The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-05-12
THE BURST BUBBLE.
An Inside View Of the Peoples Railway Com
pany Given by an Officer.
San Francisco Chronicle.

San Francisco Chronicle.
Chronicle reporter was introduced, yester
day, to j. W. Trip, a lawyer and enterprls
ing business man of this city, residing at lOS-
Taylor street, and was told that he could give
any desired information respecting the manage
ment of the Peoples Railway Company as he
had been for some months prominently con-
nected with it, and had, until recently held the
Office of deputy superintendent. Mr. Trip CON
senting to be questioned on the subject, was
asked:
when and how did you become connected
with the Peoples railway movement"
my first knowledge of the matter, he replied,
was in May nearly year ago, when met d
Mr. Ashdown at the Palace Hotel and had con-
versation with him on the subject, which inter
ested me. He showed me circular which he
had received from Indianapolis, setting forth the
intention of the company to build transconti'
mental railway in the interest of the people,
Knowing we'll, as did, the feeling of the people
of the San Joaquin valley, where had been
one of the early settlers and had large prop
erty interests, in favor of lower fares and
freights, it attracted me, so that when
Leard of a meeting to be held in J. j. Scribners
Office, in the Safe Deposit building, of those in
terested l attended. DR.. Morris, of Oakland
represented Emf Kennedy to be at the head of
the movement, and spoke strongly in his favor
but nothing was done at that meeting. ! subse'
quently learned that men of standing and meana
had held a meeting in indianapolis and organ
lied the company, and that Charles e. Sweeney.
of Marysville, had established a branch Office in
the Safe Deposit building for She purpose of car
rying on the Pacific branch of the Peoples Rail
way Company"
when did you begin to act as an agent for the
company"
In July took subscription book and OBJ
tanned subscriptions for several hundred shares
in this city. According to Sweezeys verbal in
structons. which he said received from
Kennedy, s.. 80 was to be collected each fifty
dollar share sold for $32 80, and the balance $780,
was to be paid into the local board twenty days
after its organization. | was further informed
that a syndicate had been formed, composed Of
250 leading and influential men of the country,
who were to be the ruling power; that each of
these men had subscribed for twenty shares at
$50 each, making, altogether, a quarter of a
million, and that they had already paid III 10 per
cent, or $25 000'
Were most of your subscriptions obtained in
this city2'
mo; in San JOAQUIN valley. l went in August
to Fresno and then to Visalia and Bakersfield,
in all which places | was quite successful in Sc
curing subscriptions. and where / organized local
boards, having received autho rity from Kennedy
through Sweezy. to do so. l organized fourth
local board at MERGED, fifth at Smelling and q
sixth at Modesto had increased my own sub
scription to 1000 shares, ard had obtained sub
scriptions amounting to about 9, 900 shares. a,
"When did you first have your suspicious
aroused that the company was not doing bust
ness on a legal and honest basisF
1t was the lst of January last when received
notice that Kennedy was i'll San Francisco and
desired me to come up and meet him. ] did meet
him and asked for his plans, He said he had
none, except to float the bonds and stocks of the
company. l replied that the people who had
subscribed wanted something more definite, and
wanted to know where the road was to run.
stated that the people of the San Joaquin valley
were wiling and ready to secure their right Of
way and grade the railroad bed from Kern river
so tide-water, at Antioch without calling on the
company for one cent, if everything was salts
factory. He proposed that / should take the
chief engineer Colonel Borie, and commence
surveying the road At Visalia the local board
had paid in enough to make the sufvey-about
81. 900. On my arrival there, with BorIe,
found that this money had been drawn by
Kennedy, who said nothing to me of having done
so. This first led me to suspect him. Borie was
incompetent to survey and he had no instru-
ments hired instruments and practical! sur
yeyor named Hammond, six teams and fourteen
men, and the last of January we were surveying
south from Visalia to Kern river. | went fyr-
ward to secure the right of way, and while
was gone Borie, without any authority, changed
the plan of the route which had been agreed
upon, to avoid crossing the Insignificant Tule
river, and took roundabout course by the way
of Rocky Ford that would cost $500, 900 more to
build than the other route. L cenSured Bore for
changing the route. and advis cd him to return to
San Francisco when he did Everything he did
had 20 be done over by Hammond"
Ibid you go on with the survey| as
II did, or at least, started to do so. The
men, who had refused to work any longer under
Borie, were got together, and started for
Fresno. Kennedy telegraphed me at Yisalia
where l was collecting money for the survey,
to come to this city at once. Fox, the presir
dent of the local board, said 1 must stay;
that if l left everything would go to pieces,
and he telegraphed Kennedy. But
Kennedy telegraphed back to him to have
me come up, and l went. At the sug-
gestion of Fox, 1 asked Kennedy why he had
not signed the contract which had been
sent him-got up by leading men in Tulare
county, agreeing to build the road through
that county and fence it for so much mile
onehalf in stock, right of way free, inside of six
months Kennedy replied that he had signed
the contract and sent it down. But before sign
ing it afterwards found he changed the terms
so as to make them unsatisfactory to the men
who had prepared it, and they refused to have
anything to do with it in its mutilated FORM
Kennedy wanted me to go to Berkeley and solicit
subscriptions. and told me to name the salary
wanted. / declined, and wanted to see the by
laws of the company. Kennedy acknowledged
they had none Then felt sure that everythin
was illegal l got hold of some of the printed
circulars of the company and was more
than ever satisfied that the whole thing was
fraud upon the public. The board OF directors
never held a legal meeting. l denounce the.
whole thing with some bitterness, feeling that II
had been deceived and had been made the means
of deceiving many of my old friends in San
joaquin county who trusted me. The next
morning received letter from Kennedy re-
quiring the surrender of my commission as dep
uty superintendent / told him it had already
been surrendered and that nothing would induce
me to have anything further to do with the
audacious swindle I notified several of those
who were taking subscriptions on the street that
it was fraud and if they continued to solicit for
it would have them arrested.
GOVERNOR HOADLY.