described. He gave the greatest attention to every detail of the
service and particularly insisted on the fairest and most
courteous treatment of the public. The "please" which invariably
accompanies the telephone girl's request for a number--the
familiar "number, please"--is a trifle, but it epitomizes the
whole spirit which Vail inspired throughout his entire
organization. Though there are plenty of people who think that
the existing telephone charges are too high, the fact remains
that the rate has steadily declined with the extension of the
business. Vail has also kept his company clear from the financial
scandals that have disgraced so many other great corporations. He
has never received any reward himself except his salary, such
fortune as he possesses being the result of personal business
ventures in South America during the twenty years from 1887 to
1907 that he was not associated with the Bell interests.

Vail's first achievement was to rescue this invention from the
greatest calamity which would have befallen it. The Western Union
Telegraph Company, which in the early days had looked upon the
telephone as negligible, suddenly awoke one morning to a
realization of its importance. This Corporation had recently
introduced its "printing telegraph," a device that made it
possible to communicate without the intermediary operator. When
news reached headquarters that subscribers were dropping this new
contrivance and subscribing to telephones, the Western Union
first understood that a competitor had entered their field.
Promptly organizing the American Speaking Telephone Company, the
Western Union, with all its wealth and prestige, proceeded to
destroy this insolent pigmy. Its methods of attack were
unscrupulous and underhanded, the least discreditable one being