The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-08-22
m ----'1 < SEABOARD
 SALE CERTAIN Williams Confirms Trans
 fer of Control. WILLREMAININDE Neither Coast Line Nor S0uth-
 ern Concerned. Mir. waraeld, President of Conti.entak Trust Company of Baitinsre,
 Makes Deal With Thomas
 F. Ryan.
WILLREMAIN INDEPENDENT

Richmond, Va. Aug 21.--John Skcl-s ton Williams arrived in this city this afternoon from New York and cone firmed the reported sale of the Will Hams -Middendorf holdings of Seaboard Air Line stock. To an Associated Press correspondent he said: & eS Davies WarfieId, President of the, Continental Trust Company of Balti- more. endeavored a few weeks ago to negotiate the sale of the Seaboard stocks owned by J. L. Williams and Sons of Richmond. and J. William Mid- dendorf and Company of Baltimore. to the Ryan Blair interests. which for the past month or so has represented tho majority of the voting trust but these negotiations fell through apparently through the unwillingness to meet our ideas as to price and we had aban- doned the idea of making a sale to Messrs. Ryan and Blair. But Mir. War field, with characteristic determination, decided that the deal should go through.
 Called to New YorE. While in Baltimore yesterday morn ing I received a telephone message from Mir warfeld. who was in New York. and at his request left for New York on the afternoon train. and met MT. Ryan at Mir. WarfieId's apartments at the Manhattan Hotel last night T told Mir. Ryan that it would be useless for us to discuss the sale of our holdings of stock at any figures less than those we had named to him at the outset. and that if he wanted the property 1t would be necessary for him to pay these prices to secure 1t. The figures I named for our stock were 15 for common and 25 for the pre- ferred. MT. Ryan assured me that neither the Atlantic Coast Line nor the Southern Railway would be inter- ested with him in the purchase and that the property. If purchased, would be maintained and operated as an in- dependent system. and he said that ha fully appreciated the importance both
 from the standpoint of the road ttself land of the people of the South, of s,r s..e
 ating the Seaboard Air Line independ-
 ently and clear of control or entang-
 ling alliances with any other system. We sold him $14,000.000 of the stock | almost equally divided between pre- ferred and comman, at $15 per s1ara | net for the common, and $25 net per
 share for the preferred. the stock to be- delivered and paid for at once.
 MT. Ryan told me that he was buy@ ing the stock on his own responsibility | and that 1t would ,.ot be decided until next week whether his associates. Mesers. Blair and Coolidge, would be- interested with him in this pur- chase.
 Will Retire From Board. T advised Mir. Ryan that as the sale would embrace all Of of the stock own- | ed by myself and my firm, would de- | sire to be released from the board of | the directors as scon as the stock
 | should be delivered and paid for. and I | thought 1t likely that my associate.
 | MT. Middendorf. would desire the same
 thing.
 "As the Blair syndicate is un-
 | derstood to have owned about 60.000
 | shares of the stock prior to this pur-
 chase. their total holdings probably amount to about 100000 shares, or
 about two thirds of the entire stock of
 the company
 "Of the balance Of the company's and is largely scattered among compa- | ratively small holders If the com
 pany can now be assured of a good | and able operating management. in ad-
 dition to the strong financial backing which 1t enjoys, stockholders may con-
 | fidently look forward to handsome returns on their investments at no
 l distant day.
 'aThe sales has been made" said Mfr.
 | William, mot because Of any lack of l confidence in the future of the Sea-
 l board property, but pu. .ely for the rea- | son that my firm mas thought 1t desir- able to realize on this stock in order
 | to expedite the liquidation of it's af-
 fairs and the payment in full. princi- pal and interest. Of all obligations. | which I consider this transaction will | insure"