148 Telephone Systems of the Continent of Europe 



any time without notice. . In such a case the proportion of sub- 

 scription paid in advance for the unexpired period is refunded. 



Subscribers are held responsible for all apparatus belonging to- 

 the State placed on their premises. 



In some towns, busy during a season only, half-yearly sub- 

 scriptions at half rates are admitted for the whole or part of the 

 subscribers. In this case the subscriber must pay for his line in- 

 one sum when the first six-monthly subscription becomes due. 



Subscriptions are payable half-yearly in advance at the 

 telephone office, but will be collected at the subscriber's on pay- 

 ment of 2 *4</. 



When a subscriber's line becomes interrupted for more than- 

 fifteen days he is entitled to a proportionate refund of his sub- 

 scription. 



2. Rates for suburban connections. The rates set forth in the 

 preceding paragraph cover the right to originate communication 

 with subscribers connected to suburban switch-rooms, but such 

 subscribers are on a different footing, as they cannot call up the 

 town subscribers without incurring extra charges. 



The local suburban rates follow the provincial according to- 

 whether the population is over or below 25,000. Thus the 

 rate (the cost of their lines being defrayed by the subscribers) 

 at Versailles (population 51,000) is 8/. ; at St.-Denis (population 

 50,000), 8/. ; at St.-Germain-en-Laye (population 14,000), 67. ; 

 which rates secure communication within the respective towns 

 only. A St.-Germain subscriber calling up a client in Paris,, 

 Versailles, or St.-Denis must pay 4-8^. per five minutes' talk, and 

 he will not be connected at all unless he has made a deposit in 

 advance to cover such charges. Alternatively, he can make him- 

 self free of Paris and all its suburbs by paying, instead of his local 

 subscription, the Paris one, plus Ss. for each kilometer separating 

 his local switch-room from the Paris central. As already pointed 

 out, this means 24/. i6s. per annum for a St.-Germain subscriber, 

 a heavy impost for a suburban tradesman or residenter. The 

 same system applies throughout France wherever suburban ex- 

 changes or annexes exist. 



3. Rates for internal trunk communication. The time unit 

 for internal trunk talks is five minutes. The duration of a con- 



