Session: 1234567891011121314151617         Page 375376377378379380381382383384385386387388389390391392393394395396397398399400401402403404405406407408409410411412413414415416417418419420421422423424425426427428429430431 of 824

interested in acquiring the whole thing. Because Weyerhauser had most of their properties out west, where the trees grow very slowly because of the climate--in Texas they grow all year round, in the West they grow six months a year. And I believe that the figure of a billion five got mentioned. Well, that was a lot of money. And Arthur and I did talk about it, and we both agreed that it would be a great thing to do, because it'd be just a terrific coup--it would recoup everything we'd spent plus plenty of profit. But then the Weyerhausers sort of slipped away into space--I don't know exactly why they didn't pursue it--and you, one, doesn't pursue a possible acquirer because then the price--

Goes down [laughter].

Goes down and down and down and down. But yes--we did have that in mind. It wasn't that we were desperate for money, although the company had become capital-intensive--because it wasn't just the paper-end, but ATC turned out to be more capital-intensive then we had ever dreamed. And every new franchise that you acquired cost a lot more money. I complained about Manhattan Cable--I think that cost ten or twenty million dollars, in Manhattan. While the Queens franchise which we have--or part of, for a small part of Queens--will cost us 150 million dollars to install. So yes, we became--from being a “cash cow”[?] company we became a capital-intensive company, and we also confused the hell out of the investor because we no longer were one thing or the other. I don't know why one has to be one thing or the other--