

1 30 Telephone Systems of the Continent of Europe 



VII. FINLAND 



LIKE the other northern continental countries, the Grand-Duchy 

 of Finland has become the scene of great telephonic activity. 

 There would seem to be something in the Scandinavian blood, to 

 which the inhabitants of the capital and all the more important 

 coast towns mostly belong, which renders the possession of many 

 telephones an essential to their owners' happiness. Wherever two 

 or three Swedes, or Norwegians, or Danes, or Finns of Scandi- 

 navian descent, are gathered together, they almost infallibly pro- 

 ceed to immediately establish a church, a school, and a telephone 

 exchange. Whatever else in life that is worth having generally 

 comes after. Thus the inhabitants of Mariehamn in the Aland 

 Islands (the whole group of 300 islands contains only 18,000 

 souls) support and find uses for a flourishing exchange, while our 

 own islands of Wight, Jersey, Guernsey, Arran, &c., incomparably 

 richer and better peopled, show no sign of consciousness of even 

 the existence of such a facility. 



The telephonic development has been conducted on Scandi- 

 navian lines that is to say, by local companies and co-operative 

 societies, which have been formed in every town in the country 

 under concessions from the Finnish Government, which has not 

 dabbled directly in telephones at all. The telegraph lines in 

 Finland belong to the Russian Posts and Telegraphs Department, 

 the only telegraphs owned by the Grand Duchy being those erected 

 along the State railways. The first telephone exchange was opened 

 in Helsingfors in 1882. As a general rule, a member pays for the 

 cost of his line and instrument and for his share of the exchange 



