The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-07-14
Wicked Capitalists
Sold Him Out to
the Opposition.
THAT NORTH END ROAD.
He Had Hard Luck in the
Role Of a Monopoly
Buster.

Rough Rider McGinty, as a broncho-
buster, will become a back number
when the monopoly busters begin their
exhibitions.
AT the recent hearing before the board
of aldermen, William P. Searls appear
ed as the chief monopoly buster of the
Worcester Telephone Company. Has
Mr. searls forgotten how easy it is for
an impetuous buster to be unseated?
The buster means all right, but he pro-
poses and capital disposes
Not many years ago Mr.. Searls had
an experience as a monopoly-buster
that is worth recalling in this connec-
ton. He was the chief promoter of an
opposition street railway company, as
he is now of an opposition telephone
company. With that suavity of manner
which so erninently becomes him, he
assured the aldermen and citizens that
if the city would only permit his North
End Street Railway Company to come
down through Lincoln street, and
through Summer and up Foster, 1t
would bring about cheaper fares, and
the. Consolidated Street Railway Com
pany would speedily see its finish.
So the aldermen, eager to see a real
nlonopoly-buste ride the Consolidated
around a ten-acre lot, granted what Mr..
Searls asked for his north end road. 1t
was organized and capitalized. Bonds
were issued to the amount of $4,000, and
stock TO the amount of $4,000, the
bonds bearing 5 per cent interest.
About $4,000 worth of stock was sold,
and the directors were forced to take
the rest
The road was equipped and placed in
running order and then people began
to get up early each morning. to see the
finish of the Consolidated road, with Mr..
SearIs doing his great bareback mono
poly busting act.
Time went on, and as the finish dill
not put in an appearance, but seemed
to be permanently off its trolley, people
gave up looking for it, and were able
to sleep till breakfast time without
dreaming that the monopoly would be
busted some morning and they not see
it.
The stockholders of the North End
road received only one or two divi-
dends of l or per cent during a pc
Rod of several years. Then people
who had grown weary of waiting for
the monopoly buster to ride by on the
back of the Consolidated, looked out
of their windows one morning and saw
back Of the buster
1t wasn't Mr.. Searls' fault of
course. He was still ready and even
impetuous to bring about the finish of
the Consolidated, but he couldn't con-
troll the stockholders of the North End
road. They grew faint-hearted and be-
gan to fear that they would see their
own finish if they continued to operate
the road, so the first opportunity the
capitalists had to make a deal with
the Consolidated they jumped at it,
and leased it to the latter for 80 years
at $1,000 a year for the first two years
and $4,000 per year afterward which
netted the stockholders less than 4 per
cent on their original investment
They carried their stock from 1891 ito
1899 with scarcely any return, and
then had to sell it for about sos a share
to the Memorial hospital.
The Consolidated now controls the
road. the city has two tracks in Sum
mer street, where only one is used and
the North end people have 15-minute
time to the city hall when they might
have had ~, and fares are the same
as before.
It was not Mr.. Searls' fault. of
course, that the Consolidated did not
go out of business. He meant to per-
form all he promised when he ap-
peared as a monopoly buster before the
Doard OF aldermen IN 1891. But the
wicked capitalists who took stock in
the scheme sold him out to the oppo-
sition.
Mr.. Searls is doubtless sincere in
all that he has told the aldermen rela-
tive to the new telephone company and
what it will do to the New England if
the aldermen will only give it chance,
but perhaps Mr.. Searls may be mis-
taken in his proposition again. There
may be wicked capitalists behind the
Worcester Telephone company who will
sell him out to the opnosition.