The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, April 25, 1932, Page 3

» y it x r t ' “j . : a ' ’ . - ph ‘ é ‘ i ' : 4 ; THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE. MONDAY, APRIL 25, 1982 1 Samuel Insull and His $3,000,000,000 Industrial Em 328 (Ce PLANTS, — <a 1500 MILES ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION LINES ‘The shaded areas in the above map show territories in which the producing units of the great Insull holding companies operate, their many hands of receivers, +e diversifie The sketches below show some of the principal activities. evated railways excepted) are in Insull's ee *® ne | HEALTH OFFIGERS d_utilities serving nearly one of every 10 persons in the United States. By far most of these operating companies (Chicago's el $2,500,000,000 Middle West Utilities, a holding company which is in the At the right is a closeup of Insull, who welded the vast chain, ee Story of Rise and Fall of Samuel Insull Is Dramatic Utility Magnate Began as Poor Boy to Build $3,000,000,- 000 Chain (Editor's Note: This is the first of two stories on the rise and fall of Samuel Insull, America’s foremost public utility magnate, whose $2,500,000,000 Middle West Utilities Company is in the hands of receivers. By JOHN W. LOVE (Copyright, 1932, NEA Service, Inc.) At 72, Samuel Insull of Chicago— foremost figure in American public utilities—looks back today on his long rise and sudden fall. His is an amazing story of finance, which has been climaxed by the “firendly” receivership of his giant Middle West Utilities Company, once worth $2,500,000,000. It is the largest business default in the world’s his- tory. Insull began life as a poor immi- grant from England. He became ‘Thomas A. Edison’s secretary and grew up with the light and power business. At the peak of his career, he came to command more than $3,000,000,000 worth of electric power and gas enter- prises, electric railways, steam rail- ‘ways, coal mines, street car lines, ele- vated railways, taxicab and bus lines, heating plants, ice plants and office buildings. The multitude of companies he dominated operated over practically the entire eastern half of the United States. They served at last 10,000,000 persons in more than 5,000 communi- ties and had around a half million stockholders, many of whom were cus- tomers. From Maine to Texas, the chain of Insull industries extended. The bulk of all this was in Middle West Utili- ties, the biggest of the Insull holding companies. Properties of his other holding companies were largely grouped around Chicago. * * * The tragedy of the great Middle ‘West Utilities failure, ten times big- ger than the Kreuger collapse in Eu- rope is fundamentally the same as the tragedy of the foreclosure of a Watch Your Kidneys/ Don’t Neglect Kidney and Bladder Irregularities If bothered with bladder ir- Tegularities, getting up at night and nagging backache, heed promptly these symptoms. They may warn of some dis- ordered kidney or bladder con- dition. For 50 years grateful users have relied upon Doan’s Pills, Praised the country over. Sold by all druggists. Psychologist Advice Daily—Courses and Lessons on Psychology— Consultation $1.00 PRINCE HOTEL Hours Daily 10 a. m. to 8 p.m. small farm, only Digger and more complicated. Prices went down, but debts re- mained the same and mortgages went on as before revenues declined, but loans had to be paid off in the same hard dollars with which they were contracted. Samuel Insull found himself no longer able to raise enough from his high-tension empire of electric cur- rent to meet the interest on the mort- gages. And so the vast agglomeration of 100 or more operating companies known as Middle West Utilities col- lapsed, This holding company, and several {related companies, are now in the hands of the courts. The Middle West company’s produc- ing properties are mainly still sound. ‘Where operating compantes *do” not owe too much money their future is secure. The fate of each will depend upon what each can earn and how far these earnings will go in paying debts. Of course it is impossible to make any general statements about the fu- ture of the more than 100 companies gathered by Insull into the fold of his Middle West Utilities. The hold- ing company which united them all under one general management will be taken apart. But it is practically certain that the constituent proper- ties will be regrouped, in ways not yet clear. xk * All this takes place on pieces of Paper. The generators in Middle West's 300 steam-driven stations and 200 waterpower stations will keep on grinding out current. They are not affected in any physical way by the collapse of all the financiering which brought them together. Part of the tragedy of the receiver- ship is the nature of the company’s territory. Middle West Utilities was one of the greatest American power systems, yet it sold the output mostly to small towns and the countryside. There were only a half dozen large cities on its lines, That meant two things. In the first place it meant that its business would be affected by farming condi- tions, In the second place it meant that its securities would be very wide- ly held and that the market for its securities would be greatly reduced when the prices of farm products went down. It happened that Insull’s company needed money very badly just at the time when thousands of small towns were needing money badly, too. Mid- dle West Utilities was reported owing bankers $30,000,000 or more at the be- ginning of 1932 and Insull saw there was no hope of getting the money by selling securities, as he had always ne, Insull tried desperately to find the money in New York, but could not, Returning sadly to Chicago, he watched the courts administer the first aid which the law provides for stricken enterprises. * # & This was the Samuel Insull whose career had been marvelous as an Alger story. One person in every ten used his services, including every~ person in Chicago, He was the wealthiest in the business. He had come to this country from England as a young man in 1881. He had held a number of jobs in Lon- don, studying stenography nights, and had happened tq answer an adver- tisement for a secretary from a man who turned out to be Thomas A. Edi- son’s London representative. It was only natural that, shortly afterwards, Insull should come to America. Soon Edison’s business manager, Insull had unequaled view of the be- ginnings of the electric light and stations, scrapped most of them and connected the towns with high-ten- sion lines. This gave each town the potential of very much larger stations and as- sured them against power failure. In- sull applied the policy which made him famous later—that of setting rates which did not quickly pay back the cost of installing the service, but which encouraged the customer to buy more and more electrical appliances, until finally electric current was in- dispensible to every customer. Insull was a pioneer in the move- ment to decentralize industry by mak- ing ample power available for fac- tories in small towns instead of con- centrating it in the big cities. It was his aim, apparently, to connect all his widely scattered power companies into one great super-power chain at some future date, ———$S$_$_$_$ $$$. ._._. | AT THE MOVIES : CAPITOL THEATRE The acknowledged masterpiece of one of America’s foremost novelists comes to the screen of the Capitol Theatre today in “Arrowsmith,” Sam- uel Goldwyn’s production of Sinclair Lewis’ novel, with Ronald Colman playing the title role of the crusading young doctor, Its author was last year awarded the first Nobel prize for literature ever given an Ameri- can novelist. “Arrowsmith” is additionally not- able in the fact that it gives Ronald Colman his first American role. Al- though he has been one of the screen’s most eminent stars for nearly ten years, his previous roles have always, been English or European, in such Memorable successes as “Bulldog Drummond” and “Raffles” and “The Magic Flame.” In the character of Martin Arrowsmith he plays a bril- Mant young doctor born in America and battling his way through preju- dice and difficulties to the top of the scientific world, risking his life to battle disease among savage Negroes, sacrificing everything to his passion for science. To match such two famous names as Sinclair Lewis and Ronald Colman, Samuel Goldwyn gathered together a brilliant cast in support. Opposite Ronald Colman plays Helen Hayes, the stage star whose performance in “Coquette” was an event in the Amer- ican theatre; she has recently become ‘an overnight success in moving pic- tures in “The Sin of Madelon Clau- det.” Then there is Richard Bennett, another first flight star of the legiti- mate stage, and father of Constance and Joan Bennett. Beulah Bondi, the individual hit player of “Street Scene” and Myrna Loy are other famous names. PARAMOUNT THEATER “My wife thinks I’m a darling and my wife's friend thinks I’m cute,” complains Maurice Chevalier in his newest Paramount picture, “One Hour With You,” now at the Para- mount theater. M. Chevalier makes the confession a bit ruefully, but he may as well accept the fact that in spite of his size and his assurance, that’s just the impression he creates in the hearts and minds of his femin- ine admirers. They adore him. They love him, They think he’s darling, they think he’s cute—just a great, big naughty boy! And because M. Chevalier has such a charming, dis arming way of cocking his head and confiding to an audience his embar- rasament at all this attention, men| like him, too. And the music? Grand. There sre half a dozen new song hits— “What Would You Do?”, “We Will Always Be Sweethearts,” “Oh, That power industry close up. Presently he took a hand himself. In the year of the World's Fair he became president of the company now known as Commonwealth Edison, in young man saw that the road to effi- ¢lency for the producers of power and @ fortune for its owners lay in con- ‘solidation. He soon brought the power Uacoeee of Shlenee tata wal te) x * * The beginnings of interconnected electric power, and therefore the be- SUNDAYS CLOSED Prof. J. G. Johnson ginnings of the epic of Insull in Amer- jean life, were in 1910, when Insull and his brother, Martin, bought some rural properties north of Chicago. They acquired a dozen isolated power Chicago. This ruddy-faced, tireless|py Mitzi!”, “What a Little Thing Like a Wédding Ring Can Do” and “Three Times a Day” besides the title lyric —to make “One Hour With You,” an occasion for humming and whistling the delighted audiences, after Chevalier and Miss MacDonald have demonstrated how they should be sung. The musical score was writ- ten especially for “One Hour With You” by Oscar Straus of “Chocolate Soldier” fame. If you liked “The Smiling Lieuten- ant” and “The Love Parade” and “Innocents of Paris,” don’t miss this, Chevaliers best. If you've never seen the great Maurice, now's your chance! “One Hour With You” will be shown at the Paramount theater until Wednesday, TOHOLD TWO-DAY CONFERENCE HERE Meeting Will Open Tu Morning; Many Speakers Are on Program Members of the North Dakota Health Officers’ association will meet in Bismarck Tuesday and Wednesday for their eighth annual conference. Arrangements for the session have been made by Dr. A. A. Whittemore, state health officer, who is secretary- treasurer of the organization. All sessions will be held in Room ‘705 at the Patterson hotel. The meet- ing will open with registration at 10 a. m. Tuesday followed at 11 a. m. by an address by the president, Dr. Will H. Moore, Valley City, on “Standard Milk Ordinances in Small Cities.” Dis- cussions led by Dr. E. C. Haagensen, Grand Forks, and A. L. Bavone, state sanitary engineer, will follow: Will Give Symposium Beginning at 1:30 p. m. a symposium in four parts on a fulltime public health project in a drought area will be given. Participating in this pro- Ject will be Dr. Maysil M. Williams, director; Miss Mary A. Johnson, Hurdsfield, nursing administration; Dr. 8. J. Hillis, Berthold, medical field service; Dr. L. N. Serhus, Minot, discussion; and Miss Mabel Alice Tay- lor, McLean county, nursing field service. Dr. A. J. Chesley, Minnesota state health officer will give the feature address on the control of typhoid fev- er at 3 p. m. At 4 p.m. Dr. G. B. Bibble, La Moure, will give a talk on the admin- istration and outline of a program for local boards of health. A discus- sion will be led by Dr. Whittemore. A social meeting and banquet is ar- ranged for 7 p. m. Many On Program On the Wednesday program are At- torney General James Morris; Dr. H. H. Pfister, Wahpeton; Dr. L. W. Lar- son, Bismarck; Dr. E. G. Sasse, Lidg- erwood; Dr. B. K. Kilbourne, Fargo; Major J. R. Oswalt, Fort Lincoln; Dr. F. E. Wheelon, Minot; A. W. Ecklund, Bismarck; Dr. A. F. Jenson, Rugby; Miss Viletta Roche, Bismarck; Dr. J. F. McKay, Bowesmont; and Bessie Nicoll, supervisor of the mid- west branch of the American Red Cross at St. Louis. In addition to the usual charts and posters, a large biological exhibit will be on display during the conference. A film entitled “A Day at Camp Grassick” will be presented in con- nection with a social session follow- ing the banquet Tuesday evening. Entertainment for women who at- tend the conference with their hus- bands is being arranged by a special committee. 70-Year-Old ‘Lifer’ Loses Pardon Fight Sam Kallel, 70-year-old “lifer” at the state penitentiary, has failed in his fight for freedom. Sentenced 10 years ago, he has ap- Peared four times before the state pardon board. At the last meeting, members showed sufficient interest in but denied the plea for clemency after @ study of the facts, He was convicted by a Pembina county district court jury for killing & young girl at Leydon, N. D. Evi- dence in the case indicated he was in- toxicated at the time and planned to attack the girl's mother, with whom he was acquainted, but in the con- fusion shot the woman’s daughter. U. 8. Senator Lynn J, Frazier was @ member of the jury. He, and most of the other jurors in the case, urged clemency, most of them basing their recommendation on the belief that the sentence was too severe. Twin City friends and relatives of the prisoner have signified tHeir in- tention of caring for Kallel should he be released. He came to this coun- try from Assyria, and had worked as @ farm laborer and peddler. Highway Mishap Is Traffic Jam Cause A minor traffic jam was caused on the Bismarck-Mandan highway Sat- urday evening when an automobile in which four soldiers from Fort Lin- coln were riding left the road and Plunged into a miniature “lake” at the side of the highway. The jam was caused when passersby stopped at the scene. Several automobiles figured in min- or collisions during the confusion, but Police said no one was injured. An unidentified woman suffered cuts and bruises, it was rumored shortly after the affair. The soldiers escaped from the mis- hap unhurt, but their automobile re- mained in the “lake” until early Sun- day. The “lake” is a pond just west of the underpass at the western ex- tremity of Main avenue and during the winter was used as a public skat- ing rink. James McConkey was driving the auto in which the soldiers rode. Six Are Killed When Walls of Dam Crumble Marmet, W. Va., April 25.—(?)—' Hampered by rains and dangers of crumbling walls of earth, rescue workers Monday delved into a mucky pit where at least six men lost their lives in a cave-in on the new fed- eral government dam near here. They expect to find only the body of Charles Ryan, but will make a complete search of the area for other persons before ending their work. Miss | Five bodies have been recovered. The men were trapped Saturday night as the banks of the Kanawha river caved in thrice. Townley Spends Night In Minneapolis Jail Minneapolis, April 25.—(@)—A. GC. ‘Townley, former Nonpartisan League leader, received his automobile from police late Saturday after he appear- ed with new license plates. His car was ordered held Friday night by police seeking plates stolen from a St. Paul car. Townley, book- ed as James Peterson, spent Friday night in jail and was freed Satur- day when he said he had another set of plates. No charge was brought against him. NOTICE Garden plowing, fertilizer, black dirt, rubbish hauling. the case to order an investigation,| Phone 62. Population of .D. Prison on Decrease The population of the North Da- kota state prison is decreasing. cent months, the number has dropped | mitted by prisoners for consideration to 414. Expiration of a number of sentences in the last two months, and a falling off of the number of convicts com- mitted has resulted in the decrease. Between 120 and 130 applications From a peak of 441 inmates in re-| for clemency are expected to be sub- Capitol Theatre at the state pardon board 20 to 30 would have a chance for freedom, Use the Want Ads The Picture They Cou idn’t Praise Enough— They came. They~saw. They were conquered. Public and press alike have been lavish in their praise. =*Arrowsmith’ Makes Bid as Saket wee picture ot Sone Lewis’ Nobel Prize novel. Mil- lions have already thrilled to ite stirring drama, its tender its virile romance, realm. “Arrowsmith” is thie most talked No other age could have told this story—No other, world has known such a man—fighting humanity's battles—his restless min searching for truth — his = OLMAN ELEN HAYES FROM THE NOVI SINCLAIR. & a JOHN FO etl RD PRODUCTION UNITED ARTISTS PICTURE it does matter... the kind of cigarette you smoke! ‘OU DON'T pay so much for your cigarettes but what you can afford to smoke the best. It’s a question then, of what is the best. ent from other ci They’re unlike © 1932, Licorrr & Myans Tocco Co. The Cigarette that's MILDER—that TASTES BETTER all the others, in that they’re milder. CHESTERFIELD Cigarettes taste bet- ter. 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