Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-08-12

degree of excellence he came IN contact
with the spectators in the necessities
of the people, who, it viii
be remembered, absunded during that
period of our history, and who, through
position and influence, enjoyed contro
of much Of the meagre facilities of the
Southern railway lines He made a
brave fight against all such, but finding
that he was powerless to arrest the
existing evils, resigned, and the close
of the war found him in Louisiana
looking after the debris of his fortune.
In his far-away Georgia home. however,
he was not forgotten. Trouble
had come upon the Central
Railroad, on the line between
Macon, Augusta and Savannah, for It's
bridges had been burned, its rails had
been bent by the enemy in a thous-
and shapes, its depOts were destroyed,
and its ruin was general. The noble
Cuyler had died almost of a broken
heart, and the directory. in looking about
for the man to bring order out of chaos,
cast their eyes upon Mr..
Wadley A special messenger
was sent after him, requesting his re-
turn to Savannah to take charge of the
line. He came, aud was elected Presi-
dent His great administrative power
soon had the right men in the right
places, and capitalists FASTENED to tender
him all the means necessary to at
once rebuild the road. In consequence
the people of Georgia soon had the sat
isfaction of seeing this great artery rehab-
ilitated. and, with its construction, doing
its work towards the restoration of good
order and business prosperity in the
State What has been accomplished
since then we all know. His great fore
sight peered into the future, and as far
back as ten years ago he expressed the
opinion that the then system of rail-
roads was only make shift, and that
the time had come when a railroad,
" pay U1uoA ndNG lAlOAAn NO1hCOLAOno5
and should naturally be all under one
management; that lines of one hundred
to two hundred miles would not pay,
for the day for local interests and local
prejudices had passed. Nor was his
ability confined exclusively to rail-
road management His broad mind
conceived the idea of establishing a
line Of ocean steamers which would
place Savannah and the Central Railroad
in direct and easy communication with
the great trade centres of both East and
West. Convinced of the feasibility of
this scheme he, as usual, acted upon it
with resolution, and time has fully vim
Dictated his wisdom.
Besides his public enterprises he man
aged to find time to devote to home and
domestic pleasures, and it was his great
est delight to spend day or two each
week, when his arduous duties would !
permit, at his fine farm at Bolingbroke.
He also found leisure to attend to the |
claims of charity, and was. for many
years, the able head of the Be
thesda Orphan House near this city.
Mr. Wadley always disclaimed being
what is known as a inancier, but he
was, nevertheless, eminently entitled 20
that often misunderstood title, for he in
fact possessed, to a greater degree than
4~a.nSa1 oh Of frb
order. 1t was true that his great truth
fulness and honesty both in word and
deed were mistaken for lack of such abil
ity by those who consider cunning and |
deceit as necessary to the successful |
financier. To him these latter attributes |
were unknown, but his answering in
tegrity gave &c those who entrusted
their means to his management at all
times unbounded confidence in him. The
great interests he controlled were not re
garded by him as speculative ventures,
but as sacred trusts, to the proper guar
dianship of which he had staked his
reputation and his honor. His grand
combination of the railroad system of
the State not only redounded TO the
benefit of the Central Railroad and the
State of Georgia, but it stands
to day monument, both to his sa-
gacity and his answering honesty.
1t would take column after column
of type to give the history of what he has
done within the last few years towards
the development of those great public
benefsctors, the railroads of the South,
the labor and responsibility entailed by
which was doubtless one of the causes
of his sudden and comparatively early
demise. Truly, in his death great
man has fallen. He was made in no
ordinary mould. By nature ne ranked
with men of the type of Washington,
jackson and Lee, for he was as truthful
and unfinching in duty as the
first; firm and brave in his con;
victions as old Hickory; kind, pure and
lovable to those who knew him as the
dead chieftain of the lost cause. In
other fields but that OF the head OF a
railroad which for many years was but
local line, he would have been a leader
among men, and would long since have
been known by and commanded the re-
spect of all. Georgia has in him lost one
of her greatest sons, who, despite the
shafts which envy, malice and IN
charitableness always hurl at the
man who rises by his own ex-
ertions above the ordinary level of life,
was loved by all fortunate enough
to know him well and enjoy the benefits
of his friendship and society. He may,
and doubtless will, have a competent
successor, but his place will not easily
be filled.
The New York Herald, in summing