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JL'ilE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. •rUESDAY. AUGUST 20, IO07. fires gained headway WHILE CENTRAL DELAYED CONNECTION FOR ALARM On at least two occasions the citizens of Atlanta have been left at the mercy of fire, and valuable property has been swept away because of the Inefficiency of the telephone service and -the failure of those In charge of the central office to respond to calls in time to hasten the ar rival of the tire department. One of these occasions was the memorable lire at Piedmont park In the fall of 1906, when the New York building, the line art building, the bowling alley and a part of the old club house, approximating a loss of something over $50,000, were destroyed by Are. On that occasion Sergeant Mike White, who then had and who still has charge of the grounds, spent at least five or six minutes In an ef fort to arouse the central office and get connection with the fire depart- nKn,t, The Are occurred about 4 o'clock In the morning," said Sergeant White Tuesday, "and It took me at least Ave minutes to get any re sponse from the office. I do not think the lines could have been very busy at that early hour of the morning and I cannot account for the de lay unless the people at the central office were asleep." When Thornton Home Burned. The other occasion on which slow service on the part of the tele phone company caused a delay of over Ave minutes on the part of the Are department was the burning of the residence of Albert E. Thorn ton, at 811 Peachtree street, In 1808. That Are also occurred about 4 o’clock In the morning. Whon the Are was discovered, Mr. Thornton endeavored to get connection with the Are department over his telephone, but after about Ave minutes' effort with no response he was compelled to go to the home of a neighbor and use the neighbor’s telephone. "I do not know why It was that I could not get any answer over tny ’phone," said Mr. Thomon Tuesday, "but the only way In which I can account for it was that the central office Was asleep.” ONE LONG DISTANCE EXPERIENCE. To the Editor of The Georgian: God grant that your Aght against the monopoly of the Bell Telephone people in the behalf of their much-abused patrons may be crowned with the same glorious success that you met with In your Aght against the Iniquitous liquor traffic. You are eminently correct In' your statement of the Injustice done the patrons by this corporation. It Is true that If our bills are not paid promptly, 4he 'phone will be taken out and a suit mads against us In a Justice court. You cite nn Instance In which you stood forty minutes trying to get connection with New York. On Saturday, two weeks ago, one of the most prominent rullroad men in Macon rang mo up on a business transaction Involving $625. After getting through with the usual colloquy between they were very sorry. I asked them to give me my man In Macon again, but long distance told mo that she did not know where to And him. I spent the whole afternoon In my office trying to get this party In Macon. The next morning (Sunday) he rang me up again, and after the usual formula I got connection with him and for a second time I was cut oft. After making an effort to And him and falling, I appealed to Mr. Roberts direct. He. with his courtly manner, told me he would make a search for him and And him If possible, but I never heard from him again over the 'phone, and I presume he failed In Ills efforts. The transaction fortunately was Anally consummated by wire. It is rare when I can get central to answer my 'phone under a minute’s waiting, and when complaint Is made. It Is Invariably answered with some girlish sauci ness. I hope you will carry out your determination In your Aght against this monoply to success In obtaining for Its suffering patrons some half-way service at least. Yours respectfully, KIRKWOOD. Aldermen Favor More Light on Phone Matter. NO ACTION TAKEN BY CITY COUNCIL JUST A FEW PROTESTS ON A “ROTTEN” SERVICE Grocers and butchers more than any other then perhaps depend upon the telephone. They use It for hours at a time day In and day out. They know something about Its workings, too. Here's what prominent grocery men say. There were others who said the service was bad, but did not want to be quoted. „ D. L. Foster, of Wood & Foster, Peachtree street—"I believe that the trouble with tho Bell system Is that they have too few operators. They are probably trying to cut down expenses and make more money. That gives their girls too much to do. It Is Just as though I were to put one man out In front to wait on our customers. I would have less salary to pay. but my patrons would get poor service.’ Arthur Wood, of Wood & Foster— 'The service Is poor. As a general thing the Arst call we put In Is answered promptly. After that If you want to get another number you have to shake your arm off. Our telephone was out of order for three weeks de spite all our complaints. We paid only part of the bill on account of the trou ble. If we didn’t pay except when we got good service the telephone com pany would get little of our money," H. w. Maddox, of Maddox Grocery Company—"Our 'phone got the tick ing habit not long ago and we could hardly use It. We notlAed the com pany and two boys came up here. They looked at It and said they could not see anything wrong. Then they went away. The service Is often rot ten, sometimes fair and never,ff ooa. The Georgian Is taking a splendid stand on the question." , J. W. BrazeH, of T. R, Sawtell's Market—"The Bell people ought to be put out of business It they cant give better service. The delay is annoying. You wait ten minutes, then give your number and five minute* later have to do It over again. The Georgian working along the right line both to the service and the franchise propo- sltlon.” , _ . K. R. Cox. of L. W. Rogers’* Peach troe store: "I have 'a fine operator as a general thing—the best I ever mw. When she 1* not working there la trouble." Get* Wrono Number. J. B. Richard*, aecretary Antl-Sa^ loon League—“You can't Bay enough about that telephone service. It's mis erable. At my home, 41 Houston street, I answered the 'phone twelve times a few days ago, and nine of those times central had rung the wrong number. When we ordered our office 'phone cut out, the company got mixed and went down and cut out my residence Instead. Then they reported to Inquirers that the office phone was discontinued. When I tried to call a friend a few days ago. central told me the 'phone was busy about Ave times. When I got on a car and went there, I found It had not been busy during the evening. That’s Just a part of the telephone user's troubles.” From An Undsrtsker. Q. H. Brandon, of Barclay A Bran don—"The service In ray office Is mis erable, but at my residence, which comes throngh the West exchange, the service Is a vast Improvement over the main and north exchanges. Sev eral weeks ago a lady tried to reach me by 'phone In my office and waa told by the central that the 'phone had been taken out for indebtedness to the company. She walked up the street several doors and tried again, getting me all right. Nothing good can be said of the Decatur exchange, either.” Always Wrong Numbers. "It's rotten. We can’t get numbers when we want them and many times we answer the 'phone we And the peo ple on the other end of the wire have been given wrong numbers." That's the emphatic manner In which the Bell telephone service was criticised In the office of the Oglesby Grocery Company on East Alabama street. Is good," declared those In the ol the A. P. Morgan Grain Company on the same street, "but that given us by the Bell people Is very rocky. Wa get wrong numbers and people get us when they want somebody else.” At the store of Ed. Matthews A Company, on East Alabama street, fur niture dealers, the Atlanta 'phone was declared to be nil right but the Bell telephone service poor. "Damn rotten, not to give you a short answer,” was the emphatic man ner In which ths Bell 'phone service was described In the store of Foote's trunk factory on East Alabama street. The same troubles were recounted there as In ths other places where ths service was complained of. Publicity Might Have Helped, Scott Allen, manager of the L. W. Rogers grocery store—"Up until Mon day our service over the Bell was abominable. Since then we have been getting splendid attention. I have no Idea what the cause Is, but If the serv ice continues as It was Monday and Tuesday we will ba satlaAed. Prior to that time we made complaint after complaint, none of which seemed to have any effect. Tho people at the tele phone building were apparently Indif ferent. We have Afteen Roll telephones over which we do much of our busi ness. It became so bad that I asked them to either take out the 'phones or do better. R. A. Broyles, head of the Broylos grocery stores, said—'The Bell tele phone Is only moderate. I am glad to see that The Georgian is taking up the Aght for the people against the corporations.” F. Bond, #f Greenberg, Bond BIoomAeld—'The service Is miserable. We have a great deal of trouble getting service over the Bell lines." L. C. Glisson, of 348 South Pryor street—"I am certainly glad to see your position on the Bell Telephone Com pany, Their service In Atlanta Is the worst I have ever seen anywhere.' Long Distance Troubles. •The telephone service at my ofAce and at my home Is very unsatisfac tory,” said a well known business man In ths Empire building, Tuesday after noon. He asked that hts name not be used. •The principal trouble that we have In the ofAce Is In regard to long dis tance calls. When a call la put In the telephone operator Is supposed to keep a record of It and notify you In a few minutes whether she can or cannot get the place wanted. Sometimes I have put In os many as four calls, and have never heard anything more from them until I again called up the dperator. To Raisa Prices. I was Informed a few days ago that I would have to pay $5 per month In future for the telephone at my home. produced a contract, good until the Arst of next year, and which called for only $4 per month. I was then told that I would have to pay the Increased price Just as soon as the contract expired. Will the aldermanlc board, despite the protests of the people and the wishes of council, vote to grant a 33- year franchise to the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company for practically nothing? , The question IS now squarely up to the aldermen of the city. At Monday's session Councilman Huddleston asked that the franchise be returned to coun cil for further consideration, but the motion was ruled out of order. At the special session of the aldermanlc board Alderman Key asked that the franchise be sent back to council and this wus ruled out of order. The franchise Is now on the table of the aldermanlc board, and action will be taken Thursday. It Is not believed that the aldermanlc board will grant tills franchise. No Reason for Haste, It Is pointed out that there haste on the part of the city In grant ing tills franchise. If, as Is claimed, the Southern Bell lias, a perpetual fran chise or even one that lasts until 1829, the city can well afford to take two weeks or a month to Investigate the situation. "What earthly harm could be done,'* asked a member of the general council Tuesday morning, "If this matter were referred back to the same committee? ‘Those nldermen who would vote against such a proposition, It seems to me, would have no reason other than that they might be afraid the city would get more out of the trade than Is now proposed. Tho city gets nothing now. The Southern Bell, by opposing recommitting the franchise to this same committee, would by its opposition show conclusively that It was afraid an Investigation would show that the city was not getting nearly what It should for granting this long franchise." The people of Atlanta generally take this view of It. and If under any cir cumstances the Southern Bell secures a 33-yenr franchise for nothing, ns Is now proposed, a general storm of pro test will be created that would live long and probably unpleasantly In the memory of those who favored such a proposition. Statements have been mode by all the members of the aldermanlc board who. axe In the city, and from these It may be surmis’d that the franchise will not be "railroaded’' through, but will go back to a committee where tho disclosures made by The Georglnn rel ative to the franchise may be Investi gated. Back to Committee. "The franchise," stated . Alderman Key, "should certainly go bark to committee. As It Is now drawn the city would get practically nothing for a 33 year franchise. If there Is nothing wrong with this franchise. If It Is not a tad trade for the city, why not let It go back where the light of day may shine upon It?” Alderman McEachern feels the same way about It. “I say let It go back by all means,' stated Alderman McEachern. "With the Information now before me I con bte no excuse for any other course." Alderman Curtis has not yet deter, mined what stand he will take, but it Is probable that he will vote In favor of a thorough Investigation by the same committee that had the matter In charge before. > This committee was composed of the members of the ordinance committee and the committee on electric lights und telephones. Alderman Peters, Alderman Holland and Alderman Beutclt say they are yet undecided.' Alderman Peters says that If council wishes to reconsider he Is witling for It to go back. Alderman Holland Is looking up one point In re gard to the franchise. Alderman Beu- t< II Is considering the matter. Alderman Hlrsch Is out the city and will not return until October. Al derman Qulllian spent Tuesday In the country. i This August Reduction Sale An Event of Extraordinary Importance August and the usual great economies it brings, finds today accented tones of expression, for now begins the most remarkable of these stock reduction sales. * ' Over the store there has come a very determined and decisive changing of prices. Not only small lots and other certain lines, but among practically all classes of summer merchandise. We have gone through the departments almost one by one and, as you’ll see, reduced prices so emphatically that the savings often reach one-half, and over. The new season must be started without any interruption, hence this clearing of the way. Gathered up on center tables and counters, convenient, and above all, enticing, the new offerings will appear continuously. Each day you can profit, sharing freely the low prices and that chann of as sortment, which, with our usual guarantee of quality, insures fully the most satisfactory selection. Evidences of savings, just hints but absolutely correct and well worth careful reading: I cannot understand why the price ehould be raised unless it means that the company has the public by the heels." Mr. G. A. Richards, of the S. P. Richards Company, also has a griev ance against the Southern Bell Tele phone Company. Trouble Second Time. 'Our service has been very unsatis factory,” said Mr. Richards, Tuesday. "We are bothered with long waits, and If you once get tho central ofAce and fall to get the party you wish to speak to at the Arst ring. It Is practically Im possible to get the central ofAce a sec ond time. On several occasions I have tried to get parties and have been told that the line was busy. When the con nection was Anally secured, I have asked the party If the line had been busy and have been told a number of times that It had not. “During the past two or three days," continued Mr. Richards, "thsre has been some Improvement In the service, due, I suppose, to the kicks that have been made about It." Fancy Silks at 39c Buying for 39c splendid Silks, in stripes and checks, light and dark colors, including weaves such as Louisines and Taffetas, many of them worth 75c. The opportunity is here, in these—a whole counter ful of stylish summer Silks, in excellent variety. Together with finer Silks, reduced also, especial prom inence is given to their neighbors. Dress Goods—many at half price. $1 Suitings at 50c, for instance; and again, very important, is an offering at 25e of regular 50c Dress Goods, in checks and plaids, styles suitable for little school dresses. 20c Lingerie Cloth 10c That soft and dainty white fabric so much in demand for strictly lingerie wear, waists and dresses. 38 inches wide and at 10c a yard, instead of 20c. Thatls unusual—very. So are the numerous other items, Lawns, Swisses, Batiste and the like which compose this mngnificent White Goods stock, now at very much less than regular prices. It is among^these that some of the occasion’s most remarkable values are shown. Embroideries, 3c a Yard A tableful of them—Edges and Insertions in Nain sook and Cambric, regularly 10c and 15c. And at 3c a yard—imagine paying as little for snch Embroideries. The quantity is large but at tho price let us suggest that you see them early. Now, the finer Embroideries, and among these values that will please you greatly, as also the Laces, Valen ciennes particularly, which afford far more than ordinary ''attraction. There arc many very beautiful effects that cost much less than they ever did before. $5 to $7.50 Wash Suits For Women, Now $1.98 Just forty wash Suits; Etons and tailored cutaway • Coats, a few Prince Chap models; made of white Linene and also of brown and linen-color materials. Any of these can bo bought for $1.98. Earlier in the season these Suits would have sold at $5 to $7.50. In addition will be found two collections of handsome Suits at $10.00, instead of $15.00 to $25.00. Some are of Linen, in white and linen-color; others, the more expensive, arc of Silk. Simple, tailored styles—beautifully mado garments. And some unusually attractive offerings of Waists and Skirts—best appreciated as you view them, on dis play. 25c Cotton Voiles 10c Voiles, also mercerized Poplins; plain colors, includ ing favorite shades—pink, light blue, navy, red and Nile, also black. Fine fabrics for street suits, regular 25c val ues ; now at 10c yard. No less attractive are the offerings among printed dress fabrics, cotton and silk-and-cotton mixed. Varie ties of the less expensive Lawns and Batistes alsoyat very notable price reductions. 59c for Womens Hose Some Were $1.50 An assortment of plain black lustrous Hose in lace pat terns—allover and ankle effects. Fine and dainty; the designs are of unusual charm, and shown in excellent va riety. Some of these are regular $1.50 Ilose, others were $1.25 and a few arc $1 quality. The choice is yours—pay 59c pair. Besides are other reductions among stylish summer nose, women’s and children’s as well, including plain sheer lisle, openwork and full varieties of kinds, in all good grades. Stamped Linens^ Reduced Conspicuous in the Needlework store, for this occa sion, are several large assortments of Fancy Linens, ns de sirable ns ever but very much under price. CENTERPIECES, for example, at 25c ench—regu larly 40c to 85c. Attractive white linen pieces stamped for coronntion braid, eyelet, white work and the various popular clnsses of embroidery. Sizes 22 to 30 inches. STAMPED LINENS, including Scarfs, Table Covers and Lunch Cloths, all stamped in most pleasing designs; values up to 75c, at 49c each. . Stamped Scarfs and Squares, values to 40c, at 29c each. Baby Caps, 25c Each Formerly 50c and 65c Beautiful little Caps, in twenty styles fully. Sheer white Lawn with groups of tucks and dainty lnco edges; some are of allover embroidery with full, fluffy ruches; others with French knots, ribbons and rows of briarstitch- ing. Regularly 50c and 65c, for this oecnsion at 25c each. All styles of Headwear, Dresses, Underwear—in fact, something of everything for children of all ages, enters the sale at very substantial savings. Davison-Paxon-Stokes Co., Store of Many Departments. MERCHANTS MADE MOVE MORE THAN A YEAR AGO AGAINST BELL PHONES Aggravated almost beyond endurance because of the Inefficiency of the South em Bell Telephone Company, nearly 168 merchants In Atlanta doing business In Broad, Alabama and other neighboring streets, petitioned tho Southern Express Company. In January, 1908, to Instal' Atlanta 'phones In Its local offices, agreeing to pay the expense of service out of their own pockets. The petition was sent to H. M. Smith, local manager of the Southern Express Company, by O. M. Bergstrom, men der of the American Box File Com pany on Alabama street. Tho petition, according to a letter received by Mr. Bergstrom, was never received by Mh Smith and the matter waa dropped. Mr. Bergstrom, acting for himself, however. I.ad the Bell 'phone taken nut of his place of buslnes.i and substituted the Atlanta 'phone. “The petition was sent to the South ern Express Company," said Mr. Berg strom Tuesday, "because of the rot ten aervlce we were getting from the Bell Telephone Company. "When tho merchant! of Atlanta wished to get a wagon from the ex press company It was almost Impossi hie to ever get the company's office over the Bell 'phone. The conditions Anally became so unbearable that a petition vp.s circulated among the merchants usklng the express company to have Atlanta 'phones put In their offices, the merchants agreeing to pay for them rather than put up with the service we were then getting from the Bell Company. "When Mr Smith notlAed me that he had not received tho petition I let tho matter drop for lack of time to bother with It. "I had my Bell 'phone taken out. but have been compelled to have It put back In during the past two or three weeks on account of so many of my customers using that 'phone. Since I have had the 'phone put back I have been com pelled to wait eome times for ten min- BELL IELEPHONE FOLLOWS 7IPS GIVEN BY GEORGIAN n% . . - through The Georgian of complaints made by subscribers of the abominable telephone service, the ofAclals of th» Bell monopoly are getting busy. Some of those whose kicks have been heard through The Georgian have been remedy existing troubles. One of those called upon Tuesday was Col. M. L. Covington, of the United States district attorney's ofAce. It Is possible that the ordinary run of utes before getting the proper number when calling for It. 'I don't like to be numbered among the kickers, hut t hope something will be done to remedy the trouble, for tho service we are now getting Is simply rotten.” While Mr. Bergstrom was talking an other business man walked Into his ol. Ace, What do you think of this telephone service?” he was asked. "Well, It's bad enough," was the re ply. A 40c box of Wiley’s candy given with every 30c want advertisement brough to The Geor gian Friday and Saturday, for Saturday’s paper. common people have been given the high sign by the monopoly. Ordinary common people do not cut much Ice with the monopoly. But nowadays It Is good policy not to make ofAclals of the United States department of Justice vexed and sore. Not that they wouldn't obey orders from Washington any slower to use tho big stick on monopolies and trusts, but It Is just naturally better to keep them from feeling sore. “What Is the trouble with your phone?” politely asked the suave rep resentative of the monopoly. Coming as It did after he had writ ten several letters to the ofAclale, com. "If you will kindly consult tho Ales of Manager Roberts." he replied courte ously, "you will And four letters from me fully setting out the kicks I have coming. I would be glad If you would read these and then take some strenu ous action that will relieve the situa tion.” But so far, the colonel says, he Is not noticing any change In the rank service at his residence.