The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-20
MAY MERGE
 CAR LINES Montgomery Companies
 Are Negotiating. CONSIDERED SOME TIME officials Admit to Several Conferences. Traction Company Would Hike to Buy Property of the st-~-. n.ii-
 way-Future May Wit
 ness Consolidation.

Lively negotiations towards the con- solidation of the Montgomery Traction Cohmpany and the Montgomery Street Railway into one corporation are pending. but they have as yet failed to achieve any results. A definite announcement of the final success or failure of these negotiations is expected after the holidays. tsf This condition of affairs was developed yesterday after thorough investigation of an apparently reliable report that the consolidation had in effect been con- summated and that the definite announce ment of its constmmation would be made in the immediate future. The report of the consolidation of the two competing street railway lines is no new thing. The original report came into being before the construction work of the Montgomery Traction Company was we'll under way, eighteen month ago. One rumor of this kind has died only to be succeeded by another more vigorous and more tenacious of life, <
 Not Without Foundation.
 The reports have not been, without foundation. There has been behind them some shred of truth This truth lay in the conferences and the correspondence which were undertaken with a view of merging the two lines. The object of these conferences was the purchase of the Montgomery Street Railway by the Montgomery Traction Company. That this has not been accomplished only shows that the price and the arrenge-
 ments have not been satisfactory to the parties of the first part and the parties of the second part.
 The recent negotiations have been the most vigorous and the most promising. Ff.axv lms ns~a AIaSn aP <z<atp summation at one time recently. The hope that the deal will be made is not dead In fact, the hope for its success is a lively one. "., a : Omcials of the two companies yesterday denied positively. and unequivocaily that the two Hines had been consolidated. There were no sort of strings to- the denials. At the same time admission was made that the merger of the two lines was stTll an important subject of consideration between tho officials of the two companies. ..t Major Steiner Talks. Questioned as to the street railway situation yesterday Major R. E. Steiner, vice-president of the Montgomery Trac- tion Company. said: = There is absolutely no truth in the report that the Montgomery Traction Company and the Montgomery Street Railway Company have consolidated.
 There have been some active negotiations
 looking to consolidation in the recent | past. They have not as yet, however,
 been effected. Some New York gentle men interested in the Montgomery Trac- tion Company have been in the city look | ing over the situation. The merging of the two lines was then under considera- tion. The negotiations have not been entirely abandoned" W. H. Ragfand. a prominent official of the Traction Company when questioned about the report of consolidation said:
 "There is no truth in the report. wish it were true. don to mind saying that in the recent past there have been some lively negotiations looking towards the merger of the two lines. These nego- tiations may yet reach some definite con- clusion, but do not look for immediate results in the near future."
 MT. This Out of Town.
 Richard Tillis the owner of the Mont Romery Street Railway was out of the city and no statement was obtained from him '.. The Montgomery Street Railway operates the Belt Line. the C1overdale, the Oak Park, the Highland Avenue, the Court Street West End and Jackson Street and Riverside and Stone Street cars. f-r.. The Traction Company operates the Pickett Springs. the Perry and Ludie Street and the High and Ludie Street lines.
 The Montgomery Street Railway was first in the field. It was in the sole pos session of the street railway field many years before the entry of the Traction Company,
 The building of the Traction Company's line was begun in the spring of 1902 It's franchise had been previously granted to Barry L. Holt and associates. The prin- cipal owners of the company are J. G. Nxyhgko R. C0 0F Naw York