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fHE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. (SATURDAY, AUOUST 24, 1907. SO PLAIN A CHILD SHOULD SEE IT! The Bell Telephone Company’s gross income from Atlanta for 1907, as es timated by Vice-President Gentry, will be about $400,000.00 If the Bell Company pays Atlanta an in come tax of 1% on this amount . . $4,000.00 But deducts what it already pays the city $3,421.00 (For franchise tax, business license, registration, fees, etc.) Atlanta will get $579.00 The Bell Company pays the city of Richmond about all the franchise tax, business license, special registration fees, etc., that i*t already pays Atlanta, AND IN ADDITION PAYS 3 PER CENT INCOME TAX AND A TAX ON EVERY POLE, EVERY DUCT AND EVERY MILE OF WIRE. Richmond is a smaller city than Atlanta and the rights used by the - Bell Company are less valuable than in Atlanta. New Orleans gets between $16,000 and $17,000 a year from the Telephone Company. WILL THE CITIZENS OF ATLANTA STAND BY AND SEE THE CITY SOLD OUT TO THE BELL COMPANY FOR 33 YEARS? LET CITY GET ITS DUE FROM BELL TELEPHONE, SAY ATLANTA CITIZENS Troubles of the Phone Are Told. by Customers. That the Atlanta public will not be satisfied with a 1 per cent tax on the franchise of the Southern Bell Tele phone Company, Is shown In the many expressions that have come to The Georgian since the action of the board of aldermen last Thursday. That council is expected to go deep ly Into the matter and make such contract with the eompany as to assure the city of a fair and equitable return for Its franchise. Is Indicated by the ex pressions of many citizens. One of these who has awakened to an active Interest In what the city Is getting from the corporations Is C. H. Girardeau, of Moss & Girardeau, who writes: Mr. Girardeau's Letter. To the Editor of The Georgian: Keep up your light for Atlanta'The Southern Bell Telephone Company should not be granted ft franchise for practically nothing. If granted this franohlse, It will be the main foundation to their stock and bond Issues and an asset worth millions of dollars. Atlanta is not Indebted neither by inherent rights, right by occupancy, or any other rights to the Southern Bell Tele phone Company more than she Is due to any other like corporation or Indi vidual. Through franchise privileges given by the Atlanta council to the Southern Bell Telephone Company, they have become enriched by the thou sands, tens of thousands, yes, hundreds of thousands of dollars. A 5 per cent gross income tax would be a small thing compared to what the company is getting for this amount. This company has had the right to tear up and occupy streets that cost the city enormous amounts to pave and maintain. The shade trees on our sidewalks are marred and destroyed without thought or consideration. The mean service that has been handed out to its patrons at its own price during past few years does not entitle this company to a very high consideration by those who repre sent the people on the council floor. Tried to Call Doctor. It can not be that the enormous num ber of telephone messages being trans mitted over its wires cripples the serv ice to such an extent that It Is harass ing to attempt a conversation over its wires. If this were true then the serv. Ice done at night, when al lbuslness Is practically suspended, would be better than that rendered in the day. I have stood for thlrty-flve minutes with the receiver at my ear trying to call a phy sician to assist in an emergency call at 3 o'clock a. m. before central re- Hponded. Hundreds of times I have waited at the receiver for several minutes without uny response from central, and then left the ’phone In disgust, without service. My surprise has been that the public has suffered so long without raising a hoycot and transferring the business to the Atlanta Telephone Company, as the services rendered by these companies are not comparable when efficiency is questioned. Keep up your light for a Just tax and an efficient service as a condition In the franchise. Respectfully. C. H. GIRARDEAU. some one stumbling down the stairs— “ ‘Hello! No, there is no Miss So and So here, this Is 5718-J‘—and the re ceiver goes up to stay, you’d think. "Maybe It does, and maybe It does not, but the next morning or sooner somebody says: ‘I wish you would re port that ’phone!’ ’I have.’ ’Well, write them a letter: I’m tired of get ting out of bed to answer that ’phone for some one else,’ and I reply: ’I did,’ and a few days after a man came and said: ’I want to see your ’phone.’ He saw It. Then said: ’Give me the test board, please,’ and a ring or two and a word or two. and he said: 1 ’’ ’Good-morning, your 'phone's all right now.’ ’’ ‘Well, It’s not all right, and I’ll write them a letter myself.’ “But I’m still answering the ’phone from three to five times a day. to be told. ’That’s the wrong number,’ and I seem to be helpless.” Colonel James M. Goldsmith, deputy sheriff of Pulton county, had some pa pers he wanted to serve on four little children living in the northern part of the city. He went to the ’phone to call up the mother that she might have all the children ready when he got there. "North one-flve-seven-nlne-J., said, and waited four minutes. No re sponse. "Fifteen hundred and seventy-nine J, North." No response. "Fifteen seventy-nine North J. Hello, hello. I wanted 1579 J. North. No, I don’t want the brewery 1 ." Deputy Sheriff Dan Perkeraon came tB his assistance, saying: "Just watch me get that girl in just minute.” Twice he got the wrong number, and once the line was busy. "Central, give me 500!” Five hundred assured him that the line was all right, and he renewed the .ttack. "Central, please give me North 1579 Please, Central. Central, If you don’t, I’ll have to walk.” At last he gave it up, and with a few remarks about the service, heartily Indorsed by Colonel Goldsmith, he went out to serve the papers. Three of the children .he found at home, but the fourth will necessitate another trip. To the Editor of The Georgian: I cannot let this opportunity pass without expressing my utter disgust at the present service of the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company. I am no kicker, but on the contrary, will suffer Imposition unsurpassed, and when I assert that the above service is rotten, It is no wonder others are com- plaining of the odor. Yours very truly. A. M. HOLLINGSWORTH. 248 Highland Avenue. Grocer. COMMUTERS’FARES MAY BE CUT OUT AFTER SEPJEMBER1 Railroad Men Say New Rate Will Necessitate Changes. From Mrs. C. W. McClure comes s, letter descriptive of telephone trouble* in the home, which Is a graphic sketch of many Atlanta families* experience. Mrs. McClure wrltee: “I am so glad you have taken up the Bell telephone service, for my experi ence each day Is something like this: "We sit down to breakfaat. whan ’ilng-allng-ltng’ goes the telephone, and 1 leave my coffee to hear: " ’Is this ES0-L7 I beg your pardon, that’s the wroftg number.’ "Well, that la so little nothing la said about It. and all goes well until lust as I’ve gotten the baby, to sleep, perhaps, and then ’Jlng-allng-llng-llng- llng’—and I hurry to the ’phone again, to hear: " ’Is Mr. Schrader there? Well, what number la that? Oh. I beg your par don, that’s the wrong number’—and If the baby has not been wakened, all goes well again, until Just as I am In the midst of some absorbing work I hear: "’Jlng-allng-llng. Yes, well, have you any blue china custard cups? Why. isn’t that McClure’s? Oh, hla residence! Well, I want the store, 49(1 you say? Well, haven’t they an ex change? Well, I asked for the ex change’— “And there may be no more Inter ruptions perhaps until the lights are out and I have Just dreamed, when I hear: “’Is that the door bell or telephone?’ But no need to listen lung, for I bear Many Daytime Drunks. Councilman Press Huddleston was acting recorder Saturday morning and a sorry time he had of it. With the exception of one murder case, the oth ers arraigned before him were drunks, to the number of twenty-five or more. He commented on this to Clerk Pres ton. who said that for the last two weeks the police were arresting more daytime drunks than ever before since he has been clerk. The acting recorder was lenient with those who seemed sor ry and wer not known to the police as old-timers—on the latter he was as hard os Judge Broyles. THAT TELEPHONE TAX. While our city fathers are fussing and being fussed at about the tax to be collected from the telephone com pany. let the working people of Atlan ta not lose sight of the fact that the oldest savings bank In the city, the Georgia Savings Bank and Trust Com pany, accepts deposits as small as II and pays 4 per cent per annum Inter est and compounds It twice a year. What an opportunity for any one to save In a small way! Have you any money In the bank? Are you teaching your children to save? Think of these questions seriously, and then say to yourself. "I am so many years old. what have I accomplished In this world? What have I got to show for the years of hard work that I have had to do, and what Is the outlook for the fu ture?” A great many men die, some of them you perhaps have known, without having saved up enough money to bury themselves, and their family Is left burdened with this debt. How would It be If you were to die? Think of these things now, and If you have no bank account, come to this old sav ings bank on corner Broad and Ala bama streets and get a pass book. You have seen the sign In large golden letters. SAVINGS BANK, many a time. Open every Saturday afternoon from 4 to (, In addition to regular morning hours. Write or call for one of their circulars, and it will be given to you gladly. Now that one of the chief toplca of Interest over the state Is the reduced railroad fares, the order for which, is sued by the railroad commission, goes Into effect on September 2, railroad of ficials are calling attention to the fact that there are now In effect In Georgia rates as low as 1-2 cent a mile and less. Few persons are fully acquainted with the cheap rates now Issued by the various railroads, and now there Is a probability of some of these rates be> ing abolished. If they are railroad men say It will have the effect of almost depopulating some of the small towns within a radius of thirty miles of At lanta. As the time approaches for the order of the railroad commission to,go Into effect, speculation as to what the va rious roads affected will do about It increases. Injunction cases are now Tending In the Federal court brought by the Seaboard Air Line and tbe Geor gia, Southern and Florida railroad, but the other lines have made no fnove. It Is the general belief that nothing will be done In the courts to prevent the reduced rates going Into effect, but It Is the opinion of many railroad offi cials that In order to protect their In terests, the railroads will discontinue some of the cheap rates. Cheap Rate Tickets. Tickets are now sold by all the roads to large consumers of transportation aa low as about four-tenths of a cent a mile. Quarterly tickets may be secur ed to a point os far away as Athens good for two trips a day at a rate of about 1-2 cent a mile. Hundreds of business men In Atlanta live in towns within and out of a ra dius of thirty miles, and ride on these reduced tickets and do business here. There are family tickets, school tick ets, week-end tickets, excursion tick ets, business men’s tickets and other varieties which are sold for rates that make It like riding on trolley cars. While no official could be found who would say all of these rates might be abolished, several there were who are inclined to the belief that some of them will be discontinued. One railroad of ficial was emphatic In the declaration that no convention would be given the rate of one fare plus 25 cents unless It was a convention of a national scope and brought people here in the thou sands. Other conventions would pay, he thought, the regular rate. MAY FORCE MEETING OF IF THAT FINE SHOULD EVER BE PAID! TWINS BAPTIZED! Tl Both Professed at Same Time During the Meeting. Move to Force Senator Platt to Call Ses sion. receive today a blank request _ tsry Chaonrer II. Crosby asking for Im mediate election of sewn directors. Ac. conipanylng this Is s Isttsr declaring that there baa bean no meeting of shareholders of the corporation for 46 yean. The stockholders’ commutes, which claims to represent more than n majority of the stock holdings, thus replies to Sen ator Thomas C. Platt, president of tho pany, who recently refuse.! to call any meeting for election of directors and said the articles of association prnvlda that two- thirds of tha stockholders must be heard from before any such call would bo Issued. Lost Diamond Pin. Solomon Livingston has reported to the police the loss of a diamond scarf pin containing fifteen stones. He says the pin was taken from hla room at 45 Mitchell street and he suspects one of two people whose names he has given to the detectives. 1 Secretary Logan Ratums. Secretary Joseph C. Logan of the As sociated Charities Is back horns from hla first vacation. Until this year he has always bean too busy to take one. but he decided he wanted to know what a vacation felt like. With hla family he spent two weeks at Tumenrllla In North Georgia and he returns to At lanta greatly tenanted by hla trip. SOME BELL SERVICE. Atlanta Georgian, City. Gentlemen: I am writing this, using red Ink, because It will give a better Idea of how I feel about the way the Bell Telephone Company treats the people of Atlanta. I say ‘‘people of Atlanta” advisedly, because I can find no exceptions among the people I know to the rule of POOR SERVICE and BAD TREATMENT. There la home satisfaction In seeing them get their dues oc casionally though. Don’t hold up till they are made to pay their Just share of the taxes. That Is the main thlngl Also, get a commission to guarantee the patrons of the system decent service and a maximum charge for same. When I had a ’phone put In at my residence they gave me the number of somebody else who had Just had It removed from their retldenee and for montha I had to answer the rings for other people. Thoroughly uneatlefactory any way you can look at It; but I had to pay the full price all the same. How about Atlanta owning her own system of loeal ’phenes? Five thousand Bell subscribers would start the thing going to morrow If given a chancel H. L. BRIDGES, 8uffererl Atlanta, Ga., August 21, 1907. Atlanta Georgian, City. Gentlemen: 1 frequently have one, two and three days that my ’phone Is out of use, and have to use my neighbor’s. I wait from one to three and five minutes for a conneetlon. The ’Phone Company reversed my residence and office ’phone numbers In the guide book and was six montha getting It corrected. EDWARD H. WALKER. College Park, Ga. Tha Georgian, Atlanta, Ga. Gentlemen: Seeing that others are telling of the Imperfect service of the Southern Bell Telephone Company, wish to say that only last night I was given the wrong number three differ ent times, and at last waited twenty minutes, with watch In hand, and got no response, although I made every effort possible to at tract the attention of the operator. I am like others—think the city should receive a reasonable compensation for the use of her streets from corporations that are collecting large sums from her people and giving bad service In return. Respectfully, MILTON A. SMITH, President 8mlth & Simpson Lumber Co. Special to Tbe Georgian. Carteravllle, Ga, Aug. 24.—Last Sun. day Myrtle and Murphy Stokes, 14- year-old twins of Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Stokes, were received Into the church at Pine Grove. Recently they professed religion together and were both bap tised at the same time. Ten of the eleven children of Mr. and Mrs. Stakes belong to the church. TO NEWRATE LAW L. & N. Reported to Have Asked For Confer- AT N. Y, CHAUTAUQUA Dr. Belk Tells Good News of Georgia’s New Law. Dr. P. R. Belk, pastor of St. Mark Methodist church, has returned to the city, after spending hla month’s vaca tion In the east, and he will All hia pul pit at 11 o’clock Sunday morning. He visited the Jamestown exposition, spent ona week at Ocean Grove, N. J., and ten days at the New York Chautauqua. "When I told the people at the Chau* tauqua that Georgia had gone dry,” he stated, "and when I told of the magnifi cent Work of The Georgian In the cam- >ilgn, I was given a genuine, old-time amous Georgia Chautauqua cheer. The three hundred Methodist ministers there had no end of good things to say about The Georgian.” NEW CARNEGIE LIBRARY OPENED AT MONTEZUMA. Special to The Georgian. Montezuma, Ga., Aug. 24.—The hand some Carnegie Library was opened here last night. An Interesting program wa* rendered. The liulldlng cost 110,000, and Is located near the Central depot. Montgomery. Ala, Aug. 24.—It la reported here that Milton H. Smith, president of the Louisville and Naeh- vllle railroad, has Indicated to Govern or Comer that he desired to have a talk with him over the rate situation In the state. An officer of the Western of Alabama le said to have been in conference with the state officers this week, and a leading member of the staff of the Central of Georgia has been seen In the office of the executive. With this comes the rumor that all the roads doing business In the state will put the new rate law Into effect. Judge Thomas G. Jones, of the United States court for the Middle dis trict of Alabama, has addressed a let ter to Judge Mitchell, sitting In the circuit court of Bibb county, thanking him for the statement from the bench that the grand Juries of the state courts had no right to Interfere In the matter of the laws restrained In the Federal court on the petition of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Com pany. Commissioned Saturday. Charles W. Alllston. of Madison, was commissioned Saturday captain of company B. Third Infantry. Special to The Georgina, Newberry. 8. C., Aug. 24.—The standing committee of the board of trustees of Newberry College at a re cent meeting elected the following pro fessors: Chair of natural sciences. Pro fessor Roy 7.. Thomas: English and modern languages. Professor Otto R. Patawald, A. M.: assistants In the pre lory department. Pri * - and J. E. Cannon. Y ETHERIDGE FOR COMMISSIONER Eighth Ward Attorney En ters Race for Police Board. HARRY A. ETHERIDGE Harry A. Etheridge, one of the best known young lawyers In Atlanta, has announced his candidacy for a police commissioner, subject to election by council. His friends predict a strong race for hlin. Mr. Etheridge Is a resident of the Eighth ward, and hae lived and prac ticed law In Atlanta for fifteen years. He is now 38 yean- old. and recognised as prominent In his profession. “There are no strings tied to me, and I belong to no clique or faction.” said WILL NOT ACCEPT GLENN’SPROPOSAL Rate Hearing Will Not Be Terminated Before Montgomery, j" , Washington, Aug. 14.—The Southern Railway has declined to accept the propoettlon made by Governor Glenn ta terminate the rate hearings before Standing Matter Montgomery, pending a final determination In the coses In volving Jurisdiction, which have been appealed to the supreme court of the United States. This announcement was made by General Counsel Thom, of the South ern, shortly after his return from New York, where he presented the proposal to President Finley and the other ex ecutive officers of the Southern. Mr. Thom made known the decision of the railway to Speaker E. J. Justice, one of the attorneys engaged especially to represent the Carolina governor In the rate law fight. At the doee of the directors’ meeting In New York yesterday. President Fin ley made a statement in which he j he said: "At a meeting of the board of dl- rector* of tbe Southern Railway com pany today the Income account and re. • suits of operation for tho fiscal year ended June 80 lost were considered. “A dividend of 1 I-t per cent was declared on the preferred stock out of accumulated surplus, making a total dividend distribution of 4 per cent for ; the year. "For this purpose there was appro- 1 printed a portion of the surplus In come carried forward from the year ended June 10, 1906, after payment of the dividends fbr that year." GLENN WIELD8 BIG 8TICK OVER THE SOUTHERN Asheville, N. C, Aug. 24.—Governor Glenn, who has Just returned from Now York, says he Is positive the rate of 2 1-4 cents will, hold good on the North Carolina railroad, and If the Southern embarraasee the latter road he wilt i compel final adoption of the new rate by annulling the Southern’s lease of the North Carolina. The North Caro lina Railroad Company was formed shortly after the civil war. the state subscribing a majority of Its capital stock, and a rood was built from Char lotte to Greensboro. The road did not prove more than nominally profitable. J and fifteen years ago was leased to the Richmond and Danville, which was succeeded by the Southern. The leased road Is one of the most Important in the South. Served Writ on Officers. Special to Tbe Georgian. Huntsville, Ala, Aug. 24.—Deputy Marehal Arnold has returned to the city, after having visited,many of the counties of northern Alabama and serv ed on the Judges and solicitors the writs of Injunction Issued by Judge Thomas O. Jones, restraining them from Inter fering with the Louisville and Nash ville railway. Aged Doctor Dies. StHH-lnl to The Georgian. Anniston, Ala, Aug. 24.—Dr. John L. Hughes, 80 years of age, died at his residence yeeterday at Piedmont, after several days’ Illness.' Dr. Hughes was perhaps the oldest citizen of this com munity, having resided In this section of Calhoun county about sixty year*, over fifty years of that time being de voted to the active practice of medlclns. Mr. Etheridge. “I have always been a prohibitionist In doctrine and prac tice, and i stand for the rigid enforce ment of the law.”