Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-04-06
Telephone Riches.

NANpaNhN ANhNaH
Washington Letter to Cleveland Leader.l
/ met to-day, at the Riggs House, a man
who is largely interested in the manufacture
Of the Bell tele phone and telegraphic instru-
ments, and was much surprised at some Of
the statements he made in regard to the busi-
ness. This man is so well known to the cleo
trioians Of the United States and to the par
ties interested that he does not wish to have
his name given. "The telephone industry"
said he, ''is growing like Jonahs gourd. With
in the past month have been over nearly the
whole of the Union, and fnd the use Of tel.
ephones Increasing so largely that the manu-
facturers are unable TO supply the demand.
Within the last six weeks l have taken orders
for our factory alone for GGOO telephone bells,
and shall sell 10, 600 more during the next
month. The demand for the coming spring
promises to be the largest ever known in the
history OF the telephone. We have orders
enough now on hand to keep us busy for two
years, and we are increasing our capacity ev-
cry year. There are five other Bell telephone
factories in the country, and they are all doing
we'll"
''Is there much money in telephones ?" l
asked.
"Well should say 30" was the reply. II
don't know of any business that pays better.
Telephone companies usually make a divi
dend of 10 per cent the first year. notwith
standing the cost Of laying wires and putting
in the instruments. After this the expense is
comparatively small and the receipts proper.
tionately greater
Nearly every man who has been largely
interested in telephones" he continued, "has
become wealthy Au of tho original company
OF the Bell invention, with perhaps a single
exception, are now millionnaires. Bell him
self was seven years ago poor Englshman
living in New Haven, Conn, and experiment.
ing in telegraphy. He had come from Eng
land few years before. One day while ex-
perimenting on duplex messages he found he
could talk over the wires, and he conceived
the idea Of his telephone. / was with him at
the time he made his instrument, and we gave
the first exhibition of it in Yale College hall,
before the students. Our first attempt was
not a success it wouldn't work and we dis.
missed the audience with the impres sion that
the experiment was a failure and we were a
couple of visionary fools. We tried it again,
however, few days later, in the New Haven
opera house, and succeeded so well that the
Bell company was organized at once. l think
l established the first company using the in
strument. Geo. w. Coy, the greatest cleo
trician in the United States to day, and myself
were in partnership. Our first exchange had
eight wires, running to the houses of friends
all over the city. No one thought of using it
for business then. We had no bells, but used
electric buttons like those for calling servants
in hotels. Its success created great excite
ment in New Haven, and we soon had % sub
scribers and had to put up 13 more wires
We pext made board of 100 wires. So far
it had been used entirely for social chatting
and for the curiosity of the thing, but soon
business men saw the advantages of the in
venton, and subscribers came in faster than
we could put up the wires. 1t soon spread to
other cities-Boston, Lowell, Albany, Troy
and finally Chicago, adopting it. After this
exchanges sprang up so rapidly all over the
country that it was impossible to keep track
of them, and from that time on the new bust.
ness was q success. At present there are
more telephones in New York than in any 9TH
er city in the world, and the number has in
creased at the rate of 20 a day for the last
year. Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland
and Cincinnati are now putting in over 80 tel
ephones month, and Nashville is increasing
its subscribers at the rate Of two per day
Villages are establishing exchanges, and the
time will come when most of the houses will
be connected by telephone. The business is
being pushed in Europe as well as in America,
but foreigners are so slow to take up new
things that there is not now one telephone in
England 10 100 in America. In France the
telephone is used by some of the larger bust
ness houses, but as convenience for the peo.
pie it is almost unknown. In other European
countries it is much the same. The people
don't seem to understand the value of the in.
venton and take hold of it as the Americans
do"
What does it cost man to have a tele
phone 2"
RATES are different in different places,
ranging from SO to S20a month. When Coy
and myself started the first exchange we
charged SIS year. In New York each sub
scriber within half mile of the exchange
pays Slj a month, and in Boston and Balti-
more from 500 to 1920 year"
'What is Mr.. Bell estimated to be worth
now z" l asked.
AT least Sc, 900, 600 His income is very
large, and grows every year with the increase
of the business. He is a dark .complexioned
man, between 81 and 40 years of age. He
talks with an English accent, and has a keen
eye for business. Attempts are now being
made to break down his patents, but it is a
question whether they succeed"
Tell me something about other men who
have made money in telephones"
''It would take all night" was the reply.
| Nearly every man who has handled them
has made money. One of the most notable
instances is that of Thomas Watson, the old
gray y-haired mechanic who used to help Bell
in his experiments. He had little shop in
New Haven and made electrical instruments.
! Bell would give him an idea of what he want
ed, and the two would experiment together
until the proper result was reached. When
the company was organized Bell made him
| general inspector for the United States. He
is now a millionaire, and his family is trav-
eiling in Europe.
Marshall Jewell was largely interested in
telephones, and made a great deal of money
| by them. H. P. Frost president Of the Con
necticut telephone company, has laid up a
million during the last few years, and George
| w, Coy is also a millionaire, living in New
Haven and owning magnificent residence at
Milford, near there. He has more electrical
patents registered at Washington than any
other man in the United States. He has now
sold all his patents to the United States tele-
phone company, and has nothing to do with
Bells. The Bell men fear him, and awake
every morning expecting to hear that he has
| perfected an invention that will throw them
entirely ont of the market. Coy gets $4,000
a year for doing nothing. He takes trip to
New York every now and then, and the Unit
States company ask his advice as to electrical
matters, and pay him this money for what he
tells them. He is by all odds the brightest
electrician in the United States"