Toll Line to Yosemite Held prisoner for more than two hours on top of a pinnacle of rock at a place called Poverty Point, Foreman James Killebrew, who was engaged in laying out the company's new line into the Yosemite Valley, stayed at his post for two hours like the boy on the burning deck. Killebrew, however, managed eventually to escape from his predicament after a thrilling adventure. The foreman climbed onto the high pillar of rock, which rose some 150 feet from the level, to establish a post for a pole, but when he decided to come down he found his way cut off on every hand by the sheer descent of the sides of the cliff. So he sat down to wait, and eventually a handcar with members of his crew came along. The foreman shouted for help and explained the difficulty. He had with him a light rope, one end of which he threw down, and a block and tackle arrangement was soon perfected. With the aid of the heavier rope thus conveyed to him the foreman managed to clamber down the hill, dropping from level to level and keeping himself from falling by clinging to the line. The construction of the Yosemite Valley line has presented difficulties never before encountered in The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company's territory. For many miles the posts are set either in solid rock or in holes made by blasting the loose rock and earth. Probably no more hazardous and expensive construction has ever been attempted anywhere, unless, perhaps, in Colorado, where to lines have been built through the mountains. The Yosemite toll line was laid out by H. O. Jackson, district superintendent of construction with headquarters at Stockton, who has had similar experience in Colorado. J. F. Lowrie, general inspector, laid out the working plans and had charge of the beginning of actual construction, which was later turned over to F. J. Pazak, who is in charge now of the three gangs of men who are doing the work. The new line extends from the Yosemite Valley railroad depot at Merced a distance of seventy-eight miles to El Portal, paralleling the railroad's right of way to the terminus. Eventually the line will be continued from El Portal to the Sentinel Hotel, a distance of fourteen miles. The line as now laid out passes through Snelling, Merced Falls, and Bagby. From Merced Falls to El Portal, a distance of fifty-four miles, the most difficult construction has been encountered. Not more than one-third of the poles in this section have been set in earth. In a majority of cases it has been necessary to blast holes. This is done by drilling a hole three feet deep and charging it with a pound of dynamite. The explosion can be counted on to tear a hole several feet across and into this the pole is set, being then secured by filling in about it. In many instances, however, even this method has been impossible. Where solid rock is encountered a smooth hole large enough to hold an inch and a half iron pipe is drilled and the pipe is set into this hole a distance of ten inches, protruding thence some five feet. A cross-arm is attached to the pipe which takes the place of the pole. As this sort of work is done generally on the brink of cliffs there is no need for a higher pole. It takes from four to eight hours for two men to drill one of these pipe holes, and on an average twelve drills are required for each hole. A blacksmith is a member of the construction gang. The work on the Yosemite Valley line was begun on April 10, and it is expected that it will be finished by August 1. The line has been divided into three sections and a crew of twenty-five men are engaged on each section. The men camp out near the scene of the work. Concrete Telegraph Poles The Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago division of the Pennsylvania Railroad is experimenting with concrete poles for their telegraph service. In the fall of 1906 they erected a mile of these poles on their right of way near Maples, Indiana, in order to test them out in actual service. They were built by Mr. Herman Tapp, contractor of Fort Wayne, at Maples, Indiana, and were hauled out on cars to the point of erection. The profile of the ground being somewhat uneven, the length of the poles were varied from twenty-five to thirtytour feet, in order to keep the tops of the poles as nearly as possible on a continuous grade. The poles were eight inches square at the bottom, and were tapered to a six-inch square at the top, the corners being chamfered two inches, making the pole appear octagonal above the ground. Holes were left for the brace and crossarm bolts and also for the steps. The reinforcement consisted of twenty-four onequarter-inch wires running the full length of the pole. The conditions under which the poles were erected were not of the best, as the work was rushed in order to have the pole line complete for the date of a certain inspection trip. Because of this fact some of the poles were moved from the point of building and were erected within five days after they had been made. Notwithstanding this hurried method of construction and the severity of the windstorms of the past winter, the poles show up at present in almost perfect condition. The alignment is of the best, and the condition of the individual poles is very good, as no check marks or other signs of failure have appeared. The poles were set four feet under the ground and were bedded in stone screenings, giving a solid foundation. Although the time these poles have been in use is not sufficient to warrant any sweeping statements as to their value, yet it is a fact that the first eight months of service have certainly showed exceptional results in favor of the use of concrete for this purpose. These can probably be put in at a cost of $8.00 per pole.— Journal of Electricity, Power and Gas. Telephones in Japan When a Japanese dies in Tokio one of the assets of his estate is his telephone, and the privilege of taking over the dead subscriber's instrument is worth, according to the Boston Financial News, just $400 to his heirs. The government of Japan is interested in telephones for the reason that such instruments of communication are a monopoly in the little empire a government monopoly. It is a fact of world-wide recognition that governments as a rule do not pay particular attention to industries which they may happen to possess a monopoly of-and this maxim is apparently true of Japan, though it is possible that the Japanese telephone system may be modernized. The great complaint in Japan is not so much against the quality of the instruments. and equipment of the systems as against the total inability of the government to supply service to all would-be subscribers. To get a telephone in Tokio a man either has to buy out a subscriber or wait his turn to secure an instrument, and there are no fewer than 8000 people on the waiting list ahead of him. The government is unable to supply the demand, for the simple reason that it has not the instruments, and has not the working force to install the telephones if it had them. In Japan telephones are rented to subscribers at a flat rate; it makes no difference for what purpose they are used. A telephone for a private house costs just as much as one for a business office. In the city of Tokio, which has a population of a million and a half people, there are 22,000 telephone subscribers and thousands more who would willingly give $100 to secure accommodation. The cost of a telephone in Tokio is $40 per annum, and that is gold, not silver, and the amount is payable strictly in advance. While the receipts of the government from its telephone monopoly are large, the cost of operations is comparatively light. For instance, it pays its linemen, the best of them, at the rate of fifty cents per day, and the nine-hour day has not yet been introduced in Japan. Notwithstanding the fact the net earnings from the telephone system of Tokio are very large and there is therefore every incentive to supply as many customers as possible, the government has so far found it impossible to keep even with the demand. In Tokio alone it is estimated that some four years will elapse before the government will be able to supply an instrument to the last man who puts his name on the waiting list. Of course many would-be subscribers die before their turn comes, and the man has the doubtful consolation of knowing that chance may throw an epidemic of disease among those on the waiting list, and, though he be spared, his chances of getting an instrument during his lifetime are immeasurably increased by the deaths of the others. The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company--Operating Costs Table showing operating cost-rank of exchanges of 300 subscribers or over, compiled from latest statistics, in most cases for May, 1907: Mr. Fisher Likes "Kickers' The same sort of folks live down in Tennessee or Mississippi and out in California, or Washington, or Oregon, and for this reason the following short extract from an address by Ernest M. Fisher, superintendent of traffic for the Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph Company, before officers and Mississippi managers at Jackson, Miss., is especially pertinent. If every manager adopted Mr. Fisher's policy and tried his system on every complainer every time the results would be surprising. Here is what Mr. Fisher said: "In rendering telephone service we have three classes of people to deal with the long-suffering, the patient, and the impatient. Sometimes we are prone to believe that we have discovered another class that we might terms 'kickers,' and we don't speak that word with the very greatest respect; we think the 'kicker' is pretty much in the same category as the 'knocker.' I want to tell you in all earnestness that wherever you can class a man as a 'kicker' on telephone service, you are the father of the 'kicker.' A man does not kick on telephone service when you give him telephone service, and instead of showing disrespect to the 'kicker,' he is the man that you should respect. He is sounding the warning note to you that there is something in your service that is wrong and should be corrected, and he has discovered it. Now the company has furnished thousands of dollars with which to buy apparatus for rendering the service, and so it is not the company's fault if the service is not what it should be. That man has found that you are not doing something that you ought to do. He is the barometer that is measuring you; and instead of heaping abuse on that man, you should go out and take him by the hand and thank him for his courtesy in calling your attention to the fact that there is something wrong with the service, that you have overlooked something, and that you intend to remedy the trouble immediately, and then do it." Public Ownership of Telephones European Cities and Countries Find Actual Experience Dissappointing The franchise of the Chicago Telephone Company (Bell) expires in 1909, and the city of Chicago is in the throes of a telephone fight. The situation is interesting the citizens and it appears likely that more intelligent consideration of the claims of the incumbent company and the company which seeks to succeed it will be given than is usually the case in such matters. For one thing, the city council determined early in the fight not to consider the question without adequate information, and for this reason engaged Walter F. Burgess, a telephone expert, to provide detailed information as to the experiences of other cities with the telephone problem. Mr. Burgess's report is of especial interest at this time, when municipal ownership is being agitated in many |