read mr. perkins’s letter again. there is nothing in it about organizing a new “k” company. he proposes to organize a company for somebody else, and charge that somebody else for his services. he proposes to take our old company as a gift, and thus save some expense in the detail of organizing a new one. his new company would formerlyⒶemendation make over to me all the rights and properties which i now possess under our k organization. i suppose i should then make the same over to you so that you could continue to conduct and wind up that business. as i understand perkins, this would leave me exactly as i am and at the same time relieve us from the necessity of making company reports and so on. look into the matter and if you find that this is not true, or that we should be more inconveniently situated then than we are now, write perkins and knock the thing in the head. but if you shall find that perkins is right and that we shall be convenienced rather than inconvenienced by making him a present of our old organization, go ahead and write him so and close the thing up. i am perfectly willing to accommodate mr. perkins, but i don’t want to do it if it is going to cost us any trouble or bother. i leave the matter with you and him for final settlement, and reinclose to you the stock and his letter. understand me distinctly, that if for any reason whatever you prefer to continue the organization as it is, do that very thing and no other; for you are the one who will have to do the k work and therefore should arrange it in such a way as shall be most convenient for yourself.

when newman is sending some one to hartford, let him come prepared to reorganize our batteries if necessary. the bells quit on us two or three times a week. it must be that there is something worn out about the batteries. and i also want him to come prepared to make the alarm clock behave itself. i still have to turn it around twelve hours every night. it has never worked well, neither did its predecessor.

bouton’s understanding with you does not seem to have been permanent. by the inclosed you will see that he drew on me the other day. i paid no attention to it and allowed his “draw” to go to protest. by the date of this bill, april 27th of last year, i judge that bouton made no claim on me for any previous year. and i judge from that, that slote must have paid him the first year’s subscription. that first year was several years ago, since which time i have never renewed my subscription. if you can find out that either slote or i have ever paid one year’s subscription, that is all i want to know. if one subscription has never been paid, i am willing that you shall pay for one year and close up the controversy. but if any year has already been paid, mr. bouton will have to sue me as long as i live, and then i won’t pay.

osgood and i will be down about the first of march, and then i propose to go and see slote and company.