St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-10-14
man at peace with himself and the

man at peace with hlmSelf and the
world.
"Where is his carriage?" was asked
Passenger Agent Fee.
ooh, he seldom rides" replied that
official. 'He takes a fast walking stick
and enjoys the open air and exercise"
Mr.. Willard will remain in st. Paul
for some days, but insists that his
visit and his stay have no public signif-
canoe or interest. All that he said was
to laugh away numerous stories that
were built up prior to his arrival. For
instance, he said he would go to the
coast via Duluth and the Canadian Pa
cific. and the GLOBE reporter ventured:
81 presume you are bound for Ev-
erett.''
Everett Now, where in the world
is Everett?''
why, Everett is the coming great
city on Puget sound, where the North
ern Pacific and Great Northern are to
have their terminals"
Mr.. Willard lay back and laughed
heartily, declaring he never knew there
was such place on the map. He want
ed to know what the story was.
There is rumor that you are now
en- route to inspect the site of a new
town in Observation-Disclosures Is the
name of the place, on Puget sound. 1t
has been talked of as the future ter
minus of the Great Northern and North
with those of j. j. Hill, Sir Donald
Smith. Lord Mount Stephen ct al, is
connected with it. 1t has been pub
liShed that the new town on the sound
was to have the biggest 'whaleback'
mandatory in the world; that the
Charles P. Whetmore, the biggest whale
back af1Oat, Is now en- route from Liver
pool with machinery for the new plant,
and"
''Oh, there is not word of truth in
the whole story. / am interested in the
Whaleback company to some extent, but
this Everett story is out of whole CLOTH"
''How about the Meeker dam idea;
will it ever amount to anything?"
"Well, l don't see how 1t cam The
people interested in it made the most
absurd statements to me about the
water power. | sent my engineer to
look into the thing, and discovered that
there was no water power"
Another bubble that Mr.. Willard
punctured was the Minneapolis fabrica-
ton that the Northern Pacific was about
to inaugurate system Of short line
trains between the two cities. He said
1t was never thought of, was impracti-
cable and entirely out of the question.
But this led to an interesting develop
ment. Mr.. Willard was talking of short
lines and their possible operation by
electricity between Milwaukee and Chi
cago and said:
II am interested in the Edison Elec-
trio company, and for about three years
Mr.. Edison, both of his own volition
and at my instance, has been working
with view TO SuperSeding steam with
electricity on the railroads. He thinks
he has solved the problem, and SO do /.
At least this is so for short distances.
Whether it will be successful for long
stretches has not yet been actually and
practically demonstrated. Arrange
ments will be made to make the trial
for long distances. The story that a
road with electric locomotives would be
put in between Chicago and Milwaukee
arose from the fact that Mr.. Edison
sent for detailed information about rail
road traffic between these two places
in order to have basis for estima tes
and comparisons. He sent for state
ments of the cost Of railway property,
operating expenses, average number of
passengers, time tables. etc. 1t is not
decided whether the practical test will
be made between Chicago and Mil
waukee or elsewhere. Mr.. Edison has
also been working on and has perfected
plan to do away with the overhead
wire and trolley and operate by conduc-
ton from the rails.'
Are you interested in any local cleo.
trio line plans, Mr.. Villard?"
mo: that is, except so far as my con-
nection with the Edison company goes.
MIR. Lowry has the cream of the electric
business herabout.''
Shortly after this conversation with
Nj. Willard, the subject came up again
with Passenger Agent Fee, who said:
The public has great miSconcep-
ton of short line business There is
actually no profit in it, and the public
looks merely at the number of passen-
gers carried, without regard to cost of
either equipment or operation. 1t is
ness pays, and doubt if there was any
profit here before the electric lines
were open. The Illinois Central along
the lake front at Chicago probably
makes money, but it is an exceptional