ch Drew and his agents could not have
improved upon, and while matters stood this way the 50,000 shares of
Erie stock had been flung on the market. Vanderbilt, who was ignorant of
this situation, bought the new stock as eagerly as the old. Then, when
the facts came out, the quotations dropped with a thud. Uncle Daniel was
victorious; the attempted corner had been a failure; and the Commodore
was holding the bag.

Further dramatic events followed. The Erie directors learned that
process for contempt had been issued and that their only chance of
escape from jail lay in immediate flight. So, stuffing all that was
worth while of the Erie Railroad into their pockets, they made off under
cover of darkness to Jersey City. One man carried with him in a hackney
coach over $6,000,000 in greenbacks. Two of the directors lingered and
were arrested; but a majority collected at the Erie station in Jersey
City and there, free from interference, went on with the transaction of
business. Without disturbance they were able to count their expenses and
divide the profits.

Vanderbilt was now loaded up with reams of Erie stock at high costs,
and the load was a severe strain on him. He dared not sell for fear of
causing a financial collapse. Drew had taken away about seven million
dollars of his money and an artificial stringency had been created in
Wall Street by this exodus of most of its available cash. But Vanderbilt
weathered the storm and, as his generally optimistic attitude inspired
confidence, the sky began to clear.

But this stock-market battle did not end the war. New injunctions flew
in all directions. Osgood, son-in-law of Vanderbilt, was appointed
receiver of the 100,000 shares of illegally issued stock and was
immediately enjoined from acting by another judge. Then Peter B.
Sweeney, of the Tammany ring, was appointed in his stead without notice
to the other side. There was nothing for a receiver to do, as every
dollar he was to "receive" was known to be in New Jersey and beyond his
reach. Nevertheless he was subsequently allowed a fee of $150,000 by
Judge Barnard for his services!

While the legal battle was going on neither Drew nor Vanderbilt was
idle. A plot was arranged for bringing the Erie directors over by force,
but this failed. In the meanwhile the Erie directors persuaded the New
Jersey Legislature to rush through a bill making the Erie Railway a New
Jersey corporation. This move, however, was intended merely to