Birmingham state herald., 1896-10-09
The Details of the Deal.

Baltimore, Md, Oct. 8.-In addition to securing controlling interest in the stock of the Seaboard and Roanoke rail- road, the New York syndicate headed by MT. Thomas F. Ryan and Col. George B. Harvey has also secured control of the Baltimore Steam Packet company. This company, more familiarity known as the Bay line, operates a line of steamers which forms the connecting link between Baltimore and Portsmouth with the Sea- board Air Line system, of which the Sea- board and Roanoke is the parent com pany. The steam packet company has $400000 in capital stock, divided into 400 shares of 5000 each.
 Hitherto this company has had a sepa- rate stock debt from that of the Seaboard and Roanoke, and has been held as an individual corporation, although the man. agement was made up of the same inter- ests which controlled the Seaboard and Roanoke. Usually the same board of di- rectors controlled the operations ol sh1 two companies.
 It Is stated to be the intention of the purchasers as soon as they come into control of the properties to combine the stock indebtedness of these companies and form one corporation, having It's northern terminus in Baltimore. The capital stock of the new corporation will depend on the earnings of the two com- panes, as determined by an examination of the books of the companies
 The syndicate, it is said, will build up system in the south composed of the Sea board Air Line, Port Royal and Augusta and other lines In that section already controlled by MT. Ryan and those asso- ciated with him.
 The syndicate, 1t Is stated, now controls about 6700 shares of the Il 900 shares of the Seaboard and Roanoke stock. This Is made up of the 4000 shares held in pool by Judge Watts of Portsmouth, Va, Louis McLane of Baltimore and Moncure Robinson of Philadelphia, and of the op- tions on about 2700 shares obtained by the Mercantile Trust company of this city.
 The primary cause of the purchase was to get rid of the policy of rate cutting in- augurated under the management of the two companies and to restore harmony among the southern lines m place or the present hostiities.
 The following card is published here to- day:
 'To the Stockholders of the Seaboard
 and Roanoke Railroad Company:
 q do not desire to enter into news paper discussion as to the right or wrong of the action of the financial agency or the Seaboard Air Line, but MT. McGill has asked me one direct question, which I will answer.
 q do not consider it to the interest of any stoctholder to give an option on his stock and particularly at $100 share, as l consider the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad company's stock intrinsically worth more, because there IS III the treds- ury of that company stocks and bonds to the par value of more than the capital stock This is entirely outside of the hold- ings of that company which controls about 1000 miles of road, or the property, terminals, road bed, etc. l therefore say that the stock of the Seaboard and Roan- oke railroad Is intrinsically worth much more than par and where control is de- sired by any other line more than double par Where is there another case in which 1000 miles of railroad is controlled by a company with a capital stock Of $lJss, ,4OU, and is this stock not worth over $100 per share?
 "R. c. HOFFMAN. President Seaboard and Roanoke Rail-
 road company"