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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1955)
Statesman, Salem, Or., Sunday, April 17, 1955 (Sec 1 3 Bitter Wolf son- Battle for Ward's Control Reaches Climax Friday Avery v By WILLIAM FERRIS CHICAGO m Louis Wolfson will lay his proxies on the table Friday in his attempt to gain con trol of Montgomery Ward Co. - After eight months of hectic campaigning between Wolfson and Sewell Avery, Ward's chairman, the people who own the big mail order and retail merchandise firm will render their verdict 1 What that verdict will r be, no one will know immediately. The proxies of both sides will becol lected. But it may be weeks before the tabulation is finished 'because of the number of proxy mailings by both sides and the complexities of cumulative voting. . Wolfson and very will meet for the first time at this annual stock holders meeting. If the meeting is conducted as in the past, the 81- Chaplain fife vCX .; i 4 m "' ... , , -v' - ''A i year-old Avery will preside. Wolf son will be seated in the audience of stockholders. Avery will get his first look at the man he has said is leading a "raiding party on Ward's assets when the New York and Florida financier arises to say a few per tinent words. , Both sides claim victory. Wolf son's chances of at least getting several seats on Ward's board of directors boomed last Friday when the Illinois Supreme Court ruled all nine of Ward's directors must stand for re-election. ; The side which gains five or more of the nine directors' seats, has control of the company. Rough Battle J it's been a rough, tough and for Wolfson an expensive battle. Ori ginally he thought it would cost him $250,000. He now acknowledges he spent around $500,000. In these last few days both sides will be putting on the ultimate ounce of persuasive pressure to1 entice that suddenly important person, the undecided stockholder, into their camps. Even the stockholder who has signed a proxy for Avery or Wolf son can't be considered "safe." He can revoke that proxy by sign ing a proxy for the other side. It's the proxy with the last date which counts, canceling all others mailed earlier. That's why all claims of both sides have to be viewed with cau tion. They may be perfectly sin cere Jn stating how many proxies they have. But they don't know how many may have been revoked by later proxies to the other side. Second Largest At stake is control of the oldest and second largest mail order firm in the country, rich in tradi tion, a household name throughout much of the country for more than three-quarters of a century. Ward's has stores in every state of the union except Delaware and Massachusetts. Its catalogs known for decades as the "dream books" to the people on farms and small towns are mailed almost everywhere in the world. It has assets of $721,274,577, of which $327,215,778 are in cash or government bonds. It sellsthree million dollars worth of goods ev ery day. It has 53,000 employes and. 63,000 stockholders, of whom more than 55,000 own less than 100 shares. Trouble With Executives , It is run oy Avery a man de scribed by his friends as having great personal charm. But he is also a man who has had trouble with his executives, many of whom have resigned or been fired (luring the 24 years Avery has been in control In the postwar era Avery has COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. ,Col. John S. Bennett has been named Protestant chaplain of the Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colo. He was graduated from Arkansas College and from Union Semi nary ci the Presbyterian Church U.S., Richmond, Va. He served civilian pastorates . at Ahoskle, N. C, and Knox ville, Tenn.,. entering the serv ice in 1941. He is now on duty in Denver, Colo. (AP Wire-photo) Wood Alcohol Kills Eskimos FAIRBANKS. Alaska Wl Three Eskimos died Friday and 10 others are desperately ill at Point Barrow after drinking wood alcohol be lieved obtained from a construc tion project near the village. Death of the trio was reported by Forrest Soloman, Wien Alaska Airlines agent,-.who said desperate efforts are being made by Dr. Ed win Draft to keep the men awake. Ladd Air Force Base officials here have sent Major Robert Mor gan, a doctor, with a medical tech nician and supplies to aid the stricken villagers. Meanwhile, Dr. Draft . is giving those still living : available medi cines and Alaska Native bervice staff members are walking the vie tims up and down ANS hospital halls to keep them from dropping into a fatal sleep. McKay Due at Ft. Vancouver Dedication Missing Man Discovered as Circus Clown PENSACOLA. Fla. A miss ing Rochester, N. Y.. businessman was found Friday happily working as a circus clown and tattooist's assistant. One of his routines was as the white rabbit from "Alice in Won derland" who chants "I'm late, I'm late." Police said Rufus K. Dryer, 46, was vague in his answers and ap parently was an amnesia victim. Dryer is president of the Clark Paint, Oil Glass Co., Rochester, and a 1931 graduate of the Massa chusetts Institute of Technology. Dryer had disappeared after leaving his place of business Feb. 8 on an errand. When found Here, he had shaved his head and his body boe various tattooes. His wife, Mrs. Harriet Dryer, flew to Pensacola from Rochester Friday. She said she was taking him to St. Petersburg, Fla., for a rest. Danny Styron II, tattooist from East Pittsburgh, Pa., said he paid Dryer $25 a week as his assistant. In addition to the circus act, they had been on television together and made other appearances. Dryer, who had been using the name of David E. Carey ,j answered virtually all questions put to him by newsmen with "I don t remem ber." j , He had a New York driver's license issued in the name of Car ey but said he didn't know how he got it. adopted a policy of non-expansion. This has contrasted with many oth er retail establishments, and par ticularly with Ward's big rival, Sears. Roebuck Co. Ward's has fewer stores today than when World War II ended. As a result. Ward's is in an extremely liquid condition that is, it has an enormous amount of money and bonds stashed away for a rainy day. Expand Sales In his challenge to Avery's rule, the 43-year-old Wolfson has con tended this money should be used to expand Ward's sales, and pre sumably, ' profits. Wolfson has promised he would start building 24 new stores within the first year of his regime. . Wolfson, son of a successful scrap dealer, has also said he would split Ward's common stock on a ' three-for-one ; basis, expand Ward's manufacturing operations, set up a separate corporation to hold Ward's real estate and accept tenders of up to two million shares of Ward's stock at book value (if approved by stockholders). Wolfson started his . campaign last August At that time he said he would either win this year or withdraw. But as the campaign has grown increasingly bitter, Wolfson has shifted his position. He now says he is going to keep on fighting until he gets control. Avery has charged Wolfson with attempting to grab Ward's liquid assets. He has said Wolfson liquid ated the St. Johns River Shipyards and dissipated the liquid assets of Capital Transit Co., both Wolfson run companies. Wolfson has protested about what he has claimed were "innuendoes" spread around the country by Ward's private detectives every where he went. ; j. He called an agreement between Avery and the AFL Teamsters Un ion "the greatest sellout ; in cor porate history.". After signing a labor contract with Ward's the Teamsters announced they; would vote their stock for the Avery slate. I Wolfson has traveled from one end of the country to the other! holding coffee and cookie: sessions with stockholders. Avery has re mained in Chicago, but Ward's president, Edmund Krider, has i been conferring with stockholders from California to New York. If it has been a bitter battle, there has been at least one element of. humor. In a mailing to stock holders this week Ward's manage ment came up with this statement of rare indignation: "Mr. Wolfson stated that Mont gomery Ward does not sell wom en's hats. It has for many years." n nn j oiro 2j j inomeiYiaaej 1265 State Street We Feature High Quality Lew Prices Everyday ! 2 Gallon, 80c 2 for $1.49 AH Flavors for Your Favor Special Orders For All Occasions Phone 2-9260 VANCOUVER, Wash. UP Word has been received here that Fort Vancouver National Monu ment will be dedicated Aug. 13. Officials were notified that Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay will be on hand for the ceremony, which will climax a four-day local Lewis and Gark sesqui-centennial celebration. The monument will comprise a 63-acre area on Vancouver Bar racks. It encompasses the site ol the original Hudson Bay stockade and some of the adjacent land. The monument was authorized by Congress in 1948 but plans were slow in developing. It will include a pioneer museum. Other details of the dedication J ceremonies will be worked out later. M Baker Catholic Diocese Celebrates Centennial BAKER UP) In celebration of 100 years of service in the Baker diocese, the sisters of St. Francis were honored at a tea Friday by the St. Francis Mother's Club. Sisters from the academy, St Elizabeth Hospital and; the Con fraternity of Christian Doctrine were guests. I I 3 1-1 Oil DriUW Equip Way ment on to Coast BE ONE OF THE FIRST TO USE... i A nevScripto , fluid lead pencil writes as long as 1 dozen regular lead pencils. - 'ASTORIA Of) The Thomas P Pike Drilling Co. of Los Angeles',; will take about 30 truckloads of oil. drilling equipment to a Lewis and Clark Valley farm near here to start drilling within the next few weeks, Jack Skeehand, repre sentative of the company, reported Friday. Skeehand said the equipment, capable of drilling to a depth of 10,000 feet, would arrive in Clat sop County next Tuesday, but he did not sayi when drilling would start under a contract with Stand ard Oil Co, I Writing can be erased. I Always a Sharp Poinf I Only AS' The exploratory wen will be on M MCCHU A fllVC e William Hoagland f arm six iImLCIIIMJiI J J Stationery Office the miles southwest of here. CARVES GUN CAREER HOUSTON, Tex. (JV-Clifford Waits of Austin is a gun-chaser, one of the few left . 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