SAD HEARTS AT KNOLLWOOD
The spring of 1890 brought with it two great sorrows. Following
closely on the death of my beloved mother came the death at "Sunnyside"
of Frank Slater. The latter was unexpected in its suddenness and a
terrible shock to all his friends. I had become so deeply attached
to Frank that he seemed like a dear brother and my grief was most
profound.
The day after his death, Mr. Pell, Mrs. Slater's father, asked me
to represent the family in the settlement of the business affairs.
There was no will and there were many complications.
Mr. Pell, entirely without reason, I thought, had not the fullest
confidence in Frank's partner, Mr. Wood. He did not believe he
would be any too liberal to the estate in the settlement of the
firm's affairs. It was in compliance with Mr. Pell's earnest request
that I took charge and my doing so was entirely acceptable to Mr.
Wood.
Although I regret the test of my reader's patience, it is essential
to my defense in certain matters to be related in later chapters,
that the complications and settlement of this estate should be set
forth. In reading these pages I beg that the footnote on page 112
may be remembered.
The business of Wood and Slater for several years had been the
acquiring and holding of certain corporate properties, some of which
the firm managed. With the exception of one property, a recent
acquisition, the interest of each partner was defined by the
individual holdings of stock. In the one property referred to the
interest was equal but the stock had not been issued.
At the time of Mr. Slater's death he had a joint liability on the
firm account in certain notes which had been discounted at the
firm's bank, and also in a loan made to the firm by the Standard
Oil Company. His individual liabilities were nearly seventy-five
thousand dollars. Only a few of these need be specified.
For several years he had profitable business relations with me and
carried an account in our office, drawing on it at his convenience.
At the time of his death this account was overdrawn nine thousand
dollars. In addition our name was on his paper, falling due after
his death, to the extent of eleven thousand dollars. Another
liability was a note for forty-seven hundred dollars discounted by
a Pennsylvania banker, a personal friend. There was also an agreement
to refund to a friend under certain conditions ten thousand dollars
which he had invested in a manufacturing plant in Connecticut which
Mr. Slater was backing.
The assets consisted almost entirely of the interest in the
corporate properties which the firm had acquired and stock in the
Connecticut concern. There was also a library which realized, when
sold at auction, about five thousand dollars.
The real estate was in Mrs. Slater's name and belonged to her.
In the most valuable properties of the firm Wood & Slater owned but
two-thirds interest, the remaining third being held by the original
owner, a Mr. Mallison.
This gentleman, possessed of considerable means, was a creditor
of the estate to the amount of about sixteen thousand dollars. I
found that he was disposed to buy the estate's interest in these
properties and finally sold it to him for one hundred thousand
dollars. An additional consideration was the securing through him
an investment of half the amount, for a period of ten years at a
guaranteed return of ten per cent per annum.
The Connecticut investment looked to me most unpromising. With
extensive advertising it might be made a profitable business but
there was no money for this; on the other hand, additional capital
was needed at once to keep the concern alive. The note held by the
Pennsylvania banker had been issued for the benefit of this business
and must be paid. Unless new capital was found to keep the concern
going, the ten thousand dollars guaranteed by Mr. Slater must be
refunded at once. In other words, if the business was abandoned
the estate would be immediately depleted to the extent of fourteen
thousand seven hundred dollars.
A meeting was held at my office at which were present all the
parties interested and also Mr. Wood. After a general discussion,
in which Mr. Wood took part and expressed great confidence in the
future success of the business, the gentleman who had invested
the ten thousand dollars made a proposition that if Mr. Slater's
friends would go in, for every dollar they subscribed he would
subscribe two. If they would not do this, then he would call upon
the estate to return him the ten thousand dollars.
Taking Mr. Wood aside, I said, "Charley, personally I don't like
the investment, but to save the estate, if you will join me, I will
make it." His reply was, "Walter, I cannot. If I could I would,
for I believe it is a good thing, but I cannot go into any outside
investment at present."
My decision as to my course was made before I had spoken to him,
but I thought I would offer him a chance to share that investment
with me, after telling him my poor opinion of it.
My heart was heavy with sorrow for the loss of my friend and for
his family I felt the deepest sympathy. I believed then, as I
believe to-day, that what I did was no more than he would have done
for my loved ones under similar circumstances.
In that Connecticut concern I invested in all about five thousand
dollars, which proved, as I thought very probably it would, practically
a total loss. I waived my claim for nine thousand dollars on that
overdrawn account and I personally paid those notes for eleven
thousand dollars, one in June and the other in August following
the death of my friend.
The only remaining asset to be disposed of was the recently acquired
property for which stock had not been issued.
Mr. Wood was personally managing this, and he represented to me
that it was in bad shape and that if anything was made out of it,
it would be by his efforts and he did not want an estate for a
partner.
He proposed to offset the estate's interest against the liability
on the firm note held by the bank. I am not sure what that amounted
to and have not the data at hand to ascertain, but think it was
under five thousand dollars.
This property is now of great value and has, I believe, made Mr.
Wood, who still owns it, a rich man.
At the time, I thought his proposition a fair one, though in later
years, Mr. Allison, a good judge of the value of such properties,
told me that he "never thought Wood treated Mrs. Slater just right
in that matter."
When I made the sale to Mallison it left Wood a minority stockholder,
which position he did not fancy. He tried to sell out to Mallison.
These men had a mutual dislike for each other and Wood after repeated
efforts found they could not agree on terms.
Then he asked me to make the sale for him. He was prepared to take
and expected to get less than the estate had received. Technically
it was worth less, for the buyer already had control. I succeeded
in making the sale at the same price, one hundred thousand dollars.
On my way home that day I stopped at Wood's house to tell him what
I had done. He was not at home and I saw his wife. I told her of
the sale and asked her to tell her husband. She exclaimed, "Oh,
Walter! What a friend you've been." That was in 1890. This is 1904.