11 



Cogglns: I don t know. Must have been eighty or ninety. 



Oilbi And mostly drawn from this region, weren't they? 



Cogglnit Mostly drawn from the town or Pinole, the Hercules 

 Power Plant, where Patterson had grown up. 



01 lbs Were meny of these stockholders Socialists? 



Coggintt Not 80 sany. A few. Most of them were people vdio 

 had some savings* 



Glib I How big a stockholder were you? 



Oogglns: I only had ten shares^ but my wife had twenty. 



Gllbi How did you happen to be director, then? 



Cogglns: Well, because In the whole group there was hardly 



anyone with a business experience* Patterson himself 

 had been a carpenter, never been In business, and 

 I don't recall any of them that even had a small 

 business like I had. 



Oilbt And this business grew, and of course there was a 



great boom in the automobile Industry In the twenties, 

 80 there was a big market, SLnd then eventually it 

 ran into trouble, didn't you say? 



Cogglns: Yes, it overexpanded. They tp^nt too much and owftd 

 too much. It was obvioui that they had to have some 

 kind of showdown* Pressure from the bank forced a 

 meeting* 



011b: Was this after the *twenty«nlne crash or before? 



Cogglns: Oh, before* 



