River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-05-15
A ZIG FAILURE.
2. 3. Brown Appointed Receiver of the
Northwestern Car and Manufacturing
Company StiIIwatar


for some time that the company was emharras-
sed but still the failure caused great sensa-
ton IN monetary and business circles; d. r.
Stemson vice president and manager says:
Inc stoppage, IN all probability viii be tenn
pofary, as the company liabilities ara about
l,l00,O0U, with available assets of 81. coo 600,
of which S., 600 900 is in accounts and bills re-
ceiyahle. The receivership is caused by the
general depression which prevails, low prices
of wheat ia market, slow collections from far
Mr.. w S Goodhue, secretary of the com
pany, says the cause Is indirectly attributable
to the failure of Grant Il Ward, in New York
city. Mr.. Sabin had been negotiating stock in
that city and had nearly completed the sale
when the failure came and the parties about to
invest Withdrew from further negotiations and
would not purchase
Mr.. Z. s Brown, who is the receiver says
he believes was making money and only needed
time to come ont all right The 81 900 900 in
fully 90 per cent
c. d. Gillfllan Of ST. Paul, first vice presi-
dent Of the company and largely interested hold
ing slO9, 900 Of the stock, says the banks in St
Paul, he believed, did not hold $4,000 worth
of the car company's paper He had faith in
the company's ability to meet all its obliga-
tons if time were given for it to do so The
company holds about 81, g0U0 600 worth of pa
per, which has been givenb by farmers on them
selves. and his experience and calculations
had shown him that the company could de-
pend on collecting about % per cent
on that paper in time After the
failure of the eastern negotiations for money,
Mr., Gillian said ''we thought it best to havea
receiver appointed. All | know about the
financial state of the car company is simply
what appears on the books, and the books
show proportion of assets to liabilities of four
to one. | believe that substantially all of these
assets are good The liabilities include s150,000
in notes PAYABLE about, $500, 600 of which are
held by banks, and the balance by individ-
uals. The banks holding the paper are chiefly
in New York and Boston, though some is held
by interest banks i'll Massachusetts,. Nearly all
of these notes are secured by bills receivable
payable amount to S4000F0. Mr. Gil
fillan telegraphed Senator Sabin at
Washington Saturday afternoon, informing
him of the determination to place the affairs of
the company in the hands of a receiver Mr.
Sabin replied promptly to go ahead, that he was
in good spirits and expected to come out all
right He viii return to Minnesota at once to
arrange matters The senator will not be per
sonally involved in the matter, except SO far as
he NAV be inclined to endorse for the company.
all right All we want is little time to wealth
er the capes, and we will be all right
Mr. Sabin said further that he could have had
all the money needed to go on, as 1t was Of
fered by friends, but he thought best to sus-
pend temporarily without rlsling or involving
other persons it is asserted positively thatnone
of the companys paper is III the St Paul banks
There was meeting of the directors on Fri
day, the day before the failure, at which II
nancial exhibit was made. La conclusion the
executive committee Messrs. ID. NJ. Sabin, A.
II. Wilder, Thomas Lowry, J. G. Pierce and r.
J. Hersey-who make the report, state that
the unanimous conclusion arrived at after con-
sultation with the largest stockholders is that
further distribution Of surplus by way of divi-
dends must cease until the losses from fires
are restored.
n. W. Kittson of st. Paul, on Saturday after
noon could scarcely bring himself 10 believe
that receiver had been appointed. He said:
Is it possibleg Why, | was at a meeting of
the directors in Saltwater yesterday, and
nothing of the sort was limited. have 500
600 of The preferred stock and G. d. Gilillan
has 100000 The most of the stock, is III the
hands of men who would not have suffered the
concern to be seriously embarrassed for the
want of money.
Thomas Lowry of Minneapolis when told of
the receivership by reporter, was thunder
struck
81 was at the directors meeting, yesterday
"and nothing of the sort was told any of us.
It's the d--dest thing ever heard Of I'm as
much surprised as any one can be, but can say
that there is no reason for alarm The heavy
stockholders can stand the temporary loss
p II Kelley said: Il have been blamed Sc
verely for selling out all Of my $2G, 600 stock,
except $500, which l have yet and for not
giving my support to the company. can
truly say that am unfeignedly sorry for the
embarrassment, but am not surprised Twas
not to be blamed for losing faith IN a company
in which | had invested heaylly-Sabln got
half a million out of st Paul-and concerning
which the chief made so many miscellaneous.
We had been fed on wind until got tired of 1t.
The Northwestern Car company IS the out
growth of the old firm of Seymour, Sabin d Co.,
who were engaged in the manufacture of
threshing machines engines, freight and pas
senger cars, and machinery, and gradually In
creased their business. The business was con-
Quoted under the firm name of Seymour, Sabln
& Co. until March n, 1882, when it waslaerged
into the Northwestern Car and Manufacturing
company, with capital of 5000, 900, ID. NJ
Sabin being named as president and Frank b.
Clarke of St Paul secretary.
The capital stOck-SJ 00O, 0O0-was divided
into preferred stock, So, 600, 900 and common
stock, $1,000 600: the So, 000, preferred stock
to be sold at par subscribers and purchasers
to receive bonus equal to 30 per cent of their
subscription in common stock-S500,000 of the
latter to be held in the treasury. The capacity
of the mandatory was increased so as to be
able to turn out six threshing machines, two
portable farm engines and twenty freight cars
per day and six passenger coaches per month
From time to time extensive improvements
were made and additional buildings were
erected. At the time of the fire, on Jan. .,
1884 the Northwestern Car company utilized
the labor of300 convcts and ,200 citizen work
men, the contract with the state calling for 10
cents pef diem Tor the LABOR OF ttle eOnNicts
1t is believed that the total loss of the com
panv exclusive of insurance, from the two
fires reached Sll5,0O0
At the annual meeting of the stockholders of
the car company, held at Saltwater on March
p, the following officers and directors were
elected:
Directors-D NJ Sabin, saltwater; Isaac
Staples, saltwater; G. D. Gllfllan, st Paul; r.
f. Jersey saltwater; Thomas Lowery, Mime
apolis 9. n. Nelson, Stillwater;N. ". kittson
O. D., 7 4 p91 A tirE
new, st. Paul; A. H. Wilder st. Paul: George
r. Finch, st Paul; A. Oppenheim, st. Paul; J.
i Meagher, Mankato; $. r. Stimson, Stillwa-
ter: G. NJ Seymour, saltwater; X. b. Landon,
Minneapolis; G. ?. Coggswell, Norwich, Con.
J. S Fogg, Boston, Mass. The directors then
elected the following officers D. NJ. Sabin,
president; G. d. Gilfllan, vice president and
general manager; w. S Goodhue, secretary; d.
L. Hospes, assistant secretary; j. G. OGor-
man. treasurer; H. c. Akers, auditor; r. s
Davis, registrar of transfers: w. r Barstow
transfer agent
A complete list of the stockholders is not
proeurable OF the original subscribers near
" 500 in NUMBER large majority still retain
their first interest but respectable minority
have sold out. Among them may be mentioned
C. Gotziau st. Paul, F. II. Kelly and w t.
Merriam st Paul and J. F. Meagher, Mankato,
tpartially1 There are scores of small holders
in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York
Under the original plan the common stock was
issued to holders of preferred at the rate of 30
per cent common to 100 per cent preferred
subscribed and paid for The pre-
ferred was to pay yearly dividend of
Sper cent payable quarterly and when the
surplus allowed of greater dividends the extra
amount was to be paid on the common stock
Following is a list of the holders of preferred
as far as 1t is possible to procure IT.
ID. NJ. Sabin, saltwater. ............ SI3O,Wp
G. D. Giltillan. st Paul ............. 100000
n w kittson. st. Paul. ............. 100000
L I1ts