[LB040487], Letter from Alfred Ord Tate to Samuel Insull, May 13th, 1890
https://edisondigital.rutgers.edu/document/LB040487
Transcription
May 13, 1890 Samuel Insull, Esq., #44 Wall Street, New York City Dear Sir:- I attach hereto (1) Letter of Thomas A. Edison to Everett Frazar, Jan. 25, 1890, (2) Letter of Everett Frazar to Thomas A. Edison January 31st, 1890 (3) Thomas A. Edison to Everett Frazar, Feb. 7thm 1890 This correspondence sets forth the arrangement under which Mr. Frazar and his firms are conducting the China-Japan phonograph business. It was at first intended to make a formal contract with Frazar, and the matter was placed by me in the hands of Major Faton, who drafted a contract, to certain portions of which Mr. Frazar objected, as indicated in Mr. Edison's letter, Jan. 25th, 1890, above referred to. The former said that while he did not object to a contract, he preferred going ahead and doing all he could without onerous guarantees. It was then that we decided to have the business [remainder of page illegible] clearly defined. Mr. Frazar entered upon the business with considerable vigor, as you know, sending an expert to China and Japan, and has been a good customer--one who is entitled to every consideration at the hands of the people who now control the phonograph in those countries. Since the date of agreements with the Edison United Phonograph Company, viz., the 11th day of March, 1890, about two thousand dollars worth of phonographs and supplies have been billed against Mr. Frazar. You will recollect that the contracts referred to above were actually signed on the 22nd March. Mr. Frazar's orders for three-quarters of the amount named were received here and passed March 17th, before the writer knew the date of the transfer to the E.U.P. Co., the balance was billed in error. We will be glad to know how to treat Mr. Frazar's requisitions in the future. Yours very truly, A.O. Tate