5tele-
pnones. and operate 1000 miles Of toll
wiz wire IN West Virginia. alone.