RAILROADS: Help! Help!

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In the fight for control of the New York Central, both sides went looking for outside help. To the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Central's management last week sent a 17-page petition asking the Commission to check up on all of Robert R. Young's maneuvers since the fight began, charging that they violated ICC regulations.

Specifically, the Central charged that the sale by Young's Alleghany Corp. of its Chesapeake & Ohio stock holdings to Cleveland Financier Cyrus Eaton was just a trick to skirt the ICC rules, that Young and Alleghany still control the line. C. & 0. Board Chairman Eaton, said the Central, had obligingly sold the C. & O.'s 800,000 shares of Central stock, which had been held by a trustee, to Young's millionaire friends Sid Richardson and

Clint Murchison so they could vote it. "Eaton," said the Central darkly, "does Young's bidding."

"Substantial Benefits." Bob Young swung back with a sweeping blow against the Central and 15 of its directors. He filed suit charging that the directors misused Central funds by hiring a publicity firm (Manhattan's Robinson-Hannagan Associates) to help fight him and by spending company money to solicit proxies for the Central meeting, May 26. Young also charged that four big banks (J. P. Morgan, the Mellon National Bank, First National of New York City and Chase National) were deriving "substantial benefits" from the fact that their heads are Central board members. The railroad itself, Young noted, operated at a $2,762,696 deficit last month. What galled Young even more was the contract given to the Central's President William White, which stipulates $120,000 a year until he retires at 65, $70,000 for five more years, and $40,000 a year from then on until he dies. Young charged that the contract was never approved by the Central's stockholders.

White answered Young by pointing out that the Central's biggest bank deposits are with the Irving Trust Co., which is not represented on the Central board. As to the terms of his contract, said White, they were in a proxy statement sent to all stockholders after he was hired in 1952.

The Central got a chance to jab again when Young nominated seven men who, he said, would be on the board if he captures control. He airily added that he wanted a Vanderbilt on the board because "I can't imagine a New York Central board without at least one Vanderbilt ... to flavor it." William H. Vanderbilt and his cousin, Harold S. Vanderbilt, both members of the Central board, turned Young down cold. Alfred Vanderbilt, William's half brother, followed suit. Added Harold: "I have no doubts about Mr. Young's ability as a stock manipulator, but running a railroad is quite another thing."

For the Record. How well had Young run his railroads? When Young took over Alleghany Corp. in 1937 he got control of five railroads—the C. & O., the Pere Marquette, the Nickel Plate, the Wheeling & Lake Erie, and the Erie. The shaky Erie went into bankruptcy in 1938. As for the others, which have a total 6,485 miles of track compared to the Central's 10,714 miles, even Young's bitterest enemies admit that he has done a fine job on finances, though opinions differ on Young's ability as a practical operating railroader.