The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1890-09-19
The Shepaugs Owners.


Starbuck and Macauley, the Standar
Oil trio who own the Housatonic an
New England roads and claim control
the Shepang, BEE reporter has obtaine
some interesting information, whic
comes from trustworthy source; mucl
of it will undoubtedly be presented t
the courts in due time. As is well known
Jabez a. Bostwick, president Of the New
England, caused injunction papers to b.
served upon GeorgeD. and Ellsworth
Chapman and others of the Shepaus
board of directors, the Croton Valley
railroad. the Mercantile trust company
John d. Ripley of New York, to preven
the issue of $500, 900 worth of Shepaue
bonds. In consideration of these, Rip
ley (well known here as junior member
of Smith & Ripley, who built the New
England) was to build a railroad, yir
tual extension of the Shepaug, from
Hawleyville to the New York State lint
and thence to Haverstraw, N. Y, to con
meet with the Croton Valley road. Bost
wick claims that the meeting of thu
stockholders of the Shepaug at which
these bonds were authorized was not lie
gal and makes the further claim that
with his associates, he controls the stool
of the rosd. The Injunction writ is re
turnable to the Superior court on the
first Tuesday in October. Injunction
York and arguments were heard, thi;
week. Until recently, Chapman has hello
the balance of power in the Shepaug di
rectory, owning something more thar
half the stock himself. This he bought
of the Mcneil estate, paying 35 for it
He has nearly finished the second year
of his presidency, succeeding Henry w.
Buell.. That he has not grossly misman-
aged the affairs of the road is shown by
the statement that the road had float
sumed charge; that this has been liquid
ated and surplus of $4,000 obtained
for dividends; that new steel rails have
been laid on part of the line, the old iron
rails being sold at a high figure, nearly
enough to pay for the steel rails, which
were bought when the market was low.
He has also improved the road in other
ways and his aim has been to make it
pay dividends, as we'll as expenses. 10
that end, he has, it is said, put forth con-
sideSNals money of his own and has re-
Trained from asking a cent of salary for
his services as president. But he was
not satisfied with the terminal facilities
at Hawleyville; he wanted another out
let to tide water besides that afforded by
the Housatonic system. 1t was this
which led him to favor the construction
of road from Hawleyville to Westport :;
but the Saugatuck Valley road did not
materialize because of the lack of inter-
est on the part of people along the line.
Next, Mr. Chapman turned his attention
to the New York and Ridgefield road,
from Portchester to Ridgefield, thinking
that an extension from Hawleyville to
Ridgefield, would give him just the IA
cilities needed. This scheme, which was
really the most feasible of all the plans
Chapman has evolved in this connection,
was not carried into effect because, not
fully understanding the case, the man
ayers of the Ridgefield road would not
grant Chapman the extension of time he
asked. He then turned his attention to
the Croton Valley route and the contract
with Ripley was the outcome. A road
10 miles long, running from Hawleyville
to Danbury, thence to Ridgefield and the
State line, was proposed; across the line,
connection was to be made at Haverstraw
with the Croton Valley road and thence
into New York. Had not the injunction
effectually blocked all progress, it is not
impossible that surveyors might now be
at work on this line. But it will be re-
membered that Bostwick, Starbuck and
Macauley now claim to control Chap
mans road and this also has been salts
factorily explained to the reporter. At
the. time of the great Sistare-Clemens
failure in New York, Chapman became
somewhat involved and is said to have
been exceedingly short of ready money,
since; rumor has it that as much as $780,
600 of his loose change was locked up.
At any rate, this Shepaug stock, or
large part of it. had been used as collat-
eral by the Sistare firm. This Chapman
lost and this Bostwick & Co. bought at a
low figure, added it to stock bought else
where, and, with superintendent Alex
Mcneil on their side, opened fire on
Chapman. New York lawyers, however.
have said that Bostwick's title to his
stock is defective, claiming that the Sis
stock as they did; and this question
must be settled by the courts. what
ever Chapman's past record or reputation
may have been or still may be" the BEE
reporter was informed, she Las been EN-
tirely free from blemish in the manage
ment of the Shepaug road. He has aim
ed only to put the property on dividend
paying basis" But il Bostwick can hold
his Stock, it is altogether likely that
President Chapman will be succeeded at
the next election by one of the Standard
Oil men and the Shepaug will then be-
come a part Of the Housatonic-NeW Eng
land system. 1t can be easily seen, how
ever, that the Shepang is not thus eager
ly sought for its own intrinsic merits
(though, if it continues to pay dividends,
the etocK would be valuable), but be-
cause prospective rival can be crushed
by acquiring this.
] Stern & Co.'S mammoth millinery OPEN
ing, Saturday. September 20 and Mon
day, September %, viii be great event
in Danbury business circles. Their store
Is next to that of Sam Harris, the cloth
Ter and the Standard orchestra will make
It pleasant for their visitors. Give them
a call.