The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-22
NAVASSA ISLAND SOLD
UNDER THs HAHkER o . 900 TO
sATJsHY CREDITOHs.
A Patch Of Land In the Csrbbsan sea once
Famous for Its Cuano Deposis-Gen.
Horatio Klns Thinks There IL some hys-
terry About the sale ssd VIII Look Into Il.

\ Patch 81 Land In the Caribbean Sea once
Famous for Its Gusno D~eposits-Gen
Horptio KIM Thinks There IL some hys-
terry About the sale snd VIII Look Into Il.
The Island OF Eavassa. long noted for It's
Ruano deposits. was sold At auction yesterday
at tho Real Estate Board Of Brokers, III Broad
way. The aals Is said 10 have been under an
order Of the Supreme Court. directing the re-
ceiver Of the Navnssa Phosphate Company,
the owner Of the island. to dispose Of II, ~ as
to satisfy the claims Of creditors
The property was bid in for t2b.ooo by Eugene
l.. Richards. Jr.. attorney. on behalf Of some
Of the creditors, The whole proceeding was
n surprise 70 Percy X. Gray. who Is eng AZ cd
in the ink business In Brooklyn and u a stock
holder In tho Navassa Phosphate Company.
He had not received notification that any legal
steps had been taken IN dissolve the company
and desposa Of tbs property, and only
learned Of the proposed sale on Thursday
newspaper. YESTERDAY morning he consulted
by seeing an obsGure notice In a
Baltimore newspaper. Yesterday morn
Ing he consulted Gen, Horatio c.
King. his father-in-law. about the
matter. Gen. King went over TO the Real
Estate Exchange TO make inquiry, but when he
got thsre the sale had just been effected Mr..
Richards told him that proceedings had been
taken at Albany by the Attorney-General for
the dissolution Of the company and that the
Supreme Court had authorized the sale by the
receiver. Tho creditors. In whose behalf the
proceedings we're taken. Mr. Richards said.
belonged In Baltimore.
When seen last night Gen. King said that
probably he would make some further inquiries
In regard to the legal proceedings, as there was
some doubt whether the motion for the dlssolu-
tim nf the nnnnanV had Actually hRpn UTuntR6
Unless such u the case he IL at a loss TO know
how the courts would authorize the sale of the
Gy me peceiyeer, Grm, hlhs oaid that
Thought L .stranss hat Mr. Gray Who owned
S SSes bSttts1 81 5i0 tSc ~ nlo tse GSmpapEs a 6sd s RGi
that no notice OF the proposed sale Of the island
had been posted at the Real Estate Exchange.
several ns n Years s't aao S Si a ss rapt Coleman aI1C OF Bsfl
timore, who planted the American flag upon
i and claimed i as bis PropeTty, lie had a
o% "s the dhe' ownership, 'RSS u, kaaiiy bis titIe was
Conarned Capt Coleman sold the Island to
a syndicate for 500, 900 and In a short time the
the guano deposits. In which the cole value Of
the Island consisted. as IL was almost entirely
OF vegetation, For some years the
but on the discovery OF phosphate
deposits In the United States the sales steadily
declined. and for many, years. II Is said. the
company Ia6 palO no UlNlutUub, On the Dredk-
ing out Of the spanish war all operations on
the island were suspended and the shire. which
were either owned or chartered by the phosphate
company. we're disposed Of. and work has not
been resumed Not having had an opportunity
10 learn anything about the affairs OF the
company or the condition Of the
plant on the Island, Gen. King was unable 10
say last night whether s2S, 100 was a fair value
for the property. It IL said that the negroes
who were employed 20 work on the island werc
virtually In a state Of slavery and that many Of
them had been shanghaied from Havti and
other places. There have been numerous mutt
MES there. and n few years ago some men were
there In n starving nditio and taken
m In a Government vessel
Eugene l.. Richards OF 2l0 West Pifty-seventh
street. the attorney who represented the pur-
at the sale. said that Mr., Gray had no
reason to complain, because the sale had been
advertised for six weeks In two New York news
papers and IN a B Baltimore newspaper.
Ar action TO dissolve the corporation, said
Richards. was begun last July by the At
torney-General becausa II was insolvent. He
up the matter at the request Of a Philadel-
phia creditor who had supplied the groceries
Tor the lsborers in the Island OF Navassa The
has been insolvent for sometime and
oves its workmen about $4,000 In back wages.
NV clients will continue 10 work the phosphate
plant on the leland
SAvRssa IA a small island Of the Caribbean
Sea, OF the west coast OF Hayt. at the south
west entrance Of the Windward Passage. Its
a titude is is degrees 25 minutes north, longi-
ude, rs degrees 2 minutes wst.