Pocahontas star herald., 1915-03-26
BILL TELEPHONE co. WILL
SPEND THAT SUM M NEXT
FIVE YEARS.
FEW REALIZE AMOUNT NEEDED
Has Faith In Future Of This state
I. Already Has Invested Over
i Five Millions HERE'S
a state Builder.

Arkansas In the next five years has
been prepared by the Southwestern
Telegraph and Telephone Company.
according 10 an announcement Just
made here By 3. A. Lane. commercial
superintendent for the company for
this state. And this estimate follows
the expenditure by the company OF
several millions In Arkansas In the
past few years. Besides the material
benefit that will result TO the state al
large IN 4 direct way from the ex-
penditure OF this large sum OF money.
there II the even greater benefit Of
confidence In the certain growth and
development Of the state that will TO
suit In q general way.
The Bell Telephone company does
not appropriate great sums for Inn
provement OF It's lines and exchanges
until its expert estimate engineers
and executive officials have analyzed
the situation from many angles and
have gone over the ground thorough
iy and staked their reputation on the
certainty OF the development OF the
state where the service Is TO be thus
improved and enlarged and the
growth OF the population and the add
Cd volume OF all lines OF business
Business men at home and finan-
ciers and investors and homeseekers
over the country viii note this an
nouncement OF the Bells confidence
In the growth and development OF Ar
far~as. They win count Il as a more
certain index Of the states great fu-
tuzs than any mere assertion not
backed by the investment Of good
money IN that assertion.
The Bell has been recognized for
years N all business and financial cir
cies as a careful and successfully
managed concern. II plants fits ex-
psn5ltures IN fruitful soil and builds
constantly for the future.
With a property value In Arkansas
at the present time OF s5.6o0.o00 and
an annual pay roll OF s600.000. the
Bell companys announcement that II
Intends 10 spend four millions more
in this state. coming az this particu-
lar time. Is most welcome 10 all loyal
Arkansas folks who have faith and
confidence In the future OF their
state. They know that good and sound
business reasons dictate the policy OF
this great telephone company. And
10 they can draw most favorable con-
illusions from the result OF n careful
analysis OF their states future by the
experts who wound up their work by
declaring that sour millions OF dollars
would be necessary in the next five
years TO meet the states growth and
prosperity.
The part played by the Bell CON-
pany In the development OF Arkansas
is worth more than passing notice.
Few people realize the part played by
the telephone these days In the build
ing up Of a state by the knitting OF its
separate units OF communities to-
gether
The Bell company has crossed
mountains and valleys and Wild
streams and long stretches OF forest
and uncultlvated and unsettled lands
In this state and spent hundreds OF
thousands OF dollars to connect the
business centers of the state with all
the outlying towns and settlements.
II is impossible TO suppose that these
lines crossing SO many miles OF un-
settled country should pay at first
They are the forerunners OF business,
the pioneers OF development. the
builders OF state. They connect the
sawmill and the country store and the
mine with the business world as rep
resented by Little Rock. Fort Smith,
Pine Bluff, Mena, or with Dallas.
Tex. or Oklahoma City, or st. Louis,
or Memphis The telephone line, the
telegraph and the railroad come first,
and after them come the small In
vestor and business man and worker
who build an isolated community into
a city or a community where all the
advantages OF modern life can be
found.
Few people realize'the immense In
vestmenl necessary to knit the COM
muniues Of state together by tele-
phone. II is true that there are no ex-
penciye grades to build and rails to
lay for trains, but the building and
maintenance Of a telephone line re-
quires great sums of money and IL is
often necessary TO wait for years for
the returns to begin to come in from
a certain line. II is not a question
merely Of connecting Little Rock with
Pine Bluff by telephone. There is
plenty Of business to make this line
pay. But to give the universal serv-
fee that is its ambition the Bell must
build a hundred lines, so that Little
Rock may be connected with all towns,
big and little, in the state. Switch
board equipment and copper wire run
into money like building a battleship,
For instance, a single section of
switchboard costs as much as a hand.
some cottage or bungalow. The com.
pany has thrown out the old equip
ment and pIaosd new equipment in
new exchange buildings in the past
two or three years in Hot Springs,
Fayetteville, Rogers, Little Rock, Con-