The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1899-05-11
Calls Attention to Concern Making
Claims in New Orleans.
A NEWSPAPER AT NASHVILLE
Publishes an Article From Citizen who
Sets Forth Some Pertinent Points
For the Consideration of
Unbiased Readers
Generally.


tisement mentioned is for the sale of bonds.
Concerning the matter, the appended, from
the Nashville, Tenn, American, will be OF
interest;
Nashville, Tenn, April 1s, 1s99
Editor The American:
Dear Sir:--I am interested in an article
appearing in your issue of this date (page y,
entitled "Biind Speculation" and in the
remarkable advertisement on the same page.
The advertisement is, without doubt, in my
opinion, the boldest, most daring financial
proposition / have yet seen in print in any
form. 1t is worth reproducing. Here 1t is:
5000 900 2OYEAR FIRST MORTGAGE
4 PERCENT GOLD BONDS.
MATURING 1918,
OF THE
PEOPLES TELEPHONE COMPANY,
OF NEW ORLEANS, LA.
DENOMINATION $500.
INTEREST OCT. / AND APRIL 1.
CENTRAL TRUST COMPANY,
NEW YORK, TRUSTEE.
PRICE 105 AND INTEREST.
(S525 AND INTEREST, EACH BOND.)
The Peoples Telephone Company, of New
Orleans, La, operates under an ceptlonally
favorable franchise from the city. The bonds
| are secured by a mortgage on the franchise,
contracts, equipments and entire property of
| the company. The mortgage authorizes an
| issue of 5000 900 of bonds on plant of 5000
| telephone instruments. The present condi-
| I on of the company is shown in the following
letter from Mr.. William p. Curtis, the vice
president and general manager:
| New Orleans, La, April 10, $780,
The present condition of the Peoples Tele-
phone company Of New Orleans is as follows:
! 5000 subscribers-an-
nual contract income S130, 900
| Annual expense.-....." $4,000
| 8 per cent. interest on
$500, 900 bonds.......S1 S1S, 900
| Sinking fund. $4,000 $4,000 $4,000
Surplus profits........ 8 AZ, 600
The number OF subscribers is rapidly and
steadily increasing and will easily reach 200
| within year. The company has the enthusi-
| astic support of the people and municipal
| authorities. W. p. CURTIS.
Also the following letter from Mr.. Thomas
| +. Ahern, the eminent electrician, who is con-
sultng engineer for the company, and who has
laid out and supervised the construction of the
plant:
New Orleans, La, April 10 1899.
In my 20 years of telephone experience
| have never known better telephone situation
| than in New Orleans. The construction of
| the Peoples Telephone company is of the
highest possible character. The system used
is pure metallic and the wires in the business
section are in underground cables. The cost
| of maintenance is amply covered in the figures
given in Mr.. Curtis letter. regard the earn
| ing power as shown above as conservative, and
believe it will increase.
THOS. F. AHERN.
A part of the issue having been placed
| abroad, we now offer the $500, 600 remaining
nd tnta awrtn NtNanA tha
| legal and physical features of the company,
we recommend these bonds to investors. We
| reserve the right to reject any applications or
| to allot smaller amounts than those applied
| for.
HOLMES, HOLMES & BEATON,
| Bankers, Detroit Mich.
Subscriptions for above bonds will also be
recsived by
NUDGE & BROWN,
| / Nausau St., New York City.
| Now, this advertisement would give one the
| impression that the Peoples Telephone Com
pany has telephone exchange in operation in
| New Orleans, and that II is making money
would it not ? There is no such an exchange
| operating in New Orleans: perhaps there will
be some day, If the public care to send their
money in to those who are now building the
| proposed EXCHANGE, and who recommend the
construction work themselves, and who wind
up by recommending the bonds to the public.
They have the sublime nerve to sign the
| advertisement as "BankersW Bankers since
when2 Is not Mr.. Holmes, the banker the
same as Mr.. W, L. Holmes, the promoter and
builder of the opposition telephone exchange
at Detroit, Mich, which has been, accord
ing to his own statement, obliged to borrow
money with which to pay interest on its bonds
and quarterly dividend of per cent-a long
time ago-which dividend has not been re-
peatedP Is he not the same Mr.. Holmes who
admits that his wonderfully well paying ex-
change in Detroit is not able to pay him his
| salary as PRESIDENT Is he not the Mr.. w. l..
Holmes who is the head and front of the
Detroit Switchboard company, which furnish
cd the switchboard for the Detroit exchange,
and which has built some twenty or thirty
telephone exchanges in Michigan at hand.
| some proil2 But this can't be the same Mr..
W. l.. Holmes, of the State Line Telephone
company, can It, who ordered those exchanges
built, as an officer of the State Line company,
and then, as an officer of the Switchboard
| company, obeyed his own order and divided
up the profits with othersP 1t cannot certain
ly be the Mr.. Holmes who was the original
promoter of the Detroit telephone scheme, and
who has admitted that he organized a
promoters company to start what is
called, l think, "The Detroit Telephone Con-
| structi0n company" which secured the fran.
chise in Detroit and turned it over to apother
company called "The Detroit Telephone com.
pany," for the little consideration of $500 900
of the stock and $4,000 of the bonds of the
said Detroit Telephone company, whose presi.
dent was-who do you SUPPOSED Why, Mr..
Holmes! And now has this Mr. Holmes and
his brother John gone into the business of
bankers because no one else would unload the
New Orleans bonds on the market, or whyP
He has always been real estate dealer-how
long has he been banker2
| And who is Mr.. Thomas Ahern the expert,
unbiased electrician and telephone sharp,
whose calm, judicial Judgment Is depended
upon to sell the remaining $4,000 of the
bonds so modestly advertised2 Can he be the
same as Mr.. Holmes man Tom Ahern, who
built the Detroit exchange for Mr.. HolmesP
The same Mr., Ahern who built the thirty ex-
changes for Mr.. Holmes in MichiganYThe same
man whose own invention in the way of a
switchboaed II is proposed to install in New
Orleans-under Mr. Holiness the president of
the New Orleans Peoples Telephone compa-
ny? Is this Mr.. Ahen OF the Detroit Switch
board company And Is IL the Mr.. Ahem
who is still drawing pay from the Detroit Tel.
| ephone company Is this the Mr.. Ahern who
says openly In New Orleans: "The money In
these new telephone companies Ia not In oper.
atipg them but In building them 20
| hope that the Mr.. Curtis who signs his
name to the statement that the number Of sub
scribers Il rapidly increasing (aubscribers of An
-. 49, l. - ~.