New-York tribune., 1870-04-14
FISK AND BURT.
A REPLY BY COL. JAMES FISK, JR.

To the Editor Of The N. Y. Trtoune'
SIR: In your issue Of April II you reiterate
the statements of Mr.. Burt, that Mr. Gould and myse
have had charge of Erie Railway for two years. and
that I'm that period and under our administration the
number Of persons killed and injured upon the road was
greater by 2e than In the two years previous to our
coming into power Mr. Burt, Of course, knew better
when he made this statements but you, suppose In an
innocent reliance upon the peculiar truthfnncss OF
Englishmen have been led to believe that whate'er
Mr.. Burt said must needs be true
The facts about this matter however, are as fohows'
Mr. Rurt took his figures from the reports made TO the
legislature and II he had truly stated theIn ne wouid
have shown first place. that up to the date Oh inc
last report Mr. Gould had been President, ana 0on
troer of the Erie Railway for only fourteen months lie
would have shown that in the first twelve months OF our
administration the total number OF accidents upon the
road of every kind " less than In the ike period
under the administration OF predecessors he would
have shown that the number OF accidents TO passengers
had been reduced from III, In the twelve months pre-
ceding our acce sson to 81 in our first twelve months
Ifhe had then taken the pains to refer 10 the detailed
account OF these accidents, he would have 1ound tnat
nine of the accidents passengers were caused by ter
own fault, most of them being drunken ineh WHO rieu
TO get out of the while In notion
He would have found that of the remainder were In
ured by the accident at Mast Hope, which was caused
by the carelessness OF James Grn an engineer III go
ing TO sleep upon his post and starting or his trh u
knows would have been entirely unavoidable under any
administration whatever He would have found that
deductin six persons killed through this particular act
of Grn's and three other passengers who owed their
death entirely to their careessness, there was In
fact only passenger killed by any fault OF the Erie
Railway during the first IL months in which its affairs
were managed by Mr. Could whereas, III the previous IL
months, there were 80 killed.
II he had chosen 10 extend his inquiries little further
he would have found that the sole why large
number Of accidents was reported by the Erie halfway
Company during the last year that this Company
almost, quite alone among the railroad corpora
tions of this State taken special pains to collect in
formation concerning accidents OF every kind happening
upon its line and has honestly reported them to the
legislature He would have found, by examining the
reorts and 1885, to which he refers as the hacon
years of the Erie Railway the planest evidence Oh their
face that they made with no approach to accuracy
Thus in of these years he would nave ouhn ~ ru
the wear who was not either passenger or an enpoye
of the road In other words, that nobody had been hurt
in crossing the track or walking along H. or trying 10
climb on the cars, unless he killed outright in trying
to do statement absurd that Mr. Burt himself
could not however expect Mr.. Burt to use this de-
gree OF fairness 1t is his Interest to make good point
wherever lie can, and Judging rom thc freedom WIN
which he bOrrows other peoples documents without
Rr Isrnphd In hSnG lon gPSe a t ta e %OGa
you who have interest in pervcrng the truth as has
hc M f haf been to fn ed sHS IN this Gn
s sGr Ct od ns ssfy Of rc e
July 80, 1863, when he assumed that position, until
December 1869, which is the latest date up to which
am able to obtain statistics, only one passenger was
killed upon the road by any means which wth the
Der of cupabc accidents upon the road, particularly OF
such class as endangcr the lives OF passengers has
been under Mr. Gouds administrations These are facts
which can be ascertained by any one who takes the
trouble to refer to the official documents on hle at
Albany.
unfounded statements concerning the want OF safety on
the road you further accept his statement that he repre-
sents wothirds of the Erie Stockholders as matter OF
course, and make his assertions respectable by yonr In
dorsement. Now, Mr. Burt after long flourish Of pre-
paration, has at last commenced his terlc proceedngs
In the United states Court and inanuch as he has dark
y threatened what fearful things he was going to do In
that Court and what Tremendous power he would bring
full strength Of his centage n his suit particularly as
Der separate stockholders plaintiffs when Mr. Burt
was at Albany he profossed that he held actual
tent of 10000 and that he represented in all
5OoOco shares. When he appears, under OATH in the
down to 9420 So Mr.. Burt further stated al Albany
that he had personal assurance OF cooperation from the
after the most digent efforts he has only been able TO
the signatures CT the holders OF 9jS shares e. his
petition for the repeal Of tie Classification w ard these
are all owners merely OF preferred stock, WHO naturally
have prejudice against the present management which
has refused t. sacrifice the Interest alike of the holders OF
common stock and Of the public by paying dividend;
have deprived the of the means of keeping
Mr. Burt has come here in all his majesty to pursue
three ns gncant ndiy yduas, who totally unqualified
by ability or training to meet 30 mighty foe And feel
ing certain from his high character mastery ability and
transcendent eloqueEce nothing Of his capacity
for rescuing other peoples property from them, IL
nstrated by his adroitness IN slipping private docu
mens into his pocket at Albany under the very eyes Of
ncOrruptbe Legislators that il will lie in vain for
to resist the demand which he has made for the
whole of my personal property for the benefit Of his 5C
600 men in buckram have determined 10 acccde to it,
upon the single and most asOna5c condition. that Mr.
Burt and his clients shall apply 1t to the satisfaction of
those long delayed and uncyily treated Alabama claims
which are, believe of just about the as
the claims presented by the indignant British stock
holder. Will give due notice to the holders of Alabama
claims of the acceptatiOn Of this offer by Mr. Burt and
with this "A Thirteenth Temptation, and Burt as the
lost soul, anticipate crowded house when pay day
arrives. Yours respectfully, JAMES FISK, JI.
Nep York, April IS, 1870.