Word: chapman
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...Merritt of New York, organized an honest salvage operation. Merritt's aim was to save a vessel from sinking if he could-or, if he could not, to salvage it and its cargo. He succeeded so well that his firm, joined by two others, grew into Merritt-Chapman & Scott, the nation's largest corporation involved in marine salvage, and later a construction giant as well. But eventually, Merritt-Chapman & Scott itself fell prey to raiders of a modern sort. As a result, the company has been sinking slowly-to the point where its officers announced last week that...
Selling Off. Merritt-Chapman's fate was to be taken over in 1951 by Louis E. Wolfson, now 55, perhaps the U.S.'s most renowned corporation raider. Since he became the principal shareholder Wolfson has been stung with a dozen suits by angry investors, last fall was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of fraudulent dealings in Merritt-Chapman stock, which could cost him 14 years in jail...
Such stock manipulations, if they occurred, are only one of Merritt-Chapman's misfortunes under Wolfson. Another is that he tried to build up and broaden the company too fast. Bled by such acquisitions as the unprofitable New York Shipbuilding Corp., the firm's profits and dividends have been dropping; in 1966, there was a loss of $740,000 and no dividend at all. To halt the drain, Wolfson sold off a paint company, a small steel mill, the company's derrick division and a small shipyard, but the future seems so stormy that liquidation...
Maine to Normandie. If Merritt-Chapman & Scott has to haul down its famous blackhorse house flag, which has waved since Israel Merritt's day, a remarkable tradition will die. When the Maine blew up in Havana harbor, touching off the Spanish-American War, it was Merritt-Chapman that the U.S. Government called on to determine whether the mysterious blast came from inside the hull or outside. Investigators decided that it was external, but some historians still disagree. Years later, the organization was summoned to raise a far bigger hull, the capsized Normandie, which caught fire and turned over...
...Eilers, 59, a pragmatic, Illinois-born chemist who joined the company in 1934, was elevated to executive vice president three years ago. He replaces William S. Vaughn, 64, an affable, Shakespeare-quoting Rhodes scholar who stays on as chief executive officer, at the same time succeeding Albert K. Chapman, 76, as board chairman. Thanks to its powerhouse drugstore-oriented marketing setup, Kodak accounts for about 80% of the nation's amateur film sales, but its new president means to keep the company expanding into new products. "If you stand still," says Eilers, "you go downhill...