J R

  —Little string of black notes running along here, might be our dik-dik is it?

  —Well I’d indicated castanets for the . . .

  —Almost see the little fellow running there can’t you, glad my slides were a help, yes. Tum tumti, tumti tumti, of course I can’t really read it you know that, just a lot of hentracks to me. You know Bast I still find it one of life’s great mysteries, people like you who can look at these hentracks and hear those soaring tones that conjure up the vastness of the plains, the purple mountains’ majesty, here . . . I’m just looking for one of our big fellows here somewhere, here now this might be one yes . . . his clear nail traced a double mordent,—eland maybe?

  —Yes well that just indicates a grace . . .

  —That’s it Bast grace, did your homework didn’t you, and I think you’ve captured it. Find some game’s about as graceful as a hatrack till it moves and then this grace comes in yes, all these notes here looks like you’ve got a lot of movement in here and I think you’ve captured it Bast, remarkable, just remarkable. Just tell me something, Bast. When you sit down to compose, do you hear this tumti tumti tum and then get it right down on paper? or . . .

  —Yes well that’s a little difficult to . . .

  —No no don’t try to explain it to me probably wouldn’t understand it if you did, prodigious Bast, prodigious, that grandeur we talked about I can almost feel it right here in my hands . . . and the case came up briefly—just the sheer bulk of it, spared nothing have you.

  —Yes well I felt you’d want it scored for full orchestra and of course dealing with ninety-five instruments is . . .

  —Each playing its part to fill the screen with the breath of life, to make us feel the vastness of the plains, the purple mountains’ majesty all down in these little hentracks. Ever happen to read a novel called Trilby, Bast?

  —Well no I don’t think I . . .

  —Probably a little before your time yes but there’s a passage in there I never forgot, the man standing there at the piano staring at the music can’t read a note and he can’t play. All the soaring tones and rapturous sounds that could express his highest dreams and desires right there in front of him and he can’t get at them, yes of course that was all back in the days before tapes and records so we won’t have that happen here will we. Shirley on your way out there look on my calendar, I think I’ve got some free time this afternoon in fact Bast and Shirley bring in my checkbook, here this may be Stamper now just hand me that will you? I know he’ll want to hear the, yes hello . . .? Who . . .? Beamish? no don’t think I ever . . . oh yes yes heard of your company of course been having your troubles haven’t you . . . Yes I don’t know why he’d tell you to call me about it though, these people who’ve taken over X-L Lithograph are still having a little cash flow problem of their own and whether they’re in any position yet to settle this old debt to Triangle right now is . . . haven’t discussed it with them no just this item in this morning’s paper, speculation seems to be they went after X-L strictly as an advertising medium, diversifying right and left expanding line of products plan to use these matchbook covers all over the country to put themselves across move in on these markets and saturate the . . . topflight aggressive young management yes, happen to have one of their principals sitting right here in fact, Mister . . . no no their executive officer, probably clear up the status of this long-term debt right now, Mister Bast . . .?

  —No well if you wouldn’t mind speaking to him Mister Craw . . .

  —Busy on something else Beamish but . . . what? I didn’t . . . oh that’s the way it is yes, yes I knew you people were looking around but that asking price what was it? twelve million? probably a little beyond their . . . Go right ahead yes I’m listening, fixed assets seven and a half yes push that pad over here will you Bast . . .? two million one and eighty percent of the difference back on taxes four million three . . . ninety percent of the inventory two million seven and eighty percent yes . . . four and a half million cash yes sitting right here he’ll call you back on it Beamish, probably want to discuss it with . . . whether they’d want to write off your bad debts yes of course I’d advise them to look into the . . . what? Suppose you could call it wallpaper yes it just happens I know a good deal about this Duncan and Company’s situation right now and the bank acting as . . . not receivership nothing like that no, no my point’s simply that rather than running around after bad debts Mister Bast’s people here might think about just absorbing the whole . . . Which one . . .? Ritz yes yes I remember them, didn’t know you had an interest there too thought the whole thing was . . . good for a tax loss yes let me get all this together and get back to you with it Beamish, Mister Bast will want a chance to discuss it with his . . . Tamarack? play up there myself sometimes think I’ll be up there Saturday in fact I’ll look around for you, fine . . . hang this up there will you Bast? Lawyer for Triangle Paper Products their real book value must be up toward twenty million sounds like a damn clever fellow, he’s got it worked out so you people can pick it up for four and a half cash.

  —Four and a half, million?

  —Cash yes, wipe out your longterm X-L debt there and pick up a good steady tax loss situation in Ritz Bright Leaf Tobacco didn’t know they controlled it . . .

  —Yes well of course . . .

  —Yes well of course you’ll want to discuss it with your associate and when you do you might mention this Duncan and Company too, a fine old firm even though Beamish there calls their list wallpaper and I didn’t know they’d let their bills for paper stock pile up that way at Triangle, but I might have an inside track for you people there at the bank acting as corporate trustee if you’re interested just give me the go-ahead, might be preferable to running around after bad debts.

  —Yes I certainly . . .

  —Might make a lot of sense too if you’re really thinking of picking up Her.

  —Who?

  —Your man Piscator’s the one who mentioned it to me, take on Duncan and Company too and get all your publications under one roof you might be able to do a lot of cost cutting and bring it around but just let me give you a little advice Bast and I hope you won’t mind.

  —No no I’d ap . . .

  —I like to stay out of corporate affairs and the petty infighting that goes on everywhere but this Piscator of yours, I can’t say I take to him.

  —Yes I know what you . . .

  —Not our sort Bast just not our sort at all, little too fast on his feet if you follow me, even asked me outright to propose him up at Tamarack, no question of prejudice of course but they’d think he came with a traveling dog troupe if he showed up there in that outfit. But that’s not my point. You take this Her for instance, fine old women’s magazine and all the rest of it but they’ve been losing advertising revenue up there since the day television came in and they’ve been trying to sell off their plant for three years. Look at it as a good dependable tax loss proposition fine but I’ve been around a little longer than you have Bast and it looks to me like you people have about all of that you need, but my point here is since their advertising’s handled by these same Pomerance Associates you people have just taken on to do your PR and this Pomerance is Piscator’s brother changed his name somewhere along the way and I can’t say I blame him, I’d look twice at the whole thing before I held my nose and jumped in.

  —Yes well you see Mister Crawley this here whole, I mean this whole thing is . . .

  —Nothing wrong with the basics in this rough prospectus for this stock issue you’re bringing out once he’s got your Jamaica incorporation squared away, can’t even say I find anything to criticize in the way he’s handling your acquisition of this mom and pop funeral home chain but any first year law student could handle that one, eh?

  —Well yes I, I didn’t know we . . .

  —Didn’t know the details no, been busy with your music Bast I know that, why I try to keep as many of these little headaches off your shoulders as I can. Wagner the name of it isn’t it? All pret
ty cut and dried, two brothers built up the chain and the older one just died holding forty percent turns into the same old story, widow and five children controlling the business need cash and the younger brother with his twenty percent wants to plow all the earnings back into expansion but can’t buy them out so you people are pledging the widow and children their share of the book value in cash and giving the others a small downpayment plus installments based on future earnings, I don’t think you’ll miss with it Bast. Younger brother’s a real go-getter and it’s one business you don’t have to worry about dropoff in consumer demand eh? But getting back to your man Piscator here, get into something like this Ray-X situation and you may need more leverage than somebody like him can provide. Looked over that report I sent have you?

  —No Mister Crawley and, and listen to tell you the truth about the whole thing I haven’t even . . .

  —Mind getting that right trouserleg again? Feel it slipping down into the, that’s it yes I know you’ve been busy Bast but I’d better give you a little of the background to pass along to your associate there, he didn’t seem very clear about all the ramifications and it’s the devil’s own time anyhow understanding him on the phone you know. More than half a century there Ray-X was a really prosperous toy company you know but when these peace scares started and you had all these mothers marching around boycotting every toy in sight their inventory backed right up, all the usual kiddie toys machineguns carbines pistols grenade launchers bazookas warehouses full of them and they had to come up with a whole line of new products. Fickle kids cured them of toys but things like these battery-run weapons systems had given them a little expertise so they tried pocket radios but couldn’t meet the Japs’ competition and went over into these battery-powered prostheses, hearing aids that kind of thing. Other line they went into was thermocouples, grabbed the market overnight but they’ve been trying to fill twenty-five million in mostly fixed price orders on less than four hundred thousand in working capital, couldn’t get public financing and finally had to cut their executives’ salaries in half as part of a five million dollar loan deal that dried up their new product planning and R and D overnight. Now they’re caught between cost rises and these fixed price contracts and they may rim into more trouble on their thermocouples with this pressure to prohibit rhodium imports from places like Gandia as country of origin because of this confrontation shaping up over there, see what I mean about needing a little more leverage than this Piscator can probably give you when the chips are down.

  —Yes I, I certainly do but . . .

  —Of course I might be some help to you on the rhodium situation if it comes to that, people with substantial interests in the Gandia region there in fact I think this man Beaton’s been in touch with you hasn’t he? about these mining claims and power company sites your associate there picked up in that Ace and Alberta and Western collapse?

  —Mister Beaton yes I think he called but I . . .

  —Tell you why Bast this partner of mine in our picture project here sits on their board’s got some interests out there he’d like to round off, matter of fact I think he’d be ready to give you people everything you sank into those two ventures and maybe a dollar or two more and I’d recommend you take it. Might help ease this cash flow problem you’ve been up against since the day you walked in here if I’m not mistaken.

  —Yes that’s certainly the . . .

  —Of course this Ray-X acquisition looks like a good candidate for some of these big government cost-plus contracts your associate there is beginning to press hard for, problem with their R and D in a shambles though whether they can come up with the product and I’d be cautious about overextending too soon. This three million in undistributed dividends you picked up in that brewery deal and recovering most of your purchase price in the pension fund’s sale of the stock back to the employees has generated enough cash for things like this move into Nobili Pharmaceuticals I don’t mean that of course, talk around the street the only reason you people went after it was its use as a Panama tax haven and transshipping point once this J R Shipping Corp is operative, smart move but right now about all that’s carrying Nobili’s its far east market isn’t it. All this patent litigation in the wings if the VA pulls out on these contracts for ethicals it may just be a question whether they can move into proprietaries fast enough with this crash program in headaches, still having that green problem are they?

  —The, the green what? I . . .

  —Wasn’t clear yes ljust meant this trouble their chemists are having with some new aspirin keeps coming out bright green, solve that maybe you can hold things together long enough to tie things in with this insurance scheme for employees your associate here’s just come up with if he can get a favorable decision on it may not be easy, SEC can be pretty sticky when they think you’re just looking for a cash pool and you know what a stickler he can be for the letter of the law. Expansion program’s one thing but when he starts talking in terms of Disney and Kraft and Champion Homebuilders it may be time to stop and regroup, wouldn’t you agree? And this hedging he’s started recently in commodities futures, it can be a little risky played that close to the margin and this may be a good time to stop and pick up some of your winnings, snap up this offer on these power company sites mining claims and the rest of it may not be there next time you look and I should tell you Bast, this man Stamper’s not one who plays to play, he plays to win.

  —Yes well that’s what my . . .

  —And I wouldn’t bother to bring Piscator in on it at all just send me the papers and I’ll clear up the details, he’d just try to complicate things. In fact Bast as far as your corporate legal work goes if you people follow up on this Triangle deal I’d take this man Beamish right along with the package, that arrangement he just worked out on the phone there sounds like he’s got a head on his shoulders and he sounds like the right sort you know, man you can deal with because I’ll be frank to tell you Bast I don’t like the way this Piscator seems to be trying to nose you out with your associate there.

  —Yes but you see I’d really be very relieved if he . . .

  —I know what you mean but he’s not the type to sit back, take the way he brought this Pomerance outfit in by the back door and brown nosing your associate there on this little nursing homes merger, probably never given you the details on that either has he.

  —No but you see Mister Crawley the whole . . .

  —Always says he can’t get in touch with you or makes some excuse though I must say Bast it’s high time you people did something about that midtown office of yours, I called there to ask if there’s anything to this rumor about General Haight joining your organization and your secretary Virginia put me on with a Mister Slomin who wanted to take my bet on the Superbowl game.

  —Yes well I think she . . .

  —And that new uptown number Piscator just gave me girl answered and told me to fuck off give you some idea of the kind of numbers in his little black book eh? You might think some more about that suggestion I made to your associate there some time ago, told me you said you were having a little space problem and I told him to think about taking a decent hotel suite while you’re getting this expansion program organized and working out your permanent requirements, use it for meetings that sort of thing.

  —Yes well when he called last night he . . .

  —Think I suggested the Waldorf didn’t I?

  —Yes well in fact that’s what he suggested last night and I went there this morning, the suite I’ve taken even has a piano in it not a Steinway or anything like that but a small grand I can use when I . . .

  —Glad to hear that Bast yes I know he’s as concerned about your music as I am, really thinks a lot of you you know. Why just from this option arrangement he’s trying to work out for you so taxes won’t catch you on the spread between it and the market price on your new issue see how much he thinks of you as a business colleague, but I think he’s just as concerned about you getting time for your music as I am.
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  —Well yes he’s, in fact last night he told me he’s setting up this here ah, setting up an arts foundation that could give me a grant to finish the cantata I’m working on as soon as . . .

  —Yes as soon as this little project’s wrapped up eh? Let’s get back to it here yes, everything else cleared up isn’t it?

  —Yes I just wanted to ask you about my aunts’ account, if . . .

  —Just reach over and push that will you? black button there . . .? Shirley? Bring in the Misses’ Bast statement and I told you to bring in my checkbook, I’d be careful on this foundation business Bast, tightened up the laws on these individual grants three or four years ago and you could run into some trouble, there just hand me that phone will you . . .? Hello? No no can’t waste the . . . just tell him I’ve got someone with me yes and bring in my checkbook, hang this up will you? Man who just called there incidentally just walked out of a big spot in corporate PR to join that Pomerance outfit Bast, might get him put on your account in fact so if you run into any problems there you can let me know, thoroughly offensive little man of course just needs to be reminded who’s buttering his bread sometimes yes come in Shirley, might take a look over there and make sure these electrodes are plugged in while you’re here. Yes here you are Bast, statement up through the twenty-eighth.

  —Oh. Is, where it says security position is . . .

  —See where we sold their telephone company right here yes, and then this Nobili you people have been buying into, got them a block here at thirty-one, averaged down with another block here when it dropped to twenty-three and got them out at sixteen, gives them a nice little tax loss.

  —Oh.

  —Yes and here, another nice tax loss in Ampex haven’t we, averaged down at twenty yes and again at fourteen, the rate management was handing out false figures to the analysts there was enough to make your hair curl, able to get them out at six though before it hit bottom.

  —Oh what was, bottom . . .

  —Selling at around five yes and it may be one of the better bargains right now if you think your aunts would . . .