Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 236, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 October 1913 — ACTION TO BE BEGUN AGAINST MATCH CO. [ARTICLE]

ACTION TO BE BEGUN AGAINST MATCH CO.

Directors Will File Complaint For Annulment of Contract and Anulznent of Contract and Quieting of Title.

The Rensselaer Commercial Club will file an action in the circuit court within a short time against the U. S. Match Factory Company, asking that the contract the Commercial Club had with the factory people be annuled and seeking to quiet the £itle to the seven acres of land where the cement factory buildings are located. The time stipulated in the contract as the date by which the company was to be entitled to the ownership of this land and the buildings by reason of having paid out a certain amount in labor and complied with other conditions has expired and the action is virtually one of foreclosure that will restore the land and buildings to the Commercial Club. The balance of the land, that is with tbe exception of the lots that had been deeded to purchasers, was transferred by the directors of the Commercial Club on a reported sale by the match company. That the sale wa& a subterfuge to de fraud the Commercial Club looks probable, but this transfer may yet be set aside. It seems that the land has beeii mortgaged to an Elkhart banker for $4,600. The banker is very anxious to get his money and made a trip here recently to examine the security. Another Elkhart citizen, who reported that he had been a victim to the extent of investing $5,000 in the match factory, was here two weeks ago to look after the land. The banker was trying to get him to take the. mortgage and P. T. Longacker, who will be remembered as one of the promoters, was trying to get a little picking on the side, or so the young man who was here seemed to think anddie went home determined to chase no good money after his lost $5,000. If the Commercial Club cared to contest this transfer on the allegation of fraud there is every probability that it could secure title to the balance of the land and lots, but the $4,600 mortgage with the accumulated interest would have to be paid. It is probable that the buildings and the seven acres of ground is about all that will be rescued from the wreckage, and this will ,be subject to a mechanic# lien held by an Indianapolis company. Several months ago an attorney for the match factory people came to Rensselaer and issued checks in final payment of certain indebtedness here. The checks were never paid, however, as the Sterling crowd had no funds in bank. The directors of the Commercial Club at the time the contract was made and since that time are: D. M. Worland, C. G. Spitler, Delos Thompson, Walter V. Porter, B. F. Fendig, A. H. Hopkins, C. C. Warner, Hiram Day and J. J. Montgomery. Mr. Worland was . the president of the club and Mr. Spitler the secretary-treasurer. These directors have submitted the facts concerning the contract, and also the transfer of the land, to an able attorney who adyises them that there can be no question about the recovery by the Commercial Club, and they will leave no stone unturned in an effort to recover everything possible.