Mark Twain in German-Language Newspapers and Periodicals

Plasmon | Bankruptcy

According to contemporary newspaper reports, the Plasmon Company of America had suffered from in-company fighting and misunderstandings almost since its foundation at the turn of the century. In October 1907, a court case (see the report in the New-York tribune, 16 Oct. 1907) was brought before the Supreme Court, Brooklyn, in which Ralph W. Ashcroft accused one of the Plasmon shareholders, John H. Hammond, of libel. A telegram which Hammond had sent to Clemens in 1904 had described Ashcroft as unfit for his position as manager and stockholder of the Plasmon Company. The resulting conflict likely brought about the company’s bankruptcy later the same year, when, in December 1907, some of the company’s creditors – all of which had previously held some position in the company’s management – forced Plasmon to file for bankruptcy, their claims ranging from $1.000 to $8.000 (see the report in the New-York tribune, 21 Dec. 1907).

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