NEW YORK.

Public Service Commission.

In re APPLICATION OF THE CHENANGO AND UNADILLA TELEPHONE CORPORATION TO ISSUE BONDS.

Case No. 1643.

Decided February 6, 1924.

Issue of Bonds Authorized.

Now, therefore, upon the foregoing record,*

It is ordered as follows:

1. That the Chenango and Unadilla Telephone Corporation is hereby authorized to issue $143,900 face amount of its 6 per cent., thirty-year first mortgage bonds, Series A, under a certain indenture, deed of trust or mortgage, dated the first day of July, 1922, given to the Citizens Trust Company of Utica, New York, as trustee, to secure an authorized issue of bonds of a total face amount of $1,500,000.

2. That said bonds of the total face amount of $143,900 may be issued on the basis of not less than 98 per cent. of their face value, and shall be used solely and exclusively for the following purposes:

(a) To retire the outstanding underlying bonds of the Marquis Telephone and Telegraph Company..

(b) To retire the outstanding underlying bonds of the Waterville Telephone Company

$140,000 00

1,000 00

$141,000 00

3. That none of the said bonds herein authorized shall be hypothecated or pledged as collateral by the Chenango and Unadilla Telephone Corporation unless any such pledge or hypothecation shall have been expressly approved and authorized by this Commission.

* Omitted.

4. That the Chenango and Unadilla Telephone Corporation shall for each six months' period ending June 30 and December 31, file not more than thirty days from the end of such period a verified report which shall show:

(a) What bonds have been exchanged during such period.

(b) The dates of such exchanges.

(c) With whom such bonds were exchanged.

(d) The amount and description of bonds which were received in exchange.

(e) Any other terms and conditions of such transactions.

Such reports shall continue to be filed until all of said bonds shall have been exchanged in accordance with the authority contained herein, and if during any period no bonds were exchanged the report shall set forth such fact.

5. That the amount of $23,663.40 at December 31, 1922, representing the unamortized debt discount and expense applicable to the underlying bonds to be retired, and the amount of $2,878, representing the discount on $143,900 face amount of bonds herein authorized to be issued at not less than 98 per cent. of their face value, shall be charged to the account Suspense to be Amortized.

6. That the amounts aggregating $26,541.40 herein authorized to be debited to the account Suspense to be Amortized shall be amortized by crediting that account and charging the account Miscellaneous Deductions from Income according to the following schedule:

(a) For the years 1923 and 1924.....

(b) For the years 1925 and 1933, both inclusive, at the rate $2,600 per annum...

$3,141 40

23, 400 00

$26, 541 40

provided that the said company may amortize the said sum more rapidly than herein provided, if it so desires, by crediting the account Suspense to be Amortized and debiting the account Surplus or Deficit with the excess so credited over the amount as shown by the foregoing schedule.

[N.

L. 147]

7. That the authority contained in this order to issue bonds is upon the express condition that the petitioner accepts and agrees to comply in good faith with the provisions hereof and before any bonds are issued pursuant hereto and within thirty days of the service hereof the company shall advise the Commission whether or not it accepts the same with all its terms and conditions, and such order shall be of no force or effect until such acceptance has been filed.

Finally, it is determined and stated, That in the opinion of the Commission the issuance of the bonds herein. authorized is reasonably required for the purposes specified in this order and that such purposes are not in whole or in part reasonably chargeable to operating expenses or to income, except to the amount of $26,541.40.

February 6, 1924.

NORTH DAKOTA.

Board of Railroad Commissioners.

In re JOINT PETITION OF THE NORTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY AND THE NORTH DAKOTA INDEPENDENT TELEPHONE COMPANY FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE PROPOSED MERGER OR CONSOLIDATION OF ALL THE PROPERTY OF THE CORPORATION LAST NAMED WITH THE TELEPHONE PROPERTY AND SYSTEM OF SAID NORTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY IN THE STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA. Case No. 2026.

Decided February 11, 1924.

Consolidation of Properties Approved.

ORDER.

Due consideration having been given to the joint petition of the North Dakota Independent Telephone Company, a Maine corporation, and the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, an Iowa corporation, in and by which the said petitioners seek authority to merge or consolidate their respective telephone systems in the State of North Dakota by the transfer and conveyance of all of the property and assets of said North Dakota Independent Telephone Company to said Northwestern Bell Telephone Company upon the condition that the company last named assume all the debts and obligations of said North Dakota Independent Telephone Company, and, in furtherance of subsequent dissolution, surrender for cancellation all of the outstanding common capital stock of said North Dakota Independent Telephone Company, and it appearing that said Northwestern Bell Telephone Company has owned and exercised a controlling interest in said North Dakota Independent Telephone Company for many years last past, and that it now owns all of the above-mentioned common capital stock, and it further appearing that such merger or consolidation will be advantageous to the persons to

. L. 147]

whom service is rendered by said companies and in the public interest and will tend to bring about more economical operating conditions, and this Board being now fully advised in the premises,

It is ordered, That said North Dakota Independent Telephone Company be, and it hereby is, authorized to transfer and convey all of its telephone system and property to the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company and that said last-named company be, and it hereby is, authorized to acquire and operate said property upon the conditions above set forth, and that said proposed merger or consolidation be, and the same is hereby, authorized and approved.

Done at Bismarck, North Dakota, this eleventh day of February, 1924.

GREENFIELD TELEPHONE COMPANY Vv. SHEYENNE TELEPHONE
EXCHANGE COMPANY.

Case No. 2003.

Decided February 15, 1924.

Switching Rates Found Unreasonable and New Rates Established.

REPORT AND ORDER.

This matter is before the Commission upon petition of the Greenfield Telephone Company and other rural companies of Sheyenne, North Dakota, alleging that the service switching rates of the Sheyenne Telephone Exchange Company are unjust and unreasonable, and requesting that the Commission hold a hearing for the purpose of determining and fixing just and reasonable rates. The original petition. was filed with the Commission on November 16 and a supplemental petition was filed on November 26, 1923. The essential averments are that on or about November 1, 1920, the Sheyenne Telephone Exchange Company increased its rates from $3.00 per year, per patron, to $6.00 per year;