The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-03

out putting n dollars worth of its stock on IN,
M ma TO raise money lie calcul It'd that in
oil OF which he either advanced himself or raised
among his friends
In connection with his railroad building Mr.
hlGir received enormous grants Of public lands,
and II has been said that as John blair built
and owned IN his LIFETIME more railroads thor any
one man IN ia" world ~. a. one time and another
IN his lie he owned more land than any other
man IN the world In connection with his work
on the MON Pacific lie got l. 900 900 acres Of i.nJ
in Iowa For finishing the Iowa Falls and Sioux
tlty road he got IOJ, 90 acres For building tho
Sioux City and Pacific road. from Sioux City 10
Omaha, and the Blair cutoff from Missouri Valley
Junction, on the Chicago and Northwestern con.
nccti x II with the lpiun Pacific AZ fremont he
S sS ii an IN as e s rail-
land. VI
With oil this land on his hands, received a,
premiums for building railroads, Blair had To do
something with H. lie formed land companies
and these companrs under his direction have
laid out the sites for what are now more AN on ,
hundred nourishing cities and towns In the Wet
In his railroad building II was usually Mr. Blair's
custom 10 take a road that somebody lad begun
and failed g. complete, rebuild Il entirely or com.
plcie II. and then lease II or sell IL to trunk line
after connecting It with tho trunk line. In this
way he made profit on tho railroad building
acquired great quantities Of valuable land and
made more money by selling or leasing the road
he h ad thus rchabilita,~d ''N
The last road that Mr.. Blair built was the snsas
City. osseols and Southern This road was
con Pc,sd only last year Before the road was
!
call the Frisco Line, and the terms OF that lean
sh9w what Kind Of bargain he was accustomed
The Frisco Line wanted il Tor a connection, and
he told the managers his property was moi
for sale, but Il, he would lease il to them al a
ont.ly rental Of 81 900. with 10 per cent OF the
gross receipts in addition. The road Ii 10 miles
long. and connects X anoche Junction with Osceola
at tho old gentleman. and he told them iuat ho
or not They took IT,
town. which illustrate the character OF John l.
blair One refers To the only active part Nit
sams egc y ,.ok IN politics l9 lSos ,he Repub
lie WAS defeated and the campaign was said 10
have cost him $40 900 good part OF which Was
alleged 10 have been ppcketed by those who
posed as his supporters After tho election,
some Of his friends were sympathlLing with him
oyer his delea, snh telling him what dnstardly
I'm no, worrying bit have hal the benefit
with that experience for wha, II cost me You
see, was like the fellow down In Missouri who
g. nGss bod always Wa nina s., ho%
So he SET gu! to drive a LOT Of hogs, TO Chicago
switched around and hogs were worth much moro
In 81 Louis When he found this out he re.
S Ead the SsTs% got Sx
Governor, !, is Tpe, bu, have had the society
OF thc finest 10, OF hogs you ever cow"
Western roads According to the terms of tho
lease, the essees were 10 return The road Ia good
condition az when they took II. and. In the mean
Time, we're TO make all repairs AT their expense,
When the lease expired and Mr. Blair inspected
the road he found that it's condition as far from
as good as when he leased II He demanded
that the damages be repaired. The lessees re-
fused and Mr.. Blair brought suit The State
where The case was tried and through part Of
which thr road ran was noted for its freshets
During the tral while Mr., Blair's lawyer was
making tho Argument for tho plaintiff, the old
gentleman strnlled out Of the court room into tho
street II was raining 1T Was the spring Of the
year or rather Just al tho breaking up Of winter
and Mr. Blair thought he saw signs Of an ap-
preaching ircshet Quickly returning 10 the court
room he pulled the coat tall OF his lawyer and In
a low voice said:
withdraw"
The lawyer didn't understand and Mr. Blair
repeated;
contest"
The lawyer didn't understand what his client
WAS getting al. but he knew Mr. Blair's wishes
were not 10 be disobcyed and 80 he made a little
speech TO the Court In which he said that his client
was peaceable man: that he was getting along
In years and that he desired him 70 disooptpus