Wichita eagle., 1889-03-26
GREAT RohDS COMBINE,

| PHILADELPHIA, Ia, hdTCu CO. ~
porter of the Inquirer today learned from
| a well known railroad man that the North
ern Pacific has at last secured control OF
the Wisconsin Central railroad and
| throughit an entrance to Chicago. The
| directors of the company will hold a
special meeting in New York on Wednes-
| day to formally apsrove the lease, but 1t
! will be purely a formal matter, as the oi-
rectors are a unit on the question. and the
| company is already in practical control OF
| the Wisconsin Central lines.
| The Inquirer will give the following de-
| tails of the lease: &c. G. Wheeler, form
| erly general manager of the AtchlSon,
| Topeka q Santa Fe road, has spent three
months in an examination of the properly,
| connections and accounts of the Wlscon-
| SIN Central company. He went over
! every mile of the main line and its allied
| branches, inquired into its resources ana
traffic connections and finally made de-
| tailed inventory of the property, even
| down to the number of gallons OF oil IN
| the supply shop The result of his inves-
| tigation has been compiled in an exhaust
| i've report which will be submitted to the
| board on Wednesday. In it he recites.
| the reasons why the acquisition of
| the Wisconsin Central road will be
! an advantage to the Northern
| Pacific company. The Chicago, Burlng-
| ton & Quincy, the Northwestern and st.
| Paul and other lines entering at Chlcago
! are reaching out westward for trafhc ana
| will, in his opinion, ultimately reach the
| Pacific coast and become tranScontlnental
| lines The Canadian Pacific has Chlca-
| 90 outlet and so have all the Pacific coast
| lines If the Northern Pacific is to main
tain its position it must have equal facll-
tiles and Mr. Wheeler sees no other line
| but the Wisconsin Central that can afford
| e. I11 a
| The road, he says, is in first-clasS condl-
ton, it possesses good terminals, has
growing local trade and is self-supporting.
| With the influence Of the interstate
commerce law to steady rates he
| believes the road will be a
| profitable one. The lease IS for
| comparatively short time, either for thirty
| three or ninety-nine years. The period has
not been determined yet. Ii is an operat-
| ing lease-that is, the Northern Pacific IS
to operate the road and pay as rental 80
| per cent Of the gross receipts. President
| Cakes, after studying the detailed reports
presented by Mr.. Wheeler of the amount
| and direction of traffic and OF the operat-
ing expenses, has come to the conclusion
that the Northern Pacific can operate the
road for 60 per cent, and at the outside for
| 81. He believes the Northern Pacific can
make a profit on the lease indie
pendent of the advantage accruing
to the company from the posses
| sion OF a through line. OF course
all the Northern Pacific's Chicago bust
ness will be thrown upon the Wisconsin
| Centrars lines instead of being divided up
between all the roads running between
| Chicago and St. Paul. The Northern Pa
cific makes no guarantee as to interest
upon the Wisconsin Central company's
obligations-in fact guarantees nothing at
all except the prompt payment OF the
rental. The lease will add to the North
ern Pacific system 767 miles of road, H.
Guiding 344 miles of the Wisconsin Cen
trail. 187 miles of leased lines and 236 OF
affiliated roads With it also comes
! the possession OF the extension terrnl-
nal facilities at Chicago, formerly owned
by the Chicago & Great Western railroad,
which are constantly increasing in value,
! as well as the very valuable terminals at
! Milwaukee The Northern Pacific eXecu-
tive committee, to which the lease was Of
fered, has studied most carefully Mr.
! Wheelers report and will report upon 1t
! favorably, and the opinion of the other
members of the board has already been
expressed in favor of the measure"
ST. PAUL, March 25.-The topic of con-
versation in railroad circles this morning
was the reported lease of the Wisconsin
Central railroad by the Northern Pacific.
The local officials of both companies were
as much in the dark as TO the correctness
of the story as any of the officials of other
roads. but they generally discredit the
truthfulneSs of the statement.
Assistant General Manager Thral, of
the Northern Pacific, said he had no
knowledge of such an arrangement and he
telegraphed President Cakes inquiring If
there was any truth in articles published
in the morning papers today.
& rumOr was current this morning that
the consolidation had not only been eff
fected but that through trains would be
run out of Chicago to the Pacific coast over
the Wisconsin Central and Northern Pa
clfc commencing Wednesday next.
When Intercepted on the subject General
Passenger Agent Fee stated he had no
knowledge whatever of the reported leas-
ing of the Wisconsin Central