The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-08-31

Company to do the work for the con-
tracing company. They We're to a
them 10 per cent. sOf ali the money
spent. AS Warner and others con-
cerned in the project were directly
concerned with the prosperity of the
Federal Trust Company, it would look
as if Mr.. MacRae ought to have taken
notice right there. for the more these
companies spent" the more their 10
per cent profit amounted to.
But it was some months before the
Wilmington bankers found out that
they were adrift. Then as the plant
was delayed, and the old story OF
Buckhorn Shoals, with which they
were familiar, began to unravel itself
to them, they tried to stand against
their own nndoing.
1t was too late. According to court
records, they visited New York, at
tended meetings of the directors, only
to haNe their remarks voted down and
expunged from the records. No no
tice was taken Of their resolutions.
They were at last completely ignored.
They had but sOne vote in the voting
trust, while Warner and Mitchell mad
two.
AS usual, the S. Morgan Smith
Company was building the wheels OF
the new plant. This is the greatest
II - IL IL 4 - +" csIIi
is generally allied with the monopo-
lizing assemblage.
When at last MacRae & Company,
in a desperate strait, appealed to the
Supreme Court of North Carolina 20
break up the voting trust and re-
store to the stockholders the right
to direct the observation-disclosures
ing to the court that only N that way
could the bondholders be preserved
the members Of the voting trust, with
their associates on the board OF dl-
rectOrS, and the executive committee
of the Rockingham Power Company.
took prompt action. A representative
of the Smith concern went to New
York and hat firm "~arranged' to APP
ply for a receiver for the power COM
pany. Before the same notary an APP
picatiOn for a receiver by the Smith
concern, and q request that it be grant
cd by the Rockingham Power Com
pany were made out and sworn to;
and the text day, November q, 1908,
without the knowledge Of the board
of directors who were in session Cor
at least OF fl MacRae members) this
petition was fled before Judge Pritch-
ard in the Fed eral Court at Raleigh.
Filed by whom, think YOU? Well,
by the sOn-in-law of the Judge himself,
who had been chosen as a convenient
attorney.
The directors representing the vot-
ing trust had taken steps to make the
recciVerShip sure: MacRae alleges in
his affidaVits in the courts Of North
Carolina hat among extraordinary
acts. they anticipated interest pay
ments not due for two months, SO as
to empty the cOmpany'S treasury. And
the court appointed as receivers two
of the trusts own men. one Of them
superintendent for the Federal Con
structiOn Company.
Let us look for a minute at the re-
port of the receivers, filed in the Fed
eral Court at Raleigh. IT shows where
the money has gOne. Lockwood,
Greene and Company directed the
spending of it, and the Federal Con-
structiOn Company, their close ally,
spent it. Together they got ten per
cent. upon the bulk of it. In advance
they estimated the total at 81, $50, 600
for a completed plant, They have
raised that figure to $5,5l4,0OO by
their own operations.
For instance, the excavation for the
race was to have cost 100000. There
has already been spent upon it b.
the Federal Construction Company
$13S,OOO, and they now estimate that
$685. will be required to complete
it. Ten per cent on the original was
$4,000; On the new price $10,SO0.
Poor contractors!
The masonry for the pits was to
have cost $7O,OOO; it has already cos
$4,000 and before it is completed will
need $4,000 more. Ten per cent. on
the increase is $4,000.
The cost of cofferdams, which pro-
tect the work. was estimated at $4O,-
900 in the original statement. On them
s1OS,OOO has already been spent, and
they will have trebled in cost before
they are completed. Nearly $4,000
extra commission here.
SO the figures Of the receivers go
on with the story. The substations
that were to have cost $4,000 are
now to cost S262,5O0. The transmits
sion line which should have been
erected for $4,000 is to cost $780,
600. and, perhaps, worst of all, the
bill for engineering and supervision,
which the engineers themselves esti-
mated at $4,000, has already amount
ed to S1S6,O0O and it is now said by