Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XII. Visit in Minnesota and Philadelphia—Conversation with Jay Cooke—The Crisis of 1873—Negotiations in Holland—Draining of a Lake in Skåne—Icelandic Colony in Manitoba—Return to America
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
Story of an Emigrant.
3 35
As in the case of the Northern Pacific Railroad, the
subsequent success of the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad proved that
Messrs. Becker, Trott, and myself were right, and if the
Dutch bondholders had followed our advice they would not
only have saved their twenty million dollars, but also made
as much more. The bonds continued to depreciate to almost
nothing until the company was declared insolvent, a
receiver appointed, and very expensive legal measures were
resorted to, until finally the Dutch became disgusted with
the whole matter and transferred all their interests to
an American syndicate headed by J. J. Hill, of St. Paul, at
present the well-known Minnesota railroad king. The sum
paid was a mere trifle. Hill’s syndicate procured money for
building the connecting link and completing the system.
The syndicate made twrenty million dollars by this
transaction, and, within five years after the Dutch had sold their
bonds for a mere bagatelle and the company had changed
its name to the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba,
practically the same bonds were sold on the exchange in
Amsterdam for one hundred and fifty cents on the dollar.
The only profit 1 derived from my connection with this
business was that I gained the respect and confidence of the
Dutch capitalists, who very soon understood that thev
would have been all right if they had followed my advice.
Therefore, when another Dutch company, known as the
Minnesota Land Company, shortly afterward was brought
to the verge of ruin by mismanagement, the affairs of this
company were intrusted to my hands, and when the
Maxwell Land Grant Company of New Mexico, which also
consisted of Dutch capitalists, got into similar trouble thev
appointed me American manager of the affairs of that
company, to which I shall refer further on.
Soon after my return to Sweden in the fall of 1S73 I
became interested in an important business enterprise near
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
