The daily enterprise. [volume] (Livingston, Mont.) 1883-1884, 1884-09-08
A Year Ago.

Livingston will remember how w,
toiled over the summit of Mullal
pass in the fifth section of til,
| Willard Last Spike excursion party
how we sweltered in the heat aroune
the scene of the excursion and listen
ed to the prosy speeches while our vi
tails gnawed one another in agonies o1
hunger; how i'll the evening, when
relief seemed reasonably nigh we were
switched upon side track and there
lay consumed with fatigue. sleepiness
and hunger until morning, while
more noted guests banqueted on the
| main line Immediately in our path
way; how, when we reached Helena
after that vigil of suffering we made
the hotels and restaurants l.Ok as
weary us did we. Yes, you will re-
member those striking incidents very
forcibly us You will many minor oc-
currenccs. But it was All occasion
we'll worthy of u full page in the book
OF memory. Despite the various dis
comforts that attended the experience
of the montana guests few of
them would exchange the honor (for
such it Was) for one Of the ordinary
days Of their lives. Never in the his
tory oi America was there such con-
gress of nOtables from AL parts of the
civilized world; we wonder when
there will be such another. And how
the fortunes Of many there .hat day
have changed in the interim: Vii
lard-the central figure Of that great
moving pageant seemed to date the
decline Of his greatness from the day
he struck that mythical golden spike
with the mythical silver maliet. Then
lie was ''the observed of all observ-
ers. IL king in the industrial world;
to-day he is comparatively obscure.
but none the less Il great man--the one
who made the Northern Pacific what
it now is. Robert Harris, then an
nnnoticed director Of the company.
now occupies Willard s position as it's
president. III. Haupt, then its general
manager. has faded almost entirely
from public view. ii. G.. Davis, WHO
dealt the first blow to the last spike,
then an officer of another road. is in
Livingston to-day, a prominent Of
fetal of the Northern Pacific. Among
the guests those not connected with
the road, the changes OF fortune have
been us marked. Gen. Grant was
most noticed Of the number; financial
misfortune has since Overtaken him,
ugly incidents in his connection with
Wall Street have robbed him Of not Il
little of his splendor. Gov. Hubbard
of Minnesota. another speech-maker
of the day. has within the week gone
down in the maelstrom Of bank
ruptcy, though he still holds his
official station. Gov. Newell. OF Wash
inyton. Gov. Irwin, Of Idaho. Gov.
Ordway, of Dakota. all have stepped
down and out to give place to other
men Herr Won Eisendecher was then
German minister to the United States
and one of the most distinguished Of
the German guests; his official head
has since fallen into Bismarck S bask ct.
and another holds his position. John
A. kasson. OF Iowa, always Il great
man, has since succeeded Sargent as
ambassador to Germany. 4. A. Elmer
is no longer assistant postmaster gem
eral, nor is John G. New assistant
secretary of the treasury both held
those positions as they watched the
driving Of the last spike. But we will
not proceed with this Investigation.
A year brings great changes among
the children Of men; neither wealth
nor station enjoy immunity from the
constant ferment Of fortune that
brings one to the surface and engulfs
another III 0bscurity. That day mark
ed the formal completion Of the North.
ern Pacific railroad with such oStenta-
tion s.s never before celebrated an i'll
d,strlal event however important.
The Northern Pacific, too, has enc0unt.
cred the tide OF adversely almost in it's
food, but it has withsroOd the worst
Of the pressure and to-day promises
soon to rank in its trne place as the
greatest trans-Ameriean route. What
ever criticisms the ENTERPRISE or its
readers may feel disposed 70 pass upon
the company's policy. all are friends to