The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1888-08-22
A Railroad King peaa.


Charles Croker, one Of the famous ionr
big railroad kings Of the Pacific coast, breath
ell his last at $3.50 r. ". yesterday at Monterey
Cal, leaving behind him a fortune estimated
at S6o.O00,oo0. The deceased was 66 years
old, and suffered intensely from diabetes.
Last winter he visited many places In Ger
many IN the hope that be might derive some
benefit from the waters there. When he re-
fGsRed to California a few weeks ago he re-
paire1 Immediately TO Monterey.
From being an humble storekeeper IN
Sacramento be became the Second yie Pres
ident of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and
was noted as one Of the four great railroad
magnates who formed a combination iuls62
and obtained from the United States Govern
ment a subsidy ofS27 $50 $50 for the build
ing Of a railroad across the continent. This
combination from that time TO the present
has had practical control OF all the material
interests of the Pacific coast, and to-day it
| controls over 5000 miles ofraiiroad and more
than $500. 000. 900 of capital.
In 1861 Crocker, with Governor Leland
CA1IAlJIlt lON 14lAlCu oAatIC ISAt1ACt 1CA
p. Huntington and Mark Hopkins, a part
ner of Huntington, formed a company, that
proposed constructing a railroad across the
Sierra Nevada Mountains and.the great Amer
lean Desert TO connect with the roads that
then terminated at Missouri River. a distance
oflSo0 miles. They started with an aggregate
capital of less than $4,000, but they OBJ
tanned large subsidies of bonds from the
Government, in addition 10 Liant grants of
s,OOo, goo acres All that they have repaid
the Government is $4,000.
Croker was the typical railroad contractor
and in the management of the big enterprise
he was given the supervision of the work OF
constructing the road. Stanford's political
sagacity and diplomatic handling of men
and measures bore as good fruits for the con-
cern as Huntington's audacity and genius
reaped among the more wealthy men in the
financial world, Hopkins, the lawyer, who
was the first to die, his demise having oc-
Cured a few year ago, acted as legal adviser
for his associates.
The serious work of building the Central
Pacific from Sacramento eastward was not
begun until 1864, the extraordinary and rich
Yields of the Comstock Lode, on the east
side Of the Sierra Nevadas, lending a strong
stimulus to the further development of this
enterprise. While Croker was awarded all
the contracts through the assistance of his
three associates, yet each of the four shared
equally in the profits.
The work of pushing the road over the
Sierra Nevada Mountains was attended with
the utmost difficulty. 1t required four years
from 1864 TO 1868, to cross these mountains.
Snowsheds thirty-fonr miles in length had
had To be built 10 protect the road,
while a long tunnel had TO be bored through
the Sierras. Congress had meanwhile start
esi the Union Pacific Railroad westward FROM
the Missouri River. intending that it should
meet and join the Central Pacific on its way
eastward. As large subsidies were being al
lowed for each mile of road built, together
with alternate grants Of land for > distance
of ten miles on each side of the track, it was
TO the interest OF each corporation to build
as many miles as possible.
The race across the continent attracted
worldwide attention. The Union Pacific
built some sections at the rate of five miles a
day, though the Pacific magnates made a
good showing by building 5S5 miles of road
in the short space of ten months. They met
the Union Pacific near Ogden, Utah Terri
tory, 1882 miles west of the Missouri River.
The hard work and exposure broke
Crocker's naturally strong constitution, and
for the past fourteen years he has been more
or less an invalid. He resided in the fash
ionable quarter Of San Francisco known as
" Mob Hill.n His eldest son, Colonel Charles
Frederick Croker, is the Third Vice Presi-
dent ofthe Central Pacific Railroad, and will
succeed his father. His only daughter was
married last year to Mr.. Alexander, Of New
York.