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

sEPTEMBER o. 1897.
the Northern Pacific had dropped, and
commenced the building of a road up
the southern bank Of the Columbia
river from Portland to Wallulu, then
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
fund Of $8,000,000, 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
| others and became angry because he
! would not take their money without
security for investment in 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
Sl2,00O,0 600 more, SO that in all more
| than S20,OO0,000 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
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 magnifcence 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,
I the governors of all the states trav-
I ersed by his road, and considerable
number of leading American Journal
! lists, artists and railroad men. This
great party of excursionists 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 determined attack upon
the securities of the Northern Pacific.
| Notified of this movement by wire, the
president of the company fastened to
I New York by special train and threw
J himself into the battle, making tre-
nendous efforts to sustain his stocks
and to prevent their further deprecia-
j ton. For this purpose he sacrificed
! his private fortune, but with no avail,
I for the decline continued, and he was
! finally forced to withdraw from the
/ contest.
An era of contraction and strinsency
set in which had it's 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
went 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 transpor.
| 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 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. A practical pass was found in
the mountain range, and, by the aid of
! tunnel over a mile in length, the
! road was carried across the noun