The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-07-18
BENNINGTON, VT, JULY is, 1913
COMING HOME TO BOOST

Tho report Of the committee that
Investigated tho telephone abuses in
this state is fairly convincing doc
umcnl, but it might have gene fur
thor and it does net touch the phase
of the matter that The Bonner be
liovcs to DO thc,most marked failure
of the New England company
in this locality, and that is its disrc-
gard of the rights of the public and
of private individuals. Only q few
years ago thorc was talk of cpm
peting telephone company and the
pdbic almost unanimously opposed
tho plan and stood by The New Eng
'lana company The friendly feeling
toward the company that prevailed
at that ,imo has now Almost wholly
vanished and the company hardly has
| friend in $own. This change is due
ITO the stupid tactics which tho com
pany has, employed in doing business
with the. public, particularly in the
construction of the trunk lines. The
right of way men have made enemies
when they might have made friends.
Some people were paid exorbitantly
while others seem to have been TAX
en- advantage of. The rights of indi-
viduals have been treated with abso-
lutte contempt and trouble and hatred
/ thereby fomented. In trimming or
removing trees it often seems as
though the company's employees have
tried to make their work as insight
ly and offensive as possible. Construc
tiCn gangs working in front Of hous-
oe ana withn,a few feet of open win
p dcws and often in ,he presence or
hearing of ladies and children
use the most profane and obscene
language. Only few days ago, on
one OF the principal streets Of the
village, two linemen working On 4
pole, were using the most indecent
language Imaginable regardless OF
thN i~Ct tlcA EtNtldi llttit 81 NCtt
playing on the sidewalk only a few
yards away, The company, through
its employees, have ruined the appear
ance OF North street and other
r. streets, where It docs not appear to-
the public 90 have been necessary.
| These are only few of the things
that have made the company disliked
here wholly regardless OF its rates
and services. Most of these things
could have been avoided They are
typical of the old fashioned way with
which corporations carried On their
dealings with the public The public
nowadays has learned that it can get
back at the corporation and Il will in
the long run It has been the con.
tcTptuous treatment of the public by
railroads that has driven the states
and federal government TO practi-
cal supervision CT railroad business.
The telephone company seems to
have learned nothing from tho cXrcr-
| iSnCc OF ,hc railroads and continues
to operate under the old public be
damned" fag. This criticism of tho
telephone corporation does not ex-
,,cnd to tllo local exchange. If the
frank lipc cons rucion were run on
the eamc lines a. tho business and
.ss. Zoo, Of Ia
Tho company would not have lost It's
friends here. Tho writer of this ar
ticle has had experience during re-
cent years IN using the telephone In
several different towns and in some
Of them quite extensively and has
never found one whore the telephone
operators are SO uniformly prompt,
courteous and obliging or where they
are SO ready to dc all in their power
to make the service satisfactory as
they arc here in Bennington The
management here is Of the same kind
I'm account questioned is always look
ed up promptly and courtcously and
errors corrected as pleasantly one
] way a. the other. Complaints are
promptly investigated and trouble re.
mcdicd. as promptly as circumstanc-
cs viii permit. Tho New England
tclonhon; company ought TO take a
few lessons from it's bennington cx-
change On how 10 get along with the