The Saint Paul globe., 1900-04-28
ST. PAUL & DULUTH THIS TIME ABB
SORBED BY THE NORTH
ERN PACIFIC
MERCHANDISE RATE HEARING
# Is Set by the Railroad Commits
sion for May 10 to Adjust Rate
COmplaints-RaiIw
Notes.

ing the control Of the st. Paul & Duluth
by the Northern Pacific. President Mel
len, of the Northern Pacific, declined to-
day to make a statement in regard to the
matter, either in denial or confirmation.
Col. Lamont vice president of the North
ern Pacific, is known to have been in
conference today with prominent inter-
ests in the St. Paul & Duluth, but it
could not be learned whether the trans
fer of the line was brought up or not.
Eight different times within q year. the
St. Paul & Duluth road has been report
ed sold to other systems. Twice the
Great Northern has been made the foster
father OF the Duluth short line, the Mil
waukee has come in three times for the
road the Wisconsin Central interests are
on record with one reported attempt, the
Vanderbilt interests with one and now
comes the Northern Pacific The best in
formation obtainable tends to show that
the latest report is i'll fair way to be
correct.
So frequently have reports of sales OF
the property been current that local rail-
road circles have learned to discredit tho
familiar rumor. Once, however, when the
report came out that the Clarence S. Day
syndicate had purchased the road for the
Great Northern, it had turned out that
the syndicate had gained the controlling
interest in the Duluth's common, ana
that President James J. Hill, of the
Great Northern, was a member of the
syndicate. The reports from the East
yesterday were TO the effect that Presl,
dent Meilen, acting for Northern Pacific
interests, had secured this share. of COM
mon, thereby transferring the control OF
the road to the Northern Pacific.
Il have been assured on excellent au-
thOrity that the deal will go through" "
said a prominent Northern Pacific Of
hcial last night. Negotiations are IN
progress and while the transfer, as I un-
derstand, has not actually taken place,
1T viii be recorded within d week" This
statement seems to show the present
status Of negotiations. ST Paul & Du-
luth sources of information have little
to add, except that the reports bear evil
dencc of truth.
Another Northern Pacific official stated
yesterday that President Mellen has
wired to one of the general officers of
the road in st. Paul, that the terms
offered by the Day syndicate have been
accepted. The official in question was
nOn-commital and refused to affirm or
deny the report.
Unlike previous reports, the news from
the East is being taken seriously in rail-
road circles. Duluth common, controlled
by the Day syndicate, represents some
thing less than 81, $780, 207. The road has
been a paying property and has been
sought by seveTai different interests, but
the figures to t p a controlling interest
have been too high.
1t is not generally thought that If the
Northern Pacific closes the deal sue
Cessfully, that the DuI nth will lose its
identity as a part of the immense West
eTn system. Neither is 1t thought that
the deal will necessarily conflict with the
provisions in the statutes against the alb
sOrption of parallel lines. With almost
$4100,000 of stock still outstanding, there
seems tG be no grounds to believe that
the Northern Pacific will do more than
dictate the policy of the road and see to
it that the line to the head Of the lakes
is harmonious with Northern Pacific in
terests. The road already has a Duluth
line via Brainerd which though a long
haul, is still line and a competitor of
the Duluth.
RumOrs of the possible transfer of the
St Paul & Duluth to larger companies
have been circulated previously, the Chi
cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul being most
frequently mentioned. These however,
have always been promptly denied The
formation of q syndicate of common
stockholders to buy the company's lands
and to retire the preferred shares, of
which there are about 1855, 900 outstand-
ing, through the application of the pro-
ceeds, in accordance with the company S
organization, would make the sale of the
property more feasible than it has been.
This syndicate was formed by Clarence
S. Day and controlled a majority of the
common stock and offered in December
last to buy the minority holdings at 80
per cent and permit these stockholders 10
join in the subscriptions to the syndicate.
Subscriptions were closed some time ago,
but no official announcement has yet been
made as to any action taken.
The announcement of the purchase of
the St Paul & Duluth road by the North
ern Pacific Railway company has caused
much CONSERVATION among the employees
of the former line. The absorption of
the Duluth road is said TO mean the de-
capitation of every official from President
Hayes down
The fact that the Northern Pacific has
already fine terminals and terminal ia
cilities at all of the St Paul & Duluth
terminals, viz: ST. Paul, MINNEAPOLIS
Duluth and Superior, means that the
Duluth road men will not be needed at
those places. The Northern Pacific will
be able to operate the new acquisition at
a very low figure and will need but a
small addition to It's present army OF
clerks to take care of the business of
the Duluth road. The rest is easily sur
missed, the present Off cials and clerks in
the offices of the ST. Paul & Duluth will
have to go.
The above is generally conceded by the
Duluth officials The Duluth officials who
will be open for engagements are:
President r. Somers Hayes, Vice pres
ldent and General Manager A. B. Plough
General Passenger Agent Cal E. Stone
General Freight Agent w. w Brough-
ton, General Superintendent E. L. Brown.
Attorneys Hadley and Armstrong, Treas
W. P. Trowbrtdge, Auditor d. A. Nc
Kinley, Claim Agent E. Mcdonald, Chief
Engineer c. A. j. Morris Purchasine
Agent w. n. Schoff Road Master w D,
Kelly, Master Mechanic George D.
Brooke. paymastcr c. e. Mann, Car Ac-
countant George H, Stable General
Agent William M. Burk; general agent al
Duluth, e. A. Whitaker; general agent
at Minneapolis, T. a. Hawley.
Regarding the probable decapitation, a
well known local passenger official, said
to the o b c:
1T stands to reason that the Norther7,
Pacific will not run the ST Paul & Du-
luth as u separate organization All OF
the business of the road will be con
ducted from the Northern Pacific offices
The st. Paul & Duluth ticket offices will
also be abolished and will be consolidat-
ed with the Northern Pacific offices and
The business of the TWO lines will be run
entirely by the Northern Pacific people
or course, the latter will have to add a
few men TO its present force, but any
way you can figure il out, there will be
a lot of good railroad men looking fol
positions. The st. Paul & Duluth Off.
ciaIs are all very capable men and have
built that road up into very good pay
ing property. The passenger and freight