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. L. 145]

payable in twelve equal monthly installments, for the three telephones with a minimum rate of $100 per year if only one telephone is kept in service, or $120 per year if only two telephones are kept in service, the subscriber to maintain the circuits from its various pits to the public highway and do the necessary trimming thereon or assume the expense of having it done.

Hearing was held at Madison, November 7, 1923, at which hearing J. A. Pratt appeared for the Eastern Wisconsin Telephone Company. There were no other appear

ances.

At the time of the hearing an exhibit was introduced purporting to show the estimated investment in the line and the annual expense of operation. According to this exhibit, the estimated investment is $585.02 and the annual expense of operation is $133.65. The party representing the company was unable to testify as to the detail upon which this exhibit was based.

It is evident that the regular rural business rate is altogether insufficient for the service of this customer over a line devoted exclusively to its use and especially so if one or more of the telephones are to be discontinued during a part of the year. On the other hand, the absence of conclusive testimony supporting the telephone company's exhibit makes us hesitate to accept the figures in that exhibit as conclusive regarding the cost of service. Inasmuch as a contract which was executed in 1917 had been in effect for a number of years covering this service, which contract provided a substantial charge for the service probably not far out of line with the cost, we are inclined to provide a rate corresponding to that provided in the contract. It may be that there have been some increases in cost since the time the contract was executed, but the absence of conclusive testimony in this case, in our opinion, does not warrant us in entering an order providing a rate higher than that provided by the contract.

It is, therefore, ordered, That the applicant, the Eastern Wisconsin Telephone Company, for service rendered

to the gravel pits of the Elkhart Sand and Gravel Company from its Elkhart Lake exchange, may require an annual contract upon the basis of the rates herein provided. Such rates shall be as follows:

During such time as only one telephone is in service.
During such time as two telephones are in service...
During such time as three telephones are in service.

Per Month

$8 33

9.00

9 75

These rates and the provisions under which they are applicable may be made effective for service rendered on and after January 1, 1924.

Dated at Madison, Wisconsin, this eighteenth day of December, 1923.

[Wis.

WYOMING.

Public Service Commission.

In re APPLICATION OF THE MOUNTAIN STATES TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY TO ADJUST ITS RATES IN THE CITY OF CASPER.

No. 325.

Decided December 5, 1923.

Petition for rehearing denied.

ORDER DENYING REHEARING.

Public hearing in the above proceedings was held at Casper, Wyoming, on September 29, 1923, at which time and place the Casper Chamber of Commerce was ably represented by its secretary-manager, Charles B. Stafford, attorneys, R. M. Boeke and Harry M. Durham. The applicant company was represented by Milton Smith, counsel. The proceedings had were reported and certified to by Harry A. McCraken, official court reporter of that district.

From the evidence submitted, the Commission made their findings and entered an order* authorizing the applicant company to file a schedule of rates which, upon November 1, 1923, became the legal rates. As a result of these new rates, business telephones were increased $1.00 per month, and resident telephones increased 50 cents and 25 cents per month, producing some $17,000 additional yearly revenue, which additional revenue covers but partially the deficit experienced by the company in the past.

The evidence in these proceedings shows conclusively, that vast expenditures have been made in the past and are at this time being made to the end that adequate service can be furnished the telephone users of Casper. To make

See Commission Leaflet No. 143, p. 894.

it possible for the applicant company to secure the necessary capital for the present and future improvements, it is essential that the company be given rates which will so nearly as possible provide a fair return upon their investment.

Under date of November 30, 1923, W. H. Patten, attorney, filed an application for a rehearing in these proceedings, the petition being for and on behalf of C. E. Starr, a telephone user of the city of Casper, and for and on behalf of all other persons similarly situated and interested in the above proceedings. With this application, a petition signed by a large number of telephone users, prospective telephone users and tax payers, was received, requesting that a rehearing be granted upon the application made by C. E. Starr in order that they may have an opportunity to be present in person or otherwise represented. The petitioners acknowledge that notice of hearing at Casper was properly given, and that Mr. Starr and the others did not attend on account of their own dereliction and not on account of any dereliction on the part of the Commission; that the hearing was properly conducted and evidence was introduced, and there was no evidence contrary to the contents of the order* made by this Commission in these proceedings; and there is no showing made in this application for a rehearing, that evidence could be introduced which would contradict the evidence introduced at the hearing or that would affect the order entered in the case.

Therefore, the Commission is of the opinion, and finds, that the application does not set forth sufficient reasons for a rehearing of the case and the prayer of the petitioners is hereby denied.

[Wyo.

- Dated at Cheyenne, Wyoming, this fifth day of December, 1923.

See Commission Leaflet No. 143, p. 894.

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