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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN ANI) NEWS. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17. Corporation’s Part In Atlanta’s Upbuilding T HE LARGER industrial and commercial development of the city of Atlanta dates from the operation of the first electric street railway. Since 1889 the service has been multiplied many times. Today Atlanta has a street rail way, electric lighting and steam heating system second to none in the United States. The officials of the company have established a reputation for liberality and fair dealing. The employees are courteous and painstaking in their efforts to please the public. T HE Georgia Railway and Electric Company and the Atlanta Gas Light Company are among the few independently owned public utility corpora tions in the South. The control is located among the people to whom serv ice is supplied. The result' is that the property is kept in the very best possible condition. The company furnishes good cars. The'lines cover the territory. The facilities are kept up to the demand. Double tracking and rebuilding of lines is constantly going on. New cars are put into service as fast as they can be turned out by the mechanical department. The company charges low fares and grants universal transfers over its entire system. A T PRESENT there are 254 miles of track on which 240 cars are operated. The railway department served approximately 50,000,000 during 1907. The. gas company has approximately 16,000 customers independent of the street railway department. To furnish this service requires the employment of ap proximately 2,100 employees. This necessitates a payroll in excess of $1,500,000 a year. The companies own many thousands of dollars of valuable real estate ac quired for the construction of its plants where electric current is generated and • gas manufactured. The expenditures are necessarily large and keep in circula tion large sums of money which pass through Atlanta banks and go to swell the clearing house receipts. , T HE PRESENT Company was organized in 1892, taking over the Atlanta Rapid Transit Co. and the Atlanta Consolidated Street Railway Com pany. The Atlanta Gas Light Company was purchased a few years later from the United Gas Improvement Company, thus becoming a locally owned corporation. Since the organization of the company under the name of the Geor gia Railway and Electric Company practically every mile of track has been re built and every plant reconstructed, while many new additions have been made. T HE Atlanta Northern Railway Company is a Georgia Railway and Elec tric Company inter-urban trolley enterprise, extending from Atlanta to Marietta. It has proven of great benefit to the merchants and property owners along the line, supplying quick transportation for either passenger or freight traffic. . .«» -!• , T HE COMPANIES have as nearly perfect organizations as is possible. The employees are well paid, satisfied with their positions. Everything possible is done for their comfort and contentment. In this connection the company constructed a beautiful club house at No. 79 Piedmont avenue. It is equipped with sleeping quarters, a restaurant where meals are served at actual cost, or about half the price charged by other restaurants; has bowling alleys, pool and billiard tables, reading rooms, tub and shower baths, a pressing club, lockers, and in fact every convenience known to a modern club house. To be come a member one must become either a motorman or conductor on the lines of the company. T HERE are three enormous power stations used for the generation of cur rent for both street railway and city lighting purposes. They are located at Butler street, Davis street and Alabama street respectively. The gas company has an enormous plant located on Thurmond street. The steam heating plant operates in connection with the Butler street station. The general offices of the company are located in a beautiful building, owned by the company, at Ma rietta and Fairlie streets. E XTENSIVE improvements are constantly being made. Recently the Hapeville line has been extended from East Point; the Capitol avenue line has been double tracked; the East Lake Ijne has been rebuilt to the beautiful new grounds and club house of the Atlanta Athletic Club; the River line has been rebuilt; the facilities for handling the enormous crowds that visit Ponce DeLeon to attend the football and baseball games have been increased. The com pany will soon begin work on the Buckhead extension from Brookwood, when the West Peachtree street extension will also be carried out. T HE OPENINGup of new territory and supplying it with street car facilities has enabled many people in moderate circumstances to purchase property and build their own homes. They were assur ed of quick and comfortable transportation from a section where the purchase price of real estate was not pro hibitive to the business districts where they were employed. The increased facili ties in tho center of the city has meant a great deal to the merchants. It enables shoppers to come to the downtown districts frequently and return without incon venience. T HE POLICY of the company is to treat liberally with all its patrons. It co-operates with the community for the public good. It frequently waives its rights when the officials consider it to-be in the public interest to do so. City officials are supplied with transportation at the expense of the company so that thepublic may be well served by its chosen employees. This has meant a great deal to the firemen and policemen, as it enabled them to safeguard the, lives and property of the people and at the same time enjoy a personal comfort without ex pense to themselves. Thousands of dollars of transportation is supplied every year without any charge being made. O NLY two complaints have been filed against the companies since they were placed under the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission. A complaint was filed against the gas company because of the refusal of the officials to sup ply a meter to a former patron who had refused to pay an old account. The find ing was in favor of the company. At the same time announcement was made that upon investigation the commission had found that the rules of the gas company were reasonable and just. A COMPLAINT was filed against the street railway department because of the refusal of the company to carry on its cars dogs other than pointers and setters. The commission reported that the rule of the company not to carry dogs of indiscriminate breed was reasonable and just, and a wise provi sion for the safety and comfort of patrons. #• T HE COMPANYhas formally requested the commission to go into the ques tion of rules and regulations, agreeing to furnish the commission with the rules under which the company now operates. It did this as an evidence of its desire to operate the properties with regard to the reasonable rights and conveniences of its patrons, the general public. T HE COMPANYhas always liberally assisted in any enterprise organized for the general public good, frequently taking the lead. . » T HE COMPANY largely increased its taxes—voluntarily and without arbi tration-supplying a basis on which every other public utility corporation in the state was taxed. It voluntarily reduced its electric lighting rates to the city and to private consumers. It pays the city a percentage on its gross re ceipts, thus allowing the public a share in the company’s prosperity. It invites suggestions from patrons for the betterment of the service. Every official of the company holds himself in readiness to meet and discuss with any citizen any matter connected with the service. Prompt attention will be given and correc tion made of any and all complaints. .*• r E OFFICIALS take a pride in the property because they realize that the character of the service and the condition of the property has much to do with the estimation of the city by casual visitors and new arrivals. I F ANY public authority will make a request of the company that request will either be granted or the company will show a reasonable and s a t i s f actory cause why the request can not be granted. That has always been the policy of the company, and because of this policy the company enjoys the good will of the public. Georgia Railway & Electric Co. The Atlanta Gas Light Company