Report of the Hoosac Tunnel and Troy and Greenfield Railroad, by the Joint Standing Committee of 1866.Wentworth, Tappan
History
Report of the Hoosac Tunnel and Troy and Greenfield Railroad, by the Joint Standing Committee of 1866.
Wentworth, Tappan
Hoosac Tunnel (Mass.); Railroad tunnels -- Massachusetts; Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company
Under the second contract with Serrell, Haupt & Co., the directors voted
to substitute bonds for stock in payment of the work until 2,000 feet of
the tunnel was completed, and to pay the discounts and losses to which
the contractors might be required to submit, not exceeding fifteen per
cent. per annum; and also, to issue to the contractors bonds to the
amount of $100,000 in addition to payments. Said bonds were to be sold
or pledged by Haupt & Co., to enable them to raise means to carry on
their operations under the contract.
On the dissolution of the firm of Serrell, Haupt & Co., in July 1856,
Serrell resigned his office as director and was chosen consulting
engineer. At the same time, W. A. Galbraith, one of the contractors in
the following contract, was chosen a director. Thereupon a new contract
was made with H. Haupt, W. A. Galbraith, C. B. Duncan and Henry
Cartwright. Under this contract the estimates were to be made by the
company's engineer. In July, 1857, the records show that no payments had
been made the contractors for more than a year, and that the work could
be carried on only by the continued efforts and personal credit of the
contractors.
In February, 1858, the contract was again changed, and Messrs. Haupt and
Cartwright engaged with the corporation to complete the road and tunnel.
At this time, the records show that no payments had been made under the
previous contracts "for more than two years; that the work could only be
carried on by the continued efforts, increased expenditures, and
personal credit of the contractors."
By a provision of this contract, any revenue arising from the use of the
road, or any portion of it, was assigned to the contractors until their
claims upon the company were adjusted; and the payment of all the
company's debts was to be deferred until that of the contractors was
satisfied; and Haupt & Co. agreed to maintain the organization of the
corporation, pay its bills for printing, and advance therefore a sum not
less than $500,000.
The same year the Rensselaer Iron Company was allowed a lien on the iron
delivered to the contractors until the same was paid for. In 1859, H.
Haupt relinquished his pecuniary interest in the contract, and was
appointed chief engineer of the corporation. (See Appendix A, page 62.)
These transactions in which the contractors participated, (one of whom
was on the board of directors,) show conclusively that they were fully
apprized of the condition of the corporation, from the date of their
first connection with the work to the time of its "suspension," no claim
during the whole period having been made by them against the
Commonwealth for any work done for the corporation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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