Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 225, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 September 1914 — INTERURBAN STOCK A BAD INVESTMENT [ARTICLE]

INTERURBAN STOCK A BAD INVESTMENT

At Least These Who Bought Stock in Gary & Interurban €O. WiU All Agree That It Is. "S ■'' V- 4 - «- -r Here and there persons will be found who will buy stock in an interurban railroad, but they are few and far between, owing to the fact that the chance of ever getting even their money back is quite remote. The Crown Point Register of last week prints a story of the woes that have befallen the Cary' & Interurban Railroad Co., of which F. M. Gavit is the president. The article says: v . .. '

“The people Who purchased stock in the famous Air Line route to New York a few years ago are about to get theirs, and get it where the chicken got the ax, too. When the history of the Air Line company and its more recent successor is written it will possibly tell a tale of high finance, the equal of anything in the history of ail railroading. The last development is the defaulting of the interest on an Issue of $300,000 worth of three-year notesr bearing interest at 6 per cent, and given by the Gary & Interurban. Under the laws of Indiana, under which the Gary & Interurban operates, stockholders can be assessed, without foreclosure, and ■failure to pay such assessments within the specified time would work forfeiture! of the stock of the nonpaying stockholders. Acting under this law, the company has called on its stockholders for the payment of 10 per cent of the par value of their stock within 60 days. The company has $4,750,000 stock outstanding, of which $1,000,000 is preferred. The assessment, if paid, would give the company $475,00Q and enable it to pay oft its floating -deht, by the notes in default, and leave a balance of approximately $125,000. In Case the creditors of the company will not wait for the result of the assessment the trust company Will ask for a, receiver” ' ' It is a hlghly probable thing that any person who subscribes for interurban railroad stock will take final leave of his money the day he pays it in. He may prove a sort of public benefactor for having aided in the construction of a railroad, but he will probably be frozen out when the big fellows start their high finance manipulations. Our advice to any person who .feels tempted to'buy interurban stock would be to put his money in a safety deposit vault and throw away the key.