KANSAS. Public Utilities Commission. In re APPLICATION OF THE CALDWELL TELEPHONE COMPANY FOR PERMISSION TO DISCONTINUE FREE RURAL SERVICE ΤΟ THE RENFROW, OKLAHOMA, MUTUAL TELEPHONE COMPANY AND FOR AN ORDER TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN ADEQUATE RATES FOR SERVICE TO THE CORBIN MUTUAL TELEPHONE COMPANY AND TO THE SOUTHEASTERN MUTUAL TELEPHONE COMPANY, KNOWN AS JONES SWITCH. Docket No. 5515. Decided October 17, 1923. Furnishing of Free Switching Service Held Discriminatory and Ordered Discontinued. ORDER. Now on this seventeenth day of July, 1923, this cause comes on for hearing before the Commission at the office of F. A. Dinsmoor in the city of Caldwell, Kansas, the said applicant being present by Alice Shiflett, proprietor, and F. A. Dinsmoor, her attorney, the city of Caldwell being present by C. S. Fossett, its mayor, the Renfrow, Oklahoma, Mutual Telephone Company by P. J. Bohan, and Jones Switch by Fred Nelson. Thereupon all of the evidence is introduced on behalf of all the parties before Commissioner C. E. Rugh sitting for the Commission, and after the evidence has all been heard the said cause is taken under advisement by the Commission and all of the parties are given thirty days in which to see if they can reach agreements and settlements of their interests. Now on this seventeenth day of October, 1923, this cause comes on for final consideration and order by the Commission, and the Commission after considering all of the evidence and after being fully advised in the premises, finds that no agreements have been reached by the con testing companies except as hereinafter found. The Commission further finds from the evidence: 1. That the Renfrow Mutual Telephone Company consists of a farmers' line out of Renfrow, Oklahoma, and is located wholly in the State of Oklahoma, and that heretofore it has had a line connecting it with the exchange of the applicant, The Caldwell Telephone Company, at Caldwell, Kansas, over which it has demanded and has for some time received free switching service from the said exchange of the said applicant, and the Commission further finds from the evidence that the furnishing of free switching service to the subscribers of the said Renfrow Mutual Telephone Company by the said applicant, is 'discriminatory, unfair and unjust to the other subscribers of the said The Caldwell Telephone Company; and the Commission further finds that the said subscribers of the said Renfrow Mutual Telephone Company positively refuse to pay any switching fees or to pay the said The Caldwell Telephone Company anything for the service rendered by the said applicant. The Commission further finds that the said applicant, The Caldwell Telephone Company, should be, and it is hereby, authorized to refuse to give to the subscribers of the said Renfrow Mutual Telephone Company any service of any kind until a mutual agreement shall have been reached for such service to be furnished upon such terms. and for such fees as shall be mutually agreed upon by applicant, and the said Renfrow Mutual Telephone Company and the said applicant is hereby authorized, empowered and permitted to cut off from its exchange the lines of the said Renfrow Mutual Telephone Company and to discontinue all switching service with the subscribers of said lines. 2. The Commission further finds from the evidence that the telephone exchange known as Jones Switch is located in a farm house about 10 miles southwest of Caldwell in Grant County, Oklahoma, and is maintained by the Southeastern Mutual Telephone Company and that for some [R C. L. 144] time past the said applicant had been giving switching service to the subscribers of the said Jones Switch exchange in consideration of the payment to said applicant of the sum of $60.00 per year; and the Commission further finds from the evidence that, the subscribers of the excharge known as Jones Switch have refused to renew the contract or arrangement for the payment of any sum for switching service between the two said exchanges and demand of the applicant that such switching service be furished free of charge; and the Commission further finds that the giving of free switching service by the applicant to the subscribers of the exchange known as Jones Switch would be unfair, unjust and discriminatory as against the paying subscribers of the said The Caldwell Telephone Company, and that the rendering of such free service should be discontinued, and It is hereby found, and ordered, That the said applicant, The Caldwell Telephone Company, be, and it is hereby, authorized and directed to disconnect the lines heretofore connecting the exchange known as Jones Switch with the exchange at Caldwell, and to discontinue the giving of any service between said two exchanges unless satisfactory arrangements are made for the payment of a just and reasonable amount to said applicant for such services. 3. The Commission further finds from the evidence that a tentative agreement has been reached between the applicant, The Caldwell Telephone Company, and the Corbin Mutual Telephone Company, whereby the said Corbin Mutual Telephone Company has agreed to pay to the said applicant the sum of $5.00 per month for telephone connections and switching service between said two exchanges; and the Commission further finds from the evidence that the said agreement is fair, just and reasonable, and should be approved. It is hereby ordered by the Commission, That the said agreement, whereby the Corbin Mutual Telephone Company, shall pay to The Caldwell Telephone Company the sum of $5.00 per month for telephone connections and switching service between said two exchanges be, and the same is hereby, approved. October 17, 1923. In re APPLICATION OF THE CALDWELL TELEPHONE COMPANY TO DISCONNECT AND DISCONTINUE CERTAIN SWITCHING PRIVILEGES. Docket No. 5677. Decided October 17, 1923. Furnishing of Free Switching Service Held Discriminatory and Ordered Discontinued. ORDER. Now on this seventeenth day of July, 1923, this cause comes on for hearing before the Commission at the office of F. A. Dinsmoor in the city of Caldwell, Kansas, Commissioner C. E. Rugh sitting for the Commission, the said applicant being present by Alice Shiflett, proprietor, and F. A. Dinsmoor, her attorney, the Bluff City Mutual Telephone Company being present by R. C. Wedell, its president; and thereupon all of the testimony is introduced before the Commission, after which the Commission takes said matter under advisement and gives all of the parties hereto thirty days in which to see if they cannot reach an agreement. And now on this seventeenth day of October, 1923, this cause comes on for final determination and order before the Commission, and it appearing that thirty days have expired and that no agreement has been entered into, except as hereinafter stated, the Commission reviews all of the testimony and evidence introduced at the hearing, and from the evidence introduced in said cause, the Commission finds: 1. That the Bluff Creek Mutual Telephone Company and the said applicant, The Caldwell Telephone Company, have reached an agreement whereby the said Bluff Creek Mutual Telephone Company agrees to pay to the said The [B C. L. 144] Caldwell Telephone Company 50 cents per month for each and every telephone on the lines of the Bluff Creek Mutual Telephone Company for switching service to be rendered. by the said The Caldwell Telephone Company, and that there shall be a minimum number of 10 telephones and a maximum number of 20 telephones on each line so served. And the Commission finds that the said agreement, as hereinabove set out, is just, reasonable and equitable and that it should be ratified and approved by the Commission, and It is hereby ordered, That the said agreement between the said The Caldwell Telephone Company and the Bluff Creek Mutual Telephone Company be, and the same hereby is, ratified and approved. 2. The Commission further finds from the evidence that the subscribers of the exchange known as the Bluff City Mutual Telephone Company have failed, refused and neglected to pay for the switching service heretofore given by the said applicant, The Caldwell Telephone Company, to said subscribers according to the terms of the written. agreement entered into between said two exchanges on the fifth day of May, 1919, and that the said subscribers of the said Bluff City Mutual Telephone Company refuse to pay anything for switching fees and service given them by the said applicant, The Caldwell Telephone Company, and demand free service. The Commission further finds from the evidence that the giving of free switching service by the said The Caldwell Telephone Company to the subscribers of the said the Bluff City Mutual Telephone Company subscribers is unfair, unjust and discriminatory and against the best interests of the paying subscribers of the said The Caldwell Telephone Company, and that the same should be discontinued, and It is hereby ordered by the Commission, That the said applicant discontinue the giving of all free service between |