The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-06-19
T. N. VAIL BECOMES
A. Tat. CHAIRMAN
Resigns as President and Is
Succeeded by H. B. Thayer,
Long With Company.
OTHER OFFICERS MOVE UP
Statement Indicates Vail Will
Retain Active Control Of
Corporation.

Theodore N. Van. the biggest tele-
phone man in the world," resigned the
presidency OF the American Telephone
and Telegraph Company yesterday TO
become chairman Of the board OF al
fectors OF that corporation, He was
out OF town when the announcement
was made at his Office and consequently
Il was impossible to ascertain whether
this lie the rumored fret step In his
retirement from the financial world.
On the face Of the statement issued
By MI Vail. however. Il seems that,
retain active control OF the corpora
ton. which 10 the largest company of
its kind In the world.
Readjustments Necessary.
The announcement follows:
preparatory to the end OF the period
Of Federal control and in view OF the
great development which has taken
place in the art OF Transmission OF In
telligence by electricity. particularly of
the great development of multipiex
telephony. machine operation Of both
telephone and telegraph and Of wireless
telephony, there are many large prob
lens confronting the American Tele-
phone and Telegraph Company. all In
the line Of greater. better development
and wider usefulness.
in view OF all this and to facilitate
all the possibilities of the future II is
necessary that the organisation be ad-
justed to meet these new problems and
be put on a permanent basis.
"1 have requested OF and recon-
nnended to the board OF directors the
following changes which are in titles
rather than in functions:
~ will as the chairman OF the board
he In active direction Of the policy ana
problems OF the company and by this
change will be enabled to give more of
my uninterrupted time and attention to
the larger problems of the business.
'Vce-P President Bethel. who has been
IN charge OF the Federal operating
board. was invited to rejoin the orEar.-
zation but as he wishes to take a long
rest has declined, to the regret Of the
board.
II. b. Thayer. who has been for
nearly forty years prominently identi-
fed with the operating Of the telephone
system both from the manufacturing
standpoint and from the practical opera
tion has been made president.
IN. c. Klngsbury. who has had to do
with both the operating and public rela-
tons, has been made FIRST vice-president.
". T Guernsey. the general counsel, has
been made vice-president in charge of
the legal department John ]. Carly,
long the head OF research experiment
and development. has been made vice
president In charge of development and
research. w. 8. clifford. who has long
been connected with the company and
who since resigninE as director Of the
Council Of National Defence has been
comptroller of Iths company. has been
made vice-president in charge OF ac-
counts and finance.
Bancroft Gherardi, for many years
MI. Carty's chief aid and who has been
acting chief engineer during the period
OF Mr.. Carty's war service, has been
made chief engineer"
Called From Retirement.
When Postmaster-General Burleson
took over the control of the wires Mr..
Vail was named TO manage the consoli-
dated wire system.
Before the war. under his guidance,
we A, t. & T. became the second larg-
est corporation in the world. with more
man $1,000, 000. 900 capital, $1,000 stock
holders and $1,000, 900 customers. At the
age OF so he retired and went to live on
hiS farm in Vermont. but a few years
later the war between the other tele-
graph companies drove him back to ac-
tive management again. In the last
eleht years he has achieved more and
worked harder than he ever did before
IctirlnE
MI Carly. the chief engineer who was
promoted to be vice-president. is known
to-day throughout the world as the
greatest OF telephone engineers and as
me engineer of the longest telephone
Inc In the worid--the great trans
continental. He was decorated by the
Emperor OF Japan In 1909 with the I'm
perial Order Of the Rising Sun, and
again in 1912 he received the Imperial
MeiU.
Mr. Gherardi, who succeeds him as
chief engineer. Is a Brooklyn man VINO
was graduated from Brooklyn Polytech-
mic institute in 1891. 1t was he who
laid the fundamental plan for the l00,-
600 lines in New York city.
MI Vail Is a native of Ohio and of
English Quaker ancestry. While gen.
tral superintendent of Railway Mails
he met Professor Bell and Hubbard
and Joined with them in the telephone
business. That was in the early 70's.
In 1878 he left the mail service to be.
come general manager OF the American
Bell Telephone COMPANY