When portly O. P. Van Sweringen finally bought control of Missouri Pacific R. R. for his top-heavy Alleghany Corp. in 1930 he was tickled pink. The word that more than 50% of MOP stock was his reached him in the office of J. P. Morgan & Co. Beaming all over, O. P. dashed out of the place and around the corner to Kuhn, Loeb & Co. to tell MOP's bankers he was the new boss.
But the promise of MOP as a money-maker was as hollow as 1930's promise of a chicken in every pot. Three years later MOP was in...
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