Charles F. Sloane Company agent for Hemingray & Pass & Seymour Insulators

THE CHARLES F. SLOANE COMPANY.

THE term "more than satisfactory" concisely indicates the condition of The Charles F. Sloane Company during the year 1903. Especially successful has been the business that has been transacted in the sale of Hart switches, Flexduct, Pass & Seymour porcelains, Norbitt specialties, the Holtzer-Cabot motors and specialties, Bryan-Marsh incandescent lamps and the well-known Hemingray high-tension insulators. A number of new accounts have been added to the long list already held by the company, prominent among these being that of the United Marine Supply Company of New York, which concern is engaged in the manufacture of electrical material for ships and fortifications in strict accordance with the rigorous requirements of the army and navy specifications. A great deal of business has already been done in this line and much more is in sight. A further acquisition in the line of agencies has recently been that of the Stanley Instrument Company, which was given to The Charles F. Sloane Company through the courtesy of John Martin & Co.

An allied industry is that of the Standard Underground Cable Company, which is represented by Mr. Sloane as an individual. Of late the Oakland factory of the company named has been increased to twice its former size by the addition of a new building, which is thoroughly equipped with the most modern machinery for cabling, braiding, etc. In fact, the Oakland factory of the Standard Underground Cable Company is now prepared to furnish anything that may be required in the way of bare, paper-covered, weather-proof or rubber wire and cables, either braided, lead covered or iron armored, for underground or submarine use.

During the past year the Standard Underground Cable Company has made and installed the underground system of the Seattle Electric Company of Seattle, and in addition all the underground cables of the Seattle fire alarm and police telegraph system are of Standard manufacture. A considerable installation of these has also been made in Spokane. Numerous other smaller and less important cables have been placed from the product of the Oakland factory, the most interesting of which was an installation of a three-phase conductor, 10,000-volt, submarine cable, which affords the connecting link for the delivery of power from the Hay Counties Power Company's Transmission lines at Vallejo, across Mare Island Sound, to the navy yard at Mare Island, this being the first installation of the kind on the Pacific Coast. In this connection it is interesting to note that during the past year the Standard Underground Cable Company has completed and put into operation what is probably the largest bare copper wire mill in America. This is situated at Perth Arnboy, N. J., which is practically on New York Harbor, where the works are many times larger than those at Pittsburg, which are now devoted almost entirely to the manufacture of telephone cable.

Shortly before the close of 1903, an important acquisition to the staff of The Charles F. Solane [sic] Sloane Company was made in the person of Angelo R. Duperu, late assistant general manager of the Independent Electric Light and Power Company of San Francisco, prior to its absorption by the San Francisco Gas and Electric Company. Mr. Duperu brings a fund of valuable information and acquaintance, besides unusual executive ability. He is a considerable stockholder in the Sloane Company, of which he is secretary and treasurer. Mr. Sloane still holds the presidency, and although he gives a large portion of his attention to the management of the business of the Standard Underground Cable Company, the entire business of The Charles F. Sloane Company is under his general supervision and direction.

H. M. Estes, who continues as vice-president, is active in handling some of the most important agencies carried, while Mr. Duperu is in charge of all office matters and looks after the interests of the remaining agencies. The incandescent lamp trade, represented in the sale of the Bryan-Marsh and the Sloane Company's brand of "Sierra" lamps, is attended to by R. L. Phelps. A very important street and steam railway supply business has also been developed of late under the management of E. K. Preston. The Los Angeles office is now in charge of Garnett Young, while that of Seattle continues to show very satisfactory results under the management of C. A. Brown.

One of the most important changes of the year was the removal of the general offices of the company from the Mills building to the Crossley building, which was found to be a necessity because of the concentration of practically all of the electrical interests of the city about the corner of New Montgomery and Mission Streets. Altogether the year 1903 was a most successful and prosperous one to The Charles F. Sloane Company, and the prospects are that the business of the past will be but a suggestion of that which the future has in store.