Allegany County Republican, January 28, 1885
The Erie's Leased Lines.
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The rumor has been afloat since the annual meeting of the
Erie's narrow gauge system that the new organization would make an
effort to cast these dependent roads off by annulling their
contracts. The roads are the Bradford, Bordell & Kinzua, Bradford,
Eldred & Cuba, the Tonawanda Valley and Cuba, the Kendall & Eldred,
and the Rew City & Eldred. The facts in the case are these: At the
annual meeting, John J. Carter, of Titusville, was elected president
of the three more important corporation, with the understanding that
he would soon have the others placed under him.
To represent several of the Buffalo stockholders, Thomas
Loomis, of this city, was made vice-president. The Erie made no
direct effort to cancel the contracts but simply told the people
holding the bonds that they could not pay the coupons at present, and
gave no particular time when they would be paid. The amount due was
three percent on $500,000, or $15,000 due December 1. Of this $5,800
was paid and then payments were stopped. Before the failure of the
Marine bank the coupons were paid there, but since then have been
paid by the treasurer of the Erie company.
The same policy has been carried out with the Buffalo &
Southwestern, the Erie refusing to pay the coupons due January 1,
notwithstanding that they had Buffalo & Southwestern receipts to the
amount of $78,000 in their treasury. The question of what is to be
done is being debated, but no satisfactory conclusion has been
reached. If the narrow gauges antagonize the Erie by taking the
matter into the courts they fear that the Erie freight, upon which
they are dependent, may be diverted from their lines. They are
therefore waiting in hopes that when President King completes his
work of reorganization that some satisfactory means may be provided
for paying the bondholders. - Buffalo Courier.
