But these men were
not people with whom the inventor cared to deal--they were traction
and gas magnates widely known for their unscrupulous methods. And so
he had declined their offer, and set to work instead to organize an
automobile company himself. He had just got under way when he
discovered that his rivals had set to work to take his invention
away from him. A friend who owned another third share in his company
had hypothecated his stock to help form the new company; and now
came a call from the bank for more collateral, and he was obliged to
sell out. And at the next stockholders' meeting it developed that
their rivals had bought it, and likewise more stock in the open
market; and they proceeded to take possession of the company,
ousting the former president--and then making a contract with their
automobile company to furnish the storage-battery at a price which
left no profit for the manufacturers! And so for two years the
inventor had not received a dollar of dividends upon his million
dollars' worth of paper; and to cap the climax, the company had
refused to sell the battery to his automobile company, and so that
had gone into bankruptcy, and his friend was ruined also!
Montague went into the case very carefully, and found that the story
was true.
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