Telephone's Treasurer

Fortnight ago the No. 1 corporation of the world mailed $42,000,000 in dividends to 700,000 shareholders. It was the biggest regular quarterly dividend ever paid by any corporation, received by the biggest single body of stockholders in the world. Few shareholders realized another unique feature about the payment: the checks bore a dead man's signature. They were valid, however, because their real signer was not the Treasurer, but A. T. & T. itself.

Last week, however, a new A. T. & T. treasurer was chosen to succeed the late Hugh Blair-Smith; henceforth the corporation's checks will again be proper. The new treasurer is not noted for any flair of financial genius or for a sparkling personality. But he is a man who has spent three long decades learning the intricacies of the company's accounting system, a man who has worked hard and has been devoted to his employer's interest. After being graduated from a public school in Jersey City, N. J., James Franklin Behan went to work .for New York Telephone Co. as a ledger clerk. Nine years later he was shifted to A. T. & T. and made an accountant. Then, after eight more years, he was made assistant comptroller. Last week he came to work in a brown suit to match the upholstery in his new office and smoked a very big cigar. He is proud of his Masonic activities but now that he is 54 years old he has been neglecting them a little for golf.

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