The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-11-20
TELEPHONE RIVALS
/ ENLIVEN HEARING
n. Y. Co.'s Counsel Accuses
Franchise Applicant Of
Being a Fraud.
CENT CALLS OFFERED

The Great Eastern Telephone Com
pany. applying to the Board Of Estimate
for a franchise TO operate An automatic
telephone service. was denounced yester-
day by Edmund I. Mooney. counsel for
the New York Telephone Company. as "a
stock jobbing aud s%windling organ'za-
ion that had little more than a paper
title and no authorization to do business
In this state.
one of those who heard Mr.. Mooney
was n. A. Reynolds. the president Of tho
Great Eastern company. Mr.. Mooney
read from = circular issued over Mr..
Reynolds's name which spoke OF an ad-
Indicated franchise owned by the COM
pany.
rs II possible that a man ran say a
thing like that and keep out of 1ail:' in
auired Mr.. Mooney. yet the fact that
he II out Of Jail IL testified to by his APP
pcarance hero to-day"
Mr.. Mooney declared mat tho Great
Eastern company had shown itself In
capable Of operating a telephone service.
He said that Its plant at Peekskill. y. T.,
had lost more than 10 per cent OF It's
stations. and that another plant at Perth
Amboy, n. j.. IL In tho hands Of "a re-
ceiver. He averred that no directory Of
subscribers had been published since
1908. In the opinion Of Afr. Mooney this
company, a South Dakota corporation.
has not been authorised to do business
I'm this state and - In no position TO ask
a franchise from the city. since Its crea-
ture, the New York Electric Lines Com
pany. is battling with the cry for a tele-
phone franchise without payment OF any
compensation"
Mr.. Reynolds said in reply that the
attack made by the New York Telephone
Company upon his concern was n sample
OF the ~''biiiingsgate and vituperation''
TO which the Great Eastern company
had been subjected for the last thirty
years. lie admitted that n of the sub
sidiary companies manufacturing equip
ment for the Great Eastern Is In the
hands Of a receiver. and that a third
has been obliged TO reduce its
service greatly. but he alleged this To
be due to the coinpany's inability to get
New York connections.
Tho Great Eastern proposes 10 operate
with "A device by which numbers can
be obtained without calling a central
office. Mr.. Reynolds declared that
! 100000 % these telephones could he
Installed In New York without dupli-
| cation. Business service. he said. would
no TtllueTeu iVT IEprn W. " ioIf ''ilNS
a message, with ~ discount for prompt
pay and re extra charge FOR .nt"r-
borough messages. Tho charges for resi-
Dental service would run from - a
month to 81 a month, depending upon
party wire conditions. Official business
OF tho city would be done for ono cent
a message.
The New York TELEPHONE Company OPP
poses the granting Of a franchise on the
general ground that no reason exists for
the establishment OF another telephone
system in this city. Tho company issued
"A statement last. night showing that ir
tho last Ave years nineteen cities having
a population of moro than $4,000 have
abandoned dual telephone systems for a
single system, n that i've of sucl
citiee. namely. Chicago. B~!nghamton
Rochester, Trenton and Elmira- are de-
handing tho merger OF competing syD-
TENS.
M Board OF Estimate referred th'
Great Eastern company's petition 20 tht
boards committee N franchises