546 COMMERCE YEARBOOK Chicago was completed during the past year. The transcontinental line extending from Denver to El Paso and thence to Los Angeles was continued from El Paso to Dallas and thence to New Orleans. Work has been started on a third transcontinental line westward from Minneapolis to Portland and Seattle. The transmission of pictures by wire is now commercially avail- able between New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. During the past year the Western Electric Co., the manufacturing department of the Bell system, sold all of its interests in foreign companies, except in Canada, to another corporation controlled by the Bell system. The merchandising business in electrical supplies formerly carried on by this company was turned over to a subsidiary corporation organized for the purpose. These changes were effected to enable the Western Electric Co. to devote its entire efforts to the ever increasing needs of the Bell system. Table 35.—American Telephone & Telegraph Co. and Associated Operating Companies: Comparative Statistics Nore, —All figures in thousands of miles, telephones, messages, or dollars. Mileage and number of telephones relate to December 31. Tom Total wire mileage... - Telephones owned. coococmmommacnaaaaan Connected telephones owned bY other COTPATUES, eee cccaomsi mamma Exchange messages daily ..-... cn Toll messages daily. ...oceeeccmmmnmnumannn- BLOBS OVER, .. . oi immininns sn mmmn wings Expenses and taxes. occu. .cceamaname om NEL FEVENUL. .oeceemccce cmmmmmmmemm——- 1920 25, 377 R 334 4, 268 31, 835 1,327 161, 135 81, 626 <9. 509 1991 27,820 8,914 4,466 33, 671 1,356 510, 740 406, 541 104, 100 1922 | 1993 1924 30, 617 9,516 4, 536 36, 831 1,523 564. 038 139, 546 24. 492 34, 524 10, 408 39, 894 11, 242 4,594 11, 109 1,683 523, 116 435, 740 137. 376 | 4,664 43, 981 1,835 577, 903 520, 126 148. 777 1925 45,474 12, 035 4, 685 46, 702 9,008 761, 219 578, 776 182, 444 Source: Annual reports of the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. [Land Telegraphs. The Postal Telegraph Co. reports a considerable expansion of land wire facilities during 1925, involving the use of 3,000,000 pounds of copper wire. The most important feature of this expansion program was the stringing of new wires from New York to Jacksonville, with connecting lines down the east and “west coasts of Florida. It may be noted that whereas four years ago Miami ranked twenty-eighth of all the cities in the South in the volume of telegraph traffic it ranked second last year. A new line was extended into the Imperial Valley of California serving the great produce sections. These wires are also available for long distance telephone service. The Postal Co. reports the change from Morse to printer operation proceeding as rapidly as possible with over 60,000 miles so operated. Its engi- neers have perfected and put into operation three-channel” printers, which enables the capacity of a circuit to be tripled. The Postal Co.’s receipts from telegraph transmissions during 1925 were $24.273.521. as compared with $21,785,228 in 1924.