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Automatic Telephone and Its Valuable Service to Society in General
How the Independent Company Has Brought Relief in Reduced Rates and Increased Efficiency to Business Office and Home
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THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: APRIL 5. 1903.
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BACK VIEW OF AN AUTOMATIC SWITCHBOARD.
ui...iaii
HE Iodensndent Telephone
company of Omaha has ful
f!'l:.(! every promise it
r.nde," BaiU General Man
r. 'rr A. P. Matthews of that
Tliu;'3iay morninf.'. "We
laVi: mado Kood in everytliins we have
proiulscd. Tho plant 1b established and
li; !n BUccesBful operation. We said we
would have telephones in operation by
December 1, 1907. We eid we would,
have 8,000 'phones In operation by
April J. 1908. We said we would
have Ions distance connections by
March 20, 1908. We said we would
give Omaha the best telephone service
in its history and at reasonable rates.
We have fulfilled every one of these
promises and more. '
"While wo do not care to do too
much boasting, wo are exceedingly
proud of the record we have made in
keeping faith with the people of
Omaha.
"According to our franchise with
the city, we are permitted to charge
for service when we have 2,000 tele
phones in operation. However, in or
der to more strongly impress upon
the public our desire to deal fairly
with them, we are going to sacrifice
the rentals for the month of April,
which we are legally entitled to, and
make no charge or . service before
May 1. By that time we will have
between 4,000 and 5,000 telephones
in operation and there will be no
ground for anyone to complain that
the service is too limited to be worth
the price.
SaccfM Exrrrd Expectations.
"In answer to your question as to
whether or not we are satisfied with
the encouragement slven us, I can
only say that it is far in excess of
anything we had any reason to ex
pect. We are serving -practically
every business interest of any magni
tude in Omaha with very few excep
tions; those few will soon find it to
their interest to use our 1 telephones,
and would be doing so now If they
realized to what extent their busi
ness is already being Impaired
by the lack of Independent con
nection." Mr. Matthews was asked for an ex
planation of the phenomenal growth,
of the Independent Telephone move
ment throughout the country:
"It is not generally known," said
Mr. Matthews, "that In the states of
Nebraska and Iowa there are three
times as many Independent telephones
in use as there are Bell 'phones. How
ever, this Is the case and the ratio is
rapidly increasing in favor of the In
dependents. Owned by Loral People.
"The chief reason for this phenom
enal growth is found in the fact that
the Independent companies are owned
and officered locally. In many cities
and towns as high as 90 per cent of
the business men therein are stock
holders in the local telephone com
pany. This means that they are all
boosters for the company, and this
fact, together with the superior serv
ice usually rendered, produces the re
sult now in evidence in these two
states, namely, a vast majority of In
dependent telephones over the Bell.
Such is the condition of affairs rapidly
being manifested In Omaha.
"We are urging the sale of our se
curities here more for the securing
of local moral support than from the
necessity of securing local money for
building. We offer an investment
that pays excellent returns and at the
same time is made absolutely safe by
a first mortgage on the property. The
wisdom of investing in the securities
of our compc is borne out by ' the
fact that many of Omaha's most care
ful business men are putting their
money into our securities. These men
make this investment only after a
thorough examination of the property
and careful investigation Into the or
ganization operating it.
"The Omaha Independent Tele
phone company Is largely a home en
terprise Over a quarter of a million
of the stock of the company is owned
by Omaha citiiens. The president of
the company is W. C. Bullard, presi
dent of the Bullard, Hoagland & Den
edict Lumber company of Omaha, and
the next board of directors will be
Omahan.
(irevrtk for Sfil Year.
"With a larpe line of local stock
holders and the company officered by
local business men. the Independent
Telephone company will undoubtedly
have within a year or so as many sub
scribers as the Bell company has se
cured in twenty-five years of monop
oly. This statement is made reserv
edly and based upon the experience
of other Independent companies using
the same methods that we are using.
"The matter of rates is largely re
sponsible for the encouragement we
have received, and they are not any
lower than is consistent with good
business. Our automatic switchboards
eliminate an expense of from $35,000
to $50,000 per annum over the old
fashioned manual system. This factor
in itself enables us to do business at a
profit at much lower rates than could
be granted under that system.
"It is not the purpose of the Inde
pendent Telephone company to cut
rates, but simply to give everybody
the opportunity to avail themselves of
the best telephone service in the world
at a moderate price.
"We propose to make that service
so valuable that everybody will have
to use it if they use the telephone at
all. The telephone Is an indispensable
part of business and household econ
omy, and its-usefulness is becoming
more so dally.
"For this reason the public demands
the best and will have it. This not
only applies to the local and district,
but to the long distance service.
Automatic Service tbe Solution.
"The automatic 'phone is the crux
of scientific achievement and absolute
convenience. Its simplicity and ac
curacy makes it indispensable in the
home or business office. With the au
tomatic 'phone the subscriber operates
his own exchange and is assured of
absolute secrecy in his conversations
over the wire. There Is no breaking
into conversations as is the case where
party lines are in us., T He alks di-
rectly with the person he wishes and
the conversation Is as' secret as in the
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GENERAL OFFICES AND MAIN EXCHANGE BUILDING, TWENTIETH AND HARNEY STREETS.
7-
RECORDS OF INDIAN MUSIC
Native Songs Have Been Preserved by
the Phonograph.
0HTE IMPORTANT WORK FINISHED
Allan Fletcher Flnl In the Music of
the Modern Hed Men Heaem
lilnnm nllh Modern
C'omioera.
privacy of his own home.
"The defects formerly charged
against the automatic system have all
been eliminated by recent improve
ments and they are now at the acme
of perfect service.
"The automatic connection is fault
less, because it is immediate, thus do
ing away with the tedious and vex
atious delays incident to the exchange
Bervlce operated by girls.
"The only trouble we have experi
enced thus far is in our inability to
supply the demands for 'phones. We
are securing all available expert auto
matic Installers, but seem unable to
keep pace with our orders.
Connection with Conncll Bluffs.
"I think at this time the public will
be particularly interested in knowing
something of our Council Bluffs and
long dUtanoe service; the Council
Bluffs service is especially a matter
of pride because of its speed and ac
curacy. By pulling BO, which. signi
fies Bluffs operator, on the dial of the
automatic 'phone, you are connected,
automatically, directly with the Coun
cil Bluffs exchange. The party call
ing asks for the telephone number or
name of the Bluffs party wanted and
is given speedy connection therewith.
This service will unquestionably be
come exceedingly popular. We have
fifty lines connecting the two cities,
which should guarantee prompt serv
ice. "We are now connected with all of
Iowa, but the service is not yet as
broad as it will be a little later. Per
haps the most satisfactory service we
have is that to Sioux City.
"We do not wish the people to ex
pect too much of us immediately, as it
takes time to perfect connections and
get everything to working smoothly.
Hooking t'p with Lincoln.
"Our lines are being built to Lin
coln and as soon as completed will
open up the entire state of Nebraska.
By June 1 this service will(be inaugu
rated and connections nfVd Avith Kan
sas City and hundreds of points in
Kansas..
"It is impossible to get away from
the fact that our long distance busi
ness will grow to immense propor
tions, for the reason that throughout
the surrounding states such a large
percentage of the merchants and busi
ness men generally are stockholders in
independent companies. That they are
bound to pay tholr tolls to the compan
ies in which they are interested rather
than to competitors is self-evident.
With such powerful Influence working
always in our favor, the success of the
toll feature of the business is abso
lutely guaranteed.
"When all the facts outlined above
are taken into consideration and sup
plemented by the undoubted superior
ity of the automatic service, it is not
hard to understand the overwhelming
success with which our company is
meeting.
"Of course there will be vigorous
opposition from our competitors for
some time to come, but it will prove as
ineffective in stemming the on-sweep
of our success as the same opposition
and methods have been elsewhere."
WASHINGTON, April 4. The phonograph
hn recently town i ed by the bureau of
cthnoloery to register the native songs of
the Indians. Several hundred songs have
thus been obtained and It Is designed to
secure the most complete record possible
of the vanishing melodies.
These Indian song as transcribed from
the phonograph ' records have elicited the
Interest not only of the scientists but of
professional musicians as well. Credit for
1 the records Is due to Miss Alice Fletcher,
j an employe of the bureau, who for a num
1 btr of years has interested herself In tho
,1 subject of Indian music,
j In the records of the talking machine
Indian music has for the first time been
3 recorded In a satisfactorily authentic man
i ner and the transcriptions which have
been made from them are scientifically ac
curate. The Indians have no musical no
tation and apparently no theories of music.
Their songs are handed down by tradition
end the phonograph has opportunely
proved of great value in perpetuating them.
"Contrary to what 1 have fiund to be a
general Impression among those Ignorant
of the subject." said Miss Fletcher, "the
songs of the Indians are not meaningless
chants, devoid of sweetness, power and
expression.
Feature of the Music.
"The Indian Is a natural musician. On
transcribing a number of these songs, for
Instance, a stilkirg circumstance was
noted, namely, the use of the major chords
of tho over third and under third. As you
probably know this is one of the most
notable characteristics of our modern ro
mantic comiKjsers.
"We find more or less of it In Iteethoven
and Schubert, still more In Schumann
and Chopin, most of all In Wugner and
I.lsit. This fact shows, I believe, that
the great romantic writers in going out
slda of the accepted' harmonic limits mada
a genuine discovery of natural harmonic
relations. This has long been the belief
of a number of musicians, but these In-
j idlan songs afford strong confirmation of
j the. Justness of the theory, for whatever
i. else they are there can be no question that
I they are absolutely natural. '
I "What may be called the opening of the
Wa-wan or Pipe of Peace choral, reminds
(one strongly of natural passages in Wag
i ner. Yet It is perhaps more during than
1 any of that master's compositions, for It Is
i a twelve measure song, beginning In U flat
and ending In C.
"tfuttly this composition Is worthy of
the attention of every student of harmony
as well as of the scientist. It seems a bold
statement to make, but It is one amply
Justified that all melodic an I harmonic
resources to be found In our umslc, espt.-
cailly ths most modern and advanced, are
also to be found In this primitive music
among a people who have no musical nota
tion, no musical theorlrs, and. In fact, no
systemlzed scientific knowledge of It whatever.
'Nor Is It In harmony alone that this
Lladian music reminds us of the present day
ultra romanticists as well as older masters.
The Indian rhythms are frequently ak com
plicated and difficult as any to be found In
the works of Schumann and Chopin.
Rhythm Like Mendelssohn's.
"I have, for example, songs simulating
precisely the rhythm of some of Mendols
sohn'q 'Songs Without Words,' as well as
of compositions by Schumann and pieces
of the modern and most advanced school.
One rhythmic peculiarity of Borne of tho
songs Is the frequent use of a short note on
the drumbeat, or emphatic portion of the
measure, Just as we find in ancient Scotch
music.
Every tribe has hundreds of original
songs which are its heritage. Many of
them have been handed down through
generations and embody not only the feel
ing of the composer, but record some past
event or experience among the tribe or
clan. The people treasure them and great
care is taken to transmit them accurately.
"Wo- with our written music have a
mechanical device by which a tone may be
uniformly produced as by the vibrations
of a chord of given length and tension this
tone becoming the atandaid by which all
others can be regulated. The Indians have
no such mechanism for determining a pitch,
and there Is no uniform key for a song,
which can be started on any note suitable
to the singer's voice. v
"Yet the songs, as Is shown conclusively
by some of the phonographic records which
have been obtained from different singers,
are repeated without any materail varia
tion. Men with good voices take pride In
accuracy of singing, and often have In their
memories several hundred songs, Including
many from tribes with the members of
which they have exchanged visits.
. "The Indians did not object to having the
music of some of their solemn ceremonial
rites reproduced by the phonograph, but
on the contrary were kind enough to ac
cede to my requests for the obtaining of
good records. Perhaps that of the Calu
met or Wa-wan ceremony Is the most no
table of these specimens of what may be
called sacred music,
"The music Is dignified and Impressive
throughout, in some parts strikingly beau
tiful, although the phonograph has not
been as successful here aa In Instances In
which a single singer has made the rec
ord. An accurate transcript has, how
ever, been made from the machine of this
wonderful melodic expression of 'Peve
on etarth, good will toward men.' "
Miss Fletcher's Own Story.
It Is Interesting to hear Miss Fletcher
tell how she came to acqulrs an Interest In
Indian music.
"The first occasion." she says, "on which
I attended one of their ceremonies I was
certainly not favorably impressed with the
music. Indeed. I was nearly frightened to
death by the whole arrangement, savsge
and barbarous to the extreme to my un
initiated eyes and cars.
"Concerning the music I gleaned the Im
pression that while it might posseos a cer
tain degree of simple rhythm. It had little
melody, the few tores being Iterative and
almost If not quite lacking In expression.
But some songs which I had heard before
this did not coincide with this conclusion.
"While I was living among my Indian
friends I was stricken with a severe Ill
ness and lay for months, ministered to
largely by my companions of the Omaha
tribe. As I was thus shut In from all the
world, the Indians coming and going about
me In their affectionate aolicitude, I would
ask them to sing to me. Because I was
weak, I suppose, they sang softly. There
was none of the distracting drum, and.
devoid of the barbarous noise which had
displeased me, I realised the sweetness.
the beauty and the meaning of these won
derful songs.
"CTulor and dramatic action form marked
qualities of Indian music. Every religious,
tribal and social ceremony, as well as per
sonal experience, Is expressed In tht? melo
dies, and there Is hardly a phase of life
that does not find In a manner of speaking
its representation In sound.
"Strange to say, the funeral song Is ex
pressive of Joy and hope. That of tho
Omahas, of which I have a record and
which Is the only one possessed by that
tribe, shggests In Its major strains sun
shine, birds and verdure, and has a fleet,
happy movement. Nevertheless, there Is a
ceremony.
Music lias Powers,
"Music, in the Indian's belief, has power
to reach the unseen world. , They think
the spirit of the dead man can hear the
song as it leaves the body, and the glac?
cadences are to cheer him as he goes from
those to whom he was attached on earth,
the mourners showing their grief by mu
tilating their bodies.
"From n purely scientific standpoint these
phonographic records are 'very valuable.
The songs of the Indian give us an Inter
pretation of his character. Wo can discern
from these melodic records his religious
nature, his attitude toward the unseen
powers that control him.
"In a way, too, they are a revelation of
his social and tribal relations. In no song
is there mention of the father or the wife.
The grandfather Is not alluded to as per
sonal kindred, but as one whom age has
made wise and fit to be trusted. Tht
mother la only indirectly referred to. but
the sister Is the representation of the fam
lly, and personates the women of the tribe
in many songs.
"The explanation for all this is found In
the peculiar structure of the tribe and in
the nondevelopment of the family Idea as
we understand It. In fact the only recog
mzed relationship is the clan, or gens, a
political subdivision of the tribe.
"Among Indians, with few exceptions
the woman carries the clan, and klnsiiir
Is traced only through her, the chlldrer
being counted in her clan, and not In tha'
of the father. As a man can never marr
In his own clan, he must be as a stranger
to his wife and to his own children, and
when he dies, his brothers and sisters, who
constitute his family, are his heirs.1
"So when an Indian sings of his home,
his sister, with whom he has a recognised
relationship, represents that home, rather
than the wife and children, who can never
belong to hi in. The Indian's love song Is
practically, a song without words, con
sisting of unmeaning syllables.
"Friendship Is a common theme In Indian
songs. There are no songs of labor. The
mystery song has a peculiar origin, as It Is
supposed to come to the composer in a
vision, after days and nights of fasting
and supplication. The revelation often
comes In the form of some animal, typify
ing the supernatural agency friendly to the
suppllcator, and In praise of which the song
la composed.
"Sometimes the revelation Is the same
to different persons and In this case the
one song becomes common property, cre
ating a bond of fellowship and sympathy.
In some of these songs there Is an element
of the weird truly Impressive. Indeed, In
this Indian music I am aure that the ac
complished composer of today can find a
vait world of new motives."
PAIR OF HEAVYWEIGHT BOYS
Two Hsukr Texas Kids, Four
Nine, Giants In Weight
nd Height.
and
Foreign Missionary Work.
In 1R76 the foreign mianlnnarv anr-lotUa nt
the world had only ! stations, while last
Vrar found i. 734 In full nnerallnn with nvar
15,(.U men and women of this country and
Kurope In charge of thsm. .
Two of the most remarkable boys In the
world live on a farm' near Lannlus, Tex.
They are sons of Mr. and Mrs. John H.
Ashcroft. The combined age of the two
boys Is 13 years and their combined
weight 360 pounds.
The oldest boy la named William Dewey
Ashcroft. He la years old and weighs
256 pounds. He Is still taking on flesh at
the rato of about twenty pounds each year.
At his present rate of growth he will be a
giant In height as well as In weight by the
time he has completed his growth. He Is
now five feet two inches tall. His waist
measure is fifty-three Inches. His body Is
well proportioned and he moves around
without any noticeable Inconvenience.
If his growth continues during the next
eleven years at the rate it has since birth
he will weigh in the neighborhood of 6.0
pounds by the time he reaches the age of
an ordinary full-grfewn man. His health
Is good and It Is claimed by physicians
who have examined him that His chances
for continued growth and development are
as good as those of an ordinary boy.
When this boy was born. In 1893, he
weighed nine and one-half pounds. He
took to growing right from the start and
when he was only 1 year old he weighed
fifty-two pounds. He was as large as an
ordinary sire man when only 6 years old.
his weight at that time being 137 pounds.
He gained sixty-four pounds during the
next two years, his weight being 201 pounds
on tha day he was 7 years old.
The wonderful boy has had many of the
ills that usually fall to the lot of children
and grown people, but he kept growing all
the time. When he was only seven months
old ha had an abscess In the throat. Hp
suffered a severe attack of pneumonia
when only two years old. Ue pulled through
that sickness and quickly regained the flesh
that he had lost and had taken on a lot
more by the time he was attacked with
whooping cough, when two and one-half
years old.
He did not have another fpell of sick
ness until he was six years old, when he
was attacked with diphtheria. He recov
cred from that Illness and still continued
to get better and bigger until lie was
seven years old, when typhoid fever laid
hold on him and kept him confined to his
bed for a few weeks. He got over th
sickness and was soon as fat as ever. He
has not been sick since then and his daily
gain In weight continues without Interrup
tion.
The youngest of the two brothers is
named Ernest Z. Ashcroft. He la also a
physical phenomenon. He was ttorn De
cember 4. 19u3, and weighed ten pounds at
his birth. He weighed forty pounds when
one year old, and by the time he was three
his weight had increased to seventy-six
pounds. He weighed 105 pounds when four
years old. He is three feet seven inches
tall. His waist measure la thlry-slx Inches.
This younger boy has had no serious spell
of Illness and Is the picture of health.
The most remarkable thing about the
phenomenal sizes of these two boys Is that
their parents are of ordinary sise. Their
father Is about six feet tall and weighs 168
pounds, and their mother is flvs feet ten
Inches tall and weighs ISO pounds.
Mr. and Mr. Ashcroft have five other
children, all girls, and none of them shows
and signs of unusual physical growth or
development. On the contrary, the girls
are delicate and unusually light of weight
for their ages. Mr. Ashcroft says his
greatest ambition Is to give his record
breaking sons a good td.ucs.Uon. Huston ,
Poet,
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