The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-09-18
@ STORY OF THE B. & o.
Road Now Controlled by Western
Men Has Had Ups and Downs

Road Now Controlled by Western
Men Has Had Ups and Downs.
BALTIMORE, Sept. 1.-THE act of incor-
poraton Of the Baltimore Ohio railroad
passed in February, 1927. The capital stock
was fixed at $4,000, OO0-3OO 900 shares of 800
each. During the first eleven days the books
were open the people subscribed for $4,17S,O0O.
There was yet no board of directors, and the
commissioners were able to accept only
$1,5O0000. Before the close of 1928 subscrip-
tons to the capital stock to the amount of
81, 000 COO were accepted by the first board Of
directors.
Baltimore's greatest day was July a. 1928,
when the first stone of historic Baltimore
and Ohio" was laid. The parade of military
and civic organizations was the greatest the
city had ever seen. Prominent men from all
sections of the East were there to aid In
starting one of the most important enterprises
of the times. The memorial stone, which was
presented by the stonecutters of Baltimore,
was placed in a vacant lot close to the edge
of the town. Only a few years ago it was
buried beneath the debris resulting from
change of grade, and it has not yet been
found.
Four presidents preceded John w. Garrett,
the most famous railroad man of his day, at
the head of the Baltimore & Ohio. Garrett
was of the type of Commodore Vanderbilt,
who created the New York Central and of
Tom" Scott, the father of the Pennsylvania.
He knew everything about a railroad from
The grading pillow to the presidents desk.
Under his management the road leaped for
ward in gigantic strides. at became the city
Of Baltimore and the state Of Ohio and con-
trolled both" Its stock paid 10 per cent divi-
dends.
Careful trustees invested funds in It's stock
because they knew it was safe It's interest
funds were three times large as returns
from Uncle Sans securities. CARROTS great
idea was the development of the West. He
sought the organization Of a system of West
ern railroads that should bring traffic to the
rails of Historic Baltimore and Ohio" His
aggressive policy won back to Baltimore the
trade 1t had lost to its rivals He was still
pushing forward the work when the Civil
war exposed the property of the company to
the armies of the North and Of the South,
for both were fighting for its possession.
Through all these years Of warfare Garrett
was equal to the emergency. He so managed
the property that 1t continued to pay divi-
dends, and the close of the war found the
government under deep obligations to it.
John w. Garrett died, and in 1884, his son,
Robert Garrett succeeded him as president.
The son, it is related, suffered the disadyan-
tage of having great father. He desired
to follow the footsteps of his sire, to be as
great a railroad man he was society man
and luxurious millionaire. His family owned
$1,000 of a total of 10000 shares of the roads
stock. Back of him were The holdings of the
city of Baltimore and of John Hopkins uni
versity, in all 114,500 shares.
Between Philadelphia and Baltimore was
railroad which Robert Garrett desired
to possess, the Philadelphia, Wilmington &
Baltimore. Tom Scott also wanted it. Gar
rett generally got anything he wanted. He
knew that most of the stock Of the road he
desired was held in Boston. He went there
and made offers for the stock, which were
accepted. He went back to New York more
than satisfied with himself. He could see in
fancy the trains of historic Baltimore &
OHIO" running into the city of Philadelphia
The younger Garrett was lover of the So
cial side of life. He was a deep drinker
His first evening in New York found him at
dinner with convivial party. AS the corks
flew about he divulged his secret.
Congratulate me-" he said. Drink to the
Baltimore & Ohio and her outlet co Phila-
delphia. In two days 1 will control the p,
w. & B.''
Out from the banquet hall stole friend of
Tom Scott. He drove rapidly to the home
Of the Pennsylvania's president. The latter
met him in his night clothes. Work was
begun at once. BY o'clock the next day
Tom Scott controlled P, w & B.
Garrett determined to get into Philadelphia
anyway. His pull the council was COM
pared to the power of his locomotives. The
fight waged fast and furious. Scott decided
to head off mis- opponent He agreed to pay
Garrett what he had expended in his efforts
to get into the old city. He paid So 600 000
Garrett had spent $S,000,000 From that day
Historic Baltimore & Ohio moved toward
ruin. The Pennsylvania abrogated the
agreement, and Garrett butt into Philadel-
phia. The road was a failure and drained
the strong box. In 1887 the road was on the
brink of insolvency. j. Pierpont Morgan
advanced money to save it from ruin, but
not until he had eXacted a pledge that Robert
Garrett should be deposed as president
Samuel Spencer was elected to succeed him
He began to economze. He upset all the ira
ditions Of the Garrett regime. All Baltimore
and all Maryland rose up in arms, and
Spencer was displaced.
Charles F. Mayer succeeded him. His was
an eXtravagant administration and the road
drifted farther into the mire. Expert ac-
countants finally were put on the books and
it was found that they had been systemat-
ically falsified. Dividend money had been
borrowed to lul suspicion-"h:sto Balti-
more ~ Ohio" no longer was paying prop
osition. In 1896 1t went into the hands OF
the United States court. John K Cowen and
Oscar G. Murray were appointed receivers,
and under their management the property
has steadily improved. They have expended
500, 600 900 secured on receivers certificates
The property now is in first-cass condition.
The road now has a funded debt of $204 ISL
1853, and pays nearly 100000 as interest.
Its capital stock amounts to $79,074,615.