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Show TELEPHONE OWNED BY OGDEN To the Editor -Your oditorlal In the Standard two days ago on Doubly Taxed for Tolophone Service" Is both timely and expedient; timely because the opportunity Is now, this hour, and will never return again; expedient In that the way seems clear as never before to add another valuable public utility to what we already have Wo have our own water supply and we yet have another Just coming into sight, nnmely, Tho -merchants' Light & Power company projected hy our enterprising citizens, and when" they turn on the light Uao effulgent heams will whelm In obscurity tho sickly glamour that sheds its' pale melancholy melan-choly from pendent bulbs already ia our homes and places of business. The papers inform us that the Independent In-dependent Telephone plant is about to be sold under the hammer and It seems to mo that our city should buy the Ogden contingent of that plant, if It 1b possible to do bo. We do not need two phones. To assess the people for two telephones, tele-phones, when one is ample, Is not only a farce but comes mighty near being a crime, because It puts a useless use-less burden on our shoulders and we cannot help ourselves, and solely for the benefit of those who have no interest in-terest in us, us, the people who build and support a city. Mayor Brewer made his name immortal, im-mortal, at least so far as the beneficiaries benefici-aries are concerned, when he possessed possess-ed the water works for the city, and Mayor Glasmann may write hlsnamo in the Ogden Hall of Fame by obtaining obtain-ing for the people a telephone service all our own, a cheap and ready means of communication with all sections of tho city, and the money will not be sent away to build palatial homes for strangers somewhere Down East, nor to pay for a tour of Europe for their degenerates. It seems practicable for this administration ad-ministration at this time, as never before be-fore and probably never again, to bur the Independent Exchange at Ogden Og-den and thereby (possess our own telephone plant already equipped and in business. I am not a lawyer and may not know tho occult mysteries that Ho hidden in the Independent Tclephono franchise, but I do know that Mayor Glasmann and M. DeVine, aided by the City Council, are competent to analyze that document and to take advantage of whatever ma be offered offer-ed there, and the people will stand by them and help to lift this useless 'burden from their necks. iiiQ man who pays for two phones in his place of business, when ho needs but one, and also two at his home, will, at the ond of a year, have paid therefor enough to rent a pretty good house, and half of that money has been worse than thrown away. Telephones are no longer a luxury or things that only challenge onc3 curiosity but they are a prime necessity neces-sity and difficult to get along without They should he common and cheap, In easy reach of the thatched cottage as well as of the more prosperous home. It will bring the people living a distance from one another closer together by the greatly augmented number of phones, and the more phones the more activity In business centers of the city, and the expense of maintenance will bo more lightly distributed, and that money will stay at home. The time and condition now seems opportune and will probably nover come again, as before noted, for it Is said that "Opportunity" will knock but onco at any man's door Tho Ogden Og-den Exchange of thfa Independent Telephone company is already here, the poles are In place, littered streets and months required to set tho poles are eliminated, the Instruments aro screwed to tho walls of many homes nnd places of business, tho plant Is for sale cheap. Let's buy 1L Wo do not have to buy a franchise to do 'business in our own city nor need we disturb the franchise o'f any other telephone company. To be rid of tho second telephone, one only needs to notify any company to remove re-move Its instruments when the terms of the contracts are compiled with, and the thing is done, and soon there will bo but one telephone in use In Ogden City and the people of tho city will own that one, as they should. I do not know, of course, "that tho Independent people will be ivilllng to segregate the Ogden part of their plant and soil It Independently of the parent concern,, but It Is worth trying, and tho Mayor and Mr. De-Vine De-Vine might look into the mattor. I confidently "believe that the people of Ogden will not hesitate to voto what bonds aro necessary for tho purpose of buying this end of tho Independent In-dependent Telephone, If the scheme is practicable, and will cheerfully endorse en-dorse any reasonable plan to socuro the plant. However, tho details and consummation consum-mation of this worthy undertaking are up to Mayor Glasmann and the Citv Council. (Signed) A S. CONDON. no |