36 
he was the biggest man in the state 
of Chihuahua, and that he taught 
the natives some wonderful maneu- 
vers—some fancy moves that he 
thought would scare the regular 
army fellows to flight. 
And for just the adventure and a 
handful of change this fellow took 
his life in his hands—but such is the 
Texan. 
I met an American druggist who 
was bringing his wife and little son 
to the American side before things 
got too warm down there. He said 
his family was the only Americans 
or Hnglish speaking people in the 
town of 1000 people. He stated that 
ihe country towns the Mexicans 
ignorance of the war situation was 
something woefully dense. In one 
fown the natives would think it was 
an uprising against the Americanos 
and in another they considered the 
Americans as their friends in help- 
ing to overthrow the government. 
He said he boxed and shipped his - 
drugs and patent medicines to the 
border and that the Mexicans could 
have stomach ache for a while now. 
They tell me that President Diaz 
has the organization to kill the re- 
bellion in a very short time, but that 
he is afraid of his own machinery— 
that the rank and file of the men 
who make up the army are in sym- 
pathy with the uprising. 
The insurrectors are wise to this; 
they know that by commencing op- 
erations in the north and west of 
Mexico the people are almost unani- 
mously with them and that it will 
be a hard job for the government to 
break them up. But on the other 
hand, there is little spoils of war 
in this section and it is a hard prop- 
osition to feed an army of any size 
and find water and grass for horses. 
It is about as hard to determine 
American sentiment regarding the 
war as it is Mexican. There are 
many Americans who own big ranch 
and mining interests in the north of 
Mexico and in the Santa Rosa moun- 
tain regions, and these men are 
against the insurrection and with 
the government, fearing a loss of in- 
terests. 
On the other hand I am told that 
there are powerful American inter- 
ests behind the uprising—interests 
that are backing the rebellion, of 
men and money that will come in for 
about all they may ask for if the in- 
surrection succeeds. 
And then once in a while a fellow 
will get confidential and whisper 
that there is American polities brew- 
ing, that the Rio Grande is too far 
north for a southern boundary to 
the United States. All he knows is 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
Telephone Company Report. 
The annual report of the Ameri- 
can Telephone & ‘Telegraph Com- 
pany as presented by its president, 
Theodore N. Vail, embracing, as it 
does, a survey of the entire Bell 
System of this country, is a docu- 
ment of unusual importance. We 
publish the following summary be- 
cause we think a big proportion of 
our readers are interested in the phe- 
nomenal growth of this company. 
The total outstanding obligations 
of the Bell System in the United 
States, not including the manufac- 
turing company, amounts to $580,- 
000,000. 
The book value of the property 
representing these outstanding obli- 
gations is $696,700,000, $116,000,000 
in excess of the outstanding obliga- 
tions. 
There is no water in the eapital 
of the American Telephone and Tele- 
graph Company; the excess of cash 
paid into the treasury over the out- 
standing obligations at the close of 
the year amounted to nearly 
$17,000,000. 
The cost of construction, including 
toll lines, per exchange station has 
steadily decreased from $199. OO in 
1900 to $142.00 in 1910. 
There has been a continual de- 
crease of the average annual charge 
for exchange service from an aver- 
age of $44.68 in~ 1900 to $31.28 in 
1910. 
The taxes paid in the year 1910 by 
the Bell System amounted to over 5 
per cent of its gross earnings, 16.4 
per cent of its net earnings, and 1.4 
per cent of the value of its telephone 
plant. 
The control of the company is not 
vested in any one interest nor has it 
been used for the benefit of any in- 
dividual or group of individuals. 
The American Telephone and Tele- 
graph Company is not in the accept- 
ed sense a trust nor has it been built 
up by absorbing competing com- 
nanies. While the Bell System is 
made up of separate corporations, 
these corporations are not, never 
have been, and never could be in 
competition. Under any system of 
organization or under one owner- 
ship, separate companies are neces- 
what it would do, and what would | 
just what he has heard under the 
hat, and if you press him he will 
tell you to ask Secretary Knox or 
some of big noises up at Washington. 
What little I saw of the Mexican 
revolution, it appeared woefully 
weak, made up of the ignorant, ir- 
responsible element of Mexico, and 
sary for the purposes of State juris- 
diction. 
A universal and comprehensive 
telephone system cannot have any 
operating limits, but must give un- 
broken, continuous, connecting cir- 
cuits under one control, from every 
subseriber’s station in every diree- 
tion to the limits of telephone speak- 
ing possibility. 
Bona fide competition between 
local exchanges cannot exist, owing 
to the peculiarities of the 
rendered by these exchanges. 
Physical connection would give to 
subseribers of an opposition ex- 
changes the service and use of prop- 
erty provided for the use of others, - 
and for which others pay. 
The Bell System maintains a large 
experimental and engineering de- 
partment, not for the purpose of sup- 
pressing new inventions and 
proved methods, 
pose of developing the value and 
efficiency of anything that is new. 
service | 
im-— 
but for the pur- 
The construction, equipment and 
operating methods of the Bell Sys- 
tem are the standard the world over. 
The equipment of the exchanges of 
the whole world is either the same 
as, or is modeled upon that of the 
Bell System. No construction, 
equipment or operating methods re- 
jected or ‘‘suppressed’’ by the en- 
gineering experts of the Bell System 
—~—— 7 TT. 
have ever yet come into prominent — 
use. 
The profits on Western Electric — 
sales to the operating companies of 
the Bell System are less than on 
sales to the independent companies. 
Tt is also shown that the telephone : 
service and the telegraph service are 
complementary, not competitive; 
that joint use and joint occupancy of 
wires will reduce operating cost, 
maintenance charges and construe- 
tion investment. That utilizing the 
unutilized facilities of both will 
make possble new, additional and 
useful services of both telephone 
and telegraph, for the benefit of both 
the corporations and the public. 
>? 
‘‘T love but her,’’ sang the love- 
sick swain. ‘“‘If it’s butter you want 
you.can get that at the corner gro- 
cery,.”’ called out her irate father. 
become of the republic if the revo- 
Jution sueceeded had me guessing. 
And perhaps that is what has our 
oovernment gussing. 
And. PERH.i% ve big men at 
Washington like to have it a guess 
work. 
Breeze Subscription, $2.00 a year, 
‘ 
