Evening star., 1923-01-13
TELEPHONE PLANS
SHOW EXPANSION
Chesapeake & Potomac Will
Spend Nearly S2,0O0,000
During Present Year.

Shortage OF telephone facilities in GER
tain places throughout the United States
because of the continuing and lncreaS-
Ing applications for exchange service
is explained by President II. b. Thayer
of the American Telephone and Tele-
graph Company, i'll "a notice which has
Just gone out to the 5000 District of
Columbia stockholders with the January
dividend checks,
There can. be no better demonstration
that the value of telephone service to
the public greatly exceeds its cost"
says Mr.. Thayer in the statement, than
the continuing and increasing applica-
tionS for exchange service and the con-
stautly increasing use of toll and long
distance lines.
Year of Expansion.
After a year of extraordinary plant
extension undertaken with the CXpecta-
ton that by the end of the year we
should have ample facilities and in spite
OF the fact that more telephones have
been added than We expected, We are
confronted with only a slightly dimiE-
ished shortage of facilities. In a period
of shortage of housing facilities the
flow of population is often in unexpected
directions. City houses are turned into
apartment houses and large suburban
tracts more or less remote from city
Facilities become quickly covered with
residences.
The central offices and the under
ground conduits TO furnish service
in such districts must be of a perma-
nent character to guarantee continu-
GUS service and require longer
period of construction than the
houses they serve. In such districts.
and on account of such districts,
there is still a shortage of facilities,
although less shortage than at the
end of 1922.
In other respects. including quail
ity of service. financial operations
and financial results. the progress
during the past year has been graft
flying.
Although complete and final earn
ings figures for 1922 are not yet
ready in detail, they will show, as
usual, substantial margin above
dividend requirements"
Big Expenditures Here.
When seen today, Division Manager
Charles 7, CIagett. of the Chesa peake
and Potomac Telephone Company.
said that during the past three years
his company had spent $5.000,000 in
the District of Columbia to improve
and extend it's plant and equipment.
This expenditure had served to meet
by generally providing facilities
wherever needed. lie stated.
During 1923 s1.957, 900 will be spent
by the company here in adding to its
plant. OF this amount S43S.0O0 will
be spent in providing additional sub
ScriberS' lines, switchboard sections
and testing equipment, and S1,5l9, 900
VIII go for what is known in teIe-
phone language as outside plant
underground, serial and interoffice
cable and cable for toll use.
OF the SS39,0O0 which will be spent
IN Improving and increasing the ap-
Daratus inside the various central
offices of the city $4,000 is allotted to
he Adams exchange, S35.400 to the
cleveland exchange. S39,500 to the
Lincoln exchange, S53,J0O to North
exchange and $4,000 to the new Po-
tomac office. In each case the ex-
penditure is to add more lines to the
existing switchboards so service may
be furnished wherever desired.
The principal outside cable work
calls for $4,000 for relief of con-
gestlon in the Columbian dams CEN
tral Office districts, $4,000 for plant
extensions to meet new building
operations and cable for new apart
ment houses, sSS.000 for conduit and
underground cable in the North ex-
change area, $4,000 for underground
cable in the Lincoln district. $4,000
for the Columbia area, $4,000 for
Cleveland and $4,000 for relief in
the MAIN SeCIlOn-
Bank Elects Officers.
At the shareholders meeting OF the
American Commercial and National
Bank held Thursday the old board of
directors were reelected to serve for
the ensuing year. They are: Edward
Voight, jr.; Richard B. owen, Ulysses
g. Cunningham, Claude G.. Otwell,
Robert c. Shaw. w. ]. Armstrong,
William H. Benjamin, DR.. Grant S.
Barnhart. Thomas A. Cantwell,
Charles II. Clarke. sr.; H. L. Crawford,
Michael NJ Doyle, John w. Farraa,
a. B. Clarke, James B. Flynn, Bernard
f. Garvey George E. Hebberd. Robert
Marshall, H. D. Ormsby and Frank 7.
Parsons.
The board organized Immediately
and reelected its old officers They
are: Edward Noight, jr.. president:
Richard 3. Owen, vice president;
Ulysses G.. Cunningham, vice presi-
dent; John w. Farran, vice president;
Claude G. Otwell, vice president; Rob-
ert G. Shaw, cashier; Michael NJ
Doyle, general counsel. and Harmon
Burns, assistant cashier.
A. C. Waller on Tour.
A. c. Waller, vice president OF the
International Bank, has left Wash
ington to attend a number of annual
meetings of banks in the middle west
which the International Bank is in
terested in. He will return to the city
the latter part of January.