CONQUEST OF DISTANCE BY WIRE TELEPHONY 417 



of loaded phantom circuits and duplex cables, could be obtained at a much 

 cheaper rate, which we estimate, with the amount of construction running 

 along about as at present, would represent a saving in construction costs 

 of $500,000 each year, on which the annual charges would be $50,000. 



As has already been stated, a large use of phantom circuits has already 

 been accomplished where unloaded lines and open wires are used. Even in 

 those cases the phantom circuit work has not attained anything like a full 

 measure of success. Take just the territory of one associate company, it 

 was expected that by the use of phantom circuits, a saving in plant invest- 

 ment of $1,000,000 would be made. It was found upon investigation by 

 this department that owing to faulty location with respect to electric power 

 wires, nearly half of these circuits were too noisy to be operative, so that 

 only part of this saving was realized. We believe it is possible to remove the 

 cause of this failure in such cases. This would require special and detail 

 studies conducted by the plant department of each associate company, such 

 as were recently made by this department in the territory of the Pacific 

 Telephone and Telegraph Company. The savings which could be made in 

 this way throughout the country cannot be estimated, as we have no proper 

 system of reports from, or relations with the plant departments of these 

 various companies, and because in many of these companies such a thing 

 as a plant department does not exist. It is clear that an enormous saving 

 can be made in this way, but it could be accomplished only through improve- 

 ment in organization all along the line and not by laboratory work or the 

 mere issuing of standards. 



Further Development of Pupin Invention: 



Although most extraordinary savings have already been obtained from 

 the use of the Pupin invention for loaded circuits, resulting in the case of 

 the New York and the New York & New Jersey Companies in a reduced 

 cost of construction of more than $7,000,000, we have not yet exhausted 

 the possibihties of this class of circuits. Up to the present time it has not 

 been practicable to load circuits as large as the No. 8 wires composing 

 the New York- Chicago circuit. I was greatly impressed during my trip to 

 the Pacific Coast with the great advantage which would accrue to the com- 

 pany operating there if loaded No. 8 circuits were practicable. Trouble- 

 some opposition companies exist in the southern and the northern part of 

 the territory, and a vigorous opposition is opening in San Francisco, the 

 heart of the territory. Long toll lines are being projected and some of them 

 are being built by the independent companies. If loaded No. 8's were avail- 

 able, a first-class talk could be given between the most widely separated of 

 the important places, say between Seattle and Los Angeles, a distance of 

 about 1500 miles. Over this distance, loaded No. 8's would give excellent 



