Arizona citizen., 1878-04-26
Hon. 4. V. TOwne.

| POAotiVHS lt may DC Ol interest 10 Ft
 view briefly the career of some of tn
 men holding important positions il these great companies. Mir. Alfred L
 Sewell furnishes the Chicago Pres
 with an account of the railway caree
 of Mir. A. N. Towne, General Superin
 tendent of the Central Pacific Railroad
 a gentlemen well-known throughou this coast. Mir. Sewell writes:
 More han twenty years ago, be came acquainted with a young mar who is the subject of this story. H, came from Massachusetts, he was poor and had no influential friend to ever give him a letter of recommendation He sought employment on the Chicago Burlington t Quincy Railroad, and after waiting a time, at last secured a position as brakeman on a freight train-salary about $50 a month. HC was faithful in this position, and, be ing both intelligent and industrious he was soon made conductor of the train, with wages nearly doubled He attracted the attention of his supe rior officers, who saw in him an honest faithful and conscientious conductor one not seeking his own ease or pleas ure, but constantly devoted to the in. terests of the company that employed him, so that not many months elapsed before he was made conductor of a passenger train-a more comfortable position, and one yielding a somewhat higher salary Here 1 first knew him, and 1 saw in him modest, quiet, un- assuming young man, free from the popular vices, and one who tried 10 be just as faithful and true and devoted to his work as a conductor, as though the position had been that of General Superintendent.
 Col. c. G. Hammond, General Su- perintendent of the road, watched every employe of the road with an eagles eye. Our young conductor did not escape the keen eye When he least thought of it his chief was measuring and sounding him, and finding out what kind of metal he was made of but none ever knew whether he was approved or not, for the chiefs look was always stern and cold as ice.
 One Saturday morning train No. 4 moved slowly out of Chicago under the care of my friend, who, only in- tent on doing his work ss we'll as he knew how, seemed to have no higher ambition than to be a good conductor salary, $9OO a year. About noon, when he stopped at a station, he found a telegram from the head office order ing him to "leave the train in the care of, and take the first train for Chicago"
 This was an unusual thing. Won dering what could be the matter {; conscious that he had tried to do exact ly right, and yet remembering how exacting was the General Superinten- dent, he feared that unintentionally he had fallen under his displeasure. With fearful heart he presented himself at the office of the Superintendent.
 "Good morning, MT. Hammond; l have received your telegram and come 10 see what it means"
 Good morning" growled the chief, |" see you have, sir; 1 have concluded to take your train away from you"
 The conductors heart sunk lower than ever. What before was only fear ful forebOding was now painful truth He had served the company to the best of his ability. He had kept the affairs of his train in complete order, lis re- ports had been carefully and correctly made; and yet, after all, he lost his position. He dared not hope to re- verse the decision of the all-powerful official, yet in as calm a voice as he could command, he politely asked the reason for his summary dismissal.
 Col. Hammond waited a while be- fore he answered. Then the muscles of his face relaxed little, and he said |: (" want an assistant superintendent in my office, and 1 have called you to take the place"
 True worth is always modest, and our thunderstruck conductor could only stsmmer, "but I an not com petent, sir, to fill the position"
 "You can do what 1 tell you; you can obey orders, can't you? That's all you have to do sir. You will begin this morning. That Is your desk"
 The new duties were not as difficult as he expected. At first he had only to obey orders, and carry out the de- tails of work, laid out by the chief; and to these duties he brought the same faithfulness and thoroughness that had made him noticeable as Q conductor. Ills elevation did not spoil him or make him vain. He was as plain and modest and hard.working as before-the salary at first was $1,SO0
 After a few years service under Col. Hammond, and an advance of salary 10 S2,5O0, the plain young man was invited to take the office of general superintendent of a younger road at a salary of S40OO. Distrusting his own \ .l-e A