Denmark 109 



practicable to Jutland, and eventually thence to Hamburg. For 

 the purposes of these trunks the Government has established a 

 small switch-room at the Central Telegraph Office in Copenhagen, 

 but, with the exception of one public station, there are no other 

 connections to it, the company's subscribers supplying the neces- 

 sary customers. To enable them to make the best use of the 

 trunks, those subscribers who are willing to pay 2/. 15^. ^d. down, 

 a first and last payment, are being supplied with metallic circuits. 

 The company, being gifted with the faculty of rightly interpreting 

 the signs of the times, intend to gradually convert the whole of 

 its system to 'double wires, and all new work and alterations are 

 designed accordingly, especially its grand new central station at 

 Copenhagen, which is being fitted throughout for metallic circuits. 

 Underground work has already been undertaken in Copenhagen 

 on an extensive scale, and much more, with paper insulation and 

 twisted pairs, is in contemplation. Altogether, Denmark may be 

 complimented on being a practical, advancing, and exemplar} 7 mem- 

 ber of the telephonic family, and one which may be safely trusted 

 to look after its own interests, both technically and financially. 



Although comparatively high rates prevail in the capital, the 

 provincial towns enjoy subscriptions which range from i/. iSs. 8^. 

 to 4/. Ss. iid. per annum. As in Norway, the subscribers some- 

 times supply or pay for their instruments, but in the majority of 

 cases the subscription is an inclusive one. There are some fifty 

 independent companies in Denmark, all, or nearly so, having 

 rules which differ in some or other respect from those of their 

 neighbours. An exhaustive account of these small concerns 

 would be equally tedious and unprofitable, but, thanks to the 

 courtesy of the managers of some of them, the author is enabled 

 to present herewith a tabulated statement in which their chief 

 characteristics are set down. It will be noticed that the sub- 

 scriptions rule higher than in Norway, but that, on the other hand, 

 the members are seldom called upon for any supplementary 

 payments, while the distances over which they are entitled to 

 speak are often considerable. The full accounts for 1893 of the 

 Aarhus Telephone Company, which afford an insight into the 

 methods prevalent in Denmark generally, are printed at the end 

 of this section. 



