The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-09-14
 OF CITY'S BIG
 ENTERPRISES Drift of Manufacturers To ward Generalization Plain
 ly. Indicated
System" Enjoys Complete Monopoly of Local Public Service Utilities.

Much is printed, said and read in | these days about the consolidation of
 enterprises and the centralization of industry. Doubtless many people look
 upon this process, by which the indus
 trial power of the country is being concentrated in the hands of a few
 owners, as something that is taking place at a distance, that it's little felt
 contact with this city.
 | Such an opinion is mistaken. There | is probably no other city of it's size in the United States over whose enter prises the net of consolidation, or of monopoly more or-less, has been so completely thrown. Railroad trans portation is confined to single line. Upon the board of directors of that line sit William Rockefeller and J. Pierrepont Morgan, showing that the railroad upon which the city so large | ly depends is a part of the great net work of roads controlled by the Nor gan and Standard Oil interests.
 The means of local transportation by | trolley are not otherwise. In com
 mon with most of the trolley lines in EConnecticut they are operated by The EConnecticut Company, which is mere Fly another name for the New Haven Railroad coFnpany. II A sSl board of directors of the Bridgeport Gas, Light Company will show its af- | filiatton by the method of personal in- terest with. the great Standard Oil interests in gas in New York and else- where. Tfe local Electric Light com; pany is merely a branch of the United Illuminating Company, which in turn is said to be largely controlled, by a process of indirection, by the same allied influences.
 tendency of business to concentrate in the hands of few persons is also H. lustrated in retail business to a large extent, as in the United Cigar Stores and others that might be instanced.
 Probably two-thirds Of the manufac- lures of Bridgeport, measured in terms of the number of persons employed, are. connected in one form or another
 with some trust. or consolidation. In many cases an inspection of the
 men connected with the industries re- ferred to will show more or less close affiliation with the groups that
 control the great public services of the country. One of the earliest Bridgeport enter prises to become affiliated with a so-
 called trust was the Holmes & Ed wards Silver Company, which is a part of the Great International Silver Co..
 The American Tube & Stamping Co.
 was incorporated in Connecticut Sn 1899 In 1901 it absorbed the Wilrnot
 6 Hobbs Mfg O., of this city which
 was the largest steel rolling mill in Southern New England. The com- pany manufactures open hearth steel billets, hot and cold rolled hoop, band sheet strip and bar steel and Nickel plated steel stove edge trimmings. It does general electric welding under the Thompson electric welding patents. It also manufactures tubing and rims for automobiles and bicycles and makes
 many specialties. It has authorized and issued $1, ,400,0 900 common and $1,- 400 000 2 per cent. cumulative preferred stock. the par value of each share be-, ing $i00. The dividends are payable quarterly in this city. The bonded debt is $790. 900 gold 5's bearing five per in 1883. In 1905 the company agreed to purchase or call $10,oo0 of the bonds each six months. F. A. Wilmot is president and treasurer.
 The American and British Manufac-- turing Company is controlled through stock ownership. It was incorporated May 23, 1902, in New York, as the Am- erican Machine and Ordnance Com pany and the name was changed as above Nov. 2S, 1902. The company engines and marine and automobile motors. The property consists of manufacturing plant known as the Corliss Steam Engine Works, in Prov idence, and Ehe American Ordnance Company in this city.
 The capital stock consists of $2,000,- 900 common and S2,0O0,G00 preferred. The common stock was formerly $S,-
 GOO, ,0OO, but was reduced to $2,000,O 900 in 1907. A majority of the stock is said to be owned by the Information al Power Company.
 The assets of the company as stated in it's general balance sheet for 1907 areN 7s5,13S. The plant in this city is valued at $1,5oQo0O. Other real es- tate in this city is valued at $11, ,681. The gross earnings in 1907 were giv- en as S1,506,637 and the net earnings as s373, ,505. G. W. Hoadley is presi- dent of the Company. J. H. Hoadley is president of the International Pow CT Company, which was incorporated in New Jersey in 1899. It controls the Alabama Consolidated Coal and Iron Company, the American Oil Engine & Shipbuilding Co.,, with a plant at Wor- cester The Trinity Zinc, Lead and Smelling Company owning mines in Carthage, Mo-; the AT1oskeag Fire Engine Company and interests in the American Locomotive Company and the American Diesel Engine Company.
 The Crane Valve Company is con- trolled by the same men who control the Crane Company which was incor- porated in 1855. in Illinois, to manu- facture and~deal in valves and fittings