Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-28
INDEPENDENT TELEPHONES.
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN,

No other Industry in America has ex-
banded more rapidly than that of sup
plying the people with telephone commu-
nication. Years ago nearly the entire teie-
phone business of the nation was in the
hands Of one company and Its allied or
CARNATIONS. The growth of that COM
pany has been one Of the remarkable
features of the industrial expansion OF
the past score of years. yet 1t has not
been able to keep pace with the great
growth of the independent lines. 1t mas
five million telephones in service ana
operates ten million miles of wire. There
are fifteen thousand Independent COM
panies and they have nearly four million
telephones. The independents declare that
they are in better shape today than ever
before, but as they occupy mainly the
rural fields, there is little room for fur
Their conflict.
The stronghold of the independent lines
is in the middle west, where the rural
telephone has become such an important
factor in the life of the prosperous farm
err In many cases the man living five or
ten miles from the city, or in the center
of his own vast fields Of wheat and corn,
has found it to his advantage to con-
struct his own line to the nearest tele-
phone exchange. He has been able to do
this at comparatively small expense for
labor, utilizing his farm hands during
dull seasons. This Independent construc-
ton policy has naturally given an I'M
petus to the Independent telephone COM
panies, and in many cases the farmers
are large stockholders in the small put
prosperous exchanges.
Investment in the independent concerns
has been fostered by the knowledge that
every addi-
Has Many Features tional tele-
Peculiar in Business. cd TN the i'm
mediate vicinity enhances the value and
the usefulness of the entire system. The
establishment Of a telephone exchange IN
a neighborng city increases the value OF
all exchanges in that territory. It is
an entirely different proposition from that
of other industrial enterprises, where
proximity usually means competition of
one form or another. The fight between
the soAcalled monopolstic telephone COM
pany and the independent concerns has
been going on with varying bitterness
the field. There have been many legal
battles. many accusations of bribery of
legislatures. charges Of spy systems and
of nefarious and underhand warfare, ana
the contest is still in progress, but the
independents continue to grow In
strength. The rate of increase for the
trust" for five years has been 131 per
cent, while that for the independents was
1873 per cent.
In the matter of determining fixed
costs, the establishment OF an Independent
company is comparatively simple prop
ositiOn. 1t is easy to reckon the cost or
constructing mile line for single tele-
phone at about S63. The life Of a well
constructed telephone line is ten years.
BY using one line for several phones "a
party hne) the cost is materially reduced
The only other item is the cost of main
tanning and operating switchboard. This
year. being determined by labor condi-
tons, rentals and the number of teie-
phones served. 1t us generally conceded
that a telephone line two miles long
serving a single subscriber cannot net
profit to the company at $24 year
rental, but If six parties are on the same
line the cost can be reduced to $12 a
such as the devastations by storms and
the lawsuits brought by persons who
have been injured by falling poles or
sagging wires, that the element of chance
plays sucf large part in the profits OF
the independents AS an attorney for a
telephone company has aptly expressed 1t,
there seems to be universal affinity be-
tween an intoxicated traveller and tefe-
phone pole, and as consequence dam
age suits are especially numerous In wet"
states.