Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-03-14

independent company was read With
much interest.
Scattered throughout the State of
New Jersey there are a few ~independ-
ent telephone companies that are really
independent. These companies. how
ever. are in their infancy and are not
considered of enough Importance as
competitors by the trust to gain their
control. Hunterdon county, for in
stance has three telephone companies
In its field. Hunterdon county, by the
way. is the home of Senator William
G.. Gebhardt. who introduced in the
Senate the original resolution urging
the telephone probe. 1t is the Gebhardt
resolution that is now under consider
atom by the Senate judiciary commit
tee.
The three telephone companies dong
business in Hunterdon county have an
aggregate of not more than 1,0o0 SUD
scribers. The Merchants and Farmers
Telephone and Telegraph Com
pany, with headquarters at French
own enjoys the bulk OF the
telephone business. This company has
$50 subscribers, with five exchanges,
and extends it's service into New hope
Erwinna, Pa, without extra
charge. so unlike the conditions pre-
vailing in this locality. This company
of which Senator Gebhardt Is the own
er of one-eighth of the $4,000 capitai
stock. gives an unlimited service, resi-
dences and business alike, for the mod
crate sum of S12 a year, and, strange
as it may seem, has for the last '
Years declared an annual DIVIDEND Oh .
per cent. to its stockholders. Within
Strause. of Sargeantsville, is the pres
ident and general manager, and TO an
EVENING STAR reporter declared
that with increased capital and facili-
ties a still lower rate could be prohtaoly
given to its subscribers.
Rates In Newark.
A Newark busiaess man is obliged TO
pay S22S a year. and for a service
limited to sixteen calls a day at that
The telephone monopoly has a supsl-
diary company in Hunterdon, too. Ii Is
known as the Lebanon Telephone Com-
pany. 1t gives a $12 rate becaus II IS
compelled to. but limits its territory TO
q small zone. charging extra for calls
outside this area. The Lebanon
company has but $50 subscribers,
with but little prospect of increasing.
The third company in Hunterdon
county is the Reading Telephone Com
pany, with headquarters at Fleming
Ton. The Reading Telephone Company
has no connection with the Reading
(Pennsylvania) Telephone Company, it
being a little concern launched by &
maj named Reading. 1t is understood
that this company has about 800 sub
scribers. The Merchants and Farmers
- -,-;I 10 .aar, dOac mora
business that its two competitors. The
secretary and treasurer is Charles N.
Reading, and the directors are William
strause Charles N. Reading, w. B..
Bodine, Johnstown V. Allies and Sena-
tor Gebhardt. The five exchanges of
the are located 1t Clinton,
Pattenburg, Frenchtown and Lamberts-
vile. The service is regarded as far
superior to that of many OF the larger
companies. Hunterdon county, while
sparsley populated. is one of the
largest counties in the State.
The NJ. and f. company COW
ers the entire county, the longest
stretch of which is more than forty
miles. Phones are in use in the follow
~ingiplaces: Califon, Cokesburg, Leba-
nm. Whitehouse station, New German
lhNiif A1SttNtio ~ 4 AAS
bridge. Clinton. Pennington, Three
Bridges. Pleasant Run station, Bay
willie, Wertsville. Lambertsville. Ringoes
station. Sargeantsville, Locktown.
Cherryville. Quakertown. Mount Rose,
Frenchtown. Everettstown. Mount
Pleasant, Little York, Spring Mills,
Milford. Bloomsbury, Westportal,
Norton, Jutland. Pittstown, Hamden
and Lansdown. Scattered miles apart
as these places are Throughout the
county this company boasts of it's s12
a year rate. and is still enabled to pay
yearly devidends.
Speaking of the success of his little
telephone company. Senator Gebhardt
today said:
THE men who are interested with me
In this telephone company are men who
are engaged in other business. and are
not enabled to give their attention to
the telephone business as we you'd like
to. If we did. there isn't any doubt but
VIA we could double our business and
our dividends within a year. The cap
ital stock. which seems rather insight
ficant alongside of the $500, 600, 900 stock
OF the trust, is all genuine stock. I
doubt if there is another corporation in
the world with more watered stock
than the big telephone company has.
| introduced the telephone investigat-
ing resolution in the senate and hoped
that long before this a thorough probe
would have been made. 1t is too bad
that in the Senate we have a man who
Is more friendly to the telephone mo-
nopoly than he is to the people who
sent him there. This is no need of
beating about the bush, in discussing
the attitude of Senator Wakelee, of Ber-
gen county, for he stands before the
public a -self-confessed telephone pro-
tector in the Legislature. To my way
of thinking, Senator Wakelee was not
a fit Judge to sit on the joint legislative
committee which first inquired INTO the
charges of rate discrimination made by
the EVENING STAR.
While a reduction in the telephone
rates throughout the State is the prin-
ejpal object sought, l am of the opinion
that the investigation would be pro-
ductive of far greater results. For in
stance, l think the Legislature should
restrain the monopoly from further ex-
pansion. and / also believe hat the over
capitalization of the company should
be a matter of legislative inquiry. The
method used by the trust to stifie COM
petition in Newark is a most contempt
able one. Not seeing fit to buy the
Newark Telephone Company the trust
~ao1tras aontrnl and DprmitS the COm-