Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-03-24
ERIE VS.. VANDERBILT.
Vanderbilt end Drew as Painted In tvl-
dsnCe by the lrrepressible lin Fisk.
From the Courier Journal.l

diti0Hs which, as alleged, were not
fulfilled, James Fisk, Jr., better
known as Prince Erie, was on the
stand this afternoon. His quaint an
| svers, all given with an air OF COM
| icality, kept the court and audience
! in a continuous roar of laughter.
| Upon being asked what Vanderbilt
! told him at an interview had in Jer-
| sew City, Fisk testified as follows:
t He said to me that he wished to
| ascertain from me If the matter could
| be settled; that it seemed to him as II
about all the directors in the Erie
Railway Company wanted TO trade
with him, and he wanted to know
which was the right man; that ne
! thought | was the one he wanted 10
see. / told him if he wanted good
! trade he ought to trade with me.
! ITLaughter1. lie said he thought had
about as much power as any Of them;
! that the old man Drew was no bet
ter than a butter pudding; that Ell
| bridge was demOTailzed entirely, and
that there was no head or tail to our
| concern. I told him that that was my
opinion also. He entered into long
conversation. He said to me that |
must always take my position as
| found It; that there l was, aud that
| he would keep these bioOd-hOundS (re-
| ferring to Clark and the lawyers) on
our track; that he would be damned
/ if he didn't keep them after Us
! If we didn't take the stock on
| his hands. | told him that II l haQ
| my way I'd he da1nned LehergeLlcai,
! Iyl if tOUk q share Off; that ne nHd
J Brought the punishment upon him
/ self and that he deserved it. This
entirely mellOwed him down. Then
| he said that the differences could
/ never be brought to a settlement IN
| less we tried TO act together. told
| him we could act together II he didn /
| try TO rGh this corporation; that ne
/ was a rObber, and that l would not
| submit TO 1t under any circumstances
whatever; that | was dumbf0undeG
and thunderstruck to find Oh coming
into his presence that ne admitted Gu
gaging in such transactions on the
part of our Directors, whom l had be-
fore considered ss having some spark
of respectability, and endeav0red to
consummate such a trade. Those
were the words l told him. When |
came into the other room he repeated
virtually the same thing"
On cross examination Judge Davis
asked Mr.. Fisk:
When did you cease to reside in
Boston?
A. At that time. Laughter.
The witness was examined at length
as to the various changes OF officers OF
the Erie Company.
~ went into the directory October
Is, 1867. 1 can remember that, be-
cause it was an episode in nay life
worthy of being fixed in nay mind,
because had no gray hairs at that
time" Laughter.
@. You had gray hairs from that
time?
4. Yes, sir.
@. You say this Is your first expert
ence as WiJness2
A. think that I testified once he
fore in a COW case in the country,
when I was a boy. Laughter.
The witness was Questioned minute
" in reference to his first interview
| with Vanderbilt; and, while he was
! describing the Commodore as getting
on his best. and being slip-shOd, Judge
! Barnard said: You had better leave
! them at this place until tomorrow at
II O'clock" The court then adjourned.
/ NEW YORK, March l8.-rhe cOntro-
varsg .,aLWeen the Eric Railway Com
DanT and CommodOre Vanderbilt was
/ continued to-day before Judge Bar
| nard. Supreme Court, special term,
and the crOss-eXaminatEOl OF jlm
Fisk. Jr,, was continued by EX-JuGge
Davis. commencing with the interview
with him and Mr.. Vanderbilt IN the
lattpr's bedroom. The witness re-
heated his testimony OF the day pre-
Vious. and amused the spectators
/ greatly By the manner OF giving his
evidence, He said;
After the conversation Vanderbilt
got up from the bed where he had been
Sitting, and went into the other F0om
and sat down, and | noticed partlcu-
larIv his shoes and the buckles. There
were four buckles. L had never seen
| shoes with buckles in that manner be-
fore. and | thought that if this sort OF
MEG ALWAYS wore those kind OF shoes,
u [ might perhaps want pair. 1t
flashed through my mind then, end L
have thought of it q great many times
. since then. I was in the room from
! twenty to thirty minutes. We then
went out where Mr.. Gould was sitting
| bv the IRE. / told him In a few words
what we had been talking about. !
could not tell just when it was wi; hout
bordering over the events OF my life
about that time.n
To the question, "What particular
event OF your life would enable you to
fix the timer" he answered:
"Ihe most impressive thing upon
nv mind at that time was the al
mighty robbery this man Vanderbilt
was attempting 10 carry on against
the Erie Railroad Company. That
has always been on my mind"
He thus described his meeting with
the com pirators at Judge PieTrepont's:
"Gould was right behind me. In
times like these be is not lar behind.
When the servant opened the door to
90 into the reception room, | was very
careful to be in the line of the door,
so that | Q uld look ia. Mr.. Pierre
pont at that moment stepped in the
+, hall. l asked him If Eidridge was
! there. He said he thought he was,
and said be wanted TO step IN and see.
l stepped In, too. 1t was in that room
that | found the cOnspiratOrs, as l
called them. found Eldridge, Drew,
Pierrepont (he went in with me),
. Richmond, Schell, Frank Work and
Rapelleo. / said to Eldridge, "You
are not arranging with these people,
: are you?" He said yes; they were
7 about consummating trade" said
that they should not if could stop
: it. | said that from what I had heard
frDn the Commodore l had made up
|, | my mind that they had concluded
y 10 force n settlement through with
; out regard TO the wishes o.
/ l'mvself and Gould. / said
: they could not make a settlement
u without taking large amount OF the
: corporatiOn's money, snd that didn't
> believe they could carry out any such
Z, robbery. He said he didn't want tC
E 90 into it, but he had tried to do the
u best he could with Gould and myself
J and could do nothing, and he had gOt
A price set upon Vanderbilt, and hC
' intended to settle in that way. a
: that time Drew took a hand in. Th'
u old gentleman's voice was little
Q weak. He went on to tell what h'
e had suffered during his pilgrimage il
, Jersey. He said that our relations
= had been very pleasant together; tina
they were older in these matters thai
1 was. ! was very glad to hear hin
say he was older in that matter. H
said that settlements of this kind wer
nothing unusual in large corporations
v / told him if that was so, we ought I,
d have larger State prisons, for tha
h was the worst class of rObber,
d agoing. l told him it was tn
G. greatest piece of robbery
ID have heard Of being perpetrated
D. He said the Commodore would no
D. settle without, and that the suit
10 ..,,ld =, n.rar ha wit hi "a N,n Tho thi n