Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-10-16
TELLS BASIS Of
TELEPHONE RATES
Vice-President of New England
Company Shows How Ex-
penses Increase.
SHORT SESSION At CAPITAL
Public Service Commission Ad-
.jOurned to Monday with Mr..
Hall Still on the
Stand.
SHORT SESSION At CAPITAL

Montpelier, oct. 10-Nhen tn, public
service commission adjourned the tele-
phone nearing this noon II was to reas-
scinhle Monday afternoon at two o'clock.
as Chairman Bacon and .he commission
have some other business that must be
taken up.
Eicc-President Hail Of the New Eng
land company TOOK the stand again this
r%aorning and had rot finished When the
hearing adjourned. Ne took M the mat
ter Of rates, going ovar the ground with
a preliminary statement to snow what
things must be considered in fixing rates,
and showed hoN expense increased and
new units Of expense appeared with the
expansion OF telephone business. A sum
mary of his testimony follows:
As an exchange grows from It's first
small proportions It becomes necessary
to have some one in charge and the sal
AIRY of a manager Is added. In the
larger exchanges. for every eight opera
tors there must he a supervisor, or sem
Tor operator. When there are six or
more supervisors there must be a chief
operator and assistant chief operator to
supervise the supervisors. The informa-
ton operator early becomes a necessity,
SO that as business increases now units
o. expense are added.
The funamentallv important matter is
the use made of the telephone. the scrv-
ice secured from It. In an exchange with
i.on0 subscribers. each subscriber can talk
with $3.50 other subscribers. while in an
exchange with 800 each subscriber can
talk with only i99 others, so he will nat
urally make less use of the instrument;
and it is the fact that the average use
of the instrument is greater in large than
in small exchanges; and this greater serv-
ice makes more expense for the company.
VERMONT IN LOWEST GROUPS.
the three lowest groups, or the three
smallest exchanges, and the proportion o:
calls is plainly shown. ~ class s. the
smallest, the average number of calls per
day il 80, in class :. SO, and in class 6, 60.
In the early days of telephoning the
rates were classified according to the
population of the territory served. This
worked inequitably. Springfield, Mass,
with "A population of 1860 NJ and Fall
River with 124, 900 were placed in the same
class. Eventually Springfield had l2,5Co
phones and Fall River 1890, showing
that the classification was incorrect.
Other methods OF arranging rates We're
tried but did not prove entirely salts
factory. and after an investigation by
the Massachusetts commission covering
a period of four wears, with n complete
inventory of the company's property, a
change of rates and Of the method of
liking rates was made, involving a re-
duction Of more than $4,000 in the
revenues of the company.
The inventory of the plant was
made by or under the direction Of u.
c. Jackson of Boston.
Was not the claim made asked
Mr.. Graham, lat that hearing, that
this Mr.. Jackson was under the innu-
ence of the New England companY?'
almost every nasty insinuation
was made that could be made and that
was one of them" replied Mr.. Hall.
Mr.. Jackson has since been made
chief consulting engineer for the
British government, in charge of the
entire force of engineers in taking
over the British telephone lines by the
government
HAZARDS TO THE BUSINESS.
As showing the hazard to which tn
business Is subjected. Mr.. Hall cited the
sleet storm Of February, 1898. which
caused an expense 10 the compan o
more than half a million dollars. Whc
such disasters as this occur they Canno
be repaired with regard to economy
"he damage must bc repaired as quick
~ az POSSIBLE without regard to expense
Mr.. Hail Submitted 2 rate char: show
Ing the eight roups or classes wit. tn
number OF Subscribers and stations. pop
ulatioc Of the localities served. Per
Cen,age Of stations to population an
rates.
Vermont toms are all in the thrc
lowest Eroup1, 6, ! and s. In group i
which includes Burlington and u
land, the aVeraec number OF Suhscri
bers is 1851. stations 1924, population
1870 and the percentage OF station
to population SO. There arc II cN
u Ma DA.pG i~ Ibn gram 'rhn ppp-tovt