THE THIRD AVENUE RAILROAD Defendants. To the Judges of the Circuit Court of the United Central Trust Company of New York, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of 34 35 36 the State of New York and a citizen of said State, brings this its Bill against The Third Avenue Railroad Company, a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of New York, and a citizen of said State; New York City Railway Company, a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of New York, and a citizen of said State; Metropolitan Street Railway Company, a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of New York, and a citizen of said State; Adrian H. Joline and Douglas Robinson, both citizens of the State of New York, as Receivers of said New York City Railway Company; Adrian H. Joline and Douglas Robinson, both citizens of said State, as Receivers of said Metropolitan Street Railway Company; The Pennsylvania Steel Company, a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Pennsylvania and a citizen of said State; The Degnon Contracting Company, a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of New York and a citizen of said State; and Morton Trust Company, as Trustee under the Refunding Mortgage dated March 21, 1902, made by the Metropolitan Street Railway Company, a corporation organized under and by virtue of the laws of the State of New York and a citizen of said State; and therefore your orator complains and says as follows: FIRST. That your orator is a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York and a citizen of said State. SECOND. On information and belief, that the defendant The Third Avenue Railroad Company 38 is a corporation organized and existing under the 37 laws of the State of New York and a citizen of said State; that the defendant, the New York City Railway Company, is a coroporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York: and a citizen of said State, said defendant having been so organized under the name and style of Interurban Street Railway Company, and its corporate name subsequently and pursuant to proceedings duly had, having been changed to New York City Railway Company; that the defendant, Metropolitan Street Railway Company, is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York and a citizen of said State, having been organized by a merger and consolidation at divers times of Houston, West Street & Pavonia Ferry Railroad Company, Broadway Railway Company, South Ferry Railroad Company, The Metropolitan Crosstown Railway Company, The Lexington Avenue & Pavonia Ferry Railroad Company and The Columbus and Ninth Avenue Railroad Company, all of said companies having been street surface railroad companies organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York; that York; that the Morton Trust Company is a corporation organized 39 and existing under the laws of the State of New York, and a citizen of said State; that the defendant, The Pennsylvania Steel Company, is a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania and a citizen of said State; and that the defendant, The Degnon Contracting Company, is a corporation duly organized under the laws of the State of New Jersey and a citizen of said State. THIRD. That heretofore and prior to the 16th day of May, 1900, the defendant, The Third Avenue 41 Railroad Company, in the exercise of its powers under the laws of the State of New York, and in accordance with resolutions duly passed by its Board of Directors and its stockholders at respective meetings thereof duly called and held, duly authorized the issue of a series of bonds to be executed under its corporate seal and attested by the signatures of its president or one of its vicepresidents, and attested by its secretary or an assistant secretary, and to be issued to an amount not exceeding in the aggregate the principal sum of Fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) at any one time outstanding; said bonds to be either coupon or registered, the coupon bonds bearing date the 15th day of May, 1900, and the registered bonds bearing date at the time of their respective issue; by the terms of which bonds The Third Avenue Railroad Company promised to pay, in the case of coupon bonds, to the bearer thereof, and in the case of registered bonds, to the registered owner there of or his assigns, at the City of New York on the first day of January, in the year 2000, the sum of One thousand dollars ($1,000) in gold coin of the United States of America in the case of coupon bonds and the sum of One thousand dollars 42 ($1,000) or multiples thereof in the case of regis tered bonds, gold coin of the United States of America, of or equal to the then standard of weight and fineness, and to pay interest thereon at the rate of four per cent. per annum, in the case of coupon bonds, from the first day of May, 1900, and in the case of the registered bonds, from the first day of January or July, as the case might be, next preceding the date thereof, payable at the City of New York, in like gold coin, semi-annually, on both coupon and registered bonds, on the first days of January and July in each year, |