The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-10-14
EDISON IS MAD.
He Was Squeezed Out of the
Th0mSOn-H Houston Deal.
May Organize a Company tc
Fight the Trust.

Willard, PiIIsbury and other Millionaire.
Said to BE Backing the Gigantic Project
As Both Sides Have Millions the Fight
for Supremacy VIII Undoubtedly BE
Hard One.
NEW YoRK, Oct. 13.-It is reported
here that Mr.. Edison is going to with.
draw from the Edison General Electric
company and that, with Henry Willard,
Millionaire Pillsbury, of Minneapolis,
and others, is going to organize big
company to fight what is known as the
electric trust. In regard to the affair a
local paper says:
For several days the report has been
circulating in certain quarters in Wall
street that Mr.. Edison, being no longer
able to bottle up his indignation at the
turn affairs had taken, expressed his
mind with vigor and wound up by in
sisting upon resigning from the dlrec-
tory.
For Edison to resign from the direct
DRY at this time, when a mighty battle
is just beginning in the electrical world.
would have made plain what has hereto
fore only been vaguely intimated, that
the most serious sort of trouble has been
brewing ever since the Edison and
Thomson Houston companies were con-
sOlidated. 1t is rumored that Edison,
with Willard and some others, proposes
to establish a new company, possibly
with headquarters at Chicago, with
plenty of capital and determination to
fight to the end what is now called the
electrical trust.
A few days ago friends of Edison,
who have been associated with the con-
solidated companies, withdrew and,
taking the many millionaire mile
Pillbury, of Minneapolis, in as the
hacker, organized new company with
$13, 900, coo as capital, with headquarters
at Minneapolis and with a determine
ton to fight the consolidated company
for supremacy in the northwest.
1t is now said that this move will be
followed by the establishment of an Ed
ison company with as many millions OF
capital If this is done it will be the
outcome of difficulties which are highly
sensational. although they have been
kept comparatively quiet. Mr.. Edison
is reported to have been in state of
mind ever since the consolidation of this
company with the ThOmsOn-Houston
people. He claims that he was misled
| by those in whom he had confidence.
! He was particularly severe with Vice
President InsTll going. Wall street says,
so far as to say to Insul: This Is all
/ your ldOlls !1SdlllIlB ny tleiO IlldI III tAAC
/ deal which preceded the consolidation
the fact that the Edison interests were
not we'll taken care of was due to the
ease with whichi Mr.. Insul was over
reached.
Edison was angry when Henry Willard
was compelled to retire from tn Re presl-
dency, but the height of his indi gnatiOn
| was reached vhen he found that i'll the
consolidation he was thrust to one side
and Professo- Thomson was chosen as
electrician of the new consolidated COM
pany. This seemed like a slight upon
EdisOn's reputation as an electrician.
The ThomsOn-Houston electric people
came from Massachusetts and TOOK pos
session of the Edison offices on Broad
street. Edison found himself showed
off into a little clOset-like room, and he
also discovered that nearly all the OIL
GERS of his old company had been in
formed that their services We're no
longer required.
1t also reached Edison's ears that 4
pool of insiders had been formed TO put
the stock up until it reached a very high
figure, while neither he nor any of his
friends had been admitted 10 that pool.
The story was told a few weeks ago
that Mr.. Coffin, the Lynn shoemaker
who created the Thomson Houston
system out of the experiment room i'll a
Philadelphia college and who was in the
pool, had been quietly unloading some
of his stock upon his unsuspecting fel
low members until he got $500 600 OF
more of their money, and they got g
good block of his stock