Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-06-26

clined to speak of the property except
in a general way. 81 have been con-
nected with it now little over twenty
four hours" he said, and of course !
could have reached but very few con-
illusions at this early time.
Il will say however" he continued,
"that the press reports in all of the
papers have been more or less exagger-
ated and have been misleading in the
impression circulated that the Min
neapolis & st. Louis road has purchased
or been consolidated with the Central.
There has been no consolidation, nor
do I know that there will be. The NJ.
& st. Z. has not purchased the Cen
trial, but the Central is now owned by
people who did not own 1T before. They
have bought it because they are of the
opinion that the road can be made
more valuable with proper handling.
The erroneous ideas that have been
launched upon the public sca are quite
comical to those who know the exact
situation, and there is absolutely moth
ing at all sensational in the trans
action. The public likes sensations, or
at least the press of the country thinks
so, and suppose the many rumors
that have been printed arc due to the
fact that the newspaper men have been
trying to get hold Of the facts and
couldn't, consequently they have
grasped whatever information they
could obtain, regardless Of the truth
of the situation.
There is no more truth in the At
Gibson, Topeka and Santa Fe story
than there is in the consolidation the
ory; neither is there any truth in the
Illinois Central rumor. The Illinois
Central has no interest in the M. s.
st. L., and SO far as 1 know have never
contemplated obtaining ons
Is Still the Central.
SIN other words, the Central is stiii
the Iowa Central, under y new manage
ment and with new owners, and we
think that with proper handling the
road can be made more valuable than
ever. The policy Of the new manage
ment will be simple, and will consist
Of the effort to run the road intelli-
gt ntly for the benefit of the property
and the country which 1T traverses.
The NJ. & st. L. and the Iowa Central
have enjoyed friendly relations Tor
some time, and so far as their future
interests are mutual they will be oper-
ated mutually. II, however, there
should be conflict of interests each
property will be operated as if the 9TH
/ er were not in existence.
'sNo plans have as yet been made for
the disposition of any OF the station.
airy interests of the road, and so far
as know the general offices and shops
will still remain in Marshalltown. Nc
change is contemplated in the person.
mel OF the Central management. The
management OF the road will be under
my direction, but whether or not
shall assume the title of general man.
ager has not yet been given any
thought. At present l I'm simply a
vice president. Any change in the OPP
Grafton or policy of the road will be
determined by the necessities Of the
situation as they may appear.
1.-THE talk of building a connecting
| link between the two reads had its
origin in the same fertile and imag
inative brains as the others I have
spoken Of, and those who contemplat
ed connecting link between Albert
4 Lea and Northwood were not aware oil
the fact that the roads already con
nected at Corwith.
"a policy of improvement will b.
continued, but in the future more
systematic effort will be made to make
/ out Of the Central first class prop
4 erty. 1t will not be a makeshift mol
icy, nor will the work be done by piece