42 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



give one an idea of the immense business transacted in the 

 Borough. 



The New York Telephone Company, for example, which has 

 about $4,000,000 invested in The Bronx, increased its services 

 by installing 4,648 telephones during the past year. On January 

 1st, 1906, there were but 5,573 telephones in use in The Bronx, 

 while on February 28th, 1913 there were 26,622. 



The New York Edison Company is also making large ex- 

 penditures in The Bronx for the development and improvement of 

 its facilities for furnishing both light and power. The increase in 

 its business during the past year was most remarkable. In 1911 

 it had 20,148 customers on its books and in 1912 they numbered 

 28,582. 



The Bronx possesses the largest and most perfect plants for 

 the making of ice machines and gas engines. All the five com- 

 panies which supply gas in the Borough show marked increases in 

 the number of customers supplied during 1912. The Central Union 

 Gas Company alone entered over 7,000 new customers on their 

 books during the year, which brings their total to 87,000 customers. 



The annual consumption of coal and the increase from year 

 to year is also a fair barometer of the business activity in The 

 Bronx. In 1912 it reached its record mark of 1,760,000 tons. 



Another proof of the growth of the general retail business 

 activity in the Borough is the fact that the National Cash Register 

 Company sold over a thousand additional machines during the last 

 year. 



By means of the Harlem River Ship Canal many of the new 

 products of the country are brought nearer to the Bronx Borough. 



For the accommodation of business men, manufacturers and 

 merchants, financial institutions of every class, including a National 

 Bank with numerous branches of State Banks and Trust Com- 

 panies have been established at all convenient points. For the 

 thrifty there are saving banks. All of these institutions are well 

 managed and conducted on safe lines so as to command the full 

 confidence of their customers. 



For the very immediate future the following improvements 

 have been contemplated which will add impetus to business growth : 

 Erection of a new station on the New York Central Railroad; 

 change from a two-track to a six-track system on the New York, 

 New Haven & Hartford Railroad from Harlem River to New 



