The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-01-13

alerward on the witness stand described Cne
Ssrysn The directors OF Erie took $4,000
shares of stock Off Vanderbilts shoulders al
70. and gave him 81, 900, 600 besides. Eldrldge
got 81 900, 900 of Erie acceptances IN exchange
for s5. .O0O. 600 of Boston, Hartford and Erie,
which became bankrupt very soon alterWard.
Drew kept all he had made, but was TO pay
$3.50, 900 into the Erie treasury, and stanl &C.
quilted of all claims the corporation mlght
have against him. Nearly half million more
was required to pay the lawyers and dlscon-
tinue the suirs. Fisk, getting nothing per-
sonaly, stood out against the arrangement
until the conspiratOrs consented TO give nlm-
ths Erie Railroad d! Drew and some others
were 10 resign, and Fisk and Gould TO take
possession OF the property.
Thus began the most extraordinary chapters
of railway management the world has ever
seen. A series of dishonorable transactions
on the stock exchange had plundered one Oh
The most magnificent roads In America OF
about $4,000, 900, and left 1t, with an empty
treasury and legacy OF lawsuits, under the
control OF two adyenturers, who mad not e1-
perience enough to run hand-ca TheJ
took advantage Of the calm which followed
to clear out the old board of auditors, aud
concentrate all power In the four oflces-as
president vice president, treasurer ana comp
troller-which they then divided equally, eacn
taking Two. There had already been indica-
and the bargain was now completed by the
admission of Tweed and Sweeny to the di-
rectorsblp, and the appointment of Barnard
as Judge in ordinary. They needed strength
ening. The stock lad gone down to A, and
was destined soon 10 20 10 70. vanderbilt
was still 10 be feared, and an election for OIL
rectors was coming on, when the King mgnt
be completely destroyed. How FISK ana COULD
met these difficulties everybody knows. .The
printing press was set running to manufacture
more stock. Englishmen were investing heaY-
ily in Erie Just then, with the idea apparently
that because it was cheap 1t must be GOOD.
Fisk aud Gould sold the new stock TO tnem,
but kept 1t In their own names, as brokers', on
the transfer books, and 80 could vote TOR them
selves with 1t after It mad passed out OF s sneir
possession. Finally, when the foreign hold
ers. alarmed at the depreciation OF the prop
erIy. sent the certificates to New York aud
sought to have them transferred in the usual
way. Mr. Fisk, with the assistance OF Gould
and Barnard, seized them under cover OF q nc
tItious suit, and had them paced in the hands
of Judge Barnard's Gralz, who was as safe o
voter as Fisk himself.
We shall not undertake 10 trace the compN-
Gated suits which Fisk ana his conftderales
have since promoted. Probably 1t would be
unfair 10 hold him principally responsible Tor
the judicial scandals In which he was the most
conspicuous figure. His was not the cunning
brain which devised the shameful chicanery.
and planned out long legal campaigns full OF
ambuscadesand surprises, and treacnerles aad
dishonors. He was rather The daring and reck-
less executor of the designs OF more crafty
associates: but 1t was the nature OF The man
TO be the most conspicuous figure Of ahy COM
pany into which he might be thrown. In
that band Of t.brlggans" ito use his own
orthrugraphy) which has held possession OF
the Erie Road for The last four years, ne has
always been the loudest and the biggest;
but we donbt whether he has been Inc
captain. He has gllttered with ribbons
and gay breeches. His arms have been the
brightest. His swagger has been the grand
est. But there has been more suite masker
behind him. II was the peddlrr's taste for
varnish which placed the Erie offices 10 a the
atrical palace. and filed them with magnih-
cence of carved wood and gliding, and bur.
nished morocco and mOnstrous mirrors. IL
was In spirit OF oaroaric maSnlacence ram
er, perhaps, than OF speculation, that ne
bought the Eighth Avenue Operahouss; and
leased part Oft TO the railroad; bought the Filth
Avenue Theatre; bought summer garGen mp
town, for the purpose OF running 3 restaurant;
bought two lines Of steamboats,, and put HIM
self into naval uniform; bought coaches anu
baggage wagons; bought everything that
petually In the public ear, the portly figure OF
james Fisk, Jr.. perpetually In the public eye,
Bat, in managing the business details OF
The railway corporation, shrewd as ho was.
he needed the help OF different class Of
men. The famous god conspiracy Of
Black Friday, In which he played 30
prominent part, was probably not OF llls de-
visiug. It was his duty 10 conduct the Prei-
dent to Boston and entertain him on his steam
boat while the kepner conftderates employed
The social hours In working upon the mind Of
the unsuspIcious Chief Magistrate. When
Fisk, in his laced uniform, marched Into the
Boston Coliseum in the suite of General Grant,
he doubtless felt that he had played hls share
of the game, and was as near happiness as ne
ever could bp. But when Black Friday came,
II needed Just such man OF nerve and head
long moral courage as Fisk to carry on the
desperate bidding Of the corner-and to repu-
diate their contracts when the President at
last oyerthreW them. Even the Erie lawsuits
are full of Incidents characteristic Of Fisk's
recklessness. 1t ls to the vagaries of bis prt-
vale life, however-if Fisk can be said to have
had any private liie-that the eyes of the
vulgar have been turned Win me great
est interest The troupes Of dancing
girls and opera-bouffe singers whom he sup
ported at his theatres, exhibited IN bis box,
and oaraded in public places on his arm; the
splendor Of his eQuipages; the glOries OF his
toilet: the rumored luXurtes OF his banqueting
rooms and his buffet; his lavish generosity In
giving, and his ingenuity In never paying;
his insolence and his wit; his VindictlVeness
and his good nature; his thirst for notorlety
and his unparalleled contempt for public
opinion; his boldness in detying laws and
courts, coupled with comical sort OF coward
ice In the face Of physical danger-Lhese things
have been the talk Of New York for four years
and have male the name of James Fisk, Jr.,
notorious from London to San Francisco.
And no doubt they have been admired. Bad,
gross, sensual, vulgar as he was, he mad not
only troops Of associates, but hundreds OF ad-
mrers. Young men saw In the career OF this
poor roue the road to wealth and pleasure.
He was chosen colonel OF a regiment
of militia, marched it to Boston in de-
fance Of the uuwillingness Of the. peo.
Dle of that city, encamped With 1t at
Long Branch, was cheered sometimes In the
streets, and when he serenaded the Grand
Duke Alexis was admitted to an introduction
with that Imperial young man. He ran away
during the Orange riots IN July,
but that did not seem to diminish his popular
ity even In his own regiment. The courts
have rung with the shames of his domestic re.
latons; but he bore his head as nigh Us ever.
1t is the worst OF his offences That. by the
brilliancy of his rapid career and the rude
bonh0mie of his manner he did so much 10 las
cinate the weak and blunt the moral sense OF
the young He and his associates did more
than any other men except Tweed TO corrupt
the bench and the bar-m0re even than
Tweed himself to dei1le the judicial emine In
the public sight, and degrade In general esti-
nation names once honOred In the roll OF ad-
vocates. He did his best to destroy what honor
there was left In the stuck market. He found
speculation sort Of gambling. and ne made 1t
nothing better than freeboutlng. he dehled
a stage that was bad enough already. He
popularized sins that common deceucy used 10
D,,t ha thil N.