The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-10-30
HELLO Men soon
FINISH BUSINESS
nE-ELECr PRACTICALLY ALL OLD
STAFF OF oFFrCERs AND HEAR
NOTED ADDRESSES.
AT OLD POINT TODAY
PIONEERS AND THEIR FRIENDS
: ENJOYED BANQUET LAST NIGHT
rENDERED BY AMERICAN
BELL TELEPHONE co.
AT OLD POINT TODAY

America early yesterday AFTERNOON en-
tered into the pleasures OF the gather
ing. During the afternoon addresses
were heard by three OF the pioneers,
and. Vice. President Thomas D. Lock-
wood told q number OF new telephone
stories. Last night more than four
hundred visitors and local pioneers en-
1oyed the annual banquet rendered by
the American Telephone and Tele-
graph Company. the parent company
of the Bell system. This morning
the pioneers will leave Richmond. go
ing to Old Point. Saturday will be
spent In Washington. where the end
OF the meeting will be.
The pioneers were welcomed TO
Richmond by Mayor Ainslie. who was
presented to the convention by Vice
President J. w. Crews. of the Chesa-
peake and Potomac Telephone Co.
The response was by Vice-President
Lockwood, who presided In rhe
absence Of President Vail. who will
Join the pioneers at Old Point this
afternoon.
The election of officers. which fol-
lowed Immediately, resulted as fol-
lows:
Theo n. Vail, president: Thomas D.
Lockwood, Angus s. Hibbard. Thomas
b. Doolittle. George e. Mcfarland.
vice presidents; Henry w. Pope. secre-
tary, and George d. Milne. treasurer.
The executive committee Is made up
OF Charles G. Dubois, Edgar F. Sher-
wood, James Robb. Charles e. Serb
ner and James T. Morgan
Visiting Ladies' Entertained.
At 1880 a large number OF the
ladies attending, some of whom are
themselves pioneers. were taken in
charge by the reception committee
and given auto rides to historic and
scenic spots In Richmond. About one
hundred were taken to the Country
Club Of Virginia. where luncheon was
had.
The afternoon session was given
over TO the addresses of General Com
mercial Manager James Edward Nc
Culioh, OF the New York Telephone
Company, whose subject was 1.-THE
Telephone as First Applied to the
Operation and Dispatching OF Railway
Trains" and those of y. T. Guernsey,
general counsel for the A. T. and T.
Company. and Angus g. Hubbard, who
designed the blue beli' emblem of
the telephone industry.
After tracing the earlier develop
ment of the telephone and showing
how it's service has been improved,
Mr.. Guernsey concluded with:
THE United States has over 65
per cent OF all OF the telephones in
the world. It's telephone service. both
local and long distance. Is so much
better Naan the serYice anywhere elsa
in the world, that there Is nothing
with which II can be compared. The
telephone exchange revenue per sta
ton per annum in the United States
Ia but s3e.45 against $s2.63 for Great
Britain. What there Is good In the
Telephone service Of other countries
is copied or adopted from the United
States Such results as these would
not have been possible had not the
principles underlying the Ben organ
ization been thoroughly sound.
Relations OF Phone Companies.
''At the outset. said that the rela-
ton OF the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company to the telephone
business Ia defined by its relation to
Its associated companies. Broadly.
this Is true, because what X has done
for them, 1t has done for the telephone
business as a whole. Eighty-five per
cent OF the telephones in the United
States. and this means SIS per cent of
the telephones In the world, are part
Of. or are connected with. the Bell
system. This Is true because what the
original telephone pioneers believes.
the public. as the result OF Its ex-
perience, has accepted as demon
strated, namely, that from the public
point Of view the most valuable SER
vice Is single. universal service.
THE Bell organization Is not an
artificial organization. It is the nor
NAL, natural result OF the conditions
surrounding the invention and de-
velopment OF the telephone--inevit-
able. il the public Is to nave the best
and most comprehensive service at
the minimum expense.
This Organization has afforded the
associated companies service and as
sistance which have been of vital In
huence In developing and building up
the telephone service In the United
States
The results attained through this
organization have demonstrated that
It Ia essentially and fundamentally
right The inevitable result OF the
consistent application for over thirty
years OF theories OF organization that
were out Of accord with sound econ
omics Or the public interest. would
suit could not have been a telephone
system showing the highest develop
ment and giving to the public the
cheapest, best, most efficient, and
comprehensive telephone service In
the world.
mo substitute for the single system
and central control. which are the
dominating characteristics of the Bell
organization. could have attained. at
the same cost or Mt any cost, results
OF equal benefit to the public. whether
measured by the character of the
service. Its cost. Its efficiency, or its
unlversality."
Mr.. Hubbard said In part:
preliminary long distance work
was carried on for number of years.
and brought to II the devoted services
of many men well known to you ALL
1t was soon shown that the long dis
lance toll lines stood UP and gave SER
vice when other telephone and tele-
graph lines were Frustrated. 1t win
be recalled. a. an example Of this. in
the great blizzard Of March, 1883,
which spread generally over tho east
ern part OF the country. the long dis
lance lines furnished almost tho only
means OF communication and wore, in
fact, the only means by which. for
several days, the city OF Nav York
could be reached. except by cable from
Europe. Tho dependabilfty or long
distance service soon put II in q class
No it.Alf anA hromnwh< Il x,..~A -. = -.