Martinsburg weekly independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1873-1875, 1874-11-28
THE BALTIMO <g AND OHIO
RAILP .dAnETNG

.tbE III TIC Library az AbH-
gre - last week I saw p0rtly
.igure AT the head of body OF
strangers. walking up and down
and explaining things. / reeog-
| niZad ia that blush face, blush
gray eyes, and solid, unanxious
Tread and pace, the Baltimore and
Ohio railroad magnate, John w.
| Garrett.
He has been in Europe for more
than two years In he interim his
fellow capitalist and friend, John
! Hopkins has passed ~ the grave.
During his absence, though forbid
den 10 attend 10 business, Garrett
wrote by every aiail. and had the
epitomized work sent out 10 him.
His kinsfolks, John King and Mr..
Keyser, have been at the quarters
of the presidency in his absence;
King exhibiting Sice-royalty,
and Keyser moving vi. and down
the line and through the CONNER
cial centres.
Whatever the reasons or philos-
ophy, the management ofthis rail-
way vindicated above everything
in the Western World. The great
panic Xept over the country a lit
tie over "a year ago, and drove
| Vanderbilt to Wall street and Scott
to protest, while these Scotch Irish
Dutchmen of Baltimore were as OBJ
livious of the panic as that Frei-
erick county man who. having
plowed All day, said, as he came
| home:
II dinks / feels some little beb-
bles in my boots" And forthwith
hauIs out pair of shutters and a
wrench
There was no scrip or water in
CARROTS boots All the stock " as
old ard dry.
THAT is The only railroad in
America" said Shanly, the Cana
dian who built the Hoosaic Tunnel
liable in any contingency, to take
care Of itself"
The power of this railroad is no
secret. 1t consists in learning
whatever is good from the present
age, and forgetting nothing that
was good in former ones. Once or
twice there has been move todi-
vide more stock or split the earn
ings a little thinner, but the abso-
lutism and the Old fashioned saga
city of Garrett have prevented this
going through.
His motto has been, Economy
in every detail, from a pound of
nails up
Time" says Garrett, sis longer
than speculation. Sell nothing; re-
strict dividends for the sake of the
long credit of the stock all wait
together, stock holders and officers
Invest the surplus in the system.
Let politics alone. Neither conciI-
late it nor antagonize it. Particu
larry do not corrupt it, or it will
get its appetite on edge, and it will
gnaw you all your days Respon-
sibility in the working !orce; con
,erval ism in the management pa
thence in the stock list. Do not
fool with localisms. Side branches
must construct themselves Push
for large terminal points, and the
side places must build toward the
stem we extend in their general
direction
Mr.. Garrett took this road a short
time before the war He was a
provision dea er, the son OF "a bank
er, Sc0tch-lrish Presbyterian on
one side, Pennsylvania German
the other. He had hard, round
head IA slow and gracious manner,
large, rolling, acute plauslbiIhy,
which reminded people of "a Ho'
land burgomaster. He was never
in hurry but alwoys very prompt
five minutes OF reflection he gave
to every second of speech, except
when he had a great occasion, and
hen he had done the thinking for
weeks before. He was never def
cent in confidence, but it was di
plomatic and graduated, and it
embraced people unctuously in.
stead of carryiIg them by storm.
His pertlnscity was Understandable.
He returned and returned 10 the
same point and by weight and the
leaning power, not a,trition or in
trlgue, carried the position or per-
sisted until ii was lost. He had
large Baltimore appetites for TODD
and his steady animal heat coun-
teracted any intellectual relapse of
melancholy, if he could be capa-
BILE of it. Between the word and
eating, they say, his organism for
a time grew uns,rung. He worked
on full stomach for fifteen years
around this railroad, and then a
tendency to vertigo became so
manifest that he had to give over
and go to Europe. He told me that
he had perfectly capable assistants
and should not resume his labor
with so much willfulness.
L.