shapes of the vast and menacing cloud which by this time was spreading over the sky, and he dictated his observations to his secretary. But now the ashes were falling on the deck ever thicker and hotter as they drew near the scene of danger, and with the ashes were mingled pumice-stones and cinders, scorched, cracked, and blackened by fire. In the sea, too, they met with shoals, where till lately there had been deep water, and it was difficult to make the land by reason of the avalanches from the crumbling mountain. The pilot implored Pliny to turn back. He hesitated a moment, then saying, 'Fortune favours the brave.' he bade them lay a straight course for Stabiæ on the other side of the bay, where was his friend's villa. Here he landed and found his friend preparing for flight. He had embarked his baggage; but the same wind which had brought Pliny to him prevented him from putting to sea. It was necessary to wait till the wind should change. Pliny cheered and encouraged his dejected companions, and affecting an ease which he did not feel, he took a bath and then sat down to dinner, conversing gaily, or at least with an assumption of gaiety.

Meantime night had fallen, but the darkness was lit up by huge sheets of flame that burst from Vesuvius in several places, flashing out in the gloom with a momentary and sinister splendour. Pliny professed to believe that these lights came from the fires of blazing villages deserted by the peasantry; and the wind still continuing contrary, he betook himself to rest and slept soundly, for those who listened at the door could hear his stertorous breathing. No one else in the house closed an eye that night. But now the courtyard on which his bedroom opened was being choked with falling ashes and pumicestones; and if they delayed, their retreat might be cut off. So they woke him, and together they consulted what to do, whether to remain in the house or to seek safety, if safety could be found, in the open country under the pelting shower of volcanic hail. But by this time the ground was so shaken by repeated and violent shocks of earthquake that the walls of the house rocked to and fro and threatened to bury them under the ruins; so tying pillows to their heads to protect them against the falling pumice, they issued forth.

Day had now broken elsewhere, but around the forlorn wanderers darkness reigned blacker and thicker than any ordinary night, except when the murky gloom was momentarily illumined by the fitful flare of the bivolcanic fires. They made their way to the shore, only to find the sea still wild and the wind still contrary. Pliny's strength, though not his courage, now began to fail. He lay down on a sail which they chanced to find on the beach, and he repeatedly called for water. But the flames were now fast approaching, heralded by the smell of sulphur. It was necessary to hurry away. He rose, and leaning on two slaves endeavoured to proceed. But immediately he fell down. There the others left him. Two days afterwards, when the darkness at last pleared away, they found his body uninjured; even his garments were unsmirched by the fire; he lay like a sleeper taking his rest, and not like a dead man.

of

So died Pliny the Naturalist. It was a worthy close a blameless life ardently devoted to the pursuit of knowledge. His nephew, the Younger Pliny, with whom we are here chiefly concerned, survived his uncle many years. Towards the end of his life he was appointed to he governorship of Bithynia in Asia Minor, where n the rapid spread of Christianity he witnessed the rise of the power which, though he did not suspect it, was lestined to give a death-blow to the Roman Empire nd to inaugurate a new system of religion and governnent in Europe. He seems to have died in that distant rovince, far from his native Como and from Rome, the cene of his mature activity. But we may hope that at east his ashes were brought back to rest in Italian arth and were laid somewhere near the beautiful lake e knew and loved so well, within sight of the familiar aountains and within sound of the familiar waters apping on the shore. Requiescat in pace.

J. G. FRAZER.

Art. 6.—THE AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND ITS LESSON. 1. Annual Reports of the Directors of the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. New York, 1902–1921. 2. Report from the Select Committee on Telephone Charges and Minutes of Evidence (247). London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1920.

3. The History of the Telephone. By Herbert N. Casson. Ninth edition. Chicago, 1917.

ONLY those who have been in the United States can realise how vastly superior the American telephone service is to the English and how much our industries suffer owing to the backwardness of our system. It has been asserted that the English telephone is as efficient as the American, and that it is cheaper. Let us study the position and see what we can learn from America.

America's predominance in the telephone world is absolutely overwhelming. On Jan. 1, 1919, the United States and the United Kingdom compared as follows with regard to their telephone outfit:

Since Jan. 1, 1919, the number of telephones has increased by more than 1,000,000 in the United States, while only about 100,000 have been added to the talephones of this country. At present the United States have fully two-thirds of the world's telephones. During the year 1920 806,188 were installed in the Republic, & number almost equal to the total in the British Isles. The City of New York alone has as many telephones as the whole of the United Kingdom. As regards telephones England is inferior, not only to the United States, but also to many other countries. This appears from the 8 following figures:

Number of telephones per 100 inhabitants.

S

t

1

t

6

United States

C

Great Britain

1.9

a

America's superiority is particularly noteworthy if we allow for the difficulties under which that country suffers. In the large cities of the Republic the telephone problem is similar to that of London, Glasgow, and other English towns. In the densely populated industrial sections of the United States the position is very similar to that in Lancashire and Yorkshire. However, in addition to supplying a vast number of telephones within relatively narrow areas, the American telephone engineers have to overcome gigantic distances. Telephone wires and cables have been taken through the extensive deserts and across the gigantic mountain ranges of the American continent; and the telephone poles are exposed not only to the severest wind and weather, but also to attacks by savages, ants, bears, etc. Compared with the problems to be solved in the United States, those existing in Great Britain are trifling.

It should not be thought that the American telephone system consists of a number of highly organised telephone nets in the more advanced States which are connected by long-distance lines. The telephone is practically universal in the Republic. Millions of farmers possess that time-and-labour-saving convenience. There are more than 3,000,000 subscribers within the agricultural area. The farmers can easily speak with most of their neighbours over the wire. They are in constant communication with the towns where they carry on business, and they can call up their labourers in a few seconds. Very few English farmers possess a telephone.

It is difficult to visualise the American telephone system because the figures are so vast that they stagger the imagination. At the end of 1920 the United States had 12,601,935 telephones. There was, therefore, a telephone to every nine people. In the construction of that gigantic system 25,377,404 miles of wire were used. In order to protect the wire against damage and disturbance 61.8 per cent. was laid in underground conduits. These conduits would girdle the earth twice at the Equator.

The American telephone stands under private control. The service is dominated by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, shortly called the Bell Company after the inventor. It possesses virtually a monopoly. Of the 12,601,935 telephones of the Republic 8,333,979

were owned by the numerous companies which have been united in the Bell System, while the remaining 4,267,956 telephones were owned by independent companies connected with the Bell System, which work under sub-licence or connexion contract of that great enterprise. At the end of 1920 the Bell Company had a capital of $1,180,847,115, or of about 300,000,000l. at the present rate of exchange. Owing to its cautious and conservative policy it had then an accumulated reserve and surplus of $444,039,203, or of more than 100,000,000%. The assets of the company stood in the books at $1,634,249,533, a sum equivalent to about 400,000,000% However, the value of the property vastly exceeds this gigantic capital. In 1920 the total income of the company came to $449,442,115. Vast sums have been applied every year to improvements and extensions. During the last twenty years additions to the value of $1,182,280,000 were made to the plant. The interest paid on the ordinary shares has risen of late years from 7 per cent. to 9 per cent. The vastness of the undertaking may be gauged by the fact that the Bell Company has an army of 231,316 employees.

In the beginning the United States had numerous independent companies. Gradually these were amalga mated with the Bell Company by agreements, purchase and exchange of shares, etc. About 10,000 companies have thus been united by the great Bell Company, which serves as a financial and intellectual centre to all the local organisations that enjoy full self-government in all local matters. Among the enterprises controlled by the Bell Company is the Western Electric Company, & giant concern which manufactures electrical apparatus. It is by far the largest undertaking of its kind in the world, and has branches in Antwerp, London, Berlin, Milan, Vienna, Petrograd, Tokio, Sydney, Montreal, Johannesburg, Buenos Ayres, and Budapest.

One of the most remarkable features of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company and of the Western Electric Company which it controls is the magnificent research department which serves both concerns. That department is unique in the world. The annual report of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company for 1920 states with regard to its activities: