El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-03-30
RATES
BIC HANDICAP
Phone Officials Argue so
Cent Reduction Would
Cripple Service"

on the rate charged for residence tele-
. phones would place the Tri-State TeIe-
! phone company In such a position as
to make il necessary TO cease many
/ contemplated improvements. handicap
/ TO great extent extension and de-
! velopment work and make It necessary
! 10 discharge many competent employees
/ which would result in "crippling the
= service to its subscribers, was the
! contention made Friday morning by c.
I L. Stratton, general manager Of the
( company, during the hearing OF the
city council and telephone officials,
Q held in the city council chamber.
] Mr. Stratton said that the business
3 men OF FL Paso were making no effort
/ TO urge the council to force a reduc-
ton lie asked the aldermen to leave
4 the company alone and not force a rate
! reduction"
The hearing, which was started
( Thursday afternoon. was resumed at
} 10 o'clock Friday. and an adjournment
was taken until ESQ this afternoon.
Gas Company Hearing Next Week.
The hearing Of the gas company
: officials and the city council for the
purpose of discussing a reduction OF
rates in gas will not be held until some
time next week.
Mr. Stratton Friday morning spoke
OF the excellent service his company
was giving its subscribers in FL Paso-
ne AhAQ OF the corporation having pro
vided rest rooms, RECEPTION rooms,
music. dances, lunches and other
amusemeuts and conveniences for its
girl operators. He said baths had been
installed for the girls and a cooling
system which made their surroundings
very pleasant and added to the eff
cheney Of the service OF the company
10 its subscribers.
Lunch Fund For Girls
Mr. Stratton said crackers and other
food sur n -fhes - he
girls at cost and all the money the
,lupa4.y t,ceiNei tom sucn de. dc
Quoting actual cost, was placed in a
fund for the girls. Once 4 month, he
said an entertainment was given in
the rest rooms
Mr. Stratton said that the Tri-State
company was operated just as though
II had 20 competitors and asserted
there had never been complaint, so
far as he knew. among the subscribers
OF the company about excessive charges
for phones. He said that when the Tri-
State company took over the telephone
system in FL Paso the service was ex-
tremely poor and that since IT had
been made one Of the best
Has FL PasO's Interest Mt Heart.
Mr.. Stratton said the company had
the interest OF FL PasO at heart be-
cause the growth Of FL Paso meant the
growth OF the telephone system. He
aid the officers Of the company had
always cOoperated with the chamber
OF commerce and real estate men OF
the city The speaker said that the !
company had always extended its lines
10 the new additions opened and that
this work cost large expenditure OF !
money
FL Paso was Isolated previous to the !
time the Tri-Stare company took over I
the telephone system here. he said II 1
was not until the Tri-State became in 4
charge that trunk lines were connect
ed with the local office so that people
in e. Paso could talk TO New York.
crn n nj
Must Replace Equipment.
J E Gamewell, consulting engineer /
OF the FL Paso office, stated It would
cost the company an outside" expen- I.
changes in the system II the rate On
telephones was ordered lowered b.
council This money, he said, would be b
expended for poles, underground ca
company would soon have to replace
one-tenth Of its present equipment,
which vas no longer in first class con-
dition.
III. GamewelI said that statistics
kept by the company showed that there
had been a 400 percent increase IN fam
lies east Of Cotton avenue during the
past four years and that the company
was compelled to expend large sums OF
money to extend phones to these FAM
spent $4,000 for underground cables
alone during the year of 1915.
says Council Should Investigate.
0. F Teschner. superintendent Of the
Fl Paso plant stated that there was
now being spent by the company in Fl
Saso on outside work s193,452 and
hat the entire expenditure for out
side work for the year viii amount to
s21S.452- He said El Paso subscrb-
Prs were obtaining their rates at 8
-ery reasonable cost and that council
should make a thorough investigation
before acting in the matter under con-
iideration.
Milton Smith, OF Denver, announced
that 4 the city council forced 4 rate
IL would be necessary for the
10 cut down the efficiency OF
IS service.
Says Girls Paid More Here.
A comparison Of wages paid en-
,lOyes IN Fort Worth. Dallas and FL !
2asO was then given by Mr. Tesch-
Ter showing that the employees in |
81 Paso we're paid 4 much higher
ate
The SPEAKER said that copper had.
Turing the first two or three years IN
'reased 116 percent and that all other
le tar as used by the telephone COM
any had increased.
H, W Bellord. OF Denver. auditor