Omaha daily bee., 1899-08-23
SELL A RAILWAY TERMINAL
Sioux City Property is Disposed Of at
Auction for 81, 100000.
EASTERN TRUST COMPANY THE PURCHASER
Rumors that J. j. Hill of the Great
Northern Has Got on Eye on II
said to he for Sale to
Highest Bidder
EASTERN TRUST COMPANY THE PURCHASER

SIOUX CITY, Aug. 22.-(Special)-The
property of the Sioux City Terminal and
Warehouse company was sold this morning
to the Trust Company of North America,
trustee, for the sum of 1850, 900. The only
other bidders were Mason, Lewis & Co.,
bankers and bond buyers of Chicago and
Boston. This firm bid up to $1,245, 900 and
then stopped. The bidding for the trust
company was done by its president, Edwin S.
Dixon of Philadelphia, and William A.
Mason of Chicago of the firm of Mason,
Lew & Co. was his opponent.
Mr.. Dixon said the future OF the prop
erty wos uncertain, but he is of the opin-
ion that the holders of the bonds would
be willing to sell II a sufficient offer Is
made at once, but IL not they will reorganize
and operate the property to the best ad-
vantage possible.
He indicated that he understood j.. j.
Hill of the Great Northern would like to
have the property and had been making
some steps toward it's purchase. However,
he said that this was only gathered from
indirect sources. So 1t may be assumed
| from Mr.. Dixon's remarks that the valuable
I terminal property is on the market, and
any day Sioux City may learn of it's sale to
| some railway company or syndicate of capt.
talists.
The sale of. this property under f%oreclos-
ure proceedings in the United States court
and to be conducted by Warwick Hough of
st. Louis, master in chancery, was adver-
tised to take place at 10 o'clock this morn
ing from the west steps of the county court
house. The fact that men were to be on
hand who could bid millions naturally at
tracted quite a crowd of sightseers. Men
stood about watching anXiously for the sale
to begin, and when bidding actually com
,a,nal tbnra ~, lorl1y n sound from
those present aside from the voice of the
master calling for bids. The sale passed
off quickly, and inside of a very brief space
of time the bidders, buyer and all had left
the steps deserted.
At the appointed hour, Judge Hough,
Mr.. Dixon, A. F.. Call, attorney for the trust
company, and several other men interested
appeared. H. ]. Taylor handed Judge
Hough a note to the effect that a1few lots
had been included in the advertised notice
Of sale and in which the terminal only held
an equity. Only the equity therefore was
offered for sale.
All was to be sold in one parcel free and
clear of all liens and encumbrances whatso-
ever. No bid of less than $1,000 900 would
be accepted. The sale was to be without
redemption after confirmation, and a de-
post of 2 per cent. of the purchase price
was required of the buyer.
After reading this notice Of sale in a de-
liberate manner, Judge Hough said:
First Bid One Million Dollars.
81 am now ready, gentlemen, to receive
bids for all this property, the character of
which you know as we'll as l.. Any of you
who happen to have a million dollars of
loose change in your vest pockets now may
be heard"
All woc rpint for q minute and GnoI1r
Mr.. Dixon, who was standing back some dis
lance, was heard to say:
One million dollars"
Judge Hough asked him to write down
his bid and hand it in, and then he asked
: who was the next. Mr.. Mason was stand
ing at one side, and reaching his hand
down into his coat pocket he bid 81, 100, 900.
Then came slow bidding until the sale was
: made for 81, $50, 900 to Mr.. Dixon.
The last bid was called three times and
finally Judge Hough said "sold!" The sale
was to the Trust Company of North
America, trustee for the bondholders.
WELL" said Mr.. Mason to a Sioux City
man, 81 made your property here worth a
quarter of a million more than 1t would
have been"
Mr.. Dixon, accompanied by Judge Hough
and Mr.. Call, went to the office of the latter,
where the proper transfer of the property
was made subject to the confirmation. He
put up the necessary 2 per cent. according
to the terms of the notice of sale.
1t is understood that Mr.. Mason repre-
sented a Chicago syndicate who was desir-
Gus of securing the property, and the gem
eral impression is that it was the Illinois
Central for whom he was bidding. The
Central now runs into this depot, and it is
known the company would like to own tfs
| DrODerties.