The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-01-22
The Old Time FayOrite Of MANY
Maine Investors.
SIXTY THOUSAND DOLLARS AND
THE MORTGAGE TAKE 1T.


Two and Half Millions of New Eng
land Capital was Sailed Down in the
Enterprise-Much Maine Money Was
Included.
A despatch to the PRESS from Fort
Payne, Alabama, states that on Satur-
day the property of the Fort Payne Coal
and Iron company was sold at public
auction to e. N. Cullom of Birmingham,
Alabama, Tor sixty thousand dollars,
which was the lowest allowable bid.
This sale will probably result in end
ing for good New England interest in
this company into which so many
thousands of dollars of New England
capital have been poured. There are
several collateral enterprises like the fur
mace company, in which Maine men are
yet interested: but the parent company
with all it's interests has apparently
gone for good to the iron makers of Bir-
nfingham, which Fort Payne was ex-
pected to rival
The final act in the great financial
tragedy was ushered i'll by the decree of
the United States Circuit court for the
Northern district of Alabama. The Old
Colony Trust company, AL. Sayles and
Others were the plaintiffs in the suit in
equity which brought about this sale.
The property had been in the hands of
receiver since 1892, when W. r. Sheldon
was appointed. The property sold Sat-
urday consisted of about thirty thousand
acres of land, two thousand town lots,
railroad rights, franchises, mines, etc.
Enough of the sixty thousand dollars of
purchase money must be in cash to pay
the outstanding receivers certificates,
costs, etc. The remainder of it will be
accepted in first mortgage bonds of the
company at their ratable value in case
the purchaser happens to have any of
those bonds. Il is probable. however,
that about the whole of the sixty
thousand is required for discharging the
receivers certificates and paying costs.
The adv ertisement of the sale specified
that no bid under sixty thousand dollars
would be received
Local opinion in Fort Payne, judging
from such advices as the PRESS has
received, seems to be that the Birming-
ham purchasers have good thing. Of
course they take the property subject to
the claims of the first mortgage bond
holders. These bonds were issued after
the February meeting of 1891, when the
W. P. Rice element was dethroned and ex-
Governor Goodell of New Hampshire,was
elected president About two hundred
thousand dollars worth of eight per cent
bonds We're taken up, considerable
amount of the n being placed in Port
land. Tt is impossible to tell how many
of these bonds are owned here now, or at
what rates they have been bought in if
they have been sold. Assuming that
they are worth par at the present time,
the property free and clear will probably
not cost the Birmingham purchaser over
$3.50, 900.
A comparison of this sum with the
sums put into the property will disclose
the extent of the losses. The PRESS of
August 10, 1892, contained the full &C
count of this investment. Fort Payne
was discovered" financially in 1889 by
Dr.. j. M. Ford of Kansas City. He asso-
ciated himself with C. o. Godfrey of ST.
Louis. They organized in 1889 the Fort
Payne Land and Improvement company,
and bought the 10000 acres or more of
land, paying, it is said, $4,000 or $780,
900 therefor. Wendell P. Rice, formerly
of Maine, then of Kansas City, came up
on the scene very soon and organized the
Do =
the capital stock fixed at five million
dollars. divided into fifty thousand
shares at one hundred dollars each. But
these shares were sold to "ground floor"
investors at twenty-five dollars each.
There was actually a rush for these
shares by investors in Maine, New
Hampshire, Rhode Island Massachusetts
and Vermont, and cool million dollars
was poured into the hands of Rice and
his associates. Maine contributed many
thousands of dollars, representing many
small fortunes, to this sum. When this
million dollars had been obtained the
first thing done was the purchase of tine
thirty thousand acres of land for seven
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the
same for which Messrs. Ford and God
frey were said to have paid not over two
hundred thousand dollars, and the same
| which was sold Saturday with all it's
improvements for sixty thousand dollars
and the mortgage, or probably not over
$3.50, 600 at most.
Having bought the land the company
had S250,O ready money for improve
ments They also had in addition con-
siderable sum realized from the sale of
| lots and rights, for the boom was now
| on and northerners were crowding in.
The Improvements made by the company
were as follows: A fine hotel costing
$50, 600; water works and electric lights,
$40, OCO; railroad fifteen miles over the
mountain to the coal mine, $3.50, 900;
fire clay works, $3.50, 900; coal mine de-
velopment $40, 900; streets, $4,000, etc.
From 800 persons in 1889, the population
had increased to g, 500 in 1890. III the real
estate boom much Maine money was i'll
vested and lost, perhaps as much as in
&kn.ns oh