The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-12-21
STRAPHANGER IS
OUT FOR REVENGE
Passed Up By Street Cars,
St. Louisan Got Motor
Bus Permit

Being "passed up" by an overcrowded
street car three years ago gave Angus
tus Barnes an idea that subsequently
put 100000 of Peoples Motor Bus
stock in his pockets and made him as
sistant to the president of the COM
pany at substantial salary, says The
st. Louis Post-Dispatch.
1t was Barnes, former st. Louisan,
now So years old, who obtained the
four original permits for motor bus
routes for the Peoples company from
the city of st. Louis without the ex-
penditure of a postage stamp" as he
expresses it, and whose vision of a
great motor bus system for st. Louis
is already costing the United Railways
$4,000 day in lost revenues.
Although Barnes says these permits
did not cost him anything, yet they are
of enormous value, for the Peoples
company, in recent negotiations with
the representative of the reorganization
committee of the United Railways, set
a price of $2,400,000 on the physical
property and right to operate in st.
Louis under the permits. United Rail-
ways organizers have said that the bus
company wanted one million dollars for
its permits
A Native of St Louis
Barnes was born in 81. Louis and
was educated in the public schools and
at Washington university. He is a son
of the late DR.. Augustus f. Barnes.
He was treasurer of the old st. Louis
Browns under Chris Won der Abe from
1885 until the early '90s. He left st.
Louis and served as treasurer for thea
ters in Chicago and New York until
1917, when he entered the government
service in wartime After the war he
worked as an income tax expert, but
his health failed and three years ago
be came to st. Louis with 5000 and
out of a job.
1t was this visit that. was the turn
ing point in Barnes life and that gave
90 ST. Louis the Peoples Notorious COM
rany At this point Barnes takes up
the story of how it all STATED.
81 arrived at union station with two
grips and walked to Olive street for a
westbound Olive car" he relates. Zone
presently came along, but it was so
overcrowded that l was passed up. The
one that followed was also over
crowded, and l had to wait for third
one.
Mayor Encourages Idea
Annoyed at this condition, I in
CURED why st. Louis had no motor bus
system and was informed one had been
started, but had failed because proper
operating schedule had not been main
tanned.
well, then. I am going to have a
motor bus system for st. Louis / re-
marked, and so, in the next month I
discussed the idea with scores of per-
sons, all of whom treated the sugges-
ton lightly or scorned it outright.
when | returned to the east l OBJ
tanned letter of recommendation to
Mayor kiel, who subsequently encour-
aged the idea, provided l could get suf-
ticient capital without selling any stock
in st. Louis. He explained he did not
want any st. LOuisans to lose money
because of any permits the city might
grant.
Got Capitalists Interested
Il again went back east and inter-
ested ex-Congressman Joseph I. Rim
ock OF Kentucky and Edward T. Simms,
oil millionaire, also of Kentucky, and
we three and Rhinock's counsel subse-
quently met with the board of public
service and discussed the situation at
length.
After Rhinock and Simms had re-
turned to New York, four permits for
motor bus routes were granted me, and
after the decision was made to let me
have them, Mayor Kiel, in my pres
ence telephoned the news to Rhinock in
New York and said: 4 am going to
let Barnes have these permits with
the understanding that no one in the
city hall nor in st. Louis get cent out
of it,"
Barnes, who predicts there probably
will be thousand buses in st. Louis
in the next ten years, owns $50 shares
of preferred and like amount of com
mon stock in the company, given him
for obtaining the permits, and on which
he places a value of 100000. 1t is his
opinion the permits granted the Peoples
company are more valuable than a
franchise, as he claims they are per-
petual. whereas n franchise must have
an expiration date.