Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-06-21
ANOTHER BIG CRASH.
ooMmoDoRE GARRISON A BAsKRurr.
A Man Estimated st $4,000, 900 Forced to
make an Assignment flow the smpar-
rsssment Was Br oue hit About

MAKO al tne smDht-
rassmcnt Was Brought About.
Commodore Cornelius X. Garrison,
millionaire aud railroad capitalist, of New
York, has made an assignment for the
benefit of his creditors to John T. Terry,
the second partner in the firm of +. II.
Morgan n Co. For years the colonel has
been regarded as one of the richest men in
the United States, his fortune being esti
mated at at least S25, 900, 200. The
greater part Of it was supposed to be in the
safest and most profitable ventures, in.
cluding large amounts of the securities Of
gas companies. About two years ago he
and some of his friends began to build
the Wheeling Il Lake Erie railroad be-
tween Toledo and Wheeling. The road,
which is about $50 miles long, has just
been completed, or nearly so, and is
bonded for "a. $50, 900 and capitalized for
| a 500, 900, The commodore owns nearly
all of tho securities Of the company. After
he had Put several hundred thousand dol
| lars into the road he advised with some OF
his railroad friends about the enterprise
One of them told him he had better stop
putting any more money into the scheme,
even il he lost all he had invested.
4 year ago he told this same friend that
he had put in about SO ,0O0 600 more and
that it would cost about $1,000, 900 to
complete the construction of the road.
Instead it required over $4,000, 900, max.
ing the total Investment of the commc.
dore something over 60, 600, 900, for which
be holds the stock and bonds of the COM
pany, As an incident to this venture he
became interested in tho Wheeling and
Lake Erie bridge across the Marmee river
at Toledo, which is capitalized at 5000,
900. In order to obtain an outlet or con-
nection for his Wheeling and Lake Erie
road to Pittsburg he took q quarter in.
terest in the Pittsburg, Cleveland u
Toledo railroad, now building. Another
quarter interest is held by c. II. aud w.
{. Andrews, of New York city and Cleve
land, quarter by the Pittsburg and
Western railroad company and the rest by
local investors in Ohio. Commodore Gar.
risou has been lending his money and
credit TO this company in excess of his in.
terest. 1t is said that he has Endorsed
more largely than anyone else the Is, OO0
coo of notes made by the company that are
now outstanding. w. {. Andrews is
another large indorser. IL was the pro
test of two of these notes, for an aggregate
OF S200. 00O that gave rise on Thursday To
reports of the commodore's insolvency.
It is reported that within very shor:
time Mr.. Garrison endeavored TO Dor
row several hundred thousand dollars cash
from hr. Gould, Judge Hilton and W. II.
Vanderbilt. The principal suits against
the commondore are those of Peter Morie
and others to recover the value of several
millions of Missouri Pacific railroad stock
and the suit of contractor, who built q
part of the Wheeling X Lake Erie road
TO recover something over a., ,O0O, 900 OF the
securities Of the company, which he claims
were to be given him in payment for his
work.
sketch of HIS Career.
Commodore Garrison is about the last
of that famous generation of business
men who laid the foundation Of New
Iork's greatness. de was the contempo.
raneous with Commodore Vanderbilt, the
Grinnells, Moses Taylor and Marshall Q,
| Roberts. He came of good Holland Dutch
stock and was born near West Point, or
the Hudson, March /, 1909. He had the
ordinary limited facilities for education
until he was 10, when he began to gel
on the boats piled on the Hudson. Hi
mother wanted him to be an architect anC
when lG years of age he came to New
York TO study for that profession. HC
studied three years and then went tC
Canada and became builder. Five years
later he returned with neat sum OF
money. He then went to New Orleans
and engaged in boat building, growing
wealthy at it. The first boat that he
built WAS the Convoy, and Ralston, the
famous California banker was her first
clerk. Then came the discovery of gold
in California and the rush to the Pacific
by the way Of Panama. Young Garrison
az once went TO Panama and opened q
banking house. In 1852 he came back to
New York to establish bank of this
Panama house, but he was offered 3Sj, 600
year to go TO san Francisco and manage
the affairs of the Nicaragua Steamship
company and In 1853 he went to San
Francisco. He managed the campany
with rare talent and in six months wa,
mayor of the city. He was good mayor
put the city's finances in good shape
shut up gambling dens and Sunday thea
tres, organized the public school system,
founded the first school for cOlored chill
dren ever established and divided his
salary between Protestant and Catholic
charities.
BE some years ago had a stroke of pa
ralysis, from the effects OF which he hai
never entirely recovered. He lives in q
comparatively modest homo on Park ave
nue., one Of the quetest streets in New
York. He Is we'll known figure a
Saratoga. He is tall, still erect, with fin,
cut features, Roman nose, small, gray