Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-11-02
What the Sale Of the Reading Road
Means to Washington.
4 GREAT AIR Line SYSTEM
The Approaching Necessity for
Building Union Depot.
HOW 1T WILL BE DONE

Inc purchdsefs AT the foreclosure sale of
the Reading railroad. Messrs. ]. p Morgan
q Co., through Messrs. Charles H. Coster
and Francis Lynde Stetson, have given
notice that a meeting Of the reorRan-
| ization managers will be held at the ter
miral station in Philadelphia November IL,
for the purpose Of organizing a company
| to take the assets of the now defunct COM
parry and operate the road.
As has been the case Of other systems &C
| Quired by the great railway syndicate, the
concern will probably be given a new
name. and while those in control have not
authorized any statement as to the name
selected, 1t is generally believed that the
corporation will be called the Philadelphia
and Reading Railway Company.
Inc charter under wnicn IL is to be
operated Is that granted to the National
Company" about twenty-five years ago by
the legislature of Pennsylvania. but which
| was never put into actual use for some
reason which those aware of the facts have
not thought ii worth while to explain, but
| which 1t is said is, with the exception of
me cnarter granted to the Pennsylvania
naiiroad company, of which IL is an exact
| copy, the most liberal charter the legisla-
lure OF pennsylvania ever granted.
A Liberal Charter
AS TO the powers conferred by this char
Ter they are. as stated therein, identical
| Win the powers conferred by the act of
April ., 1870, Incorporating the Pennsylva-
ma company, under which all the lines of
| Inc pennsylvania Railroad Company west
OF Pittsburg are operated" Briefly stated
me charter provides for a capitalization of
| its Increase Indefinitely 1t also confers tbe
| power TO do nearly everything, from A
pankihs business to the building purcha Sc
| ana operation of railroads
| IL Is believed that the presidency n. ,b.
| ne" company lies between MIR Joserb :
| I,afris' one OF the present receivers OF IN
hs eaains company. and Mr.. Theodore vcor-
no,,, .ie hrst vice president of the same
| Sohpans. should Mr.. Voorhees, get the
piace II Is said Mr. Harris will b,. mad
president of the Philadelphia and Reading
| oar ana iron Company. which has hereto.
| lore been operated by the management; of
| the railroad company, but which in fm,,,r.
| VIII be run independently, and whose chief
| VIII probably get as good a salary as that
MH,ch VIII De paid 10 the president of the
| railroad company.
| MI. voorhees,, though not Yet lifty wears
| OLD. mas had a long and successful career
sas railroad lean, and he is sa id to possess
.hose Qualities which are said to be so
| much admired by both MIR. Morgan ana
Mr.. Morgans right-hand man, President
| Samuel Spencer of the Southern. who. i is
| pretty safe 10 say, will be either an activ,
or passive director in the new system.
The New Manager.
| Mr. voorhees, was born in New York city
| July 4. 1s4I. He finished his educa ton at
the Polytechnic Institute College at Troy,
| n. Y, from which he graduated in lS,s,
| In the same year he entered the railway
| service. his first position being in the en-
sineering department of the Delaware Lack
| aWanna and Western railroad, which he
| nlled for four years. when he was made
| superintendent of the Syracuse Bingham
| ton and New York road
| In boz
in the transportation department of the
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company at
| Albany, and in March of the next wear he
| be came superintendent of the Saratoga and
| Lake Champlain division Of the same COM
panys road, where he remained for ten
| years.
He resigned the latter to take the office
OF assistant general superintendent of the
new York Central and Hudson River rail-
road, and March i, 1880, he was made gen
eral superintendent of that system and held
both that and similar position with the
Rome, WATERFOWL and Osdensburs railroad
| until February !, 1888, when he accepted the
| first vice presidency of the PHILADELPHIA and
| Reading system.
| Union Depot.
The reorganization of the Reading will
| probably mean much for the city of Wash
| in2ton in the near future, as it is almost
| certain that by the building of about fifty
| miles of track from Front Royal, on the
| Norfolk and Western road one of the Nor
| gan lines, II would be possible for passen-
| gers to be carried Washington from
| Lake Ontario to the Gulf of Mexico with
| out changing cars going off a Morgan
line except for the few miles between Gee
| tysburg. Pa, and Hagerstown, Md. where
the Western Maryland would get the bene-
| fit of the service.
Recently published maps Of the Reading
| railroad show a projected line between
| Front Royal and Washington. and this is
alra,,
| fore the construction of the long talked lot
| road will be begun. Especially is this like
| ly to be the case when it is taken into con-
| sideration that the Norfolk and Western
trains now have to make detour of fully
| 1G0 miles to get to Washington and in addl-
ton have to use the b. and o. tracks.
When the proposed link connecting the
| Norfolk and Western at Front Royal with
| Washington is completed ii will probably
| lead to the erection of a great union sta
! ton in this city, though where it will be-.
located it is impossible at this time to pre-
dict with any degree of certainty.
prominent Baltimore and Ohio official
| in talking to a Star reporter, said ii was
certain that the roads centerng here would
| be compelled to build station for their
own convenience, as after the Baltimore
and Ohio tracks are taken off the streets
as Congress has said must be done by an
early date In the next century, the present
| Baltimore and Ohio station will be prac-
| tically valuelesS except for local travel and
the business of the Pennsylvania will prob
| ably by that time have become so extcnsiy,
| as to make 1t necessary for the Pennsyl-
vanfa to devote the 9th street station ex-
clusively TO their own interests
Crowded Station.
Pennsylvania official, speaking to a
] Star reporter, said the day had already ar
| rived when there ought not to be any COM
pany using the 9th street station except its
| owners. and that the other lines running to
! and from Washington ought to unite and
erect terminal facilities that would be equal
| to all demands likely to be made upon them
| for century to come, if such a thing were
possible.
The Baltimore and Ohio official above re
| ferred to said that the plan TO he followed.
and which, In his opinion, it would Ice com
pulsory to adopt during the next few years
would be to organize great terminal com
pany, with capital of several millions OF
dollars, as 1t would require a very large
sum OF money to carry out the plans, and
| that In this all of the companies interest
| ed would be stockholders. When mention
| was made that road which was in the
hands of receivers might find ii hard to
put up sl,NDOOo. which would probably he
| the amount assessed 10 each line as its pro
! rata. he replied that it was more than like
| ly that all the money to make the enter