


                               EXHIBIT 23.1
                   CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS


We consent to the incorporation by reference in this registration statement on
Form S-3 of our reports dated February 6, 1995, which include an explanatory
paragraph stating that the Company discontinued accounting for the operations
of its telephone subsidiaries in accordance with Statement of Financial
Accounting Standards No. 71, "Accounting for the Effect of Certain Types of
Regulation," effective August 1, 1994, and changed its method of accounting
for income taxes and postemployment benefits in 1993, on our audits of the
consolidated financial statements and financial statement schedule of the
Company and its subsidiaries as of December 31, 1994 and December 31, 1993,
and for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 1994, which
report is incorporated by reference or included in the Company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1994.

We also consent to the reference to our Firm under the caption "Independent
Accountants".


/COOPERS & LYBRAND L.L.P./


2400 Eleven Penn Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
September 11, 1995


