New-York tribune., 1919-01-18
Service Charges TO Hit
Users Of Telephone Hard
New Long Distance Toll Rates Have Many Comp-
cations; Cheaper i'm ome Cases, but Higher in
Most Instances; Based Airline Distances

Service charges Will form > very
Consld ldcrablc part OF the cost Of tcc-
phone tell calls when the now long
distance toll rates authorized by Post
master General Burfcson 20 INTO cf-
feet on January 2l. The new rates,
throughout the United States. arc
based on the air line distance from
city to city, instead of the wire dis
tance as at present. They provide p
charge Of ) cents for each six miles
Up to twcnty-four miles, and ) cents
for each eight miles beyond that dis
tance fo~ "station-t station" calls.
That is. if Mr. A.. New York mcr-
chant with d branch office in Chicago
wishes to talk to that branch Office
and is willing to speak to any clerk
who may answer the telephone there
il will cost him Approximately s575.
assuming that the distance between
New York and Chica is 912 miles. the
cures given by the government for
the land distances. The air line dis
tancc is shorter, and tho actual charges
espondingly less.
Now comes complications. If Nh. A.
wishes to speak only TO his Chicago
manager. Nh b.. and so specifies. it
tccomcs a "pcrson- to- crson' call. for
which an additional charge OF about
% p"r cent Is mace over the "statjon-
to-station' rate, and viii cost approyi-
natcly S9.6S. But Mr. b. may be
absent rom the office or for some rca-
son decline to converse with Mr. A.
If Mr.. g. cannot be brought to the
charge OF 25 per cent of the "station-
tostaton' rate is made. and it viii
cost Mr.. A. Sl.93 to find out bis Chicago
manager is not on the lob Also. if
Mr.. A. should decide not to wait for
Mr. B. TO come in or is compelled to
catch a train within the hour. or de-
cldcs not to talk to Mr.. r. when the
latter comes to the telephone, it will
cost Mr. A. S1.93 to change his mind.
Still Another Charge
Suppose, however, that Mr. A. desires
tC make an appointment to talk with
Mr.. B. at II O'Clock Sunday morning.
The call then comes under the zap
po!ntment" rate, which is so per cent
"lNic tHdN the SLdllOll~ To- station "
charge, o. about 1892 If either A. or
+. fails to appear on time, ready to
talk, it viii cost S1.93 for report
of that fact
Perhaps Mr. A. wishes to speak to
Mir. c. IN Chicago and Mr.. G. has no
telephone. In this case he will give
Mr.. C.'s street address and a messenger
will be sent to find Mr. C. If the mes
sengcr can drag Mr.. C. to a public pay
station and he answers the call the
appointments rate, or SS.62, is
charged, plus the cost of the mes
senger boy. If the boy does not find
Mr. c. or he is in bed with influenza. or
Mr. A. becomes tired of waiting, Mr.. A.
Will pay the usual $193 to discover
again it is expensive both to talk and
remain silent, and he must paw the
messenger in addition.
In some cases, under the new rate.
1t VIII be less expensive to talk to dis
tant points at night. If Mr.. A. is in
Washington, estimated for purposes of
example, as 22S miles from New York,
and wishes to telephone his home that
he Will be back Monday he can do so
between $50 a. m. and midnight at
one-half the Station to- station" rate
OF Sl.1S, or "A cents. provided he is
wiling to talk to the maid or whoever
answers the 'phone If he postpones
such call until the period between
midnight and $50 a. M it will cost but
81 cents. But if he wishes to sneak
personally to Mrs. A. it will cost him