Receivers, Rail and a Wall Street Rally
Receivers Bryant and Brown cut costs, lay new side track and enlarge the Smith's Cove dock—and Eastern bondholders reward the Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern with a Wall Street surge.
IMPROVEMENTS ON THE ROAD. With Economy and Increased Traffic the Receivers Make a Good Showing.
It will be a source of gratification to investors and property holders to learn that the management of the Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad, under Receivers Bryant and Brown, has been satisfactory to the Eastern bondholders. During one week last month the road's securities advanced on Wall Street to 47½, a gain in value of over $1,000,000. The rise was sharper than that of any other stock on the exchange during the week and followed a report from Col. Bryant, receiver for the bondholders' committee, which reached New York April 22. The report showed that operating expenses had been reduced without decreasing efficiency, and that the volume of business had increased. Bondholders were pleased with the Western outlook, and the advance augured well for Washington and especially Seattle in restoring the confidence of Eastern investors.
Receiver Bryant recently traveled over the line, and after his return he and Receiver Brown began improvements meant to produce considerable economy. Much of the track has been repaired and ballasted; five miles of new side track was laid at an incidental cost of $3,000 for labor and material, and ties were renewed. At Smith's Cove, $3,000 was spent to create facilities for handling logs on the company's own ground instead of on other people's property. Traffic increased enough that new locomotives and additional cars were arranged for, and the ocean dock at Smith's Cove was being enlarged at a cost of several thousand dollars to handle the additional business with greater dispatch. Departments were consolidated and new methods adopted, including consolidation of the shop force with that of the Oregon Improvement Company.
“The bondholders are pleased with the outlook in the West and the advance of securities augurs well for this state and especially Seattle.”
The Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern's 1895 receivership shows how much of Seattle's growth was financed and disciplined from New York. Then as now, a local rail and port project could rise or fall on the confidence of outside investors—and on whether the city could turn other people's capital into lasting infrastructure.
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