The Washington herald., 1907-08-02

New York. Aug. 1.-The E. Il Harri-
man-stuyvesant Fish fight. which has
been smoldering since Mr.. Hartman got
the upper hand In November, 1906. and
put his own man in as president Of the
Illinois Central in place Of Mr.. Fish.
blazed up in fine style to-day.
It promises to he almost as. prominently
before the public eye from now until
the meeting Of the stockholders OF the
Illinois Central on October 1s. as it was
in the period between the insurance in
vestigation. which broke up the close
friendship formerly exieting between the
two men, and the directors meeting, at
which Mr. Fish was deposed.
To-day Mr.. Fish stirred up things in a
way that ended in his calling Mr.. Har-
riman a liar Mr.. Fish first sent out A
statement about the Illinois Central, in
which he called attention to the small
ness Of Mr.. Harriman's stock holdings in
comparison with hts own. and said that
while he did not intend to enter into an
active campaign for reelection to the
presidency. he had received from stock
holders a large number Of unsolicited
proxies, and would be on hand at the
meeting to vote them in addition to his
own stock and the stock Of his close as
sociates in the company.
When Mr Hartman was leaving the
Office of the Union Pacific Railroad Com
pany this afternoon, he had not yet
seen the statement.
Hartman Sees Statement.
As he approached the reporters. who
we're waiting for him at the door. he
shook his head and said. jocularly. pre-
sumably in reference 10 some Of the in
terviews published lately and credited to
him: i am not going 10 say any foolish
things to-day"
''Ha,,s you seen Mr.. Fish's statement?v
he was asked.
As Mr. Hartman glanced through the
/ statement, his laughing manner disap-
peared and he grew more serious.
I am the largest stockholder in Illinois
Central. he said emphatlcaIly. and al
ways have been ever since I went into
it"
You mean counting the holdings In
Union Pacific and Of your friends. doat
you. Mr. Hartman
Never mind what mean. I own more
shares than Mr.. Fish. several times over,
and he knows il, too"
He says you own only 120 shares"
He has said q lot Of things lately that
werent-well that We're not just right"
And with that Mr.. Hartman. who had
been talking on the elevator and in the
street, disappeared down the subway.
Fish Remains Quiet.
At Mr.. Fis.i's office in the National Park
Building, there were a hundred or so
copies Of the evening papers on a desk,
and his secretary was busy cutting the
statement out of them preparatory to
sending il TO stockholders Of the company
who had written 10 Mr.. Fish. It was In
! answer to letters inclosing proxies and
asking about his attitude on the Illinois
! Central matter that Mr. Fish made his
statement.
4 have nothing to add 10 my state
ment, Mr.. Fish said.
Have you heard what Mr. Hartman
said about it?'' he was asked.
NO, I haven't. I don't care what he
said. If you want to, though, you can
tell me-
well, he said that he had been the
| largest stockholder in Illinois Central
ever since he got into It, and that he
owned several times as many shares as
/ you. and that you knew it."
At that Mr.. Fish grew scarlet. He
I leaned forward in his chair and said:
If he said that he lies, and you can
print that I said so"
Mr.. Fish's statement as to the distrlbu-
| tion of stock among directors on Novem-
/ Der Z, 1895, shows shares held as follows: