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VOL. XXIV—No. 1206.
ATLANTA, GA., SATURDAY, APRIL 15,1899.
Price $2 Per Year.
mu of Tie Big Mo.
Gigantic Combinations of Capital Which It Is Urged
Congress Control for the Good of the People.
“Within the last six months articles of
incorporation have been taken out by
more than one hundred companies of ab
normal capitalization, which are designed
to ‘take over’ and concentrate the busi
ness of scattered companies in the vari
ous fields of industry.’’ So says the New
York Ilerald, and it concludes an extend
ed review of the most important indus
trial combinations now existing and pop
ularly denominated as trusts, with the
following recapitulation:
Capital.
The oil trusts $153,000,000
Steel and Iron 347,650.000
Coal combines 161,750,000
The gas trust 432,771.000
Havemeyer's sugar trust 215,000,000
Cigarettes and Tobacco 108,500.000
Control of the telephone 56.720,000
The alcoholic trusts 67,300,000
Electrical combinations 130,327,000
Miscellaneous trusts 1,349,250,000
Grand total $2,717,768,000
The Herald’s article is reproduced by
National Corporation Reporetr of Chi
cago. The 63 miscellaneous trusts named
in it are capitalized at llgures ranging
from $150,000,000 for the flour trust, now
forming, to $1,750,000 for the Rhode Isl
and Horseshoe Company. The titles of
these organizations indicate trusts in lea
ther, tobacco (plug), crackers, starch,
corn, harvesters, lumber, rubber, dressed.
beef, sheet copper, tobacco, paper, acids
and chemicals, malting, silverware, lead,
knit goods, sash and doors, wall-paper,
cigarettes, typewriters, window glass,
caskets, crockery, windows and doors,
smelting, ribbon, gossamer rubber, axes,
bolts and nuts, lithography, tissue paper,
rock salt, celluloid., saws, rope and twine,
thread, furniture, stockyards, matches,
ice, plate-glass, cartridges, menhaden,
linotypes, refrigerators (forming), land en
velopes, type, soda fountains, tacks, pot
teries. marbles, packing and provisions.
How much actual value of property is
represented by the $2,717,768,000 of stocks
and bonds of these combinations The
Herald considers difficult to tell:
“When an individual manufacturer or
miner sells his property to the promoters
of a combine ho naturally puts a high
value on it. When the combine then or
ganizes into a trust, and issues its secur
ities—or insecurities—.to be sold to the
public, it usually gives about three for
one in paper, so that the originally high
valuation is trebled in the capitalization.
This makes enough to go round, and it
only remains to get the shares listed on
a stock exchange and rig the market, un
til they are unloaded on the public.”
The federal anti-trust law (known as
the Sherman law and recently held by the
supreme court to apply to the joint traf
fic association) does not appear to inter
fere with the growth of industrial com
binations, and the newspapers find the
situation a fruitful subject for comment.
“The trusts are inimical to public pol
icy, not only because they are monopolis
tic, and in restraint of competition, but
because they oppress labor and put on
erous burdens on the whole people in
shape of enhanced prices. There has
been Latterly scarcely a trust formed the
first step of which was not the shutting
down of works and thu~ limiting the pro
duction and reducing the number of
wage earners. The next step has been
to put prices up. The sugar trust, for
instance, pays regularly a 12-per cent, div
idend and at times an extraordinary one,
upon many millions of capitalization,
which has been watered. This extraordi
nary dividend is paid by the 70,000.000 con
sumers for the sole benefit of the part
ners in the trust.- If the government was
to attempt to put a tax on sugar equal
to the aggregate of the dividends paid
A VISION OF HOME.
TROUBLESOME MA^AAFA.
With Germany favoring his aspirations for royalty; Mataafa has once more caused
trouble in Samos. For eleven years he has been an apnoyance to the powers. In 1888
he rebelled against King Tamasese, was victorious and became king. The treaty
cowers deposed him in favor of Malietoa. In 1893 he rebelled again and was exiled.
by the sugar trust, the popular protest
would be so great and general as to al
most threaten revolution Yet the peo
ple would cheerfully pay taxes for the
support of the government which under
no circumstances should they be obliged
to pay for the enrichment of the few
members of a monopolistic trust. Again,
a lesser affair, though it concerns a large
proportion of the community, is the pa
per trust, to which we referred to re
cently. The readers of newspapers alone
pay in the aggregate to the trust about
$2,000,00v a year, wnich it represented by
the trust’s increased price of paper used
by the newspapers alone. The buyers of
books, of all printed paper, must pay tri
bute to,this combination of dealers that,
aided by prohibitory duties, has killed
fair and open competition and arbitrar
ily fixed the price of paper to suit itself. •
“If congress had any genuine regard for
the interests of the people, or if it were
sincere of purpose respecting their com
mon welfare, or in regard to the proper
protection' of labor, it would promptly
transfer to the free list every product
controlled by a conscienceless and preda
tory trust .which reduces production, cuts
off forking people from work and wages,
a1K1 Increases prices to the tens of mil-*
lions of consumers. Trusts should be
treated by congress as outlaws with no
rights'to be respected by anybody.
DICKENS’S EDEN.
The Boom Town in* Missouri from Which He Drew His
“Martin Chuzzlewit” Now a Wilderness.
Charles Dickens, in his novel entitled
“Martin Chuzzlewit,” the only work of
fiction he wrote dealing with the United
States and its inhabitants, mentions a
town on the Mississippi river which he
calls Eden. The village upon which he
satirically bestowed this name was neith
er really known under that appellation,
nor was it by any means as pleasant and
beautiful a place as the word Eden would
naturally imply. Quite the contrary; as
will be readily understood by those who
read the story mentioned.
Martin Chuzzlewit, investing all of his
money—$150—In several lots in Eden, un
der representations that it was a city of
splendor and magnificence, a town where
business was ever at the height of activ
ity. felt proud that he had been so fortu
nate as to become a landed proprietor
in such a community, but when he ar
rived there and found only a small vil
lage, situated in a swampy district, with
a limited number of rude log cabins and
other structures standing in a clearing,
instead of the many business houses,
splendid dwellings, beautiful parks,
churches, academies and theatres, he was
greatly disappointed and immeditely real
ize^ that he had been imposed upon.
The place Dickens had in mind in his
Eden, and where his chief character, as
well as hundreds of other men whose
names are not celebrated in story, met
with such great disappointment, was a
scattered settlement situated on the Mis
sissippi river, at a point half way be
tween Hannibal Mo., and Quincy. 111.,
and was called Marion City, a village
which if it had attained to the Importance
designed by those who urged the project,
would have been the greatest city known
to the ancient or modern world—so high
soared the ambitious minds of those men
who planned the town, and who exerted
themselves to the utmost In trying to
make their scheme successful. But both
because of the unexpected operations of
nature and other events which have not
been considered the city which assumed
such pleasing proportions in their imagi
nations never grew* to more consequence
than a mere country village, where the
inhabitants, instead of having the expect
ed paved streets and walks of adamant,
dally trudged about in mud and water,
William Muldrow came from Muldrow’s
Hill, in Kentucky, and from his first ap
pearance in Missouri engaged In all kinds
of speculations. It soon dawned on his
mind that near the location would be a
good place for a city, and being a very
active, enthusiastic and spirited man, he
allowed no time to elapse from the con
ception of the project to the commence
ment of the necessary work.
* It has often been claimed that the plans
and operations of this man suggested
ta Mark Twain the illustrious Colonel
Mulberry Sellers. Mark Twain, coming In
contact with more than one man like
William Muldrow*. probably combined the
n^ost striking traits of them all in his
character of Sellers:
Traveling east with several chosen as
sistants William Muldrow endeavored to
persuade capitalists to invest money in
his city, and urged the *poorer classes to
move thither. Possessed of the splendid
maps, and being something of a ready
speaker, insinuating and of great force
of character, he immediately met with
encouraging recognation. Lots in Marion
City were disposed of at a pre
mium. and many esteemed
themselves very fortunate if able
to obtain ground there. Howrever,
by adroit and careful management, Mul
drow* succeeded in satisfying the demands
at every purchase, and having an exten-
sive^country over w’hich he could extend
the limits of his town, if necessary, he
could sell almost as much ground as any
one wished to buy. Large amounts of
money continued to come into his pos
session; lots in a desert swamp and wil
derness were assigned to many eager
Purchasers by the wholesale, and when
he returned to the place he had so ex
tensively advertised the numberless peo
ple who held deeds to property in a vis
ionary city were scattered far and wide.
In the spring og 1836 the first event oc
curred which was destined to eventually
cause the total abandonment and de
struction of Marion City. The great
river, swelled by heavy rains and melt
ing snow, rose to an unusual height and
completely flooded the town. A broad
sheet of rushing water stretched from
the bluffs of Illinois to those of Missouri.
People became disgusted with the place
and began to leave. William Muldrow,
with the assistance of several influential
men, used every argument, every prom
ise, to stay the disaffection and save the
tow*n. He partially succeeded, and had
it not been that other occurrences over
which he had no control again excited
the inhabitants, it cannot be doubted
that Marion City would have continued
to live.
CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER.
Page 1.—Growth of the Big Trusts—Hon
eymoons in New York.
Page 2.—With Lee in Virginia, new serial.
Page 8.—Great South: News Notes—Build
Factories—Native Copper in Abund
ance—Miscellany.
Page 4. — Woman’s Kingdom: Seeing
Royalty Under Adverse Circumstan
ces—The 8pring Renovation—Our Let
ter Box—The Visitor Comes.
Page 5.—Kingdom Continued: In the
Book Salon—Rudyard Kipling—How to
Care for Laces.
Page 6.—Editorial: "Seeing Life"—Rules
in Case of Fire—The High Tide of
Speculation—'1 he Louisiana Exposi
tion—What the President Costs—The
Great S. R. R. System—Prize Essays.
Page 7.—Some Georgians of Our Day.
Page 8.—Our Boys and Girls: Jack the
Inventor—Papa’s Words.
Page 9.—Youths’ Page Continued: Sun
day School Lesson—The Child of the
Fields—A Lassie's Prayer—Puzzler.
Page 10.—Confederate Vets’ Page: Con
federate Reunion—Incidents of the
Civil War—Will Put Flowers on
Graves—Headstones for Heroes—Sol
diers’ Home to Be Sold Again—How
Tennesseeans Shoot—Have Seen Hor
rors of War—Miscellany.
Page 11.—The Glass Dagger, serial—Gems
in Verse.
Page 12.—Held in Stout Grip, Dr. Tal-
mage's Sermon.
Honeymoons m Hew Yon.
The maximum and minimum Cost to a Bridal Couple
in Some of the Greatest Hotels in the World.
“About ten thousand honeymoons
are spent in New York annually,” said
the manager of one ol^ the big hostelrles.
“We gauge the figures very nearly right,
I fancy. New York is the Mecca for
blushing brides and bridegrooms from
the far corners of this country. The
city with its gorgeous hotels and amuse
ment palaces has no rival in the affec
tions of the newly wedded pairs from out
of town. We find our bridal suits in con
stant demand.”
“Is a New York honeymoon too expen
sive for a man with a modest income,
or can it be brought down to an econom
ical basis?” asktd the reporter.
“That question need not be a vexed
one.” replied the hotel man. “A honey
moon here can he as costly as the purse
can buy, or It can be spent for an amaz
ingly small amount, if you will take into
consideration the luxury afforded by our
modern hotels. For instance, not long
ago a young western multi-millionaire
brought his bride here to one of our pal
ace hotels. It cost him $7ov a day for liv
ing expenses. He spent that amount
with the hotel people.
“In the hotel at the same time were a
young couple from a New England town
whose daily bills amounted to $11, which
included their meals in the hotel. Using
these figures, which are entireley accu
rate, one can readily see that luxurious
living here is not so frightfully exorbi
tant as our out-of-town friends imagine.
These two couples were at the most ex
pensive hotel in the cl 13*. which by no
means insures the fact that it is the best.
There are some half dozen other hotels
quite as good and far cheeaper. Of
course there is no| the magnificent glit
ter. Besides the young people do de
light in sending the crested stationery
from the famous hotel to dazzle the eyes
of the home folks.”
" Seven hundred dollars seemed a fabu
lous sum for two people to spend in one
day for a living. Was the hotel manager
a rival of Munchausen, or did the west
ern millionaire steal his ideas of a honey
moon from the magnificence of the “Ara
bian Nights?”
Investigation proved that the young
westerner had cultivated an unquench
able thirst for modern luxury. Fortune
had kindly relieved him of all thought
for the morrow, so without regard to
cost he ordered what suited his fancy:
A glance at his bills and the following
items were gleaned:
State chamber Waldorf-Astoria,
per day $500.00
Private dining room 50.00
Adjoining room for maid, electric
connection 15.00
Board for maid * 6.00
Meals, wines, ere.* 100.00
Carriage, exclusive use 10.00
Tips 5.00
Room and board for valet 10.00
Flowers for rooms 4.00
Total $700.00
The state chamber in the Waldorf-As
toria is the most costly in the house. It
is not of great size, but in magnificence
rivals the most famous bedchambers of
European palaces.
The room is furnished and decorated
in the style of Francis I. The four-pos
ter bedstead, with its canopy, is an ex
act reproduction in walnut of the origi
nal in the museum at Cluny. The cost of
the, bed alone is $3,500. The prie dieu in
the room cost $1,000. Draperies, carpets,
tapestries and paintings frame in rare
bric-a-brac and make the room, one of
beauty and splendor.
The chamber is one of the statf^ suit,
especially reserved for the reception of
~ (Continued on Page f’lve.)
DBTUCT PRUT
