New-York tribune., 1907-12-24
RECALLS OLD DOCK DAYS
Receirers appointed for Bro5cn 8
Fleming Com pony.

The Brown & Fleming Contracting Company.
which firm al the time of the Charles F. Muir
ply Dock Board controlled nearly all of the dock
privileges in the city and which charged with
having all advantages under the treasury order
system then in vogue. placed under a receiver
ship yesterday, when Judge Hough appointed r.
G Wet and James Forester as receivers with
joint bond Of s25.0po. and authorized them to
tnue business ten days longer with the consent
the creditors.
The involuntary petition was filed against the
company, whose Offices at No. 129 Broad
way. by creditors including the Cornell Steamboat
Company. the Moquin-O Oferman-W Coal Com
pany and the White Star Towing Company. Pref
erences are alleged. The claims of these creditors
amount to s22.456. with the Cornell Steamboat
Company as the largest. Attached the petition
is complete list of the principal creditors. show
ing a total Indebtedness approximating $4,000
No explanation is given for the failure
The original firm at one time enjoyed all the
contracts given by the Dock Department when its
members ] Sergeant Cram. Peter F. Meyer
and Charles F. Murphy. who was then its secre-
tary The connections of the concern with the
city were shown in an investigation conducted by
District Attorney Jerome and Marshall Clarke, the
Assistant District Attorney, in June 1903. after
The Tribune had exposed the favoritism shown
by the commissioners allotting the dump priv
ieges to The Brown & Fleming concern.
II also brought out that the partnership
controlled the dumps Canal street and Wall
street which were being used by the Degnon Con-
the subway construction between Ann street and
Great Jones street. The receipts from this
cession are said to have netted $4,000 profit
AT the time the investigation the Brown &
Fleming partnership said to have been Hqui-
dated. but month later it was announced that
Charles A. Brown and John F. Fleming, who. at
the height of their had held the long
term pier privileges. would continue business under
the of the Brown & Fleming Contracting
Company. a corporation In a statement TO
The Tribune. after expose led cutting off
OF nearly all the contracts the company announced
that Charles 4. Brown had the majority of the
stock and that the reCeivership. which had pre-
viously been declared and conducted by J. J.
Coogan. had ended. Mr.. Coogan's tenure of Office
expired on July 27. 1903, and that he
received less than $4,000 in fees. although he
claimed a larger amount.
The settlement of the company's affairs ii
declared had nothing to do with the investigation,
although it was freely rumored that the stories of
the workings of the Murphy board and the Brown
Fleming combination were the cause of the reor-
ganization 1t was said that through the interest
of the Dock Board hundreds of thousands of
dollars were paid the firm, which had received
almost unlimited pier leases at low rates. Fol-
lowing the announcement that the concern had
reorganized the principals were forced to with
draw from the city deals. and its enterprises
mostly conducted with private corporations
The directors of the Brown & Fleming Contract
ing Company Charles A. Brown. president:
Henry Miller, secretary; Louis D. Beck. John c.
r. Eckerson John D. Miller, Joseph Matthews.
Henry S. Mott and Henry NJ. Randall.