The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1903-03-26
Outside Capitalists Offer to Purchase
Entire Stock of Citizens Telephone
and Telegraph Jmpany
COMPANY WILL ACCEPT FRANCHISE
House to House Canvass Will Be Made fo1
the Sale of Stock and Location
of Telephones.

1t is evident that outside capitalists
consider the stock of the Citizens
Telephone and Telegraph Company of
this city as paying stock as the presi-
dent of the company has received five
offers from large bond companies offer
ing to take the entire stock of the
company.
This morning Attorney Cavanagh
was instructed to refuse all these offers
and the stock will be offered exclusive
ly to the people of Kenosha, and of
course if they do not care to take it it
will then be turned over to the COM
panies who are now seeking it. All of
the companies offer to take the entire
stock at par and the agent of one of
the leading companies, who was in
Kenosha yesterday, offered to take any
part of it, either the majority or the
minority.
The companies have even gone
further as they have offered to put up
bond to insure the organizers of the
company that the exchange will be
put in in keeping with every provision
Of the contract with the city and that
every cents worth of stock will be
sold within thirty days.
These offers while they give assur-
ance to the company that the business
will be paying one are against the
spirit of the plan for the organization
of the company and the managers will
insist that as much of the stock as
possible remain in Kenosha.
The company at it's last meeting
decided to accept the franchise granted
by the city and within the next few
days the acceptance will be filed with
the City Clerk, together with the bond
of $4,000, which will be given as a
surety that the company will carry out
the provisions of the franchise. The
bond has been executed and sent East
for the sig natures of the managers of
the surety company and as soon as it is
returned the company will oe ready
for business.
On next Monday morning the work
of soliciting will be started and expert
solicitors will begin the canvass of the
city. A house to house canvass will be
made and people will be asked not only
to subscribe for the phones but also to
take stock in the company. The stock
will all be offered at par and each share
will be worth SIS. From the dem and
for the stock from outside parties the
managers have been led to believe that
all the stock ia the company can be
sold to Kenosha people in very short
time. Already leading men of the
city have announced that they will
take large blocks Of the stock and it
will probably be half sold in the first
week of the canvass.
No contracts for the installation of
the system will be made until after all
the stock is subscribed and paid for
and in this manner the company will
start with paid up capital of $4,000.
The installation of the system will
not cost this much money, but there
will be left small reserve fund to
prepare for the rebuilding of the line.
While no guarantee is given, the man.
ayers of the company state that the
stock will draw a dividend of six per
cent per year from the opening of bust
ness and it is possible that the divi-
dends will be double or triple this
amount.
The company has figured with a
number of construction companies for
the building of the exchange and all
the plans provide for the installation
of the most modern fixtures known to
the telephone world. The instruments
will be made especially for the Keno
sha company and they will be far SUI
perior to the ones now in use on the
lines of the Wisconsin company in this
and other cities.
The managers of the company have
been informed that within another
year independent exchanges will be
installed ia both Milwaukee and Chi
cago and these exchanges will be con-
nected with the Kenosha line. The
independent lines between Kenosha
and Racine will be completed before
the exchange in Kenosha is opened.
The prospects for success of the To-
cal line are most bright and the mana
gers of the company look forward to
the completion of the exchange of at
least 500 phones within the next
eight months.
ETECTTON OF OFFTCERS