, 1884-04-29
TELEPHONE WEALTH.
The Quick Fortunes Made by In
vestors in Telephone Stocks
How Faith, Energy and shrewdness
Have Led on to Phenomenal
FOrtune---BrIer Mention
OF Men.


Boston Globe
The fortunes made in connection with tbs
organization and business of the American
Bell Telephone company, are numerous and
phenomenal. No other enterprise In recent
years has given such return to those who
were engaged Ia or connected with it. Started
but Il few short years ago, with its stock sell
ing at II nominal figure, it has risen with
such rapidly that men have become million
aires before they were aware of II, while hun
dreds of others have amasssd a larger fortune
than they ever expected to possess, in the
short space Of from three to six years.
At the time that William H. Forbes first
invested in the telephone the stocks was sell
ing very low-somewhere from So to $40
per share. That stock has since been
-watered7 by giving the holder of every share
seven new shares, and the eight are now
worth more than $50 each, making a rise
Of from SO to 81 200 or more. Gossip
has it that Forbes borrowed or received
SOL UO from his father to put into telephone
stocks, and that this wa swellsd to n larger
fortune than ever his father owned. He Is
credited with being worth from ~, $4,000 to
$500, COZ. He lives in luxury and ~spIendor
al NIXON.
BLAKE AND BELL.
a liz lliilt VI nv BAtAs hhhh LAu
Western Union and the Bell Telephone COM
pany, the hitter was apparently getting ths
best Of it when the Blake trnnsmitter made
its appearance, and fortune ut once began to
dawn upon tins young company. 1t is not
known definitely whether anybody was inter
ested with Blake in this invention, but it is
pretty certain, according to all reports, that
the latter got a very large sum from the Bell
company for his invention, and also secured
considerable stock, as well as royalty on his
patent. His share in the stocks and royalty
from his invention has netted him Il fortune
which will approximate sI,O0O.0 900. Alex
Ander Graham Bell, tho originator of the en-
terprise, was, prior to the invention Of the
telephone, a teacher OF languages in the Bos-
ton university. He and his father made a
speciality Of teaching articulation to tho
~mute-those Whose vocal powers lack trim
ing because the power OF hearing was lack
ing. During this time he was making ex-
perimeuts, aud it is belle we'd il was then he
conceived and SUNNI tho idea of
speaking by means Of electric wires.
DIG
The prospect was not fiattering at first but
with the assistance OF his father-in-lnw Prof.
Bell finally enlisted the interest AMI money Of
,ucn men OF John NJ. FORBES, William IL.
Forbr~. c.. L. Bradley and others. To-day
I INA- II % - - oA'AAAAr IL IA aASAt NAAA hb
aI-p has u magnificent residence ia Cam
br dye. His fortune = variously estimated at
IRON ~, OOO. LUJ u 81, 100000. Gardner q.
Hubbard invested something like $4,000 iu
tile company, and thIs money hns
yielded HIM u return upward Of $3,OOO,-
OGU. Am ny those Whu went into the en-
~terprisr in its early days may be
mentioned Alexander Cochran and c. p.
Bowdltch, of Boston, aud Thomas Sanders,
of Haverhill. Sander is to-day worth about
e., 500, OOJ or S3,OOO, 900, while Cochran and
Bowditch are worth something like IS, 900, 900
npicce. o. Il. Madden, who is now assistant
general manager, came to Boston from New
York, where he was acting as manager of
the Domestic Sewing Machine company. His
business it was to select the licenses for the
telephone company, and he has used such dis.
erection in this, in all parts of the country,
that the success Of the company is largely
due to his Judgment. And he has been fairly
rewarded with such opportunities that he
possesses from sS00,OOO to $4,000.
FAITH, ENERGY, RITZ
Theodore N. Vail is general manager of
.he company. He was at one time a tele-
graph operator in the employ OF the Union
Pacific Railway company, but by persever-
cncs and integrity he gradually worked his
way up to the position OF superintendent of
the mail service, IA very responsible posi-
ton. From this he came to the Bell com
pnny, with small fortune but large faith and
energy. Rumor gives him from 81, 600, 600
to 81. 900, 900. Perhaps he is worth more. He
resides at the south end, and has u mAgnih-
cent residence, with all the modern improve
ments. He also has II well-stocked farm in
New Hampshire, in which no takes a great
deal IT interest and pride. As u business
anan he has few equals.
The gentlemen connected with the Southern
Massachusetts Telephone company have made
good money fast. The most heavily inter-