The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-07-12

IL Detroit ever stop to consider
how a sudden call by rush
OF visitors upon the business re-
sources Of the town visitor Is handled
by the telephone company?
And II they do stop to think about
1t, does Il ever occur to them that
telephone conditions in Detroit are
quite different from those in almost
every other city in the United States,
thus making conditions doubly I'M
usual?
Perhaps neither phase of the ques-
lion has been matter for thought for
the average citizen. yet both phases
are interesting--particularly interest
ing just now, when into Detroit have
come or are coming the Elks and tho
members OF their families, host Ct
persons not much less, perhaps, than
quarter OF million people. Think
OF II! Added suddenly TO our city
OF Detroit, the population OF which
has sprung tremendously during the
past year, is practically another popu-
lation equal To the city OF Rochester,
N. T., st. Paul or Seattle. 1t Is yerita-
bly, a condition and not theory
which confronts the telephone COM
pany.
These visitors have to be taken
care OF in many different ways. The
railroads take care that they get here
swiftly and safely The hotels and
boarding houses must take care hat
they sleep comfortably and eat and
drink what they want when they
want it. The theaters have TO take
care that the visitors are entertained.
The transportation facilities of the
city, cabs, taxicabs, automobiles, will
take care that the visitors do not tack
the means of getting about. And as
for the storekeepers, they know az
we'll as the rest of the community
how to behave when there Is an add.
tional crowd lin our midst"
All these classes OF business make
money by the extra number or pc"
sons In the city-eVery one of them
The greater the call on the resources
Of any business, the greater the profit,
Yet, although the greatest burden
OF all comes upon the telephone COM
rany, 1t is burden which practically
brings In no pecuniary profits. The
reverse, indeed, Is the case, for the
The Michigan State Telephone Co.
Is awarded the exclusive contract for
furnishing telephone service to the
Elks during the. grand lodge reunion
In Detroit for the coming 10 days.
But this is an altogether different
thing from the actual telephone traffic
around and about the city from the
telephones OF regular subscribers.
II should be noted here that tele-
phone conditions In Detroit are
unique--or nearly unique. Detroit is
almost the only city of any size In
the world where telephone service is
unmeasured. Here, when a subscriber
contracts for a telephone he is--ex-
cept in the case OF a four-party line
III liberty TO talk through Ii all day
IL he wants TO. He may ask for
5000 calls every day II he cares to
make that many, and at no extra lost
other than the ordinary rate for the
use of his instrument. On the other
hand. the telephone company must
make a variety of provisions to haa-
die anything more than a normal num-
Der of calls IRON any one staten.
1t must provide an opeI",-,
make the connections; an electrician
TO keep extra watch lest the ma.
nance of the board fall off; more gen
Grating current for agitating the ring
ers at each called station; and few
other items OF less Importance. Ali
these things are expensive. This /
one Of the,several reasons why, by the
way, an addition of subscribers makes
the cost OF maintenance higher ner
station-a state of things which is un-
like any other business and when
many laymen find 1t difficult to under
stand.
Four years ago. the number OF
telephone calls per day was. on the
average, 227.759. Today it averages
53O,O67 per day, or a gain OF nearly
1873 per cent.
That is for four years. The most
remarkable Jump, however, was made
during the last year During the year
1909. the average number OF calls per
day was 400,92l. and the gain OF 1910
means gain of 80 per cent. That
this is a remarkable increase may be
seen by comparative study OF two
other interesting gains. During the
last year the gain in Detroits popu-
Iation has been sudden--namely, ID
per cent Tho gain in Bell telephones
over the same area Is much greater