The Grant County herald. (Big Stone City, Grant County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1883, 1879-10-25


their point when Mr.. Drew made an ex-
! ,raordinary issue of stock, and Mr.. Van
derbllt was left to sustain the market as
| he could. Then followed the fierce bat
tie in the courts. in which iniunctiuns and
amuses followed each other in such quick
succession that it was almost impossible
| to tell Just what the position of affairs
was. Then came another heavy issue Of
stock, and Judge Barnard ordered the
arrest Of the directors of the Erie Railway
for contempt ofcourt. Mr., Drew fed to
jersey City, with six millions Of dollars In
notes Of which three and half million.
were paid into the Erie treasury Then
the battle IN the courts was renewed, and
in the midst OF it a body Of fifty men
crossed the Payonia Ferry and tooN
possession of the Erie depot The CRY WAS
raised that Commodore Vanderbilt was
endeavoring to kidnap Mr. Drew, great
excitement prevailed. The men employ
ed by the railroad were organized into a
military guard, and Taylor, Hotel in
Jersey City looked like generals head
quarters in war time. In tAe mean time
| Mr.. Drew began 10 grow weary OF his
banishmcnt He knew that he was mis-
trusted, and he mist:usted his own allies
lie determined to effect Il compromise.
One Sunday morning he crossed the nv
Cr and held conference with Comm1
dore Vanderbilt, and the result was Il
settlement. Commodore Van ierbilt was
relieved Of his $4,000 shares Of Erie.
Mr. Drew settled his accounts as treas
Hrer Of the Erie and obtained aleIcsse in
tulI, the Eldrldgc party received $4,000,
600 OF Erie acceptance In lieu OF $1,000
600 OF Boston, Hartford and Erie bonds
and Fisk and Gould were left in undis-
puted possession of the Erie Railway
About S9,000,00O was drawn from the
Erie treasury in the course OF tins settle
ment.
Notwithstanding the proceedings in
the conflict between Mr. Vanderbilt and
Mr.. Drew there was demand for Erie
stock on foreign account, and more than
hundred thousand shares were pur-
chased in England during the summer
The Erie managers issued and sold 235,-
600 new shares Of Erie stock and withdrew
Sl2 100000 of currency from circulation
Mr.. Drew agreed to cooperate with his
former allies in this Stocking up" con
spiracy and to advance S4,00O,0O0 He
could not keep step with Fisk and Gould,
and finally withdrew from the combina-
ton. The process OF Erie imitation
went on until the stock Of the company
was increased one hundred and thirty
eight percentum III eight months Mr.
Drew continued 10 shears the market on
his own account. Erie ran down to 3s.
and by the middle of November he had
Ifraa .als n nI4l
shares at current rates. Suddenly the
combination ran up the stock from 40 to
30, and Mr.. Drew was in the corner By
great efforts he made his contracts good,
but he lost 81 100000, having been as he
euphoneously expressed it '.skinned bv
the boys In 1872 he lost three quarters
Of a million in an encounter with Horace
+. Clark and Jay Gould. "They tell me-
quoth he .Nor'west' S arisin It's riz
In 1913 he again lost heavily by the fail
urc Of Kenyon, Cox 4 Co, and in 1876
his schedule in bankruptcy was filed,
showing liabilities amounting to $1,000,
600, and assets of little or no value.
Mr. Drew married Roxana Mead, far
mer's daughter, when lie was twenty-five
years old, and by her had three children,
two Of whom are still living. Mrs Drew
died a short time ago. Mr. Drew was
member Of St. Paul's Methodist Epscs-
pal Church for many years. He gave large
sums to various religious and educational
institutions, but not always in money
He built churches at Carmel and Brews-
ter's, in this State, founded the Drew
Theological Seminary at Madison, n J.,
expending S250,00O on the buildings, in
creased the endowment funds of Wesleyan
University and the Concord Biblical In |
stitute, and built the Drew Seminary for
Young Ladies at Carmel, N, " at a cost
OF T2J0.0O The endowment fund which |
he created for the Theological Seminary
was $25O,ooO, and he paid the interest on
this sum, but he never gave the money
outright. He added 100000 to the en-
dowment fund of Wesleyan University
but neglected to do more than paw tie |
interest Hence these amounts appear in |
the list Of his unsecured claims.
The personal appearance OF Mr. Drew |
was remarkable. His face was wonder |
fully shrewd and sharp, but was scanned |
with deep lines in every direction. and |
had the appearance Of being dried up |
with extreme old age. His eyes were
wonderfully bright to the last, and con
trasted strangely with the rest Of his
face. He talked with a queer drawl
which impaired additional effect to many
Of his quaint, shrewd sayings. lie loved |
to talk to the boys Of .'sAeersa and |
ssp ints, and il Is recorded that unsus-
pcctlng persons WHO went to him for all
vice often paid dearly Tor the privilege.
Money brought him little enjoyment, but
he loved It for the power and the excite
lnont which 1T hInllnht linn Lis nnr