Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1911-09-23

ate relief of the widows and orphans
of brave firemen who gave up their
lives last December in the discharge
Of their duty. Any alderman who
votes for an ordinance favoring the
Telephone Trust deserves the ignom.
my which he will certainly receive.
The telephone monopoly in Chicago
has grown to be an unbearable nuis.
ance.
The service is rotten.
The scandal attendant on the pass.
age Of the telephone ordinance BY the
council i've years ago 10 not forgot
ten.
The passage Of the present ordi.
nance will result In something more
than scandal for the facts will be
easier to get at.
Any alderman who votes for an In.
crease Of rates will be branded as be
ought to be.
The Chicago American Of June 20
contained the following vigorous ar.
ticle on the subject of merger:
The New York Times announces
that there 10 hope Of telephone com.
petition In New York City and that
Armour, the great packer Of Chicago,
Is said to be back of the plan.
The idea IL to buy up certain fran.
chises in the State of New York. es.
pecially to get an entrance into New
York City, and to give to the citizens
tho beneht Of telephone competition
and Of actually cheap service.
The idea of cheap telephone service
is going to grow In the United States.
and eventually II is going to be real.
ICED, despite the power Of any mon.
opoly or the profits Of a1y group Of
individuals.
II costs less. or under proper man.
agement would cost less. to send
telephone message than to send
letter.
There was O time In the United
States when private individuals OK.
plotted the mails and when the citi.
zen writing letter paid from ten
cents to q dollar or more to have
II delivered. Government ownership.
economical. businesslike methods,
have reduced the price Of sending let.
ters to two cents all over the United
States-even in the Klondike. where
the letters are carried on dog sledges.
And sane. businesslike administra.
ton Of the telephone system of this
country. with the latest up-to-date au.
tomato methods. would make tele.
phoning as cheap as writing letters.
and cheaper.
That will not come at once, but q
very great improvement will come,
and right away.
The price charged by the Bell mon.
opoly is preposterous-there Is no
worse form Of extortion among all the
extortions In the United States.
A man who lives in the suburbs
thirty miles from big city gets a
communication ticket. The railroad
carries his two-hundred-pound body
back and forth twice a day for
twenty-five cents a day. II he wants
to talk to his house twice a day the
teltpiOHc COHipuHy Cuui6 6cs III" oiAty
cents. and charges for the wire be.
sides.
In other words, the telephone mon
opoly charges more than twice as
much to carry over wire q human
voice. which weighs nothing, as the
railroad charges to carry two.hun'
dred.pound man over thirty miles OF
solid steel rails.
And the railroad has to have ter.
minals. and locomotives, and power;
whereas. with the telephone. the
mans own voice is the chief power
involved.
Armour OF Chicago Is man who
could give the people of this country
the benefit of cheap telephone service
ii he should make up his mind to do
It. He has proved his ability as an
organizer: he 10 a man OF great
wealth and Of unusual industry and
application. II is notorious that his
working hours are from seven In the
morning until ok in the evening. and
that work = ~ only amusement