Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/57

 "Who killed Leupp?"

And the answer is said to have come from a hundred throats:

"Jay Gould!"

Prior to the fatal shot, Gould had arranged with Congressman Alley, of Massachusetts, to take the works and thus relieve Luepp and Lee, who was also a partner. But the suicide of the senior partner stopped the final consummation of this plan, and, Gould always insisted, stopped the way to a profitable continuance of the works.

Mr. Gould then negotiated with Leupp's daughters for the control of the tannery. It is stated that they demanded sixty thousand dollars, the amount Leupp had originally advanced. Gould agreed to this, but proposed a plan by which the payments should extend over a term of years—ten thousand dollars cash and a like amount every year until the entire indebtedness had been liquidated. When the papers were drawn up it was found Gould had made no provision for paying interest. Negotiations were broken off, and Mr. Lee, a relative and partner of Leupp, hastened to Gouldsboro and took possession of the tannery in the name of Leupp's heirs, taking the precaution to hire a lot of men to help him barricade and guard it. Gould arrived a day or two later and determined to capture the tannery at all hazards. Gouldsboro was a village of about three hundred inhabitants, situated some distance from the railway station, and besides the tannery the most important building was the hotel. Mr.