Old Henry Ford, with his hatred of "the Eastern bankers," would have been delighted. Flushed with consciousness of its mounting financial power, Texas had challenged a Wall Street titan to the biggest proxy fight in U.S. history. Last week Texasin the persons of John Murchison, 39, and his brother Clint Jr., 37won the day, snatched control of Manhattan's giant Alleghany Corp. away from Multimillionaire Allan P. Kirby, 68.
The Texas victory was the payoff on a cool gamble in which the odds at first seemed to favor the tough and elegant Kirby, heir...
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