WHEN Financier Allan P. Kirby in 1961 lost control of Alleghany Corp., a huge holding company that controls a $6.5 billion rail and financial empire, those who did not know him well thought that he might retire to his 27-room mansion and clip coupons. After all, Kirby, now 71, was already worth at least $250 million through major holdings in Woolworth, I.T. & T., Phillips Petroleum, Manufacturers Hanover Trust and the New York Central Railroad. But Kirby is as stubborn as he is rich. He began a battle to regain control of Alleghany from the men who had wrested...
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