El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-09

The Automatic telephone system Of
FL PasO, after d stormy career, is OUT
of business. The southern Independent
Telephone company, which operated the
system. shut up shop Thursday night
at. 9 o'clock and made the announce
ment that il had retired from the field.
The explanation was issued in the form
OF d letter by the manager, J. H. Nor
gan, who said:
Our reasons for closing down the
Southern Independent Telephone plant
are very simple With the loss OF the
toll lines leading out of FL Paso, which
were formerly owned by parties friend
ly to the Southern Independent COM
pany, and by reason Of the large num-
Der of lines built by the Tri-State
company in the territory tributary 70
FL Paso our list of exchange subscrib-
ers gradually dwindled to a point
where this company could not pay
operating charges and naturally il
could not find new money to enable
it to branch out as the Tri-State com
pany has done When the bonds were
foreclOsed and 1 was appointed re-
CeiVer / endeaVOred to find a purchaser
for the plant and made three attempts
to make public sale and several at
tempts TO interest outsiders privately,
without avail The plant was bought
by the bOndhOlderS who have since
tried to operate it, and have been in
charge for them and have continued
to operate at a loss. We simply have
decided to stop the loss. Just what the
next step will be 1 cannot say The
greater portion of our subscribers are
already subscribers to the Tri-State
service and so only a comparatively
few telephone users will be discom-
NODDED by our ceasing to operate
Promoted Eleven Years Ago.
The company has had a stormy
career in FL Paso. Promoted first in
1901 by Mrs. Annie Brett and J. LOrian
Miller, the concern met with much sup
port and encOura cement as the tele-
phone system then existing, owned by
the Southwestern Telephone company,
was about the worst that could be con-
ceiVed. The new company got a fran
chise and began putting down condults
and erecting poles, but met with finan-
cial reVerses in 1902 and work stopped.
Meantime, the Southwestern company
put in a new switchboard, changed
from the old ringing system to the
present central energy system, and
greatly improved its service.
The Automatic company succeeded,
however, in financing the company
later and put in its plant on South
Oregon street completed the stringing
Of its poles and laying of cOnduits and
opened for business in 1906.
Proved Only a Burden.
For a time the company got cOnsid-
cradle support from people who did
not understand the Inconvenience that
two telephone systems would cause.
The new company had been supported
primarily 10 fight the old company "a
Bell subsidiary company, but its COM
pletion resulted as such an undertake
ing has resulted in every other city
in the cOuntry-in forcing business men
to maintain both phones and making
it incOnVenient for hOuSehOlderS, be-
cause of the two systems, one person
having d Bell and one an automatic
and connection between the homes Of
frien-s often being impossible. al
though each had a phone. Three years
ago when the Bell company raised its
business rates from IS TO So, there was
a mass meeting and decision on the
part of many to support the automatic
company. but the affair was only a