Show telephones IN EUROPE not so used as in the states the worldwide world wide reputation of the american not only for inventive nef but for the quick and ready adoption and use of all the appliances of practical science is well sustained by the statistics recently published concerning the use of telephones it appears says the youths companion that in the number of their telephones the united states are far in advance of any of the european nations we have some telephones in use while england and germany together have probably about half that number and it is said that they exceed all the rest of europe combined but there are two small countries which in proportion to their population use more telephones than the other european nations switzerland according to late statistics has one telephone to every inhabitants and sweden one to every while in england and germany there is only one telephone to every inhabitants A curious reason has been suggested for the extensive use of telephones in sweden namely that they have proved particularly useful on account of the difficulties of locomotion there and the great length of the winter nights which tends to increase those difficulties i and perhaps to inspire like the twilight of more genial climes a desire for closer human communion the obstacles to locomotion in the alps are thought to furnish a similar reason for the great development of the use of telephones in switzerland although the enormous influx of summer tourists is perhaps the most effective cause of their popularity in that country |