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no more of the same. He said, “I'm not going to my stock holders again with something that may be very troublesome.” We had offered a sum which would have been, I think, three times what his outside loss could be; but he was worried so the deal, which had practically been settled, was called off. Now there are four or five firms dickering for it. A conglomerate named National General seems to have the inside track.

So you still hold on to it, but you'll get rid of it soon.

There isn't any hurry. It's making a fortune. This year, the stock, which is selling today at twenty-nine, will earn about $2.50 per share so it's selling at about ten times earnings. Well, some stocks today are selling at forty and fifty times earnings. Grosset today is a very successful and beautifully run business.

It's an interesting story. It's a phenomenal thing in publishing just to see this, I mean, tough competitors...

Not only was there no fighting, but we all became close personal friends. It's been nice because very little sniping goes on among these houses. We get together at board meetings and are all good friends.

Now one by one, the old timers are being replaced. Young Charles Scribner replaced old Charles and then got out