, 1875-12-10
STROuSRERG,
The Great European Bankrupt, and the
Causes of His Downfall.
Mccllng OF Ills Creditors Rt, IIerIin...
Report Of Tho Special CommissarJ
on Ills Case.

Correspondence LandoA Tin1es.
BERLIN, NOV. 17.--Yesterday tho creditors Of
A1r. 6trousborg assembled in tho ball OF tho
berlin Civil Court 10 hoar the reports Of tho
magistrato and Special Commssary 10 wlloso
caro- tho oEtato OF tho dobtor IL inruated Judge
Denoko. tho magistrate. opened the meeting
with tho declaration that ncithor ho nor tho
Special Cotnm!assry could undertake 10 give even
approximately correct idea OF the stato Of Tho
eaee. The ro.l entate Of tue debtor vna vcry
! Siderable but 10 ucro tho mortgages aud other
obligations contracted. Tlo personal property
was comparatively small, but perhaps. might
10 somewhat Increased By the snlo of SUPER
nu,nerary goods and chattols and by tho dis
solving of questionable contracts. hut, ul-
though it was Impossible 10 speak with costain-
~ upon tho prospects, of tl,o case. ho tho
magistrate, thought 1t bis duty to c1press oven
| now belief TINT tho whole mahs OF ,,npriyicged
creditors, and more especially those WHO held no
mortgages, could hardly hope to got much. In
al probability, tho dividend allotted to shstn
would bo Bmall.
Tho meeting having confirmed the cholco Of
tho Special EotnrlisRary appointed by tho Court.
Herr Delitz. tho gentleman nominated Addressed
\ those assembled 2s considerable 1onEth. I sua-
| join tie prlucinal fac In Of hjs report:
"At the beginning OF 1870 tho dobtor vas at
| tho height Of his en!nmerttaa carepr. lIe whs
engaged in conHsruot!aE the great lsoum.ni4n .,
| linoa in different parts Of tho country. In
| Hungary ho had tho Northeastern in h.ud !;
| in lsussia. tno Etcat.Grayeso i'll Cor
aud % thc neshn-rosen lines I,esides therc, ke
had acquired other railway concosnionH which
I wsro to bo begun iucoptlncnslY; he had just
| formed lnrto cnEino manufactnry nt Hanover,
completed the Berlin te.MRrkot and 91auEh-
| 3HefOn na1t,U nnSF FnnrF 6nY
| l.iR iron woraH at DortHnna nnal Ncuatnat,
| not to gpenk Of utticr establishments Oh
a less gigantic scale. MT satisfied with
nnet.5n;s @ bad ohasssa s oe sho
! M caution. money. nAa wns preparing 70 cover
tho areA OF the Notifications with dwelling
| houses. forming now quarter OF tho town. In
tho midst OF these gigantic Bpcculations hc was
! uotmany and France. THIS blow Thus inflicted
VIM terrible, and lo mover tocovoroh it.
E1ertins himself 10 tho utmost. he, indeed.
Buccucded III carrying on hls railway !incH, and
part OF the KoumantAu Railway. as well as parts
Of the naIlo~Horau limo, and tho wholo OF tho
llortiu-Po line. Hut, Al the Ita'lwny Direc-
tors whose lines ho constgucted weso paying
sipn cnused by tho wnr could only 10 d,sposea Of
At 4 considerable ,oss, millions the debtor haf
! counted upon wore never realized. Other mill
ions wero lost by tho shareholders OF tho Dres,-
t,rayevo limo disseminating tie paymon. Of ill.,
[ staIlments. II tbeBe accidents wont far 70
mako catastrophe inevitable, the eubarraps-
n,ents Of tho dobtor reached an unfnanh;e-
,blo height upon tho refusal Of tho 1nu-
Of tho nouMAninn lines enrly IN 1871. Tho
pros and cons OF the question have been SO often
discussed that it would be needless to enter upon
the merits OF tho case but 1t may be mont loned
that though Mr.. strousbolR held tte Noutnanlan
Government responsible for tho intercat due, he,
on tho refusal Of tla Uncharost authorities TO
pay, efdoarorca to establish = llail-
way Construction comp,ny. to Which
pars Of his property and undcrtakinEs. upon
condition OF tle new CONCERN advancing 2,o0o, 0uo
ths|ers to satiaty the claims of tho Hpnu'antan
shareholders, 1hanks. however. to tho long
continuauoo Of tho var, tho projected company
could nos bo cstabslod and tho 1sousnanisn
interest zemsincd unpaid. Prom that mo.
n,o1,t tho credit Of the aobsor. almost
Mnlilnithl Mp 70 l4l. was shaken. Tho expedlent
nlantan interest was tho formation of now
1tonnanian company, who engaged to take up
tho coupon and complete Tho li'es on condition
q t..e debtor paysn. the G9oo o:M thasers.
Ona-thtrd Of this large Bum ho Iiqufdktod after
the sale Of hte extensive lrobworkRat Dortmund g.;
q SECOND third Wsa advanced BY the berlin
Discount CompAny on tic soctirity.of tho dobt-
ora German estateH; for tho last third bo mort
gagod blu Nollom.an eatatcs md Ills Oormsl,
lntuea 10 tho NoumAnian Ralway Company. or
tho doht thus contrsotsd. Mr.. Rtrousberg re'
funded 100000 thblers to tie Discount Com
pany and 100000 tlaters to tho 1loumauian
halfway Company. Ha1lne comp.etod tteao
financial opcInt.ons carly in 1874 tho debtor
was anxious to ratrlayo hts fortunes by = fur
! thor restriction OF his schemes. lio sold the
Hanover Engine MannfactoEy, tho berlin Cattlo-
Market, tho Naust.dt 1ronworks. and Tho s'oren
iron mud coal minea; h0 cedpa tho 1lnnga-
riau Northeastern limo to tho Vienna Union
DAnk, Ahl effected seme olher minor
Reductions Of similar ust,lro. hut, In spite
Of liz earnest Arriving to consolidate Ills atrairs.
he found 1t impossible to 20 on With tho otllet
railway coDoosson and forfeited the enormous
Hnms deposited a. cxution-lpouoy. Tie only
IisIic-boran, and tho Hanover Altenbonkcn
lines, with the construction OF which he
won't on. ~ this GOULD 10 hardly a
profitable business sitter the depression Of tho
shares during tho war tho dob.or conceived tho
plsm Of recovering ssssngth by shs dcyesoVsnent
Of his Zbirow estatss. This very o1tonsive
property. ,abonn1ng IN iron, coal, and wood,
offered = fair fold for the Uncommon enterprise
OF tho man. Having purchased SOME moro oonl
mines in Bohemia and Btluaa, ho formed 81
Xbirow large railway carriaEo manu-
factory, locomotive manufsceory, rail
way wheel naau!astosy, so!!'ng-mll .
nessemar itoa-.orks, a:nuInbo1 Of padding fur
naces, blasting furnaces. eto. To connecs those
various works ho laid down \ railway Us miles ii
longth on ~ own property. Aud built perfect
, city for "orkmou. A tho sa'ne time 10 endosy'
ored to gam = footing in England, but. be,
fore this. could bo done, ho hut Il
hurry back 10 Germany to moot tnsncia
difficulties incurred by tho imntonBo scalo of his
! 1lohemlan works. Tho salo OF h,s famous pcturt
gallery aud Of the Aptwsrp concession supplies
linn uuca moro with funds. In September, iS7J
t he parted r!.h the right to iiulsh shp Hanover
Altenbohen Railway tn . consideration but he
! | flushed aud openod for srAilio the Halle
sorsu sud urpst-Grayeyo lines. Ia 1877
l lie concluded al agreement with Ii. PolyakoG
tie Nu4in railway contractor, Ia which
ls ongaxel 10 supply him with 4 0t0 rAltwsy oAr
, riaces within q very short period OF time. II
carry out this contract hp further cnlasged LII
: Zbisow manufactory, aud purchased another rail-
= way exttisgs ManptactoEy Vt nnbha, near rsakue
! The carrl1kus Malo uuder tho contract wcro des
tipod for tho kusBk- Chsrkotf line, which rattht
debtor With dsten.uyes, on j" "licA the MoscowcoM
= inercisl Hank advanced cash. Thus arose tn
f. connection between tho debtor RnJ that bank
I lately in ererybody's mouth. Tue 1000 carriage
lniahe1 and delivered, tho debtor entered Int,
al agreement to supplv 2 600 moro. the Musco'
i Commercial Bank advancing 1,S00, ,O0b sunble
\ ! ho ut ~