New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-07
STEPS TO SELL. THE GARDEN.
ACTION TAKEN BY THE STOCKHOLDERS
OF THE COMPANY.
TIE PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY
70 ARRANGE FOR THE DISPOSITION OF THE
rnorERry-Ir HAS PROVED AN US-
PROFITABLE INVESTMENT

ARRANGE FOX TIE
psopEnry-rr HAS PROVED AN IN
PROFITABLE INVESTMENT
ALL ALONG
-,e stockholders Of the Madison Square Gar
6en Company held a meeting yesterday AFTERNOON
:, the Garden. at which they decided to get rid
:. ,ho nronerty now comprised under the. name
=, Madison Square Garden. To this end they au-
..or,,.d p X Sturgs. president of the company.
.rd lanes c. Young, secretary, to take the neces-
$50 s,ens for the disposition of the property.
This step was not in the nature of surprise. as
,,e directors Of the company some time ago fore
.,aaov-ed the action taken yesterday. and it has
s..r known for some time that the Garden had
r.ver proved a profitable investment.
Tvs, how the property will be disposed OF was
80, snecined by the stockholders indeed. they
loft the method Of disposition TO the president
.rd the secretary Of the Board subject to the APP
r-oval Of the directors. The resolution adopted
nv the stockholders reads as follows:
pasolved THAT the president and secretary OF
,his co-,nanv be and they are hereby authorized
a., ,bs,r discretion to sell said property at public or
,-iSats sale al such price and upon such terms
as nav Re approved by the BOARD. and to tnat
I'd 10 seek a purchaser or purchasers of such
nn,er,v or such mart thereof as they think IT wise
~ sen nv advertisement or through agents or IN
such other way as they may deem deSirahle aru
o. --ake and execute md deliver all necessary
.o,tracts. deeds. conveyances and other instru-
tents as in heir Judgment are suitable or neceI,
-,. - oor,rlne the sale OF said property. or such
-, ,ba-ecr as they may decide sell: and also
20 deliver possession thereof 70 such purchaser or
,,,-~hasers when such sale shall have been made
so>fF, OF THE STOCKHOLDERS THERE.
.r,o,- the stockholders present al the meeting
Yesterday were ex-Mayor Abram 5. Hewitt Cor
,alius Feroves. Isidor Wormser Charles Lanier'
- c. CULVER u. II HOLSTER. L. L. Benedict.
y Peredict. Stanford White. J. P. Paulding.
e Wharton II l. Nicholas. James c. Young
ard F X Stursis. ~ the 10000 shares. 1878
we're represented either by the owners or by
nroyes Mr. Sturgs represented j. Pierpont
,,o-ran who is the largest shareholder. and he
said that MI Morgan was willing to agree 10
INV nlan tina. the rest Of the stockholders ia
vored either for the preservation or the arena
.or the use Of the public Of the city. or for the
sale 81 the property. Mr.. Morgan was willing to
turn his second mortgage bonds into preferred
stock or 10 fund his coupons for three or hvc
years or make a contribution on his stock in
other words 10 pay his share of the assessments
or the stock so as to preserve the arena
The resolution presented was the one formuia'-
Cd hy the directors at their meeting of the day
before and Il was almost unanimously adopted
and with little discussion, except a statement OF
,hA condition Of the finances from the treasurer
The Indebtedness Of the company, which Is
canjtaljzed for 81 900 900 consists OF bonds Sc
cured by first mortgage. due November /, 1918
81 80 600; bonds secured by second mortgage.
due November l. 1920, $4,000; taxes about
$50 600 and interest due May !. Of this year. and
no money 10 meet either II or the taxes except
about $4,000
COMPLAINTS ABOUT TAXES.
The stockholders Of the company complain Bit
teri, At the manner in which they have been
treated by the city in the matter Of taxation The
taxes for 1896 amount 20 about 500 900, including
real estate. personal property, and the state tax
m the franchise. The personal item is the one
70 which the company objects. one Of the off,
Gers told a Tribune reporter Yesterday that the
SCISSORS rated the value Of the personal proper
~ held by the stockholders in the shares OF the
company over and above the bonded debt OF
50 ooG coo. the assessed valuation the basis Of
81 10000 and the unpaid taxes and floating
debt, al between $500 900 and 100000 whereas,
rs a matter Of fact it was not worth cent
II Is an interesting fact TO chronicle here, that
In 1895 the directors Of the company held just
such a meeting as they held Yesterday and took
similar action. instructing their directors to de-
wise means for disposing Of the property, as 1t
was not a profitable investment. The proposed
action was never taken. however, and the COM
pany has continued 10 run the Garden al an
actual loss But now they seem determined 10
rell il for what they can get. and TO whOmsoever
they can.
POINTS ABOUT ITS HISTORY.
The Garden has had an interesting history. The
site where II stands once belonged 10 the New
York and Harlem Railroad. and for years rail-
road station stood there, into which came the
trains Of the Harlem and New York. New-Haven
q nd Hartford roads. For twenty years after the
railroad trains had abandoned the building II
was used as a place OF amusement. ?. T. Bar
nun once offered 100000 for the property. but
was unable 10 acquire H. In 1890 the Madison
Square Garden Company formed and pur-
chased the site erecting thereon the building that
now stands there. 1t is by all odds the largest
building in America that is entirely devoted to
the purposes OF amusement The arena seats
something over II 900 people all told; the Garden
Theatre seats 200 and the assembly hall about
! 200 more. The architects Of the building were
McKim. Mead White, and their plans resulted
in what many people consider an exceedingly
beautiful piece OF Renaissance architecture. The
tower OF the building. which rises 249 feet into
the air was modelled after that OF the Giralda
al Seville. Spain.
Inc inquire Oh I'ldlld, WHICH SurmOuntS lne
tower weighs 149O pounds. yet so delicately
poised is ii that ii moves on its ball-bearing
axis with every breath Of wind. Augustus ST
Gaudens modelled the figure from which the
bronze Diana was cast The Diana who now
rules the tower Is the second one that has stood
there The first one proved too large so they
took her down and sent her 70 the Worlds
Fair where she had a prominent place on the
dome Of the Agricultural Building. In passing
attention might be called 10 the accident that
happened one evening many years before the
present garden was built. in the old garden
when fair was being held there in the interest
of the Hahnemann Hospital Many persons
were injured by the falling through OF the floor
and the collapse Of the walls. Among the seri-
ously injured was Miss Hegeman. a sister OF
Mrs. Chauncey NJ Depew.
The arena Of the garden was opened in June,
lsg2. by Edouard strauss ORCHESTRA which