The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, October 8, 1932, Page 3

x | | w B 'was the limit. THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1932 Insull Began His Career ASK BLESSING FOR As Secretary to Edison Kept Building Until He Had Vast Utilities Empire, Touching 32 States Editor's Note: This is the sec- ‘ond of six stories on the dramatic rise and fall of Samuel Insull, , Chicago public utility magnate | who has been called “the world’s | greatest failure.” | (Copyright, 1932, NEA Service, Inc.) | Chicago, Oct. 8—While Thomas A. | Edison dabbled with inventions, | Samuel Insull sat up nights trying to igure out ways to make money out 6f the products of the electrical wiz- ard’s brain. Insull was Edison's busine: *.ager for 12 years. got his start. What the dreamy Edison lacked in the way of business acumen, the ag- gressive Insull supplied. It was a Perfect team. Fifty years later it led . Ansull to his position as a 73-year- old Napoleon of the largest industrial empire the world has ever seen, which has just been climaxed by his failure, the greatest business collapse in_history. It is clear that Insull believed him- self a man of destiny. As early as 1916, speaking before a society of Chicago engineers, he pictured one vast super-power electric system for| the United States. It was to turn) the wheels of all industry, light every Tpme, operate all railroads, rescue * the human race from drudgery in every form. Without directly saying so, he made it clear this industrial giant was to be an Insull enterprise. He had gone far toward this goal. ‘When his collapse came it was pos- sible to buy Insull electricity in 32 states, in 5,000 cities, towns and vil- lages from Maine to Texas. In point » of capital investment and distribu. ton, he was the largest producer of electricity in the world. Gradually, he was linking his plants together. Always, he was expanding. Finally, he was stopped. But it took the . worst business depression in history Mo do it. Markets Edison's Gadgets Insull’s rise in life is a story of a ..purposeful character. Born in Lon- “don of a middle-class English family, he became an office boy in an auc- tioneer’s office at 14 at a salary of $1.25 a week and improved himself by studying shorthand and book-| keeping at home. Eventually he got @ job with Edison’s London repre- sentative. Impressed by the boy's ability and his determination to suc-| ceed, this agent recommended him for a position as Edison's secretary. So, in. 1880, Insull came to America } to take up his new job. | Edison soon discovered that in- stead of a mere secretary he Rad a first-class business manager. This/ aggressive young Englishman began organizing companies to manufac- man- | That's how hej; ture and market Edison’s strange ings to North Dakota from their} ccutiv gadgets. Among the enterprises was| the old Edison Electric Co., parent of | Today's General Electric company. In 1892, death claimed the presi dent of the old Chicago Edison com- pany, one of the five electric com- panies trying to compete with Chi- cago’s gas lights and horse-drawn street cars. Young Insull was asked to reéommend a man. He chose himself. By 1907 Insull had consolidated| Chicago's five independent electric companies into his own monopolistic Commonwealth Edison company. Insull’s next big step came in 1911 when he bought and linked together the scattered electric plants in a number of small towns surrounding Chicago, under the name of the Pub- lic Service Company of Northern Il- linois. This was the world’s first in- terconnected super-power system. An Empire Takes Form *\The following year Insull’s dream of empire began to take form. He launched the vast Middle West Ugil- ities, a two-billion-dollar holding a@ampany around which he planned to build his super-power chain that would span the nation. (How well he progressed may be judged by the fact that when Middle West went into the hands of receivers recently it was a $2,000,000,000 concern with plants in 32 states. In 1918, Insull added eas to his holdings. He took over Chicago's old People’s Gas Co., then approaching bankruptcy. Things had reached the point where dealers would not de- liver a ton of coal to the company ‘without getting a guarantee of pay- ment from a bank. Insull dug in. He ordered all com- plaints routed over his desk. He in- vestigated cach personally. He hired and _ fired. Eventually, he got what he Wanted. By 1922 the reorganized People’s Gas, Light & Coke com- pany was paying substantial divi- dends, It has since been one of his soundest companies. Acquisition and expansion of op- erating companies required more capital. Insull began stacking hold- ing companies on top of holding companies and selling their stocks for capital. Always Insull kept enough of the common stock—voting . stock—to retain control. Gradually more than 100 holding companies, in various geographical “) group, came under the span of In- @yll’s vast Middle West Utilities. Company Upon Company The ultimate holding company was panies. For example, the Scranton ‘Pa.) Street Railway was owned by fine Municipal Service company, ‘which was owned by the National Public Service corporation, which ‘was owned by the National Electric “Power company, which was owned by Middle West Utilities. ‘Then, on top of this lofty pyramid, Insull erected two super-super-hold- ing companies, which were to own @ Middle West Utilities and his other major holding companies. They were Insull Utility Investments and Cor- poration Securities, Inc. : In all of these Insull sold securi- , ties. So long as prices of public util- ities securities were rising, and more ‘and more people were using current, and more and more people had money “to invest, there was no limit to this ethod of expansion. q was a dizzy game, but the bull ket. boom was on and the sky In September, 1929, "/Insull stecks had increased in value cover a half billion dollars in just 50 da: Issues doubled, trebled and quad~ rTupled in value almost overnight. For ‘example, between June 15 and Aug. 3, 1929, Commonwealth Edison soar- ed from $250 to $449 a share. This represented a gain in stock market value of $250,032,600 on this one is- gue in just 19 days. | Customers This sort of skyrocketing was too much even for Insull. Time after time he issued public warnings against “unwarranted and unjusti- fied” prices of Insull securities. But Insull might as well have been talking to the wind. The “wise ones” laughed at his warning, saying Insull wanted to beat down prices so he could make millions by buying in the | Stock himself. The giddy game went on, Public Service of Northern Illi- {nois hit $435, People’s Gas touched $404, Middle West Utilities soared to $570, after which there was a 10- for-1 split. Thus, when 1930 dawned, Samuel Insull could look back on this rec- ord of the expansion of his empire since his arrival in Chicago: 1892 1930 $1,130,300 $2,216,441,000 873,000 459,851,000 4,440 4,557,800 Stockholders . 50 498,300 Employes 400 72,800 And his empire was still growing. But the Day Came One of Samuel Insull’s favorite stories about himself, which he liked to tell at banquets, had to do with the installation of a huge steam tur- bine at his old Fisk street power house in 1903. It was then the larg- est steam turbine in the world and, naturally, there was quite a bit of worry about what was going to hap- pen. * When the time came to turn on the steam, Frederick Sargent, the in- stallation engineer, turned to Insull fae Suggested that he had better get out. “Is it going to blow up?” Insull asked. “I don't think so,” answered Sar- gent, rather uncertainly. “Well,” Insull replied, “if this thing blows up the whole company blows up and I'll blow up, too, so I might as well stay here.” There came a day, in 1932, when not only one Insull Company but a whole chain of them blew up—and Samuel Insull blew up with them. Greetings Brought Dy Canadian Delegations Mayor Ralph Webb of Winnipeg could not come to the capitol corner. Stone laying but he sent his secretar and his son instead. Representing Webb was F. B. Fer- guson, accompanied by his own son, Earl, and by Roland H. Webb, son of jthe mayor. Other Canadians here, in addition to the official representatives of the Provinces of Manitoba and Saskatch- ewan were Col. Styles, aide to Lieut. Gov. E. E. Moore of Saskatchewan. jand Mrs. Styles, and Attorney Gen- Capital Gross earn. .. lewan, Nearly all of them have visited Bis- marck before and all brought greet- friends across the international line, DIES AT NEW ENGLAND | New York, N. D.. Oct. 8—Rufus | Abel, 70, died here at the home of his |Son, J. C. Abel, following an apoplec- tic stroke last Sunday. The funeral will be held Sunday and his body will be placed in the New England ceme- tery beside that of his wife, who died here two years ago. JIMS STAGE HOMECOMING Jamestown, N. D., Oct. 8—(P)—It was homecoming day at Jamestown. College Saturday, with old grads re- turning to participate in the home- coming activities. and witness the game between Minot and Jamestown colleges, The Jimmies have won their last four homecoming contests, LUTHERANS AT MEETING ;_ Jamestown, N. D., Oct. 8—(P)— Delegates from 18 Lutheran Leagues ot the Valley City Circuit Lutheran |League gathered here Saturday for the opening session of a three-day meeting of young people. Prof. C. B. Yivisaker of Concordia college, Moor- head, Minn., will preach the conven- tion sermon Sunday morning. Buy or Sell Through Thru The Tribune Want Ads eral M. A. MacPherson of Saskatch- | PEOPLE OF STATE AT CEREMONY HERE Rev. E. L. Jackson Gives Invo- cation; Rev. Father Slag Asks Benediction Divine blessing for the people of ‘North Dakota was asked by Very Rev John A. Slag and Rev. Ellis L. Jack- )Son at ceremonies marking the laying ‘of the cornerstone for the new Norta !Dakota capitol building. j_ Rev. Jackson, pastor of the First Baptist church and chaplain of the {Lloyd Spetz post of the American Le- igion, gave the invocation and Rev. Father Slag of St. Mary's procathe- dral gave the benediction. In the invocation, Rev. Jackson said: “Almighty God, Thou ruler of na- , tions and builder of the destinies of men, we come to Thee today to give Thee our thanks for the men and women of another day who have built this prairie state of ours into such a fair commonwealth: ‘For their sacrifice, | “For their heroism, “For their love of Thee and home, | “For their manhood and woman- hood, | “We would pause for a moment this day and think of them. When we honor them, we honor Thee and we honor ourselves. | “And yet help us to remember that the richest treasure of the state we Jove does not lie in the past, no mat- |ter how fine that past might have been. So we pray today not only ‘for the aged but we remember with tender hearts the youth of our state. It will be their task to insure the steady development and growth of the state we love. “We invoke Thy divine blessing upon this cornerstone laying. Bless those who shall speak to us this day. “We pray especially for the men who shall labor here. Guard them ‘from accident. May they build hon- estly and well as good craftsmen, “Within the walls that shall soon jarise upon this spot may honor, jus- tice and truth ever have the right of way. May the past of which we are so proud be but an indication of finer service to God, nation and state in the days ahead.” The text of Rev. Father Slag’s benediction was as follows: “In the name of the Father and lof the Son and the Holy Ghost, amen. | “We pray thee, O God of might, visdom and justice, through whom {authority is rightly administered and laws are enacted, to bless the build- ing, the cornerstone of which we have laid today, the capitol of the state of North Dakota which is to be erected in this place. Bless the ex- of this state in all future times; bless the men and women who shall gather here to enact the laws |for the people of North Dakota so ‘that in all their actions they shall |never contradict Thee, the Author of 11 law and order. “Bless the citizenry of our state; | bless the fathers and mothers; bless | the families, the bulwark of all or- | ganized. society; bleas the children, the future voters and officers of this State. “In Thy mercy bless those who have gone before us, now resting in en Furnace Cleaning We will vacuum clean your furnace with a Sturtevant Vacuum Cleaner, paint the castings, inspect the grates and smoke pipes, all for $3. All Repairs at Reasonable i Priees ; Phone 141 | French & Welch Hdwe. Co. Pictured Here Is Hinckley ‘the Well Known Building Which Will Be Sold to Settle Estate ted at 219 Fourth St., north of the Grand Pacific hotel, Bismarck, N. Dak. Is a two-story brick building, about This building is loca 50x100 feet with 5 Fourth Street. 0 ft. frontage facing Equipped with city heat. Building is now rented to full capacity. It is a structure that may be converted to fit practically any business. Buying this building will render an oppor- tunity for a fixed monthly income together with a sure profit through advance in value over price asked, Prices and terms may be obtained from this agency. Hedden Real Webb Block Estate Agency Phone 0 the sleep of peace, the pioneer men and women who have fought and brought sacrifices that we may enjoy the fruit of their labor. “May the blessing of Almighty God, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost descend upon Us all and remain with us forever.” Military Band Makes Occasion Lively One Emulating the American Legion state band, most famous musical or- Sanization in the Northwest, the military band of the 164th regiment, North Dakota National Guard, made things lively in Bismarck Saturday. On the streets early and making a splendid appearance in their dark blue coats with trousers of a light- er blue, the band serenaded the Bis- marck Tribune with two lively march. numbers and paid a similar compli- ment to several other business insti- tutions. Sandwiched between other activities was a radio salute to their friends throughout the state. It was a splendid musical organ- ization which Director Gerald Wright brought here to take a major part in the capitol celebration, as was proved to those who attended a concert giv- en by the organization Friday night in the city auditorium. All numbers were executed with splendid preci- sion and dash and the band won for itself the respect of Bismarck citizens as a musical organization of more than ordinary worth. In its serenading tour about the city Saturday morning the band also Proved that it is a splendid marching organization. Director Wright and all of the bandsmen are bona fide members of the North Dakota national guard and hail from Lisbon and vicinity. Industry Is First Declares Pioneer Industry comes before education, although the latter is important too, in the opinion of W. F. Du Vall, Val- ley City pioneer, here for the laying of the capitol cornerstone. And Du Vall should know whereof he speaks for he has reared five sons and two daughters and asserts he is Proud of every one of them. Two other sons are dead. Incidentally, Du Vall lays claim to being one of the oldest firemen in the state, having been a member of the Valley City company for 50 years. He came to the state 52 years ago at the age of 15 and has been engaged throughout his life in the printing business at Valley City. Isa Lake, in Yellowstone National Park, sends some of its waters to the Atlantic and some to the Pacific. There are 378 waterfalls in Brazil, 164 of which have a potential power of at least 5,000,000 horsepower. OLD CUSTOMS AGENT | TS REVISITING CITY Henry F. Douglas, Who Came to Bismarck in 1873 Here For Ceremony It is a far cry from the Bismarck of 1873 to the modern city of today years before the Custer battle to be deputy collector of customs for the federal government at one of civil- ization’s outposts. his 80 winters, said Bismarck was in Motor Oil The World's Finest Oil for Your Motor Sle a Quart longer mileage. Every gallon ix brimming energy and agile power. in a tanktul, inn true high gravity charge of Sc more has won the good n't have to guess text. They nk in the opinion of Henry F. Douglas, | Minneapolis, who came here three | Douglas, showing little evidence of | It challenges the world for value, toot wanoline without the IMips ix the world’s high gravity gano- hin waving, coupled with xupert of more than seven million thrifty jnorth was only wilderness and the tiver packets brought thousands of bales of furs here to be shipped east- | Ward on the railroad. | Many of them were shipped in| bond from points in the Canadian | northwest to others in the eastern part of the dominion and Douglas‘ |duty was to see that the bonds |which prevented them from being legally opened in the U. S. were in regular order. In that day, he said, Bismarck was a major primary ship- Ping poixt for furs and thousands of bales of fox, beaver and other skins Passed through Bismarck. Most of them were loaded at Fort Benton, | Mont., head of navigation on the | Missouri, and brought here by boat. Douglas said he has checked thou. sands of bales of buffalo skins, each | bale containing 10 hides. | In 1876, following the Custer bat- | tle, Douglas became post and Indian | trader at Fort Yates, remaining there its glory as a river port then. To the for 17 years. In 1893 he went to Min- | world's crops. The demand for Phillips “66” is increasing steadily in the vic- inity. Up to Oct. 1, 1932 a gain of over 25% has been made. u Are now ux For example. ighent teni champion on every count from xnappler get- over with real ‘There Inn't a lazy drop It per gallon, ar your ene your pocketbook, jor per- will and loyal Regardless whether Phillips earnestly they feel the ri. ‘They read figures pub- gan win! BISMARCK OIL COMPANY, Distributors PHILLIPS “66” PRODUCTS FOR SALE AT OUR FILLING STATION At Main Avenue and Eleventh Street on Highway No. 10—Look for the Orange and Black Phillips “66” Shield. THEY CONVINCED ME THIS 1S THE SAFEST TIRE EVER BUILT ELLO EVERYBODY— 1 degreen to 67.9 deqrees. to the nweeter op: t We urge that you ‘compare them, of nuggwent that high text Phillips ut paying n penny extr: and Black 66 shield... neapolis and entered the grain busi- ness from which he retired in 1928. He was greatly impressed, he said, by the improvement in Bismarck | during his 39 years of absence arel | commented that few, if any, of the) landmarks of an older day are left here. | SHERIFF AIDS CUPID Jacksonville, Fla.—Sheriff W. B. Ca- | hoon is a kindly soul. Uncle Charlie, | aged negro Janitor at the jail for years, wanted to marry Aunt Bessie. Uncle Charlie was without funds, and Sheriff Calhoun heard of his plight. He commandeered the services of a minister, got several deputies as w! nesses, and the ceremony was pt formed in jai ‘The Battle of New Orieans was fought over a month after the signing of peace by England and America. Insects devour one-tenth of the Phillips 66 Ethyl At the Regular Price of Ethyl Gasoline Phillips 66 gravity right now t high text—plenty high, th. In fact, it ix at- jones Facts that definitely ruth from Judge results. present favorite, we ‘aimst your CAPITO THEATRE L Tonight The screen dares to tell the brutal truth about the chain gangs, where every man is @ living target! TOM BROWN ROCHELLE HUDSON Also MICKEY MOUSE CARTOON LATEST NEWS TWO-REEL COMEDY Monday - Tuesday Lee Tracy in the “Night Mayor” Use the Want Ads THOSE TIRE TESTERS put your old headline hunter on the spot. That car on Safety Silvertowns went around that sharp corner at 42 miles an hour. But those tires clutched that wet, asphalt surface like they were running ina groove. They didn’t skid an inch . . . Lasked them whether they were testing Goodrich or Gibbons. I'M FOR TRIS LEAGUE, Floyd Gibbons speaking. I’ve just seen a most wonderful demon- stration of progress. T think it is BIG news, and I'll tell you why: 34,400 were killed in auto- mobile accidents in this country last year. Almost a million—997,600—were injured. ‘These figures overwhelm me. What do you think? If a way has been found to make tires that will prevent some of these tragedies— isn’t that BIG news? T leave it to you. I stopped at the Goodrich plant in Akron. I heard they were making a safer tire—the safest tire ever built. They call it the SAFETY Silvertown. ‘They convinced me. They showed me a test that was a sock-dologer. These Goodrich tire testers put your old headline hunter on the spot. That spot was right in the middle of a street intersection. And the street was wet. They drove a car with these new safety tires on it—droye it straight at me at the ‘speed of 42 miles an hour. Just before it reached me, going at that speed, the driver turned suddenly. Just missed me by inches. They said it wouldn’t skid. I had to believe them. It did not skid. But, boy, what a test! I asked them if they were testing Goodrich or Gibbons. That car on Safety Silvertowns went around that sharp corner at 42 miles an hour. Not a curve—a sharp corner— sharper than a right angle. But those tires clutched that wet, asphalt surface like they were running in a groove. THEY DIDN'T SKID AN INCH. If they had skidded —well, some other boy'’d be writing this copy instead of me. When I got my breath back, I wanted to know how such a tire could be made. I mean, I wanted to see the works. They showed me a plant so big I wore my legs out—and only hit the high spots. One place, I stood in a shaft eight or ten stories high, ard watched them drop a heavy, wicked-looking metal prong—like a guil- lotine—on an inflated tire. Forty—tifty— sixty feet they dropped it. Then, at 75 feet, the tire gave It didn’t burst—the air came out like a sigh. ‘That’s one way they find out whether their tires are safe against blow-outs. I saw them place a tire in a chamber rein- forced like a prison cell, and blow it up to 200 pounds pressure before it burst. Test, test — improve, improve! That's what it’s all about. They’re at it 24 hours a day. Trying to find weak spots in tires that are already tougher than the Gas House Gang. That’s how they prove it’s the safest tire ever built! They told merthese Safety Silvertowns sel! for the price of any standard tire. Not a cent more, With thousands smashed up or killed in skidding accidents every year, I'm willing to pay something extra to save my neck. Maybe they’re making it too easy for us. ‘TOO! Here's something: The ‘Silvertown Safety League. It ives me driving rules to follow —for safety. It gives me an emblem for my car. I joined up! Any Goodrich desler will enroll you, they tell me. No cost. Trade Your Used Tires on NEW GOODRICH SAFETY SILVERTOWNS To help cut down the toll of acci- dents—to get the “Death Tires” off the highwaye—we offer sensa- tional trade-in allowances for your old, unsafe tireson all Safety Silvertowns. M. B. GILMAN CO. Retail - Wholesale Distributors Second and Broadway Bismarck, N. Dak. Phone 808 — Copyright, 1932, The B. F. Goodrieh Rubber Company Goodrich 527% Silvertown