The record-union., 1897-07-18
COL, C, F. CROKER
PASSES AWAY.
fContinued from First Page)

(COntlnueQ from lISL IdSSD
decision. Even telegraphic communi-
cation. with co-directors abroad can
not wholly relieve the local resident
director of responsibility in the solu-
ton of important problems. Being on
the ground he must act, and in acting
must necessarily exercise a large dis
cretion of judgment. His promotion,
therefore, to the Second Vice-Presi-
dency was we'll earned. In this new
and higher position came broader dis
cretion of judgment. His official reia-
ton to the administrative affairs OF the
company, however, was not the heaV-
lest burden imposed upon him IN the
year Of his promotion On August IA,
1888, his distinguished father died,
leaving to him as the Oldest and most
experienced member of the family
primary charge of an estate valued at
S24, ,000, ,000 The estate was inextr1ca-
bly, interviewer with the railway sys-
tenn and its concomitant interests. Ii
was. indeed. a vast property sustaining
complex. relations to other estates with
a very large percentage Of its value
dependent upon the success OF vast
enterprises the conduct of which de-
manded the largest administrative
ability and the most experienced busl-
ness sagacity. However active or feal
the official relation sustained by COL
onel tCrocker to the affairs of the raA-
way system and the varied Interests
of the estate to which he was in part
prospective successor prior to the death
Of his father that event imposed upon
him additional and more serious re
sponsibilities. BY the terms OF MS
fathers will he became, in co-trustee-
ship with his brother, William ii.
Crocker trustee of the estate ana py
priority of age and experience its pr1n-
cipal administrator. Thus to offlclal
function was added the augmented re-
sponsibility of increased personal own
ership and the higher duties of a trust
relation. Fourteen months later his be-
loved mother departed this life. mus
in three successive years he was De
reaved of a wife, father ana
mother.
Upon the retirement Of Leland stan
ford from the Presidency and the elec-
ton of c. P. Huntington TO that ofhce'
Charles Frederick Crocker became by
the unanimous choice Of the ownership
the First Vice-President and was fully
vested with all the discretionary power
the position implies. Thus at the early
age Of SO he stood a full participant IN
the administrative responsibility OF m
terestS involving two hundred mIhoh1
dollars capital. Nor should it be for
gotten that the advancement herein
outlined was at the hands of men VINO
stood among the foremost railroad con-
structors, operators and hnanclers Oh
the age. The accident of relationship
may afford opportunity Tor the
achievement Of official relation 1nvolv-
ing the discharge of great admlnlstra-
tive duties but such accidents 90 not'
go beyond the opportunity. In the oIS-
charge of functions connected with the
operation of a great sustem Oh uahS-
portation employing hundreds OF mill
ions of capital and carrying mllllohS
in value of property and millions OIL
precious lives, ability must be present
81 the position which accident may
- conferred is maintained. Mr..
Croceker's promotion may have been IN
a measure a concession TO ms pros
pective ownership of the property con-
trolled, but to maintain any posluoh III
the executive department of railroad
system ability equal to the place must
be manifested
III
completely candid biography was ever
written. At best the biographer adopts
a partial view. If the portraiture is
at the hands of friendship the warm
colors of charity are applied. If by
the hand of enmity, the distortion OF
malice is. present. Paint me as l am,
said Oliver Cromwell to the artist be-
fore whom he was sitting for por-
trait. "If you smooth out one wrinkle
or attempt the outline of symmetry
where deformity exists I will repudiate
the picture" The task of the biogra-
pher. however, differs from that of
the artist. The former deals with in
tellectual and moral elements of char
acter which elude exact measurements;
the latter may invoke in his work the
common rules of drawing and prospec-
tive Cromwell was, perhaps, less vain
of his personal appearance than of his
record as a statesman, and if he could
have anticipated the work of some of
his biographers we are inclined to the
opinion that he would have preferred
less faithful portraiture.
The verdicts Of contemporaneous his
tory and biography alike encounter dis
trust as to their impartiality, but there
must exist somewhere between the
Charybdis and Scylla of detraction and
fiattery, free and open channel of per-
sonal criticism, wherein just estimate
of our contemporaries may find unob-
structed way. Taking note of this
chart, I may be permitted to say that
my first knowledge of Charles F.
Crocker began in 1865. One day in the
summer of that year, surgeon (Dr.
Nixon), who occupied offices on the
same floor with my own, called me to
his assistance. Upon entering his Of
flee, I found a lad of about IL or u
years, suffering from a broken arm.
He was a sturdy young fellow. in
whom the sanguine temperament was
loudly proclaimed by a very florid COM
plexion. Although suffering much pain,
he made no complaint Both bones of
the lower arm were broken about mid
way between the elbow and the wrist
and the hand hung limp and listless
when held at a right angle at the ell
bow.
While the surgeons preparation for
the operation were going on, he en-