The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-06
SOUTHERN BELL ID
 SPEND S1,255,345 ON MPROVEMENTS
This Amount to Be Spent In State This Year If Sup plies Can Be Had and
 aRtes Increased
By FRED H. GORMLEY
 Montgomery Bureau The Aoe-heraid 22I2 First National Bank Building


 Montgomery. July 3. - Special l- The Southern Bell Telephone and Tele- graph Company proposes to spend S125345 in permanent improvements in Alabam during 1920 if supplies can be obtained and rates established by the public service commission which will yield fair return on the money actually invested. according to formal statement filed with the commission and an oral statement of Hunt Chipley, | vice president and general counsel of the corporation, submitted to the pub lie service commission Monday.
 The statements were intneded as further support of the company's peti- tion for permission to make Increases in service rates which has been before tLe commission for some time. Mir Chipley showed that his company has an actual investment in Alabama Of $S341.T24 and that if the plant were | duplicated at the present price of ma l terial the investment would be abou' eight per cent greater. On the actual 1 investment the companv's earnings last year were 2.34 per cent. This percent. age of profit includes only physical property and no consideration has been | given to intangible property, including | capitalization and fra nchises.
 It was shown that at no time since the corporation began it's development | in Alabama had it obtained the legal rate of eight per cent Earnings dur l ing the past four years based in per centage of profit were: 1916. S.i1 per | cent: 1917, 3.53 per cent: 1918. POS per | cent; 1919, 2.34 per cent. Earnings by cities are now being prepared and will | be filed with the commission. It was | stated that the net earnings from the | investment in Birmingham was less | than one per cent. being only twenty | If no l During 1919 the company installed 1O,140 stations and discontinued 6639, a net gain of 3.501 stations. This gain | was 173 per cent greater than the average for the past four years. Dur ing the first five months of 1920. 3,322 stations were installed and 1,916 dis continued, a gain of 1,4o6 stations fl this rate continue. the gain this year will be 15S per cent greater than the average gain.
 The statement declared that orders have already been placed for materials with which to make the improvements
 on the construction program for 1920
 but that telephone manufacturers have been unable to fill all orders. This wa given as the reason the company is un
 able to meet all demands for telephon'
 service The statement further de- clared that the service is greater now
 than it has ever been in the history O the telephone business and that th'
 number of tolls messages being han
 dled exceeds those of other years b.
 many thousands.
 An agreement will be reached be
 tween consumers of electricity Il l Montgomery and the receivers of tn
 Mont gomery Light and Traction Com
 pany and Montgomery Light and Wa ter Company. according to statemen filed with the public service commis , sion when the case was called Mon | day As result the formal hearing
 was postponed until the commissio
 could deeide whether or not 1t coul
 approve the agreement. Montgomer l | has for many years had the lowes rates for electricity in the south, du l to competition. Both comDanies ar now being operated bv the fedora court.
 The commission instructed the en gineer to visit Opelika and determin upon a site for the~ location of a join passenger station for the Wester Railway and Central of Georgia Rail road An order has been issued for tn construction of the station. but n agreement has been reached as | where it should be located. Other orders issued by the commis | sion today follow:
 Denied petition of the Alabama Wa , ter Company for permission to mak increase in rates in Albany and Decs
 tur because there is an existing COT
 tract whereby maximum rates are SC
 ordered Frisco Railroad to r' lestablish a siding at Kansas, Ala
 Denied petition of citizens of Cant
 for an order requiring the establish
 ment of station py the Westei
 Union Telegraph Company.
 Postponed the petition of the Loui
 lyille and Nashville Railroad for pc
 mission to discontinue it's telegraI
 service to Bay Minette and Fort Mo
 gan, Ala. This case will be considert
 at the August meeting.