Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-01-31

0SltitA Oh the NaSl transaction md4e
by the Louisville & Nashville Rail-
road Company which is the subject
of our leading article. 1t is taken
from the New York correspondence
of the Cincinnati Enquirer:
The explanation of the rise i'm
Wall strict on Saturday of Nash
vile 4 Chattanooga and Louisville
d Nashville stock was the knowl-
edge that the Louisville & Nashville
Company had virtually bought
majority of lhe capital stock of the
Nashville q Chattanooga Company,
and with it the control of all the
lines owned or leased by that com
pany, and of all its contracts
with other companies. This was
concluded in the Fifth Avenue Ho-
tel late Saturday afternoon, and by
it the Louisville & Nashville Sc
cures the control of a system of rail-
roads through the South aggregat-
ing, il is said, nearly three thousand
miles. The transaction does not
equal i'm magnitude the Vanderbilt
sale of New York Central railroad
stock or the consolidation of the
Union Pacific and Kansas Pacific
railroads, but it has been much
more neatly and suddenly accom-
plished. and displays far more STRAIT
egic skill.
The history of the Louisville &
Nashville and the Nashville, Cnat-
tanoOga e st. Louis companies is
Interestingly brief. The Louisville
* Nashville interests have been
managed by the President, z. ID.
StandifOrd, Vice President II. Vic
tor NewcOmb and Ed. Baxter, of
counsel for the company. The
Nashville & Chattanooga forces
were led by Col. +. w. Cole, the
President, and its Attorney and
Director, G.. M. FOgg. The first
aggressive movement was made by
the LOuisville& Nashville obtaining
possession of the Kentucky division
of the st. Louis x Southeastern
road. The Nashville & ChattanOO-
ga endeavored to Outmaster its rival
by getting control of the Northern
division of their road, running from
East St. Louis to Evansville, Ind,
and also obtained a small road
-(OwensbOrO d RussellVille) in Ken
lucky, running parallel to the di-
NL,ion bought by its rival. 1t was
proposed to extend this line to form
a competing link against the Ken
lucky division.
The Nashville & Chattanooga
then gave unmistakable proof of its
intention to secure a continuous line
from st. Louis to Savannah, Ga,
by getting control of several rail-
roads in Georgia. Its first acquisi-
ton was the line from Chattanooga
to Atlanta. The next move was
to secure the Central railroad Of
Georgia, an extensive system OF
roads from Atlanta to Savannah,
with several branches, aggregating
over seven hundred miles. Col.
Cole was prompted to make this
lease by the knowledge of a secret
agreement between the Central, OF
Georgia, and the Louisville x Nash
vile, to the effect that the business
of the two roads should be trans
ferred at Montgomery instead of at
Atlanta, via Nashville and Chat
tanoOga. This basis was ratified by
the Georgia Central and was to
have been acted upon by the Nash
Vile ~ Chattanooga Company at Il
meeting in Nashville on Saturday
night. So far as can be learned ac-
ton was not taken, and it is now
optional with the recent purchasers
of the Nashville < Chattanooga
stock to ratify ii. As q counter
move, the Louisville & Nashville
purchased the franchise of the
Georgia Western, projected line
between Decatur, on its own line to
Atlanta, and only a small portion
of which has been graded. This
line would have given the Louis
vile IL Nashville a much shorter
route to Savannah than that of its
competitors.
AT this time, early in December,
a truce was called, and a conference
was held in Louisville. Ed. BaX-
ter, of the Louisville & Nashville,
was instrumental, at the request of
some of those interested in the
the Nashville & Chattanooga, in
bringing about the compromise.
The negotiations took the direction
of consultations. The Louisville
~ Nashville stood out for a COM
plete absorption of the opposing
system. Little progress was made,
and about two weeks ago the nego-
tiatiOns were transferred to New
York. G. NJ. FOgg, of the Nash
vile x Chattanooga, and H. Victor
NewcOmb, Vice President of the
Louisville & Nashville, were the
principals in the matter.
1t is learned from trustworthy
sources that while sheSe moves and
cOuntermOveS have been in progress
in the South, and the negotiations
pending, the large stockholders in
each company have been buying
the stock of the other in the New
York stock market. The Louisville
X Nashville people have been the
larger purchasers, but have done so
very quietly. These purchases and
the prospect of consolidation adj
vanced the stock of the Nashville &
Chattanooga to SO. Nearly all of
last week the negotiations were
pending at No. % Wall street, but
on Thursday all the Overtures of the
Nashville Il Chattanooga were re-
jected, and its Representatives as
SuTed that no conclusion would be
reached upon the basis proposed.
That same evening the Louisville
N Nashville managers succeeded in
convincing one of the five large
holders of Nashville & Chattanooga
stock that it was advisable for him
to sell. Representations were made
that the Louisville q Nashville
Company was the only large pur-
chaser in the open market, and that
it had secured nearly a majority of
the stock. The five stockholders
were V. X. Stevenson, President Of
the Real Estate Trust Company,
and his son, the senior partner OF
Evans, Peaze Il Co., and c. G. Bald
win. During Friday and Saturday
these gentlemen and the officers of
the Louisville 4 Nashville were in
secret conference in Wall street, and
at the close of business Saturday
they adjourned to the Fifth Avenue
Hotel, where a contract of sale was
signed late in the day. The capital
stock of the Nashville & ChattanOO-
ga is Sc, $40, 225. The amount pur-
chased from the five capitalists