290 Telephone Systems of the Continent of Europe 



to this service ; but in all other places the proprietors of the tele- 

 phone exchanges have to rely entirely on the charges they impose 

 on their subscribers, although they too, as a rule, have to furnish 

 the necessary attendants at the telegraph offices. 



5. Telephoning of messages for local delivery. Subscribers 

 (and non-subscribers using public telephone stations) may ring 

 up the central office and dictate messages to be delivered 

 direct by company's messenger without the intervention of the 

 State. 



6. Public telephone stations. There are 71 of these in 

 Christiania and 45 in the suburbs, making 116 in all. Many are 

 at subscribers' offices. In this case the keepers pay the ordinary 

 tariff for their connections and are permitted to retain 30 per 

 cent, of the receipts. In a good many instances automatic slot 

 boxes are employed to receive the initial payment of ten ore (\"$d.\ 

 without which no service is rendered ; in others, a simple box is 

 hung up into which the user drops the coin. The charges for 

 trunk talks and telegrams are paid to the keeper, these being too 

 variable and complicated to be dealt with by automatic boxes. 

 The slot machine favoured, after several years' experimental trial 

 of many different patterns, is that of Mr. Jakobsen, of Christiania. 

 Subscribers pay the same as strangers when using the public 

 stations ; but quarterly, half-yearly, and yearly tickets, covering 

 the use of one or more stations, are issued. 



7. Messenger service. Messengers are kept at, or within call 

 of, the central station and some of the public telephone stations, 

 who, on demand, are sent round to subscribers' offices or houses, 

 or utilised to summon to a public station non-subscribers with 

 whom subscribers wish to speak. 



TARIFFS 

 i. Bates for local exchange communication : 



Per annum 

 s. d. 

 For one instrument on a direct line not exceeding 1,500 



meters in length . . . . . . .4811 



For each additional 500 meters . . . . .084 



