Los Angeles herald., 1893-01-07
eouLD's SIDE OF TIE Ea!E f.a4r.

1t Was to Fight Vanderbilt That Re Is
sued tho Bogus Certificates.
G. P. Morosni, who for over eighteen
years was closly associated in business
with Jay Gould, was perhaps as much
grieved as any one over the 6nancier's
death. lie and Mr.. Gould had adjoining
desks at Il Broadway. Mr.. Gould made
Mr.. Morosini his confdant in many of
his private as well as business affairs,
and no man was perhaps more familiar
than the latter with Mr.. Gould's personal
characteristics. Seated in his Office, Mr..
Nc hi pointed out the plain stained
W able and leather bottomed chair
" ~. Gould was accustomed to oc-
CT There sat a man." said Mr.. Moro
SIM, 'Wilo was more misunderstood and
more cguselessly maligned than any have
ever known. was the auditor of the Erie
company at the time Mr.. Gould assumed
control, and I continued in that capacity
until after General John A. Dix became
president of it in 1872. Mr.. Gould was
brought into Erie in 1858 by Colonel Jim
Fisk.
"Mr. Gould became president of the COM
pany. Immediately the road bounded into
popularity. It's stock increased in value
and there were many who begged for
blocks, but could not get them. Among
tEose who salv 2 great future for the road
was Commodore Vanderbilt. He saw in
it powerful rival to the New York Cen
tral and Hudson River railroad, and deter
mined if he could to gobble ii up. He tried
ct first to purchase a majority Of its stock.
He failed Then be declared u freight war.
AT that time cattle were brought from Buf.
falo to this city at $125 q carload. Tire
commodore reduced the rate to S100. Fisk
and Gould made a cut of twenty-five dol
lars less. The commodore went to fifty
dollars. Eric then offered to bring cattle
here at twenty-five dollars per carload, and
when the Erie put the rate still lower Van
derbilt issued IN order to bring cattle over
the Central at one dollar carload. The
commodore thought this would ruin the
Erie's freight traffic. He waited to see
what card Fisk and Gould would next
play Just as he was congratulating him
self that not steer was being carried over
the Erie, while the Central was compelled
to refuse business, he discovered that as
in previous contests he had been outwitted.
"When the commodore reduced the rate
to one dollar per carload Fisk and Gould
purchased every COW and steer to be had
NcSp VI ISulldlO. 1Hty oHlupSQ tiIciIi, nUo
by the Erie, but by the Central, at the
Gommodores own rate. They had sold
enough in this city to make a fortune be-
fore Vanderbilt found ont where he was
at 1 am told that the air was very blue
in Vanderhiltdom when the commodore
learned how he had been tricked. He eswore
revenge, but first put the rate back on the
transportation OF cattle"
Mr. Morosini laughed heartily while re-
lating this incident. Continuing, he said:
Commodore Vanderbilt still ached to get
control Of Erie, and he went to buying up
all the stock not held by Fisk and Could
Having partially succeeded he offered to
relieve them of their holdings. Fisk said
All right; we will give you $4,000, 600
worth
'The colonel issued lot of stock, which
of course was not worth the paper on
which it was printed Vanderbilt bitund
thought that he now possessed supreme
power over Erie. When he discovered that
Fisk and Gould still held the majority of
legitimate stock in Erie, while his pur-
chase at big price was worthless, the
commodore was the maddest man in Amer
lea. Then there were interminable suits
interrupted by the killing of Fisk by
Stokes.
II am not defending Fisll's trickery, but
Vanderbilt had to be fought with his own
weapons or he would have had a monopoly
of all the railroads in the state. New
York World.