The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-05

A1fOA GOTtlduQ 10 w tuen
the initial point Of the Northern Pa
cif1c. He saw that the only open gate
way through the great barrier Of the
Cascade Mountains was that of the
gorge of the Columbia river, and Of
this he took possession; so that any
railroad coming from the east and
wishing to reach the tide water of the
Pacific would have to deal with him or
else build very expensive line over
the Cascade Mountains. After COM
pleting his railroad on the Columbia
river he came to New York, and made
one of the boldest and most successful
strokes known in the history of Wall
street. He formed what was known
as a "blind pool" by inviting about
fifty capitalists to subscribe toward a
fund of $8,00O,000, in order to enable
him to lay the foundation of a certain
enterprise, the exact nature of which
he would disclose thereafter. The mys-
terry of this announcement appeared
to be an irresistible attraction, and
the result was that one-third of the
persons asked to join the pool signed
the full subscription list before the list
could reach the other two-thirds Then
a great rush of applications for the
right to subscribe ensued. Within
| tWenty-four hours after the issue of
the circular more than twice the
amount asked was applied for.
RUSH OF INVESTORS.
Men thronged Mr. Wizards office
and pleaded for participation in the
scheme that had been allotted to the
would not take their money without
security for investment in a project,
the nature of which had been care
fully concealed. The 100000 was
promptly paid in, and with this money,
Mr. Willard proceeded to buy the stock
Of the Northern Pacific, then at very
low price. Soon after he asked for
$l2,OO0,0 600 more, so that in all more
than $20,000,000 in money was actually
put into his hands. He organized the
Oregon and Transcontinental company
for the purpose of uniting and controil-
ing the Northern Pacific and the Ore
gon Railway and Navigation compan-
les. The success of this remarkable
project placed Mr. Willard in control
of the Northern Pacific. Mr.. Billings
resigned the presidency and Mr. Viii
lard was elected to that Office His
administration was marked by an
epoch of rapid construction and gener-
al expansion. He leased the Oregon
and California railroad, organized a
terminal company at Portland infus-
ed great vigor and activity into the
work Of building the main line. Late
In the summer of 1883 the long lines
Of the Northern Pacific advancing
from the east and west up to the two
slopes met at the summit ridge Of the
Rocky mountains. The completion of
the road was celebrated by an excur-
sion that was without parallel for it's
magnitude and magnificence in the
history of railroad building. Mr.. Viii
lard invited large number of prom
inent statesmen, journalists and finan-
ciers from Europe to take part in this
event. He also invited many promin-
ent senators and members of congress,
the governors of all the states trav-
ersed by his road, and a considerable
number of leading American journal
lists, artists and. railroad men. This
great party of excursiontsts was haul
ed in four trains, made up of sleepers,
private and dining cars. Three of
these trains started from Minneapolis
and one from Portland The last spike
was driven at Gold Creek, in Montana,
in September, 1888, amid much ora
tory and cannon firing. The expenses
of the visitors were all paid by the
company from the time they left their
homes until their return.
ATTACKED BY THE BEARS.
While Mr.. Willard was conducting his
army of friends across the plains to
the Pacific coast the bears of Wall
street began a determined attack upon
the securities of the Northern Pacific.
Notified of this movement by wire, the
president of the company fastened to
New York by special train and threw
himself into the battle, making tre-
rlendous efforts to sustain his stocks
and to prevent their further deprecia-
hn
his private fortune, but with no avail,
for the decline continued and he was
finally forced to withdraw from the
contest.
An era of contraction and strinsency
set in which had its effect on railroad
securities. Against this general strin-
gency the friends of the Northern Pa
cific were powerless. Broken in health
and spirits, Mr.. Willard retired from
the Northern Pacific presidency and
vert to Europe for rest The preferred
stock Of the company, which had
reached par during the spring of 1888.
declined to 40 and even the bonds,
which were amply secured, were look
ed upon with distrust
With Mr.. Wizards retirement. his
splendid plan for making all transport
tation lines on the Pacific coast and in
the Northwest tributary to the trans
continental line of the Northern Pa
cific speedily fell to pieces. He had
already shut off the Union Pacific from
entering Oregon by building a line of
his Oregon Railway and Navigation
company eastward over the Blue
Mountains to the Snake river, where
it intercepted the construction of the
Oregon Short line of the Union Pa
cific road. He had kept the Southern
Pacific out of Oregon by extending his
Oregon and California line to the Cali
fornia boundary. He had captured, as
we have seen. the Northern Pacific.
All lines in Washington and Oregon
were thus virtually under the control
of this financial company known as the
Oregon and Transcontinental.
BUILDING CASCADE BRANCH.
Mr. Willard was succeeded in the
presidency by Robert Harris, of New
York, a railroad man of long exper-
fence, on the Burlington system in the
West and on the Erie road in the East.
Mr.. Harris administration, which
lasted about three years, was chiefly
remarkable for the construction of the
Cascade branch of the Northern Pa
cific, which reduced by over 100 miles
the distance to points on the Puget
sound practical pass was found in
the mountain range, and, by the aid Of
a tunnel over a mile in length, the
road was carried across the noun
tain on grades not exceeding a maxi
mum of 2 per cent. The construction
of this line was rendered imperative
by the fact that the Northern Pacific,
when the oregon Railway and Navga-
ton company passed into the hands of
the Union Pacific, found itself bottled
up at Wallula, with no access to the
sea save over the road of rival COM
high prices for hauling Northern Pa
cific freight and passengers from Wal