Men
could admire, though they could not understand, the sublime confidence
which enabled Mr. Drew to risk a million and a half of dollars in the
midst of such a terrible crisis. Some one asked him if he could sleep
quietly at night with such large interests at stake. "Sir," he replied,
calmly, "I have never lost a night's rest on account of business in my
life."
In 1857, Mr. Drew was elected a director of the Erie Railroad Company, a
position he held until recently. He was subsequently elected treasurer
of the company, and is one of the principal holders of Erie stock. He is
also one of the principal creditors of the company. The recent
proceedings in the New York courts to prevent the Erie Road from issuing
the new stock necessary to complete its broad-gauge connections with the
West, are too fresh in the mind of the reader to need a recital of them
here. It was proposed to issue ten millions of dollars worth of new
stock, and Mr. Drew was to guarantee the bonds. After a tedious and
costly suit, in which the New York Central Road endeavored to prevent
the issue of the stock, in the hope of keeping the Erie Road from
forming through connections with the West, the New York Legislature
legalized the new issue, and a compromise was effected between Mr.
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