Brinton.] ^*^^ [May 4, 



ments, and to protect the interest of those whose investments were 

 in them. He steadily resisted the pressure brought to bear upon 

 him to authorize foreclosure proceedings, and what was to him prob- 

 ably the most painful of all the sacrifices he was called upon to 

 make, rather than violate his sense of duty to those who had en- 

 trusted him with this great responsibility, he renounced the ties of 

 long and closest friendship. 



This receivership ended at the beginning of 1888, when Mr. 

 McLeod was elected President of the Reading Railroad and Mr. 

 Keim of the Reading Coal and Iron Company, and a member of 

 the Board of Managers of the Reading Railroad Company. He 

 resigned from both these positions some time before his death, 

 but up to that event was a Director of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 

 road Company. 



Some idea of the magnitude of the business which devolved upon 

 him during his second receivership may be derived from the official 

 statement, that in that period the gross earnings of the companies 

 were about $150,000,000. 



For some years before his decease Mr. Keim had been subject to 

 periodical attacks of arthritic disease, which had doubtless left their 

 impress on the arterial walls and predisposed him to apoplectic seiz- 

 ures. He had visited Europe several times in order to avail him- 

 self of the benefits of some of the health resorts recommended for 

 such cases. On Saturday, December 16, 1893, while engaged in 

 some business transactions, he was suddenly seized with vertigo and 

 allied symptoms. He was conveyed to his home and prompt aid 

 was summoned, but in vain. The attack was rapidly progressive, 

 and terminated fatally on the morning of Monday, December 18. 



In spite of the absorbing nature of his professional duties, Mr. 

 Keim found leisure to read extensively in general literature and to 

 take a broad and real interest in the progress of thought and cul- 

 ture. The history of his native State and country possessed an early 

 and lasting attraction for him. He was elected a member of the 

 Historical Society of Pennsylvania, December 12, 1853, and was 

 chosen Vice-President, May i, 1876, to which office he was con- 

 tinuously reelected up to the time of his death. He was Trustee of 

 the endowment fund, to which he was also a liberal contributor, as 

 he was likewise to the other needs of the Society. Though a regu- 

 lar and interested attendant at the meetings, he was not a writer for 

 the Society's publications. 



