BANKERS AND MERCHANTS 347 



agreed, and not to stand on a mere technicality 

 for the sake of squeezing out better terms. I 

 somewhat intemperately added that if they 

 didn't carry it out I would. 



I deserved all the trouble that came to me, for 

 not acting at once on my threat which I could 

 have done in an hour. I had little doubt that all 

 would come to my view until three days later 

 when I heard that the president was getting 

 pledges from stockholders to refuse to carry out 

 the agreement. I found that owing to the sale 

 during my absence from my office of a hundred 

 shares I was a few shares short of control. I 

 went over to the Exchange and got the pledge 

 of three stockholders to stand in with me, which 

 gave me a large majority. Two of the three 

 came to me later saying that their Philadelphia 

 associates had made it a personal matter that 

 they come into the president's pool. I let them 

 off believing I was safe without them and then 

 the third man simply broke his pledge without 

 excuse. The success of the president was 

 astounding. He had corralled every outstand- 



