[D8936AAZ], Letter from Edison Electric Light and Power Co (Kansas City), Edwin Ruthven Weeks to Thomas Alva Edison, December 13th, 1889
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Title
[D8936AAZ], Letter from Edison Electric Light and Power Co (Kansas City), Edwin Ruthven Weeks to Thomas Alva Edison, December 13th, 1889
Editor's Notes
[This is an enclosure to D8936AAY] Kansas City, Dec. 13, 1889, Dictated, Mr. Thomas A. Edison, Orange, N.J, My dear Mr. Edison:##A recent letter from Mr. Hix informes me that you fear that you cannot arrange to give us the discussion by phonograph. I trust this will not be your final decision in the matter, however, as relying upon the promise given me when Mr. Hix and I last visited you at Orange, I have written some thousand personal letters to the central station companies of the United States and have, through the local and western daily papers, mentioned as one of the most important features of the programme your discussion by phonograph. The mention of this discussion has been most faorably received not only by central station men but by prominent citizens and the newspapers, and to drop it from our programme will not only greatly disappoint the people of the west, but will place me in a very embarrassing position.##I feel that nothing further is needed to induce you to make a special effort to help me out, but it may not be out of place for me to add that nothing else except your personal presence in Kansas City would so advance the Edison interests in the west, both the phonograph and the electric light, as a short discussion from you upon the Five Wire System as suggested in my letter of the 11th ult.##we greatly need more capital with which to extend the business of the EdisonCompany in Kansas City, and it is my plan and hope to place the necessary increase to our capital stock as one of the immediate results of the interest developed by your discussion. I enclose clipping of data, which I have been at much pains to collect, in regard to Kansas city and the west, and send this letter to our common friend, Mr. Hix, with the request that he present it to you in person.##Hoping to hear from you favorably at your earliest convenience, I remain Yours very truly, Edwin R. Weeks##[Enclosure]: Kansas City has an aggregated population of 247,000. $20,000,000 are invested in street railroads.##It has a greater mileage of cable street roads than any other city in the world.##The investment in buildings for the past year was $9,500,000. Kansas City is the 12th city of the U.S in banking capital.##'' 10th in bank clearings## '' 9th in volume of post office business### '' 5th in volume of telegraph business.##3rd in transfers of real estate.##2nd in live stock and packing house business.##2nd in volume of passenger traffic.##1st in per cent. Of profit from post office.##1st in the number of telephones in proportion to the population.##1st in the number of telephone calls per telephone.##1st in volume of agricultural implement business##1st in extent and resources of tributary territory##has 19 railroads radiating in all directions.##In the tributary regions are over 600 cities, whose populations range from 3,000 upward.##Less than 50 per cent. Of these cities are supplied with central station electric light service.##Though most of them have street railroads, there are only 45 electric roads in operation.##The business prosperity for 1890 is assured by the unparalleled agricultural yeild of this regino during the present year.##The value of the total products in Kansas and Texas alone for 1889, computed upon the bsis of estimates from the commissioners of agriculture, is $432,000,000.##[name mentions: F.J Sprague, Association of Edison Illuminating Cos, William Preston Hix, Edison Electric Light Co., Edwin R Weeks, Edison Electric Light & Power Co (Kansas City), Professor Henry A Rowland, A.O Tate]
Recipient
Mentioned
Date
1889-12-13
Type
Folder/Volume ID
D8936-F
Microfilm ID
126:335
Document ID
D8936AAZ
Publisher
Thomas A. Edison Papers, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University