davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1954-05-09
The Challenger

From an Office on the 45th floor
of the ChrySler Building, Robert
Ralph Young is currently directing
his strategy. On clear day, he can
look south and see Wall Street,
which gave him his start and which
he now damns as q sinkhole of in
iquity.
A white-haired, ruddy-cheeked
man Of less than average height,
Mr.. Young is controversial figure
in the financial world Quick to
bride at criticism, he is equally fast
to impute to those who oppose him
all sorts of wicked designs. THE
forces of evil are lined up to keep
me out" he asserted in an inter-
view last week.
For years, Mr.. Young was "boy
wonder" but at 81 he is one no
longer. OF course. He got his start
in 1915 as boy fresh out of Texas,
helping the dupont financier, John
j. Raskob. Six years later. at 25,
he was an executive Of General
Motors. BY 1888 he was New York
Stock Exchange member and
power in Wall Street
He was only 20 when he took
over the moribund Van Sweringen
railroad empire through q bargain
purchase of the Allegheny Corp,
which he told Senate inquiry on
May 26. 1887. was in process of
liquidating. Thus life-at least life
as railroad man-began at 40 for
Bob Young. He is, officially a rail-
roader no longer. but he still heads
unliquidated Allegheny.
Five years after his flier into
rails. the aggressive Mr.. Young took
control of the Chesapeake & Ohio,
subsequently merging it with the
Pere Marquette. a Michigan rail-
road. In extent and revenue, CS5O
is about half as big as Central.
At about this period, Mr.. Young
started to exhibit signs Of what his
enemies call megalomania and his
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Defending Champion

The most significant single fact
about William White is that he is
a railroad man. In fact, he has
never been anything else since he
went to work at Is as a clerk on the
Erie.
Mr.. Whites progress with Erie
made him a man to watch. At Al,
in 1888, he was both a boy wonder
and 25-year veteran when he quit
to go to the Virginian Railroad as
general manager. From there Mr..
White went to the Lackawanna as
president before moving to his
present job at Central in August,
1852.
The Central president is about as
much taller than average as Mr..
Young is shorter. His hair Is dark
but gray at the temples, and his
face is smooth and unlined. Where
Mr.. Young seems to be in rapid
motion even when in repoSe, Mr..
White appears relaxed even under
pressure. He has the unhurried
manner of man who knows the
train will leave on time SO there
is Cd no point in getting there
early and CD no sense in getting
there late.
Precise but not pedantic, Mr..
White tends to underplay his state
mentS. in contrast to the penchant
of Mr.. Young for the broad. sweep
ing, categorical utterance.
In an industry that believes in
making haste slowly. Mr.. White is
an innovator. But he makes changes
only with an end in view, not just
for changes sake. Most of his Gen.
trail innovations have been rather
basic, and the road would have been
better off If they had been made
years earlier.
For instance, he reorganized the
system to enable it to be operated as
a business instead of loose fedora
ton. And discovering that this rail-
road, with 10,700 miles of way"
had no single executive responsible
for maintenance of way" Mr..
White invented such a job and Sc
lected the man to fill it.
For his time and trouble, Mr..
White drew $125,9 last year under
a lifetime contract which will pay
him $4,000 after age IS and $40,-
900 after 10. This comfortable ar
rangement. however. does not make
the self-made Mr.. White a rich man
at least in the circles in which he
moves.
Evening star., 1954-05-09
The Outlook

At the top of this page are pre-
dictions by Messrs. Young and
White on the prospects. In simple
arithmetic, they look like this:
. Young: Victory in the form Of
100000 votes out of 6,125, 900 cast.
. White: Victory. with about 8
million votes going to the Central
slate out Of total Of 5.8 million
(if the Murchison- Richardson stock
Is voteO or out Of about million
(if 1t is no).
In most respects, there is as much
hokum and noise In this battle as in
any national election. Possibly one
side is licked already and knows it
but will not admit it. It is ex-
tremely unlikely that either side
really knows with any degree Of
accuracy where 1t stands today. and
how much Of its strength will stick.
In all probability, the winning side
will be the one that between now
and May 26 manages to get closest
to the average stockholders pocket
book nerve.
If stockholderS' minds worked
logically. Mr.. White would seem to
be the winner on balance. He -
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Proxies and Handouts

In a closely-held corporation. it
is possible to settle management
dispute quietly. behind locked doors.
But when 41,000 shareholders are
involved in a 6-million-vote strug-
gle over multi -billion-d dollar cor
poration, the battle gets pretty pub
lie. And the public forum is the
arena in which, inevitably, it is
fought.
The impression, however. that
this is public relations campaign
aimed at 100 million Americans is
entirely erroneous Both sides feel
at this point as the elder William
H. Vanderbilt did, The public be
damned" They are not after ma
tional acclaim; they are after votes.
If the public generally is not aware
of this fact, the Securities and Ex-
change Commission is. It has re-
quired both sides to submit all pub
lie utterances, even down to routine
press handouts. for advance SEC
inspection.
The first formal step IN the tight
came early last month, when Mr..
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Prestige ApIenty

The vast prestige of New York
Central is perhaps best exempli-
fed by its 52-year r-old standard
bearer, the Goth Century Limited.
Even in a day of 234-hour flights.
an overnight trip on the Cen
tury" is still the way to travel
from New York to Chicago.
This sleek, all-Pullman stream
liner pulls out of Grand Central
Station, New York, on the dot
of every evening except Satur-
day. It pauses 46 minutes later
at Harmon, N. Y, to change from
electric to diesel motive power.
Then it streaks northward and
westward without stop through
Albany. Syracuse, Rochester.
Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo and
South Bend. It hesitates momen-
tarily at suburban Englewood. ILL.,,
before rolling into LaSalle Street
Station, Chicago. promptly at
8:45 in the morning.
In 1874 hours the shiny Cen
tury has travelled 960.7 miles at
an average speed - including
stops and slowdowns-of 60.996
miles an hour. Its dash through
the night from Harmon to Engle-
wood-921.4 miles in 884 minutes
lis the longSet scheduled nom
stop railroad run in the world.
Evening star., 1954-05-09

friends call smart business. Con-
trolling q sizeable network of rail-
roads, he started talking about
transcontinental empire. This was
the period Of his real national
emergence. His advertisements,
claiming that - hog can cross
America without changing cars, but
you can't" were as colorful az they
were inaccurate.
Thus was Mr.. Young's battle with
the old-timers brought into the
open. He lashed out at them as
barnacles on the hull Of progress,
as conSpiratorS in obstruction of
technology. They scorned him as
a financial huckster and q trans
portation ignoramus.
Inevitably, some OF Mr.. Young's
publicity rubbed off on the public.
Today the idea that Bob Young
taught Casey Jones the railroad
business is widely held. Actually. his
experience can be recapitulated as
II years of financial control and
II years of what might best be de-
scribed as quasi-operating control,
but not one day of practical work
on the operating level.
Asked last week if he considered
himself railroad man, Mr.. Young
said:
Railroad man has become so
discredited a term in the past that
I would be little bit ashamed of
being identified that way. I'd prefer
to be called a businessman"
Evening star., 1954-05-09

fer the stock, and to enjoin the
company from holding its annual
meeting before the stock is trans
ferred.
o BY Central and q director, Harold
S. Vanderbilt, against Chase Bank,
Allegheny, Mr.. Young and his chief
associate, Allan P. Kirby. and the
two Texans to enjoin Chase from
giving Messrs. Murchison and Rich
ardson proxies for the 100000
shares.
. BY an Allegheny stockholder,
Harry c. King. as a motion to in
tervene IN the first suit, alleging
that 100000 of the disputed shares
still belong to Allegheny and never
were subject to sale to the Texans.
The legal situation, as can be
deduced from the foregoing, is con-
fused at the moment. It is entirely
possible than any one of these &C
tions, or one of a number of others
now on file, could cause postpone
ment of the battle of Albany, now
scheduled for May 26.
But on the supposition that the
meeting will be held, Mr.. Young
has forged ahead in his effort to
overturn the White regime. The Is
person slate of the "Alleghany-
Young group, as it calls
itself, can best be described as mot
ley. One Wiseacre observed in New
York last week that "Young's got
every minority on there but a
Negro"
According to the Young groups
published data, the slate owns an
aggregate of 1,O89.88O shares. or
roughly II per cent of Central's
voting stock. On this basis, Mr..
Young has called for ownership
management" and on the face of
it he seems to have point. Par
allel information from the Central
board shows that it owns a total
Evening star., 1954-05-09
The Stakes

The New York Central system is
tho second biggest railroad property
in the United States. Only the
Santa Fe has more extensive road
than Centrars 10,700 miles; only
the Pennsylvania crossed more last
year than CentraPs 1925 ,348, ,776..
And only PennSy has assets larger
than CentraPs $2,656. .040.201.
On Centrals payroll at the close
Of last year were 99,698 employees.
They tended 141,7 freight cars
and cabooses; 1881 passenger cars;
7,S42 miscellaneous cars; 2,465 loco
motives OF all types, and road, road
way structures and miscellaneous
physical property worth over 5000
million.
A real but less tangible asset is
CentralS geography. The road criss-
crosses Americas industrial heart,
from Boston to st. Louis, from the
500 to southern West Virginia. It's
principal termini are the hemis-
phere'S two biggest cities, and such
towns as Detroit, Buffalo and
Cleveland are only way stations. An
additional advantage is a water
level route linking the seaboard
and the midwest.
40,979 Owners
Ownership Of this vast property
is vested in 40,979 shareholders.
There are 6,447,41O shares of no
par-value common stock, which
currently is worth about $21 and
has ranged this year from 1882
to $26.
New York Central's destiny is in
the hands of 15-man board re-
sponsive to the will of stockholders
as expressed annually at Albany.
Each share gets one vote and that
vote goes to the person whose name
was recorded as owner of the share
as Of April 19, 1854.
Most owners will not be at Albany
personally. They will be represented,
rather, by their proxies, which
are powers-of attorney authorizing
another person to cast a vote in a
certain way.
The fight for these proxies is
the thing that has captured public
interest. And that interest has CEN
tered on the two generals in the
forthcoming Battle of Albany"
Evening star., 1954-05-09

in the accompanying Letter to
Shareholders"
This appears to be q sauce-for-
the-goose. sauce-for-the-gander con-
cept: II Centrars directors can spend
company money to solicit proxies,
then the Young group can collect
from Central's treasury for their ex-
penses II they win.
Charges and Counterchorees
Alleghany's expenditures are not
known. But as far as advertising Is
concerned. Mr.. Young's bill must
approximate Central's, since the
two sides have been accusing and
counteraccusing each other in the
papers with about equal frequency.
On the subject of public relations,
Mr.. Young boasts that he has hired
no "high-powered press agent" The
story on that is, he does not need
to. Thomas j. Deegan, jr, vice pres
ident of Allegheny, is one of the
best public relations men in the
business.
An interesting sidelight to the
proxy fight developed over the last
fortnight. In its May issue, Fortune
Magazine criticized Mr.. Young and
praised New York Central in an
editorial and an article. Mr.. White
denies vigorously that Central had
anything to do with planting" the
pieces in Fortune.
On spotting the May issue, Mr..
Young telegraphed Mr.. White (their
Offices are about IA mile apart)
warning the Central president
against using either article without
clearing with SEC. That made him
curious, Mr.. White says, so he sent
out for copy of Fortune. He liked
what he read, cleared it, had re-
prints made for the edification Of
shareholders, and quoted large
chunks in full-page newspaper ads.
Fortunes Suit
There the matter rested until last
Tuesday, when Time, Inc, proprie-
tor of Fortune, served papers on
Central charging copyright infringe
ment.
Mr.. Young, who knew about the
suit, told The Star about it Ga
hours before Central was served.
Meanwhile he had prepared an ad
taking issue with the Fortune edi-
torial. Since it quoted literally from
the magazine too, Mr.. Young was
asked whether he also might be
running the risk of a suit. Maybe
we are" Mr.. Young said, that
hadn't occurred to u.s."
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Battle of Eitons
By WiIIiom Hines

The railroad battle Of the gener-
alton, If not Of the century, will
reach its climax two weeks from
this coming Wednesday In Ma
tional Guard Armory at Albany,
N. Y.
Heretofore, shareholders Of the
New York Central Railroad Co. have
managed to find ordinary public
rooms large enough to hold the an
nual meetings required by company
charter. But not the May 26 meet
ing this year. In fact. some OBJ
servers wonder whether even the
armory will be big enough. Several
hundred newsmen, phalanx of
railroad officials and as many stock
holders as can make the trip will
be on hand to watch pair of busi-
ness titans slug it out for control
of juicy property.
The two strong men are William
White and Robert r. Young. They
have two things in common: They
were born in February 1897 and
they want to be boss of New York
Central. In all other respects they
are as unlike as two humans could
be.
At the moment, Mr.. White is
president of Central, and Mr.. Young
is board chairman OF Allegheny
Corp. With a slate of IA others,
Mr.. Young hopes to seize the di-
rectorate of the railroad and oust
Mr.. White and his associates. On
this issue. the White and Young
camps are locked in a battle that
has captured more public attention
than almost any business event since
the 1929 crash.
1t has been a rough-some say
dirty-f1ght. But its bitterness Is
understandable in view Of the prize
for the winner.
Evening star., 1954-05-09

Mr.. YOUNG SAYS = Robert R.
Young (obove) the challenger" in
the New York Central proxy fight,
predicts the outcome of the Moy 26
bottle and the resulting future Of
Central in this way:
. About 95 per cent Of the stock
will be voted.
. The "AIIeehony Young Kirby"
sIote will carry IS per cent Of the
votes cost.
. I'VE promise the shareholders q
board Of directors who are interested
in the welfare of the stockholders
because they ore shareholders them
selves. Where mans treasure is.
there is his heart olso'."
Evening star., 1954-05-09

of 73,600 shares, or about 1.12 per
cent of the outstanding stock. Four
of the IS Young candidates claim
larger holdings than those listed by
the biggest owner on the manage
ment slate, Harold S. Vanderbilt.
with 10000 shares. Many Of Gen.
trails directors, however, control
companies with large blocks Of Cen
tral stock.
There is no dispute that the
Young slate has more stock in its
own right than the White group
holds. The question is whether the
Young crowd is entitled to vote all
the power it says it has.
Evening star., 1954-05-09
Young's Campaign

Robert r. Young has had his eye
on Central at least since 1947, but
got into position to do something
about it only this year.
His Allegheny Corp is holding
company. That is. it makes nothing,
transports nothing, sells nothing;
instead, it owns securities and prof
its directly as its affiliated compan-
les prosper. Its principal assets at
the end of 1853 were stocks in "a
COMPANIES with an aggregate mar
Evening star., 1954-08-15
TALES A LA CARTE

affection to its proprietor, Pasquale.
One day a regular customer from
Allentown, Pa, cornered a waiter
and complained, 1--WE been eating
here twice a month for three years
in the hope of seeing some of these
famous personalities in the flesh.
Not one have ] ever spotted, how
ever. In fact, most Of fthe customers
look just like my neighbors in
Allentown. When do you catch the
big shots here in Pasquale's?"
The waiter answered gravely,
sinister, / been working here
Evening star., 1954-08-15

senne'' Cert 81 Sheraton alike.
This chain operation makes for
greater efficiency, ] am sure, and
increases the profits, but there's
no denying that it also has snufed
out the individual features, the
subtle atmosphere that made GER
tain hostelries stand out head and
shoulders - or rather lobby and
roof garden above the rest.
The old Waldorf Hotel was a
case in point. Not the block-square
job that stands at Park Ave. and
49th st. today. but the one built
in 1893 by William Waldorf Astor
at 33rd st. and Fifth Ave-, which
still was uptown New York in
those days. Round the corner were
Roster and Bial's Music Hall and
the Herald Square Theatre where
James A. Herne was starring in
Shore Acres" A horse-car line
ran across town on 34th St.; Fifth
Avenue was lined exclusively by
ornate homes of Knickerbocker
families.
The Waldorf (the Astoria annex
was not completed until 1897
featured a genuine trout stream in
its grill room inefficient. no
doubt, by chain-system standards,
but a great lure for young socialites
Of the period. They actually fished
for their dinners with reel and rod.
Attendants unlocked their catch
and bore it off to a sizzling griddle
nearby.
The sOciaIites occasionally
filled i'm the moments of wait
ing by pushing each other into
the stream.
a RESTAURANT off Broadway
today attempts valiantly not only
to live up to the standards Of the
old Waldorf, but adds glamour by
plastering its four walls with
photographs of movie stars, prize
fighters and ball players. all auto
graphed with messages of undying
Evening star., 1954-08-15
CULVER SERVICE

CULVER SkkvACk
ENTRANCE to HE old Waldorf.
You could reoch II by horse cor
eight years now, and ! leuer
eueys met Pasqss0lel''
THE LAST STRAW. Clifton
Fadiman. critic and conversation
alist, sang the praises of another
very special eating place to all and
sundry.
The object of his affection was
an Italian restaurant hidden
among the skyscrapers of down.
town Manhattan. He was steering
a party there one night by taxi
when he suddenly discovered he
had misplaced the proprietor's
card.
ssI'm afraid we'll have to
dine elsewhere, mOurned
Fadinlan. ssI seem 10 have lost
my Spaghettisburg address. /"
- BENNETT cERF
Evening star., 1954-08-15

M es1 go. =.
great hotels to-
day are either
Hilton ON the
same cylinders
or are share and
Sheraton alike.
Evening star., 1954-05-24
SisterhoodPIons
SDrino Luncheon

The B'nai Israel Sisterhood
will hold its annual spring lunch
con and installation Of officers
at noon Wednesday In the Fig
Auditorium Of the synagogue,
Sixteenth and Crittenden streets
NV.
The new officers Of the group
are Mrs. Charles P. Sherman,
president; Mrs. Ben Salen, first
vice president; Mrs. Nathaniel
Goldberg, second vice president;
Mrs. Thomas Privot, third vice
president; Mrs. Israel Orlove,
financial secretary: Mrs. Ma
thew Topper. recording secre-
tary: Mrs. Sigmund AIDES, cor
responding secretary; Mrs. Sol
Aaronoh, executive administra-
tive secretary: Mrs. Irwin Cohen
and Mrs. William Cohen, admin
istrative secretaries; Mrs. Louis
Goldberg, parliamentarian, and
Mrs. Louis H. Berman, Mrs. Ju-
Illus LaZerow and Mrs. Samuel
Berman treasurers.
A feature Of the luncheon pro-
gram will be a dramatic presen-
tation by a group Of Baltimore
women from the Chizuk AMuno
and Bethel FL congregations.
Mrs. David Engel is chairman
Of the luncheon, assisted by Mrs.
Harry Epstein.
Evening star., 1954-05-24
Installation Set =
ByOpti-Mrs. Club

Installation OF officers Will
highlight q luncheon meeting Of
the Opti-Mrs. Club Of Washing
ton to be held at 1880 pm. to-
morrow in the Sheraton-Park
Hotel. e
The officers are: Mrs. Lewis
B. Price, president; Mrs. George
w. Gates. first vice president:
Mrs. r. Bruce Emerson, jr., sec
ond vice president; Mrs. William
T. Mooreland, treasurer, and
Mrs. j. Roger Yates, recording
secretary.
Others include: Mrs. John U.
Raymond, corresponding secre-
tary; Mrs. William Wiley Chase.
historian: Mrs. Louis c. Carl,
parliamentarian and Mrs. Thom-
as E. Duff, IT.. sergeant-at-arms.
Mrs. Winfield g. Martindill Is
the retiring president.
Evening star., 1954-05-24
By Angelo Potri

Turning from one sort of work
to another can be restful. Chill
dren who sit on benches for
hours at q time listening. read
ing and writing often become
tired, and II they have the op-
portunity Of using a different set
Of nerves and muscles they are
relieved and freshened for the
next lesson. That is why an ac-
tivity program is so useful to
school children and the pupils
Of secondary schools.
Too few school programs allow
for this. Many Of them still hold
fast to the sit-still. study and
listen program. For some chill
dren that works passably: for a
good many it is baffling and
fatiguing. To help out, some
schools have after-school activi-,
ties. Look at those words,
"after school," You see school"
does not mean activity and yet
activity is the breath Of life to
children. to students in high
school, too. So we have games.
practice Of music, rehearsals for
plays. classes for handwork after
the five-hour-long school ses-
sion when teachers are weary
and children often hungry
anxious to get home and away
from what they believe to be
more school. Some, hungry
enough for activity, for personal
expression Of some sort in action,
stay for the after-school session.
Why are not these activities
o part Of the school program?
Why do the children have to
wait until they are weary, and
their teacher tired out, to get
to the relief lessons? Why do
not the school authorities rec
ogAize these subjects as educa-
tional ones, valuable in the
educational process of instruc-
ton. essential to the child's
growth in many ways?
Is not i've hours long enough
for q school day in elementary
schools? In my experience over
q good many years no teacher
can work more than five hours
IN q classroom and hope to do
good work. Yet we find the
same teachers who do those five
hours volunteering for the after
Evening star., 1954-05-24
Mrs. Douglas
To Be Speaker

Mrs. Emily Taft Douglas, wife
Of Senator Douglas of Illinois,
will speak at the second annual
luncheon meeting of the Wom-
ans Democratic Club Of the
10th Virginia district at / pm.
tomorrow in the Collingwood
Restaurant on Mount Vernon
boulevard.
Mrs. Douglas, former. Repre-
sentative-at-Larg from Illinois,
will speak on Foreign and Do.
mestic Issues in the 1854 Cam
paign."
Her address will be followed
by an election of officers.
Mrs. William Driver, retiring
president, will preside and re-
port on the clubs activities dur
ing the first year,