River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-02-22

Did you ever hear how Wagner got
his cars on Vanderbilt's road 2" asked
one gentleman of another the other
day, as they were being whirled along
in one of those luxurious coaches over
the Hudson River Railroad.
"No."
swell, as stories about the dead
Commodore are in order, will tell
you. Long before Wagner ever dream
ed of being State Senator he was sta
ton agent at Palatine Bridge. While
thus employed he had the happy
thought of building these cars. In
ducing three others to join him, he
formed a company and altered an old
car over to a sleeper Each of the
partners paid in one-half of his SUBJ
scription to the capital stock, and,
as Wagner was not rich man at that
time, it took about all he was worth.
"Well, after the car was built, the
next thing was to get permission to
run it ON the Commodore's road. Mr..
Wagner went to New York. He first
called on William Ii. Vanderbilt, who
at that time did not have so much to
say about the management of the
roads as he has had for the last four
or five years. He listened to Wagner S
description of his new car, and was
taken with the idea; but he told him it
was no use for him to see the Commo-
dore, as he was satisfied the old man
would have nothing to do with it. He
told him, however, to go ahead and fit
up his car, put it on the road, and wait
until the old gentleman saw it, assur-
ing him that he would soon hear from
him when he did.
"Wagner acted on the hint, the car
was put on, and made several trips be-
fore the Commodore espied it. When
he did, he gave it critical examina-
ton, and then asked whose it was, and
how it came there. He was told that
it belonged to Mr.. Wagner, and was
being run as an experiment. Wagner
was sent for Immediately. When he
came, he found the old Commodore in
towering passion. What business
have you to put a car on my road
without permission 2 was his first sal
utation. Wagner explained the ar
rangement he had made with William
H., but this did not seem to molllfy
the Commodore. Take your car off
the road immediately he said; Ill
show you that | am boss Of this road
This was a hard blow for Wagner,
as he had invested all he had in this
experiment, and he turned away with
a heavy heart. As he was leaving the
Commodore spoke, saying "How
many cars have you got like this =
Wagner explained that he had two or
three more on the works that it was
a Joint stock company and that they
would be ruined if they could not
make an arrangement to run their cars
on the road. sWell,' said the Commo-
dore. you can tell the other parties
that / will take their stock off their
hands for what they have paid Oh it.
The sooner you attend to this the bet
ter it will be for you. So, hurry up
now
.Wagner saw the point, and in a
short time he had bought all the rest
of the stock and taken it to the Com
modore. Let's see,' said he how
much did you say the capital stock OF
your company is 2 Wagner told him.
well, / guess we'll multiply it by four,
YOU can keep one-fourth, and I'll take
the balance, and we'll build some more
of them cars right away.
And that was the beginning of Wag-
ner's prosperity. To-day he is rich
man. The old Commodore saw what a
necessity these cars were destined to
become, and took his own way to get
control of them. For every dollar
Wagner has made out of them, the
Commodore made three.