The Cordova daily times., 1919-07-31
WIRE SYSTEMS OF STATES ARE
 REPORTED ON

department of commerce, the twenty one commercial land telegraph sys- tems in the United States in 1917 op- erated 241,012 miles of pole line, com prising 1,888,793 miles of wire; sent 151,725, ,228 messages, and employed 47,227 persons, to whom were paid salaries and wages amounting to $36,- 392, 40. This report, which is issued under the title, "Telegraphs and Mu- niCipal Electric Fire-Alarm and Police Patrol Signaling Systems" was pre- pared under the supervision of Eugene F. Hartley, chief statistician for man. ufactures, and is the fourth of a series of quinquennial reports on the tele- graph systems of the country.
 The pole-line mileage in 1917 was less by 2.6 per cent than in 1912, but was greater by six-tenths of 1 per cent than in 1907 The wire mileage, however, showed an increase of All per cent as compared with 1912 and of 197 per cent over 1907. The increase in the number of messages was much greater-457 per cent-during the last five-year period and 43.1 per cent dur ing the ten years from 1907 to 1917 The number of employees increased by 392 per cent between 1912 and 1917 and by 849 per cent during the period 1907-17, and the corresponding percent ages of increase in their salaries and wages were 592 and 1242.
 The number of telegraph offices in 1917 was 28,SG5, a decrease of 6.2 per cent as compared with 1912, and of seyen-tenths of 1 per cent as con- pared with 1907. The total income from telegraph traffic was $91, 1,312,567, an increase of 74.5 per cent over 1912, and of 14O8 per cent as compared with 1907; the income from all other sources was $1,641, ,SO3; the total eX- penses, including charges for depre- citation and sinking funds, were $8O, S28,970, an increase of 52.9 per cent over 1912 and of 111.4 per cent over 1907; and the net income was $12, 400, an increase of 253.4 per cent as compared with 1912 and of 1137 per cent over 1907. The par value of the outstanding capital stock of the com panies was S106,360,237, a decrease of 1.7 per cent as compared with 1912, but an increase of per cent over 1907.
 The foregoing figures relate only to commercial telegraph companies, and thus exclude the wire and pole lines wholly owned and operated by rail- roads. and also exclude the equipment and telegraph business of the various press associations which lease and op- crate wires for dispensing news.
 The Postal-Telegraph Cable Com Danv transacts some little telephone business in addition to it's telegraph business. It's development of long-d1s- tance telephone service has been par ticularly rapid in the South and South west.
 The Printing Telegraph
 During the five-year period l9l2-l91l the printing telegraph came into ex- fensiye use by telegraph companies, press associations and railroads. The nrinting telegraph consists essentially of a sending instrument equipped Wlth 2 keyboard similar to that of type writer, electrically connected with rnceiving instrument in such man ner that the latter automatically re- produces what is typewriter on the sending instrument. Without the printing telegraph it would have been difficult or impossible to handle the increased telegraph business during the great war.
 Train Dispatching by Telephone
 A special feature of the report, re- lating to train dispatching, is or some interest. The first installation ot tele- nhone and selGctor equipment for train dispatching was completed on the lines of the New York Central railroad ln October, 1907. The use of the tele- phone for this purpose has increased rapidly. The report shows, for 1917, 1O5 lines employing this method of train dispatching, as against AZ Tn 1912. The mileage of telephone pole lines for train-dispatching purposes was 95,268, an increase of 67.6 per cent, as compared with 1912; and the mileage of wire was 201,662, an in crease of 557 per cent over 1912. The total line mileage of railroads report ing the use of telephones for trans hitting train orders in 1917 amounted to 110,4O4 It is asserted that not a single accident has resulted from the use of telephones in train dispatching.