Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-24
Nebraska
PHONE COMPANIES DERELICT
Fail TO Comply with Law Regarding
the Reporting Of Business.
COMPLAINTS UNDER FOOD LAW
state Commission orders Railroads
20 Place Telephones I'm All
Depots where They Do
Not Now Exist.
From . staff Correspondent.l

NfTOm n bLaII correspondent
LINCOLN, Neb.. Sept. B-CSpecdal.)-
The Street Railway commission has re-
ported a list Of telephone companies to the
attorney general for prosecution for not
having filed their annual reports Of bust
ness for the preceding year. This report
was due August L On August 30 a circular
letter was sent TO ell delinauents reminding
them that they were overdue and warning
them that II the reports were not forth
coming By September % they would be
prosecuted. Some Of them answered. prom
lsing a speedy compliance. From others no
response to the circular was received. The
penalty for failure TO obey the law re-
EardinE making annual statements is from
$500 to 5000
Following IL the list Of companies re-
ported to the attorney general: The Albion
Lorette Telephone company Of Albion, the
Farmers Independent Telephone company
OF Crawford. the Farmers Independent Tel
ephone company OF Platte Center, the Mil
burn g. Anselmo Telephone company OF
Anselmo, the Nebraska City Telephone
umpany OF Nebraska City, the New Home
Telephone company Of Beatrice, the Oga-
lalla Keystone Telephone company Of
. Ogalaiia. the Oberlin Telephone company
OF Kimball, the Butler County Telephone
company Of Brainard, the Farmers United
Telephone company Of Panama, the Hick-
man Telephone company OF Hickman, the
Howard County Telephone company OF
st. Paul. the Lincoln Telephone and Tele-
graph company Of Lincoln, the Matheny
Telephone company of Wayne, the Ne
braska-Clarks Automatic company of Sioux
city, the Peru Telephone company of Peru,
the Scotia Independent Telephone company
OF Scotia, the St%aplehurst Telephone COM
pany OF S~taplehurst. the Telephone Com
pany of Keya Paha county of Springview.
Complaints Under Pure Food Law.
Food Commissioner G. NJ. Names has
made affidavit to the county attorney Of
Lancaster county that about twenty gro
GERS and meats market proprietors Of Lin
coin are violating the pure food law. and
asking him to prosecute. The names OF
the merchants include nearly allthe prom
inent men In that business in the city. The
complaint alleges that each and all = Of
them are selling lard and substitutes for
lard without the weight being branded on
the packages. These packages and cans
Of lard were furnished by three packing
firms, Armour, Swift and Cudahy. The
law passed by the last Legislature specifi-
oally mentioned lard and its substitutes as
products which must bear their weight la
beled on the outside OF the package. The
food commissioner is making the prosecu-
ton as q test. He says that there is no
getting around the meaning Of the law,
and that II must either be obeyed or the
courts must declare 1t imperative.
List Of Corporations.
The office Of this secretary Of state has
practically cOmpleted the list Of corpora
lions which are recorded In that office and
which have not paid the state tax imposed
by the last legislature. Out OF 1000 snch
corporations on record only LS1T have paid.
some OF the cthefa, IN fact most OF them,
have gone out Of business. The record
from which they were taken dates back to
1867. No effort has been made to separate
the delinquents from the defunct. The
whole list Of more than 5000 names will be
published in two papers OF the state des~
tenated by the governor. and all who do
not pay up the tax and the penalty which
has been due since September Is, will be de-
clared no longer corporations OF the state.
This will be done by the governor on No
vember 80, by proclamation.
Telephones In DepOts.
This afternoon the railway commission
issued an order TO the Burlington and to
the Missouri Pacific railroads instructing
them TO install telephone systems in all
depots where none now exists or to appear
and show cause why they should not do
so. They will be given until october 5
in which to get the service Installed and
till October u in which to appear and show
why they should not be compelled TO obey
the law.
The towns affected are those from which
Informal complaints have been lodged with
the commission concerning the lack OF ia
c%ilities for communication with stations
There are but two or three Of these on the
lines OF the Missouri Pacific. the names
OF which have not been compiled by the
commission as yet. The Burlington towns
affected by the order are: Wallace, Mem
0his, Bertrand, Arapahoe, Wellfleet, Som.
eFset. Dickens. Bloomington and Brewster
Failing under the same general law. al.
though the case dates back to a time be.
fore the passage OF the law. is the com.
plant OF the Norfolk Long Distance Tele.
phone compony against the Adams Elk.
press company and the Pacific Express
company for not having installed
their telephones in their offices at Norfolk
and n~eighboring towns. A brief was filed
with the commission yesterday by the at,
torneys for the company. which is an in.
dependent affair. The express companie.
already have Che Bell telephone. but tn,
independents desire that they be patron.
lied also. The question involved lie whether
the maintenance OF a Bell service is ade
borhoOd even though there may be NOR,
phones Of the competitor in use In the sec
ton affected.
The Missouri Pacific has been grantet