OCR Text |
Show I TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH LINES ACROSS INDIAN LANDS. The rapid development and growth of the Indian Territory, and to a somewhat lesser degree of Oklahoma, are prominently brought to notice through the construction of hundreds of miles of telephone lines and the establishment of numerous telephone exchanges throughout - those Territories. Indian Inspector Cyms Beede has been designated to assess the damages occasioned by the construction of the lines extending through . the lands of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, and it has been determined that the damages for right of way through these lands, under section 3 of the act of March 3,1901 (31 Stats., 1058-1083), should be appraised at 10 cents per pole, or $3.30 per mile. June 27, 1902, the Department designated $5 for each 10 miles of telegraph and telephone lines in the Indian Territory as the amount to be assessed as the annual tax against the owners thereof under said section 3. All the owners of such lines in the Indian Territory have been notified accordingly and payment has been made by some of them. The oflice is awaiting the report of the Indian inspector, when it will have such information as to mileage of lines and other matters as will enable it to make a proper demand in each case where settlement has not been made. Additional regulations were prescribed November 6 and approved November 9,1901, to govern applications for permission to establish and maintain telephone exchanges in any incorporated city or town in the Iudian.Territory, as follows: No company or individual is authorized to establish or maintain a local telephone exchange in any incorporated city or town in the Indian Territory under the pro-visions of the act of March 3, 1901, until authority therefor has first been obtained from the Secretary of the Interior. Any company or individual desiring to obtain such permission must file an appli-cation therefor in this office, for transmiasion to the Secretary of the Interior. Such application should, in as particularamanner as possible, outline the general plan of the proposed system, and must he accompanied, in the care of acompany or corporation, by the showing required in subdivisions 1 to 7, both inclusive, of parsgraph 3 of the regulations of March 26, 1901. If this showing haa been made in connection with an application for s. long-distance or other telephone line, a reference to the previous application will be sufficient. This office, before tranamittiug such application to the Secretary of the Interior, will obtain an expression of the views of the city or town authorities upon the gen-eral plan of the proposed exchange. The general outline of the plan should be submitted in duplicate. The foregoing regulations shall be observed, so far as applicable, by any individual seeking to procure permission to estshlish or maintain a telephone exchange in any incorporated city or town in the Indian Territory, and particularly as to the purpose, intent, and financial ability of the applicant. |