The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-02-25

ly upon receiving this report Mr.. Blair
bought all the rancid butter he could
find and mixed 1t with good butter. He
found q ready sale for the mixture
and made 81 900 clear In one year. a
short time after that cargo of cot
ton from New Orleans came up tie
Delaware river. The cotton had been
wet in transit and it was offered at
very low price to anybody who would
pay cash for It. Mr.. Blair examined
some of the damaged bales, made an
offer and got the cargo. When the cot
ton was unloaded il was found that
comparatively few bales had been dam
aged. on that deal the young mer-
chant cleared $4,000.
RAILROAD VENTURES.
Mr.. Blair laid the foundation Of his
fortune while a stOrckeeper. but it viii
be as railroad man that he will be
remembered. AS his business grew OPP
portunities for investing his money in
creased. In 1899 Mr.. Blair. through
George w. and Joseph Scranton, be
came interested in the iron mines OF
Pennsylvania. He became convinced
that there was money in iron. The
Scranton brothers settled at Slocum,
a
ed them to build large rolling mill.
This done. Flair induced Moses Taylor.
William T. Dodge Gardner Colby. Is
rael -. Condt, Christopher Robert.
Marshall O. Roberts and Robert G.
Winthrop to go into the iron business.
Slocum became Scranton and Scranton
had to have an outlet for it's product.
Mr.. Blair and his associates bought a
N4hi 1,1 ne In
Ithaca. It was q. poor sort of affair
and Mr.. Blair insisted upon building IT
over again. That was the beginning of
his career as builder of railroads
Since then he has built, either en-
tirely with his own capital or with the
capital of others associated with him
wholly or in part, nearly thirty rail-
roads. These roads include the OswegO
and Ithaca; Leggett's Gap; Warren;
sections of the Delaware. Lackawanna
and Western: the Lackawanna and
Bloomsbury; Burlington, Cedar Rapids
ana Northern; part of the Union Pa
citic; Sioux City and Yankton; Sioux
Falls and Dakota; Chicago and North
western; Chicago and Pacific; Chicago,
Iowa and Dakota; sections of the New
York, Susquehanna and Western; St
land; Kansas City and Southern:
Cayuga and Susquehanna: Cedar Rap
ids and Missouri River; Green Bay,
Winona and st. Paul; Green Bav and
stevens Point; Sioux City and Pacific;
Iowa Falls and Sioux City; Chicago,
Iowa and Nebraska; Fremont, Elkhorn
and Missouri Valley; Maple River, Sus-
sex and Mount Hope; Kansas City.
Os2eola and Southern.
THE D., l.. & w.
From the first railroad which he built
Mr.. Blair with others, developed what
is now the Delaware, LaCkawanna and
| Western system. 1t was not until 1860
that he undertook railroad building in
the west. In that year he was sent as
delegate to the Chicago convention
which nominated Abraham Lincoln for
the presidency. After the convention
he and other delegates were invited to
ride over the lines of the Chicago, Iowa
and Nebraska railroad. The railroad
| officials were anxious to extend the
| line further west, and, knowing that
| Blair was a very wealthy man, they
wanted to interest him in the road IL
| possible. He looked the road and the
| country over liked what he saw and
| decided to put money into the scheme.
| One Of the railroad officials asked him
who he thought would be the best man
| to look after the building of the eX-
| tension of the road to omaha.
John J. Blair" was the answer.
Soon after that Mr.. Blair took all the
| construction work off the company's
| hands and built the road. That road
| Is now part of the Chicago and North
western system. A few years ago Mr..
! Blair with considerable pride made the
| statement that he had built every road
/ with which he had ever been connected
! for cash and without putting a dollars
worth Of its stock on the market 20
| raise money He calculated that in hi )
! railroad operations he had spent $26,
900, 000 all of which he either advanced
himself or raised among his friends.
In the building of all his western roads
| Mr.. Blair secured enormous land
grants as premiums. In connection
with his work on the Union Pacific he
got 900, 900 acres of land in Iowa. For
finishing the Iowa Falls and Sioux City
road he got 100000 acres. For build
ing the Sioux City and Pacific road
from Sioux City to Omaha, and the
| Blair cut off from Missouri Valley
| junction, on the Chicago and North
western, connecting it with the Union
Pacific at fremont, he got 64O.O00 acres
Of land. He built a railroad up the
Niobrara Valley in Nebraska and took
the premium offered by the state OF
| 100000 acres of land.
LAND OPERATIONS.
With all this land on his hands, re-
Ceived as premiums for building rail-
roads, Blair had to do something with
it. He formed land companies, and
these companies, under his direction
have laid out the sites for what are
now more than 100 flOurshing cities
and towns in the west In his rail.
road building it was usually Mr. Blair's
custom to take road that somebody
had begun and failed to complete, re.
build it entirely or complete it, anC
then lease it or sell it TO a trunk line
after connecting 1t with the trunk line
In this way he made a profit on the
railroad building, acquired great guam
titles of valuable land, and made more
money by selling or leasing the roaC
he had thus rehabilitated.
The last road that Mr.. Blair bull
was the Kansas City, Osceola anC
Southern. This road was completed
only last year, and the finishing
touches were put on under a direction
other than his. Before the road wa
completed Mr.. Blair leased it to wha
railroad men call the Frisco Line an,
the terms of that lease show what kint
OF bargain he was accustomed to drive
No one else owns a dollar in the road
The Frisco Line wanted II for a con
| nection, and he told the MANAGERS thu