The Newtown bee., 1898-07-01

president of the company, his brother,
George T. Hawley, being the vice-presi-
dent and treasurer. For some years the
parent house has had branches at Los
Angeles, Cal, known as Hawley, King &
Co., aud at San Diego, Cal, as Todd &
Hawley.
M. G. Hawley was until recently pres
ident of the Shreveport & Houston rail-
road, in which corporation he is still a
director and stockhoider. He is dIrec.
tor in the water works both at Bridge
port, Conn, and Houston, Texas, and
vice-president Of the Bridgeport Steam
boat Company, with all of which inter.
ests he has been prominently identified
for number of years. He was also
closely associated with the late Joseph
Richardson in his railroad enterprises,
and in view of the confidence in which
he was held and his familiarity with his
affairs has been active lately in the set
tlement Of this large estate.
Mr. Hawley all these years has made
his home in Connecticut and has looked
after the Eastern interests of the Califor-
nia business.
The fact that Mr. Rawley lived in a
Connecticut town not far from Bridge
port, with an office in New York to
which he still comes almost every day,
has made him perhaps the most frequent
commuter on the New York, New Ha-
ven & Hartford Railroad, he having seen
many of the various msnagements in the
last 46 years. history of the road come
and 60. He has crossed the American
continent from ocean to ocean SO times,
and has just completed the 4Sth round
trip to San Francisco. While on the
coast recently he made voyage to the
Hawaiian Islands and speaks very high
ly of them, their climate and productive
ness, believing them to be q desirable
and necessary acquisition for the United
States. The opposition to annexation on
the coast, he says, is almost entirely con-
fined to the sugar interest. In addition
to his travels in this country he has been
about Europe and Mexico extensively.
Some of Mr. Hawley's old-time business
| associates recall the days when all freight
was transported by sailing vessels be-
tween New York and the Pacific ports,
necessitating the carrying of three stocks
of goods, including those on hand and in
transit. The extent of his transactions
is indicated in the fact that more than
once he bought up all the stocks of nails
and wire obtainable in New York, pur-
chasing at one time %, 900 kegs of nails
in one order and 40, 600 kegs in one week,
which in those days were considered
pretty good orders. Mr. Hawley refers
to the war period as the time when the
coast hardware houses made the bulk OF
their money. Goods bought East with
currency were sold in California for gold,
the difference in exchange being largely
profit, quantities of gold having sold al
275.
| The first trips he made to California be
!, made by way OF the Isthmus, but on the
opening OF the transcontinental lines il
May, 1869, he went that way until the
Southern Pacific was opened. The an
tagonism between the Union Pacific ant
Central Pacific systems, however, used &
be very annoying to passengers, whit
would sometimes lose as much as 4
hours at Promontory Point, where tn
two companies connected, just beyon,
: Ogden, Utah. The fact that trains wer
not run to make close connections cause
much delay, the Central Pacific peopl
even now divertlng everything possibl
TO the Southern Pacific route, which the
also control.
Until recent years the firms agricu
: tural interests were large part of the
business, and in these lines it was con
mon occurrence for them to ship or
train loads of agricultural goods.
zone time 1t Is said the house virtual
controlled the Californla market q