Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-07-26
THE VANDERBILTS' HAND
Now Clearly Appears in the COnsOlida-
ton.
indianapolis to Become the Center OF q
Gigantic Double System OF
Railways.
INDIANAPOLIS News,

! docs, developments OF national slgnlh-
| canoe. The talk OF q railroad trust as
applied to all the great competing sys-
| tens does not commend itself to the
| crcdulity of thinking public, but there
| is q sense in which it is true. Self
| interest, ana the desirability of protec-
ton against the disastrous results of Sc
we're competition, have suggested to the
great corporations that they absorb the
disturbing lines and reduce the number
Of competitors The process is not a new
one; it is the development of the princi-
pie of Capitalization and consolidation
that has of late so emphatically charac-
teriZed American corporations.
One of the great consultations now in
course of development, and which has
to-day more clearly than ever disclosed
itself, is of prime interest and import
ance to indianapolis. When the Bee
Line and the Big Four systems were con-
solidated it was the current impression
that the Big Four-Or rather ''that man
ingalls, had simply swallowed up the
Bee Line. The union Of these two linesS.
however, was only Il surface disclosure
OF a great scheme that the Wander
bits Owners of the Bee Line,
Lake Shore, etc. ) with their
millions had devised. The plan
was to procure second trunk line
from Chicago TO the seabOard-this one
to be south of the Pennsylvania and
the Baltimore and Ohio There was
only one such system and that was the
Chesapeake and Ohio, the main line Of
which extends from Cincinnati to Rich
mOnd and Newport News. To make
the proper connection with Chicago the
Big Four between Cincinnati and the
Lake City was necessary. The impress
sion that the Bee Line and Big Four
consolidation was ''lOcal affair" was
mot explained.
To-day, however, comes the news that
DreXel, Morgan s. Co. have become the
owners of 100 900 shares Of the common
stock OF the Chesapeake and Ohio railway
company. This stock belonged to c. p.
Huntington, and was by him sold to this
banking house, he receiving for it a check
for 81 $50 900. 1t was also learned that
DreXel, Morgan & Co. had been quietly
buying up Chesapeake and Ohio common
stock for some time, getting blocks of 1t
from various private holders wherever
they could find them. There are about
four hundred and ninety thou
sand shares Of this stock out
standing, and il is believed that
this controls the majority, as a result of
a gigantic deal engineered i'll the interest
OF the Vanderltilts and which gives them
another trunk line from Chicago to the
seaboard at Newport News, shorter than
any other line.
''The beginning Of the deal, - a New
York Associated Press telegram says,
g was said to be the consolidation of the
Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and
Indianapolis road with the Cincinnati 81
Indianapolis, st. Louis and Chicsgo 8
road. The "Bee Line'' already Be
longed to the Vanderbilt system, butsit J
was strengthened materially by the ab-54
sorption of the ''Big Four" the twQA
lines being reorganized under one heads5
''The Chesapeake and Ohio reaching 1
from the south side of the Ohio river to
the seaboard, where it has val
liable terminal facilities, is the natural
ally Of the "'Big Four. - In fact, when
the Chesapeake and Ohio was reorgan-
lied year and half ago, under the
backing of DrexeI, Morgan & Co. the
stockholders and bondholders were led to
believe that the property would be-
come very valuable because, when
the bridge over the Ohio river, then be-
ing constructed, was finished, it would
place the Chesapeake and Ohio
in direct communication with the
Big Four, and make it q change
of trunk line. This theory was strength
ened when DreXel, Morgan & Co had
Mr.. ingalls, placed at the head of this
newly organized property, that gentle
man being also at that time president of
the Big four. While the Vanderbilt sys-
tenn from Chicago to New York is prob
ably as perfect as a railroad system can
be made, the distance to the seaboard byst
it is longer than by the lines of its great
rival, the Pennsylvania. The latter gets
an ocean outlet at Philadelphia, and ev8p
the Baltimore and Ohio can cut into the
business by reason of its facilities at Bah
tImOre for transatlantic shipments; butsl
now the New York Central people will
have line to the tide water fully assI
short, if not shorter, than the other twQE4
lines, becoming thereby q more impoEE
tant factor than ever. The Vanderbdts
have been outspoken in their favor of
peace and harmony in the relations be-
tween great systems. and they lent all
the weight of their influence last winter
to the formation of an Interstate asso- |
ciation Now that they have attained !
this additional power they will WELD a
greater influence in
settling the difficulties that exist i'll the
railway problem.
An examination of the map will show
that Indianapolis is the key, The natural |
of the two great Vanderbilt sys-
tens. 1t is the only poinC which is on |
the line of both systems. East and west |
through it passes the Bee Line-the |
western outlet of the New York Central; |
north and south passes the Big Four, |
the northwest extension of the Chesa-
peake and Illinois. From this city and |
the territory tributary TO it the two sys-
TENS may draw patronage for any market |
in any direction.
There is every reason to suspect that |
the double system is not yet made up IN |
its entirety. The Eanderbilts control |
the Cairo and Vincennes, which feeds |
the I. and st. L. division at Paris. H., |
and reaches down 20 important South |
ern connections at Cairo. It is not |
unlikely that some of these lines radl- |
ating south and west from that city, |
will in due time be taken under the |
wing of the Vanderbilts or their f1nan- |
ciA agents, the Morgan s. Drexel com |
pdhy. Mr.. ingalls, is now in New York, |
add the representatives of the Missouri |
Pacific are also there.