by inserting coils of self-induction at regularly recurring intervals along the line obtained by calculation.
The American Bell Telephone Company practically controls the telephone business of the United States, though a number of strong independent companies have been organized, whose business is increasing.
Statistics of the American Bell Telephone Company from 1894 (January 1st) to 1901
| 1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 | 1900 | 1901 | |
| Exchanges | 838 | 867 | 927 | 967 | 1,025 | 1,126 | 1,239 | 1,348 |
| Branch offices | 571 | 672 | 686 | 832 | 937 | 1,008 | 1,187 | 1,427 |
| Miles of wire on poles | 214,676 | 232,008 | 260,324 | 286,632 | 327,315 | 396,503 | 509,036 | 627,897 |
| Miles of wire on buildings | 16,492 | 14,525 | 12,861 | 12,594 | 13,776 | 15,329 | 15,087 | 16,833 |
| Miles of wire underground | 120,675 | 148,285 | 184,515 | 234,801 | 282,634 | 358,184 | 489,250 | 705,269 |
| Miles of wire submarine | 1,637 | 1,856 | 2,028 | 2,818 | 2,675 | 2,973 | 3,404 | 4,203 |
| Total miles of exchange service wire | 353,480 | 396,674 | 459,728 | 536,845 | 626,400 | 772,989 | 1,016,777 | 1,354,202 |
| Total circuits | 205,891 | 212,074 | 237,837 | 264,645 | 295,904 | 338,293 | 422,620 | 508,262 |
| Total employees | 10,321 | 11,094 | 11,930 | 12,425 | 16,682 | 19,068 | 25,741 | 32,837 |
| Total subscribers | 237,186 | 243,432 | 281,695 | 325,244 | 384,230 | 415,180 | 432,946 | 800,880 |
Public Ownership of Telephones. In Europe public ownership of telephones exists to a certain extent and there has been agitation in this direction in the United States. For the most part, such public ownership of telephones is national, rather than municipal, and is chiefly confined to countries where private ownership of franchises is far less common than public ownership. Actual statistics are not readily available, and are constantly changing, but an admirable summary of the ownership of telephones in various countries, made by U. N. Bethell, general manager of the New York and New Jersey Telephone Company (see Bibliography below), is as follows:
“All over Europe, with a few exceptions, the industry at present [early in 1903] is controlled and owned by States or municipalities. In Belgium, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Hungary the central Government operates the industry. In Holland the State operates the trunk lines; in the two principal cities, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the municipalities operate the local systems; and at The Hague a private company operates. In Denmark and Norway private enterprise under Government control operates the industry, while in Sweden the State operates it, except that in Stockholm and vicinity a private company since 1890 has been in active competition with the State. In Great Britain, in most places, private enterprise operates the local systems under license from the State; in a few places municipalities operate or are preparing to operate local systems; the State operates the trunk lines. In the United States private enterprise, under Government control, operates both the local systems and the trunk lines.”
Among the municipal telephone systems in use or under construction in Great Britain early in 1893 were those at Glasgow, Portsmouth, Swansea, Brighton, and Hull. The general movement for municipal telephones in Great Britain followed a Parliamentary act of 1899, authorizing municipal construction. Tunbridge Wells and Glasgow, in 1901, were the first to install and operate systems under the act, but after an active campaign against public ownership in Tunbridge Wells the municipal plant was sold to its private competitor, in the latter part of 1902. There were conflicting reports as to the financial success of the plant, but apparently the advice of the engineer was not followed during construction, while subsequently the plant suffered from poor management. It is said that the municipal plant resulted in a marked reduction of rates and that when sold it yielded a profit. It should be added that in 1911 all telephone licenses granted to private companies in Great Britain will expire, and that all such companies pay 10 per cent. of their gross receipts to the Post-Office Department, which has had a monopoly of the telegraph business since 1869. The policy of the Post-Office Department is to monopolize the telephone as well.
The general question of municipal ownership has been discussed at length under that head. The public interests demand that the business, shall be conducted as a monopoly, under public control. The latter does not exist in the United States to the extent that might be inferred from the closing sentence of the above quotation, but that is largely the fault of the legislative and executive departments of the several States, and to some extent of the municipalities also. Finally, the long-distance lines would be a troublesome factor in municipal ownership in America, unless they, as in some countries abroad, were owned by the general Government.
Bibliography. The following list contains some of the more important works on the telephone to which the reader is referred for further information: Miller, American Telephone Practice (New York, 1899); Alsopp, Telephones, Their Construction and Fitting (London, 1900); Houston and Kenelly, The Electric Telephone (New York, 1896); Webb, Telephone Hand-hook (Chicago, 1894; new ed. 1901); Hopkins, Telephone Lines and Their Properties (New York, 1898); Prescott, Bell's Electric Speaking Telephone (New York, 1884; 2d ed. 1890); Thompson, Philipp Reis, Inventor of the Telephone (London, 1883). For discussion of the public ownership of telephones consult some of the references under Municipal Ownership; also papers by Bethell (against), Parsons (for) and Bennett (as to Great Britain) in “Proceedings of National Convention upon Municipal Operation and Public Franchises,” published in Municipal Affairs (New York, vol. vi., No. 4, 1902-3); also Hemenway on “Municipal Telephones,” Proceedings Seventh Annual Convention League of American Municipalities (Des Moines, Iowa, November, 1903).
TEL′EPHUS (Lat., from Gk. Τήλεφος). In Greek legend, a king of Teuthrania, in Southern Mysia, Auge, the daughter of King Aleos of Tegea, was loved by Hercules and bore him a son, Telephus. In anger her father inclosed mother and child in a chest and cast them into
