Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-01-29
A CHANCE FOR YORKVILLE.

keenly alive to anything that concerns
his business and, therefore, he is deepl.
concerned in matters pertaining to TIT
welfare of the town and county. Jus
now, he is very much concerned as to th
probable fate of the Narrow Gauge rail
road. At least, such would be judged
from his conversation, which sounds a
though he knows what he is talking
about.
"There is sound sense in that interview
in regard to the Chester and Lenol
railroad in THE ENQUIRER last Friday,
he said to a reporter on Monday; "bu
the vital point was not touched"
Kcenly anxious for something furthe
On this interesting subject, the reporte
was not slow to ask: "What is the vita
point?"
"Yorkville ought to buy that road" re
piled Mr.. Jones, and gentleman stand
ing near broke inlo an amused smile
"Oh, you need not laugh" continued Mr.
Jones. 1T is to her interest to do it. Sh'
can do it if she wants to, and if she doe
not do it, she may some day wish sh'
had"
"And why is it to her interest to bu!
it ?" asked the bystander, evidently grow
ing more serious at Mr.. Jones's statement
"Well," replied Mr.. Jones, II onl,
heard from drummer this morning tha
citizens of Hickory and Lenoir were going
to try and buy it; and if they do, it prob
ably will not be great while before
your question will be answered nor'
comprehensively than can explain. 1
is just possible that this town may wake
up some morning and find that she is no
receiving as much consideration at th'
hands of the management even as sht
received before there was change
'Then, you mean that Yorkville shoulo
buy the road as guarantee of protection
in the matter Of freights?" said the re-
porter.
"Only partly. That is only small par
of my meaning, though, of course, there
would be benefit even in that. But l dc
not make investments for indirect bene'
fits. That is not business. Business invest
ments are made on basis Of at least prob
able dividends, and under the conditions
that think are likely to prevail in the
sale of that road, would rather have
$1,000 in it than in any cotton mill l know
of within 90 miles"
"And how do you make that?" was
asked.
"Well, just as somebody has already
said, the road has earned at least 6 pei
cent. interest on its entire bonded indebt'
edness during the period of the wors
financial stringency that this country has
ever seen. 1t may have earned a great dea
more for all 1 know. But granting thai
it has only earned that much, it is
certainly worth the amount of its bonded
Indebtedness, and a great deal more,
because any man who knows anything al
all about business, feels pretty sure thai
from now on we are going to have better
times than we have been having. Well
the chances are that unless somebody
organizes company and gets i'll readi'
ness to make bid, the bondholders will
buy the road at, or less, than the amount
Of their bonds. If a company should be
organized, however, the probability is
that the road can be bought at near the
par value of the bonds, and if so, the men
who go into it are going to make some
money"
"But won't the bondholders buy the
road?"
Il have no idea that they will. They
probably will not be organized further
than to fully protect their bonds, and the
company or syndicate that goes dollar
over that sum is likely to get the proper
ty. II the bondholders get it for less, OF
even for the amount of their bonds, you
will never hear of them trying to sell ii
again. They will have too good thing"
But where is the money to come from
in this town." the bystander asked
ut don't take much money TO buy a
railroad these days." explained Mr.. Jones.
"IOu are away back yOnder 1T the
sale of the first railroad. | don't re-
member the name of the road. 1t had
been in the hands of Il receiver and was
ordered to be sold. The actual value was
away up in the millions and tinanciers
were at loss to solve the problem us to
where the money was to come from. 1t
was Jay Cooke, believe, who saw a way
out of the difficulty. He outbid several
combinations and had the road knock ed
down to him. With $4,000 or 100000 i'll
cash, he liquidated all pressing claims.
Then he sold bonds OH the road for the
balance, and by the time his rivals began
to sre through his scheme, he had made
s. ,OOO, 900 clear profit. Since that time all
deals of this kind have been handled in the
same manner. have no idea that more
than $4,000 or S2O,0G0 in cash will be re-
quired for this road, especially if the pur-
chasing company should be composed of
men with the necessary financial standing
to negotiate the bOnds.'
"But might not there be some danger
of getting fooled in the purchase? Sup
pose it should prove not to be exactly
what they say it is" suggested the re-
porter.
II do not think that there is any dam