Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1916-01-06
TELEPHONE CASES
Decision and Order by the Rail-
road Commission.


The railroad rate commission has
rendered the following decision in two
OF the telephone cases which were
heard in this city October 80 and 80,
1915:
Before the Railroad Commission
of Wisconsin.
The Mineral Point Telephone Company,
! Petitioner, v.
Dukes Prairie Telephone Company, The
Mineral Point and JOnesdale Tele-
phone Company, Iowa aud Lafayette
! County Telephone Co., Respondents.
Harry Collicutt ct al, Petitioners,
Dukes Prairie Telephone Company, The
Mineral Point and Jonesdale Tele-
] phone Company, Iowa and Lafayette
Telephone Company, Respondents.
i In the first action it is alleged that
the respondents have installed a tele-
phone exchange in Mineral Point in
violation of section 1797m-74 of the
Wisconsin Statutes and that the exist
ence Of such an exchange is a source
of public inconvenience. in that lines
formerly connected to petitioners S
switch board have been disconnected
from that board and connected to the
board operated by respondents and that
no necessity exists for the installation
and operation of respondents exchange
in Mineral Point.
The complaint in the second case is
to the same effect and is by patrons of
the different lines.
For the history of the telephone stu
alton at Mineral Point and the sur
rounding territory, reference is made to
the decision of the Railroad Commission
under date of November 18, 1915, in the
matter of the Farmers Independent
Telephone Exchange v. Mineral Point
Telephone Company, and to the deci-
2O5, Is W. R. G. R. at pages 70, 1872
and 1856. The three companies named
as respondents are operating under the
name Of the Farmers Independent Tel
ephone Exchange. About July 2, 1914,
the three companies, which had for
merly been connected with the switch
board of the Mineral Point Telephone
Company, established a switch board in
| Mineral Point. No certificate Of con
venience and necessity was ever applied
for or issued Within the city of
Mineral Point, they have no subscrib
ers. Subscribers, however, to the three
rural lines, constituting the Farmers
Independent Telephone Exchange, get
service with persons in Mineral Point
by having the switch board operator in
Mineral Point send out for persons, to
whom they desire to talk, who can then
communicate through the operator s
telephone connected with the switch
board, or the operator uses the tele-
phone of the Mineral Point Telephone
Company, which is installed in the
same *rOom with the switch board of
the Farmers Independent Telephone
Exchange, for the purpose Of calling up
the people for conversation or to deliver
messages
Section 1797m IA, I, provides that no
license, permit or franchise shall be
granted to any persons, CO partnership
Or corporation to own, operate, manage
or control any plant Or equipment for
the conveyance of telephone messages
in any municipality where there
is in operation under an indeterminate
permit, etr, a public utility engaged in
similar service without first securing
from the Commission a declaration,
after public hearing of all parties in
terested, that public convenience and
necessity require such second public
| utility. This subsection shall not pre-
vent or impose any condition upon the
extension of any telephone toll line from
any municipality into or through any
municipality for the purpose of con-
Meeting with any telephone exchange in
such municipality or connecting with
any other telephone line or system"
1t is claimed that the respondents are
violating the above section of the stat
utes and are owning, operating, manag-
ing or controlling plant or equipment
for the conveyance Of telephone mes
sages in Mineral Point where the
Mineral Point Telephone Company is
operating under an indeterminate per
nit.
The section above referred to also
contains another provision to the effect
that "no public utility already engaged
in furnishing service shall install or
extend any telephone exchange for fur
nishing local service to subscribers in
any municipality where there is in
operation a public utility engaged in
similar service without first having