Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1920-06-14

City in four months; but notwith'
standing this unprecedented record
there are still over $4,000 applications
for phones on the waiting list in the
metropolis. The telephone company,
in a statement recently issued, says
ut is safe to say that no industry has
been more forehanded in providing for
emergencies than the Bell system, and
yet day after day the mails bring
reports of broken promises and ma
~tcrials vitality necessary to the work OF
construction are delayed"
1t is the same story in every indus
try-the story of Il lack Of supplies,
and the continuance of tagging produc-
ton. While the telephone business is
being RECONSTRUCTED" after having
been drafted into the war, it finds that
it can not get supplies for extending its
lines and placing new telephones.
Possibly this is due to the fact that
in the days of Mr.. BurlesOn's postal
management of the wire lines he des-
troycd the source. of supply that must
first be RECONSTRUCTED" before private
Operation "a expect to function nor
mally.
i Higher Railroad Rates.
Many of the shippers from different
lparts Of the country who have been
appearing before the interstate COM
mercc. commission are urging an in
crease Of passenger rates, as well as
freight rates, to meet the railroad
situation. There has been no one, in
the hearings, to question the necessity
for increased railroad rates, but the
manner of making the increases has
been discussed in all its phases. The
railroad companies have asked that the
increased rates be applied to freight
alone, but some of the commissioners
are inclined to distribute the burden
|among passengers who travel and the
shippers.
The, probabilities are that everybody
will be satisfied with increased rates
before the situation is solved, since the
railroad workers are pushing their
claims for increased wages at the hear
Iings in Chicago. If the increased
freight rates that are asked for are
granted by the interstate m
commission the. amount will be only
sufficient to take care Of present rail
road financing, so that increased pas
scnger rates will likely be necessary to
provide for expected wage. increases.
Families and Firesides.
According to Stone and Webster,
there were 23,2292,SS7 families in exist
cnce in the United States in 1916, and
the number of dwellings in the coun-
try numbered 2O.263,O51. In 1920 there
were 25,319,443A fihilics and 2O,9OO,OOO
dwellings. While families have been
increasing in a healthy manner, show
ing an increase Of 2,O2G,556 i'll the per-
iod covered, tlte'snumber Of dwellings
has increased hut GSG,949. Dwellings,
we assume, mean places Of all kinds
where families live-with or without
the conveniences that are called
modern" From these figures it seems
plain that if the country was caught
up OH its housing facilities in 1916, that
it is now short a million to a million
and Il half of houses. Pittsburgh is
reported 10000 houses short, and
Detroit is two or three times as bad off.
''The great activity in building
operations which was expected on the
return Of peace has rot materialized,'
says the Stone and Webster Journal.
And then there. follows this comment:
why should it2 The wages which the
building trades are receiving are al