[LB028293], Letter from Thomas Alva Edison to George Edward Gouraud, February 20th, 1889

https://edisondigital.rutgers.edu/document/LB028293

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Title

[LB028293], Letter from Thomas Alva Edison to George Edward Gouraud, February 20th, 1889

Editor's Notes

"I have received your letter of the 6th instant, in regard to advances which you have made to Mr. O. S. Wiley. You have an entirely mistaken idea of this whole business. Mr. Wiley was sent by me to London to carry out certain definite instructions which were given him before he left New York, in connection with an arrangement which I had previously made with Mr. Dredge. Mr. Dredge received from us a letter, instructing him in regard to payments which were to be made to Mr. Wiley, on my behalf; and I desire to say right here that Mr. Dredge has carried out these instructions to the letter, that I have had no misunderstanding with him, and that the trouble which has occurred has been entirely the fault of Mr. Wiley. A short time after he arrived in England I found that he had overdrawn his account some sixty pounds. These sixty pounds were advanced to him by you, at the same time that he was receiving money from Mr. Dredge. I wrote Mr. Wiley for an explanation, and he returned a very thin excuse in regard to expenses which he had to incur for cabs on account of his being unfamiliar with the City of London, which was really no explanation at all. I thereupon wrote to Mr. Dredge to reduce Mr. Wiley’s allowance to an amount which was quite sufficient for him to live comfortably in London, my intention being to credit his account with the balance of his allowance, and thus absorb the overdraft referred to and have him pay back the indebtedness in that manner. At the same time I notified Mr. Wiley of this arrangement. In direct opposition to the instructions given him, Mr. Wiley drew upon me the other day for fifty pounds, and I immediately cabled Mr. Dredge to hand this young man a ticket for New York and sufficient money for his current expenses, and cabled Wiley to return home at once. ### So far as I can tell from this distance, Mr. Wiley appears to have simply run wild in London, and used his connection with myself for the purpose of raising all the money he could obtain from my friends. Mr. Wiley was not required to pay out any money, excepting for his own expenses. All other expenses were provided for by my arrangement with Mr. Dredge, which was a very perfect one, he being entirely familiar with my wishes. ### I wrote you some time ago, asking you not to advance Mr. Wiley any money, but it appears from your letter under reply, that he has persuaded you to make him further payments. I wish you would be kind enough to draw upon me immediately for the full amount which you have advanced in this manner, so that I can close the matter up." Yours very truly, [signed] TAE

Date

1889-02-20

Type

Folder/Volume ID

LB028-F

Microfilm ID

138:906

Document ID

LB028293

Publisher

Thomas A. Edison Papers, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University
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