Los Angeles herald., 1891-01-13
PRESIDENT HOLMES DEPosAL.
Unwritten History About the Recent
Syndicate Reorganization.

Onwritten history About the Recent
Syndicate Reorganization.
The deposal of President c. B. Holmes
from the Chicago Street railroad syndi-
cate interests may be traced to his op.
erations with the st. Louis property
In the first place, his persistent partial.
ity for cable roads over all other sys
TENS OF street locomotion was thing
long inexplicable to the unofficial back.
ers of the syndicate While half dozen
other big corporatio ms were clamberinp
before the municipal assembly last
winter for franchises to construct cleo
trio lines, the Holmes peopse were ask
ing the right to build cable road
throughout the entire length OF Broad
way. 1t would cost more money, and
other street railroad men were settling
upon the electric overhead wire system
as entirely practical and as solution of
the problem, but Mr.. Holmes didn't
Seem to care. He wanted cable road,
and got it. Ele also obtained, in this
new road, market for the sale of
numerous cable-road devices, in which
he is interested on the outside. These
devices include the California grip, and
there are others nearly as costly that he
contrived to unload upon his company.
But this was not all.
Mr.. Holmes had hvpothecated in st.
Louis banks an immense block of the
bonds OF his new Los Angeles road, and
early IN the fall, when the financial
hurry began in London, he found him
sell unable to float these bonds there as
he had expected, and as he had promised
the st. Louis creditors who were tenn
porarily holding them. In addition,
the st. Louis bankers became clamorous
to realizes Being in narrow corner,
Mr.. Holmes made an extraordinary
shift. He was at that time in sole con-
troll of the money and property of the
st. Louis Street railway company, and
he loaned himself $3.50, ,OOO-all there
was to the credit OF that account-and
took up the Los Angeles bonds in bank.
The London market got worse instead
OF better as Mr.. Holmes had hoped, and
a few weeks after he had made this last
turn, he found himself face to face with
a voted dividend on the st. Louis stock
and no money on hand to pay it with.
About this time other officers of the
syndicate became clamorous for review
OF Mr.. Holmes admi istration, and this
demand was followed up nv the action
that on Tuesday retired him from all
connection with the syndicate interests
A st. Louis capitalist had much to dc
with the case. He had big block ol
the st. Louis stock of the syndicate, and
when the 81 5000 issue of bonds was
decided on last spring, to cable the
Broadway line he went up to Chicago tc
do what he could toward making the
bonds sell well. He was armed with
authority to offer 23s premium for the
entire issue, but he wanted to make
this offer to the executive committee o
the syndicate, and not simply to Mr.
Holmes. The latter rendered indefinite
and unsatisfactory answers when thu
st. Louisan applied for information
about the meetings Of the committee
but offered to take the gentleman's bic
himself. This was not exactly wha
the st. Louis man wanted, and he looked
further. When he got around to youns
Mr.. Hutchinson, Mr.. Holmes lieuten
ant, he was told fat that he couldn'
get before the executive committee
either he must send in his bid BY
Holmes or Hutchinson or it shouldn'
get in at all. And then the st. Loui