The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-06-13
State Wide Attention On Test Case
Phone Conpany's Attor- ney Opposes Proposed Procedure of Gala, gher's Lawyer = May Have Bearing. on Lo- cal Situation.

An array of legal talent and busi- ness men seldom seen was present in the Superior Court this mornig when the case of Edward B. Gallagher of Norwalk, against the Southern New England Telephone Co-, was opened for trial before Judge Isaac Wolfe.
 Attorney Frank c. Dunbar, a mem Der of the Ohio bar. appeared for Attorney Quinlan of the firm of Dun bar & Quinlan of NorwaIk. Attor-i ney James E. Wheeler appeared as counsel for the telephone company
 The case has attracted state wide attention since the outcome of this particular case would have a direct bearing on the subsequent appeals which would follow concerning the rates charged by the telephone com pany. Gallagher lives in the out skirts of NoTwaIk, and the rate charged for telephone service accord. ing to Gallagher's conteNtion, is ex- ceSSive.
 A request was made by Gallagher some time ago to the Public Utilities Commission to ascertain whether the rate he had to pay was a just one The Public Utilities Commission de- clared that it was, and an appeal from their finding resulted in the case opened this morning.
 The first witness called upon this morning to testify was Maurice H Nuthng, exchange manager of the
 
 Nuttlng concerning the payroll of the Norwa1k telephone office; concerning the zone system in vogue in Norwalk whereby the telephone subscribers in zone B, or the outlying district; had to pay more for service than those in Zone A, or the zone nearestE to, and surrounding the telephone office.
 This resulted with the simple fact that such a state of fixing charges existed but as to the reason for the fixing of such a charge Nutting was not qualified to answer si7 ,e an en- gfneer understood the direct relation ship of the equipment to the service and cost of same would be necessary
 E. H. Everett, chief engineer of the company, was next called upon to take the stand and after several ques- tionS concerning the equipment used in the Norwalk Exchange and an att tempt on the part of Attorney Dunbar to establish the relation of the cost of maintenance to the rate charged for service an objection was made by Attorney Wheeler. MT. Wheeler read at length from the statutes and from a subsequent case of the finding made on an appeal taken from aL previous ecision of the Public Utilities Com mission. The point which Attorney Wheeler wished to establish was that the court in which the case was De- ing tried had no Jurisdiction over the matter, of the correlation existing be- tween the cost of maintenance and the rates charged by the company.
 
 ing the specific charge of an tn- dfvfdual Edward Gallagher, who claimed that the rate he was charged for telephone service in the outlying district of Norwalk was excessive. This rate, as was brought out in the testimony, offered by Manager Nut ting is the same base rate charged within the first zone of the city plus an additional charge of five dollars year for every one-fourth of a mile distance the station may be from the division line of the two zones. This attempt on the part of Attor- ney Wheeler to stop the procedure of Attorney Dunbar from Investigating into the general cost of maintenance of the company was answered by Alt torney Quinlan who made exception to the objection offered by Wheeler by referring to certain other statutes.
 Tho present state of the case rests on whether it is within the sjurisdic- ticn of the present court to admit the proposed procedure of Gallagher's
 Among those present was City At torney John A. Cornell Jr. of this city who was in court to obtain whatever naigkt be of interest in the way of testimony in the event that the resoIu- tion of Alderman KiscO requesting that the rates charged for service by the telephone company in this city ably. The resolution now rests with the Miscellaneous Committee of the Board of Alderm en.
 Those present from the telephone company were: Harry c. Knight. vice presid ent and general manager, J. D. Teitch. General Commercial Super ntendent w. W. Knight Division Commercial Superintendent; E. H. Everett Chief Engineer; c. B. Doc little, secretary and treasurer; I. R. Harney exchange manager Of the Brid dgeport office; Maurice H Mutt ing exchange manager of the Nor i.1To1 an An prafsa1 Engineer, and a few Of the larger stock holders of the company TT