The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1912-09-27

1t was made by the Cruger Coal CON-
pany to the Exington Trust company
as trustee.
You see. Courtlandt," the old gen.
tleman went on by way of explana-
ton, II am the Cruger Coal company
president and all, with a few friend
ly dummies to make the corporation
valid. l owe this wolf two hundred
thousand dollars. He agrees to take
the bond issue for the debt He might
as we'll take a deed for the property.
1t Is worth perhaps forty thousand
i, dollars more than that; but he will
! get 1t in the end for the debt. A deed
direct to him would be little bold
just now, bit like exacting smart
! money, punitive damages for the loss
| of Emily"
He leaned over, got a little flaming
twig from the fire, and relighted his
burned-out cigar with it. Then he
went on.
There Is fragment of unbelieve-
able history about that debt, Court
landt, manufactured with the greatest
care by this wolf Three years ago,
when l knew only the exterior OF the
man, he came to me and said that the
Midland and Tidewater railroad wish
ed to borrow about half million dol
lars, and that he was exceedingly
anxious to assist 1t to obtain the
| money; that the banks in New York
| were short because Of the recent Janu-
| airy payment Of dividends, but he was
advised that the Granite Mountain In
surance Company at Montpelier had a
lot Of idle money. He was not &C.
Quainted with the officers Of this CON-
pany, but some one had told him that
l was born in Montpelier and that my
cousin, Senator Lapman, was presi-
dent of the company. Perhaps l would
give him letter Of introduction. l
gave him letter, saying that he was
known to me and that he was a man
Of large financial relations, in fact,
a rather friendly letter.
Business in New England is on a
| rather higher plane than one finds it
here. Ones word goes further. When
ones father and grandfather are
known, the value of what one says is
also known. Well, this wolf took his
railroad man up there, presented his
letter and got the loan for him, pledg-
| ing his word for the soundness of the
securities and. by strong inference,
pledging my word too. The insurance
company paid out four hundred thou
| sand dollars, and took the bonds of the
! railroad for one half-million Of dol.
| lars
Three months later the railroad
| went into the hands Of receiver was
| sold, brought merely the value of the
receivers certificates, which the court
had issued to cover It's operating ex-
penses, and the bonds were, of course,
worthless.
Senator Lapman came to me, and
| went at once to the wolf. told him
that the Granite mountain officials
| had relied on his word and mine, that
he had guaranteed the security in per-
| son before the board, and it must now
be made good. He replied that was
4OllO ll6Hl, uc "Oulu ul0h0 IL " uOlly
good. but that he would have to Dor
row the money, as he had not so much
to his credit. He asked me to wait
while he went across the street to his
bank. In few moments he returned,
said the bank would loan him the
money on his personal note, but that,
to keep within its rules. the note
| would require two names on It, He
could put his office boy on, he said,
but II l would lndorse it, the transac-
ton would appear rather better.
Il knew that he was perfectly good
| for that sum. as good as the sub-treas-
ury, and l at once said that would
comply with his req uest.
We went together to the bank, an
officer made out note, he signed 1t
and passed it to me. noticed that It
was in the form OF joint note; but
remembered that banks often pre-
ferred obligations in that form and l
did not hesitate to sign It, Then, at
his request, the bank delivered the
money to me and ! went at once to
Montpelier and adjusted the matter
| with the insurance company. l forgot
the incident then, but remembered
how honorable the wolf was"
The old generals jaw frightened on
the bitter word. He broke the cigar
in his fingers and threw the pieces in
to the fire.
One morning, after Emily's cards
were out got letter from the bank,
| calling my attention to this note and
! saying 1t must be paid. was dumb
founded. had supposed that the wolf
had paid it long before. l went in.
stantly to his ONCE in New York. He
met me with face as cold as stone,
said that he had paid individually the
interest on our note for several years,
that he had used his good offices with
the bank to get all the time for me
that he could, that the bank refused to
carry the paper any longer and we
must arrange to pay it. In the great
est surprise l recalled the occurrence
to his Eemory in minute detail. He
replied composedly that l was quite
mistaken, he was no more responsible
to the insurance company than /;
neither of US had been legally bound,
but both had felt morally obliged to
make good the loss, and so a joint
note had been executed and the money
paid to me. l surely remembered
that.
Il turned around without another
| word and went to my solicitor. He
! examined the note at the bank, ques-