Telephones
STATEMENT OF THE AMERICAN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY ON JAN. 1, 1891 TO 1898
| 1891 | 1892 | 1893 | 1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exchanges | 774 | 788 | 812 | 838 | 867 | 927 | 967 | 1,025 |
| Branch offices | 467 | 509 | 539 | 571 | 572 | 686 | 832 | 937 |
| Miles of wire on poles | 171,498 | 180,139 | 201,259 | 214,676 | 232,008 | 260,324 | 286,632 | 237,315 |
| Miles of wire on buildings | 13,445 | 14,954 | 14,980 | 16,492 | 14,525 | 12,861 | 12,594 | 13,776 |
| Miles of wire underground | 54,690 | 70,334 | 90,216 | 120,675 | 148,285 | 184,515 | 234,801 | 282,634 |
| Miles of wire submarine | 779 | 1,029 | 1,336 | 1,637 | 1,856 | 2,028 | 2,818 | 2,675 |
| Total miles of exchange service wire | 240,412 | 266,456 | 307,791 | 353,480 | 396,674 | 459,728 | 536,845 | 626,400 |
| Total circuits | 173,665 | 186,462 | 201,322 | 205,891 | 212,074 | 237,837 | 264,645 | 295,904 |
| Total employees | 7,845 | 8,376 | 9,970 | 10,421 | 11,094 | 11,930 | 14,425 | 16,682 |
| Total subscribers | 202,931 | 216,017 | 232,140 | 237,186 | 243,432 | 281,695 | 325,244 | 384,230 |
This company practically conducts the telephone business of the United States.
The aggregate length of wire operated is 951,283 miles. The number of instruments in the hands of licensees under rental at the beginning of 1898 was 919,121. The number of exchange connections daily in the United States was 3,099,472, or a total per year of about 998,000,000. The average number of daily calls per subscriber is about 81⁄10. The company received in rental of telephones in 1895, $1,475,850.64; in 1896, $1,450,032.85; in 1897, $1,597,959.36. It paid its stockholders in dividends in 1897, $3,682,948.50. The capital of the company in 1897 was $25,886,300. The gross earnings for 1895 were $4,475,445.42; for 1896, $4,538,979.07; for 1897, $5,130,844.92. Net earnings for 1897, $4,169,874.73.
The Long Distance Telephone Company represents about $20,000,000 of capital.
Postal Service
The postal business of the United States for six fiscal years was as follows:
| Year ending June 30 — |
Pieces of Mail handled |
Registered Packages and Cases |
Through Registered Pouches and Inner Registered Sacks handled |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1893 | 9,772,075,810 | 16,487,241 | 1,302,466 | 9,780,865,517 |
| 1894 | 10,033,973,790 | 15,253,586 | 1,333,454 | 10,050,560,830 |
| 1895 | 10,377,875,040 | 14,720,002 | 1,357,723 | 10,393,952,765 |
| 1896 | 11,166,323,240 | 14,970,775 | 1,465,395 | 11,182,759,410 |
| 1897 | 11,571,540,680 | 14,640,832 | 1,615,831 | 11,587,797,343 |
| 1898 | 12,225,706,220 | 15,416,292 | 1,661,416 | 12,242,783,928 |
The Number of Money Orders
Issued during 1897-1898 was as follows:
| Domestic | 27,798,078, | amounting to | $191,354,121.63 |
| International | 955,344, | amounting to | 13,239,769.27 |
| Total | 28,753,422, | amounting to | $204,593,890.90 |
