The Bondholders Take the Terminal Elevator
After years of litigation, the Seattle Terminal Railway Elevator and Warehouse properties are sold at sheriff's sale to the bondholders for $34,178.66, clearing title and opening the way for larger wheat shipments.
The long-continued litigation that so long embarrassed the Seattle Terminal Railway Elevator Company and the Seattle Terminal Railway Warehouse Company practically came to an end yesterday with a sale under execution of all the property concerned. At the sale, which took place under direction of Sheriff Van de Vanter at the court house door, there were no bidders but the bondholders, and of course no competition. As a result the property was knocked down to the bondholders for $34,178.66, the amount of the judgment. The sale took place in four lots, the railway bringing $17,000, the elevator proper $8,000, and the right-of-way, real estate and appurtenances going for the remainder.
The effect of the sale, or rather transfer, will be to clear off the litigation and confirm title to the Warehouse Company, which owns the bonds. Since it became interested, Balfour, Guthrie & Co. have shipped a great deal of wheat, bringing partially loaded ships from Tacoma to complete their cargoes here, but they have been unwilling to store large quantities of wheat in a building which was in litigation. They can now safely make large shipments here.
“There were no bidders but the bondholders, and of course no competition.”
This is a waterfront story about who controls the infrastructure that moves a crop: when title was clouded, wheat ships bypassed Seattle or came only partially loaded. The sale cleared the way for the Port of Seattle's future role as a grain-shipping hub, a contest over terminals and trade that still shapes the region.
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