The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-05-11

alton for varying periods, from six to
ten years are finding it necessary to
increase their rates so as to continue
operation. The announcement of this
purpose is meeting with opposition
from telephone subscribers in some
cities, thus bringing to the front again
the telephone question, which aroused
very great public interest some eight
or ten years ago.
THE rates charged by the major
ity of the companies are those rates
which it was believed would be profit
able before the telephone companies
were organized and for the first few
years after operation was begun. u>
it has been found that they are not
profitable, not only not providing for
adequate returns on the capital III.
vested, but not providing sufficient
income for the maintenance of the
plants, and therefore, of course, not
sufficient for the extension of the sys-
tens.
I'VE, ourselves, have received a
quite extensive and fairly expensive
education in regard to the mainten-
ance and operation of a telephone
company. Those who were readers
of the Herald some eight or nine years
ago know that we took an active part
in organizing opposition to the Cum
berland Telephone Company. We
tried to get the best information OBJ
tainable at that time and the infor-
nation we got was that the rates then
fixed were profitable.
No information obtainable gave any
adequate conception of the marvellous
growth in the use of the telephone,
nor were we convinced by any infor-
nation which we then obtained of the
fact-that the cost OF operation and
maintenance increases per telephone
with an increase in the number OF
| telephones.
In direct opposition to this is tC
experience in other business. 1t was
not taken into account by us, nor by
any of the other hundreds of men il
Central Kentucky who invested theii
money and gave their time to the or
ganization of indeendent telephone
companies.
! When taught by experience the
principle is simple, and yet it is neces
sary that it be taught by experiences
to have it understood
The investment per telephone il
an exchange of one hundred subscrib
ers is not one-fourth the investmen
| per telephone for an exchange of on
| thousand telephones. The cost o
operation per telephone in an eX
change of two hundred is not owe
half, if half, the cost of operation pc
telephone in an exchange of on
thousand, nor one fourth the cost O
operation in an exchange with tw
| thousand subscribers.
The number of calls made througl
the switchboard of an exchange OF tw
thousand telephones is much NOR
than twenty times the number of call
made through an exchange with on
hundred telephones-nearer one hur
dred and twenty times as many, S
that those who organized telephon
companies and based their rates upo
the number of telephones in use tie
years ago, find it necessary to increas
their rates or to go out of business.
Another cost which was accuratel
estimated by few of the companie
was the cost of maintenance. Iron viii
strung in the air over a railroad traC
where it comes in direct contact wit
! the smoke of the engines, has to |
renewed every TWO or three year
Iron wire strung along railroad tract
has to be renewed every four or '
years, as it does in such a city ;
Lexington, where there is the amour
of coal smoke there is here. Eve
in the country, where there is col
paratively little coal smoke, the Ii
of iron wire is not over ten years. II
life of chestnut poles, which are ust
principally in the construction of pc
. lines in Kentucky, iAnot over eight
U twelve years, and of cedar pol
twelve to fifteen years.
THE life of a switchboard is fro
seven to twelve years. The Fayet
| Home Telephone Company is now
) stalling a new switchboard, the c