The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-10-07
HOW BILLIARD DESCRIBED IT
And What MeIIen Said of the
 Sale of the B. & M. Stock.

In the course of the Interstate Com mercA Commission's examination into New Haven affairs last May John L. Billiard put into the record a pre- pared statement giving his version of the famous transaction by which ke admits having profited to the extent of S2,748, ,o00.1 After relating the un- dertsanding that the New Haven was compelled in 1907 to sell its 1O9 94s shares of Boston & Maine stock to comply with a decision of the Mas sachusetts Supreme Court, he stat ed:
 wrote MeI1en offering $t2O a share for this stock about the market price, He telephoned me that if I would give $125 he would help finance a purchase. This [ agreed to do. T paid a part of the purchase price with a note and the balance in cash. having borrowed for the spur- pose from the National City Bank
 There was absolutely no under standing by which I was to be protect ed from a fall in value of the B. & M stock, or by which was under any obligation to keep the stock, or to sell it again to the New Haven. My note I subsequently paid in full. The purchase that have described was not sufficient to give me ma jority of the Boston & Maine stock. and I thought that my position would oe slfehSlheneo Dy the. acquisition Of additional shares of this stock To aid me in such purchase I arranged to borrow $1,000.00O from the New Eng land Navigation. Company on a note which subsequently paid in full. ] also borrowed money. for the pur- pose at banks in New York. I pur- chased in addition to my former spur- chase altogether between 15,oOo and 16,000 shares of preferred stock.
 Tn the purchase of this stock had risked my whole fortune At one time the B. & M. shares had fallen in the market so that my pur- chase showed me a. loss of over ST. OOo,o0o. I had bought the stock al about market price, and sold it back at about market price. I received $50 a share, showing me a profit o1 $25 a share on my original purchase | of 109, ,948 shares
 NO officer or Director of the rail. road company was in any way asso- ciated with me or had any interest il my transactions in Boston & Maine stock or in the Billiard Company
 In his picturesque testimony at the Folk hearing MT. Me1lep said that h. met Billiard in the early nineties when MeIlen, as Second VIce-Presi dent of the New Haven, was solicttins freight from the Lyon & Billiard Co Asked what kind of a man Billiard was, Mellen said:
 Well, when am trading with hin do not look in any direction tbu right in his eyes. I do not turn m, head a minute
 An extract from the minutes of tn New Haven Road was read, outlininl l the 4company's part in the Bi1lar, tranaction. This record Mel1en de nounced as false and misleading. H offered the following record, date two years later. as correction of tn sl earlier account:
 ''The President stated that his at l tention had just been called to tn fact that he had omitted to make | formal report to the board relatin to final arrangements with John I Billiard in connection with the pur
 chase from him of stock of the Bos ton & Maine, and that he desired nov
 to report that on that adjustmer
 that this company had no claim, le
 galIy or equitably, to any interest i the capital stock of the Billiard com pany, whereupon it was voted ths the action of the President and hi