“Besides this fight Mr. Ross conducted the affairs of the Coal Company through disastrous fires which seriously affected the output of the mines, and labor troubles one of which was of a protracted and costly nature. Throughout all the various negotiations which were almost continuously carried on between the two companies for years, Mr. Ross found his paramount interest was in the Coal Company although he was financially and executively interested in both, so that eventually he withdrew from the steel board and gave his whole time to the Coal Company, becoming its president, a post he retained until December, 1909. In March, 1909, at the annual meeting of the Dominion Coal Company, Mr. Ross made an exhaustive statement concerning the relations of the two companies following the decision of the Privy Council in the preceding month, in which he justified the course taken by his company. He explained from the coal point of view, how the company had saved the Steel Company from bankruptcy at a critical time following the termination of the lease of the Coal Company to Steel in 1903 and the subsequent dispute which became acute in 1906 and reached the courts the following year. The final settlement of the terms of the judgment between the two companies and the eventual purchase of Mr. Ross’ interest in coal for four million, seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which took place late in 1909 when he retired from the presidency and Coal was amalgamated with Steel, concluded the most interesting and strenuous period of his career.