The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1881-04-08
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAlLRcAD,

i
graphic report of the item given be- /
low. We now give it in full that oar
readers may see the view taken in New
York Of the attempt made by Mr.
Willard and his following to obtain
control Of the. Northern Pacific:
TIE announcement that the Execu-
tive Committee of the Northern Paci-
fic Railroad had decided to distribute
nearly sIS,O00,00O of the common
stock of the company, as briefly report
ed in another column, created much
surprise in Wall street to-day. It is
said that some of the directors of the
road were not aware of the act until it
became generally public. On the reor-
ganization of the road in 1875 its capi-
tai was fixed at 500, 600, 900, Of which
So 100000 were in preferred stock,
issued in place of the old seyen-thirty
bonds of the Jay Cooke management
This preferred stock, being. receivable
for the company's lands at par, has now
been reduced to about $4,000, 900.
! of the S49, 100000 of common stock,
SIS, 100000 were held in tprsst by the
company for delivery to the. owners Of
the stock before the reorganization
Although only $3l, ,00O,Ooe of this
common stock had gone oast ct the
company's control, the eutire- s-t9, ,O00,-
600 were listed at the Stock Exchange.
In explanation of the recent aet of the
executive committee, it is saifH that the
proprietors Of the stock held i'll trust
have been urgently demanding full
possession of their properly. as their
proprietary rights could noS be dispos-
ed of for more than 20 or %, while
the price Of the issued stock has lately
been about so.
The advance of more than twenty
points in Northern Pacific stock DUR
ing the last three months is explained
by the efforts of the pool formed by
Mr.. Willard, with other friends Of the
Oregon Railway and Navigation Com
pany, to get control of the Northern
Pacific road. How this new distribu-
tion of stock will affect these attempts
is question much discussed in Wall
street, but In regard to which there is
lack of definite information.
! The present directors of the North
ern Pacific Railroad are Frederick
! Billings, of Vermont; Chas. B. Wright,
, of Philadelphia; Benjamin P. Cheney,
; of Boston; Johnston Livingston, of
: this city; Joseph Dilworth, of Pitts
! burg; Joseph D. Potts, of Philadelphia;
!. Hug McCulloch, of Washington; A.
III. Barney. of this city; William r.
Garrison, of this city; Henry E. john
!. ston, of Baltimore; Robert Harris, OF
this city; John w. Ellis, of this city;
and John E. Bullitt, of Philadelphia.
The members of the Executive Cons
Y mittce are Robert Harris, Benjamin p.
, Cheney, Joseph D. Potts, Johnston
/ Livingston and William r. Garrison.
, On inquiry to-day at the offices Of
,, the company, No. % Fifth Avenue, it
was learned that the persons entitled
r to receive the newly-issued stock num-
* bered from three hundred to five hun
). dred, and that the stock was pretty
well divided among them. 1t was
also said that nothing was known by
the management of the company as to
!, the amount of stock which had been
), secured by the Willard pool.
A gentleman connected with the
company said that the proposition tc
: distribute the residue of the common
e stock had repeatedly been discussed in
e the Board of Directors, and that the
e matter was finally left unfinished in
. the hands of the executive committee.
The latter body, under the bylaws
had all the powers of the directory,
= which would promptly ratify the act
k of the committee at the next meeting.
\ The only reason for the distribution of
;. stock was the clamor raised by the
owners, who could not in justice be
kept out of it's possession in the pres
ent state of the stock market. He
could not tell how the measure would
] affect the schemes of the Willard pool
J. The motive for the formation of that
II organization was obvious to any one
who knew the character of the routes
of the Northern Pacific Railroad and
the Oregon Railway and Navigation
Company. The seaport of the latter
. company was Portland, Oregon, situa-
: ted on the Willamette River, tribu-
tary of the Columbia. The bar at the
mouth of the Columbia River was very
: dific.llt of passage by vessels going in
: either direction, and severe storms
!, were very frequent off the coast there,
/ so that it was not uncommon for YES
sells to be weatherbound near that
point for two weeks at time. Then,
there were many bars, shoals, etc., be-
t tween the mouth of the river and Port
t and, rendering navigation extremely
, difficult. On the other hand, there
was perfectly plain sailing, with a
: deep channel, to Tacoma, the seaport
and western terminus of the North
ern Pacific road, on Commencement
Bay, Puget Sound. There were TWEEN
! ty-fve feet of water at low tide off the
, company's docks at that place, and
from there to the ocean there was not
a reef or shoal In consequence of the
/, differences noted, the cost of chartering
: a first-class vessel to go from this city
: to Portland was Sc, 900 more than to
go from this city to Tacoma. Then,
the line of the Northern Pacific road
from Ainsworth, at the mouth of the
2noHo Psrov - ry,s~E l,o