The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-07-05
JOHN SHELTON WILLIAMS
How Friend of Mr.. Williams Saved
the Situation.
BY WRITING A CHECK FOR A MILLION
Morgan Used Ryan as His Tool to Fight
Williams. During the Fight There
Were as Many as il8 lnjlrc-
tons Sued Out.
tons Sued Out.

tons Sued Out.
banker and railroad magnate, was re-
Gently, for the first time in his life, beat
en- at his own game by man youn6
enough to be his sons, says the st. Louis
Republic.
This young man is John SHELTON Will
liams, of Richmond, Va, the youngest
railroad president in the world. The
story involves the consolidation Of
railroad system which already extends
from Baltimore to Tampa, and which con-
tinues to spread it's branches through
the cotton fields of the Sunny South. Will
liams is president of this system, which
is known as the Great Seaboard Air Line
while Morgan is almost sole owner of
the Southern railway. the largest system
in the South, running almost parallel to
Williams lines a great part of the way
through Dixie.
Morgan organized the Southern Railway
in 1894 When he had completed the task
he set about to cut off competition The
Seaboard Air Line, of which Williams
father was president, was competitor
for a part of the way, but no one dreamed
that it would ever be extended
When the senior Williams retired from
business his son succeeded him as presi-
dent of the line and the young man set
about to perfect plan of extension which
he had long contemplated in secret. Work
ing quietly through confidential agents
he secured options on number OF i'm
portant links in the chain he proposed to
forge, and his system was more than
half organized before Morgan and his
agents awoke to the situation.
Morgan was determined that the auda-
cious young man from the South should
not carry out his plans, while Williams
had confidence in himself and never ac-
knowledged the possibility of defeat.
The odds in favor of Morgan were enor-
nous for the sinews of war were money
and the two cities, New York and Rich
mond, were typical of the resources of
the two men.
Williams's scheme was beautiful in its
simplicity. The plan was to run rail-
road from Richmond to Tampa by the
straightest route possible. With Rich
mond as the Northern terminus, good con-
nection could be had with Washington and
the North. Tampa would give the out
let to the gulf and the trade of the
West Indies. And then behind all this was
the talked-of canal across Central Amer
lea.
Men who heard it looked over the rail
road maps of the South and shook their
heads.
Beautiful scheme, but they said.
And in that "but" was a world of mean
ing.
who's the promoter of this scheme 2"
others asked.
"A man called Williams, Williams, of
Richmond" would be the reply.
well, who's Williams?"
There was the question. who's Will
liams?''
Outside of Richmond, with the excep-
tion of few financial houses in :3alti-
more, people didn't know. IN Richmond
most people knew that Williams was
barely 80, the son of a former president
of a small bank and trust company ami
that he had succeeded his father as
president of the bank. He was known as
the author of the manual on Southern
railroads, and this manual was the stand
ard authority on the subject.
Very gradually Williams scheme grew.
He gathered around him a few moderate
sized capitalists from Baltimore and Rich
mond. Gradually the directors of the roads
which were to be brought into the sys-
tenn were brought around to believe in the
feasibility Of consolidation. Gradually
success was coming near. The price was
high.
Morgan lost no time in starting the
machinery of the law and the money mar
ket against the newcomers into the field
then dominated by the Southern There
were three ways to fight, and instantly
the three methods were applied. In the
first place everything was done to cripple
the old Seaboard's line from Norfolk to
Atlanta. This road is the short line be-
tween the two points, but has to depend
upon other roads to get to Washington
and the North. Through Morgans in
fluence, the trains which connected with
the Air Line from Washington stopped at
every semblance of station. This delay
enabled the Southern to run faster
through trains TO Atlanta.
The second step was to persuade some
stockholder in each of the roads which
Williams aimed at consolidating to get
out an injunction in equity against the
terms Of the transfer of the roads to the
Seaboard. This task was left to Thomas
F. Ryan, Mr.. Morgans agent, and at one
time there were twenty-one injunctfons
before the courts of the various States,
In all there were 11S injunctions brought
The third method was nothing more or
less than to prevent Williams from get
ting money in New York to finance the
consolidation. This was Morgan's strong
est card, and he played it so well that but
for what was almost an accident he might
have won. Williams had counted on his
acquaintance in the New York Produce
Exchange bank to enable him to finance
the company. He had a majority of the
members of the board of directors of the
bank back of him and everything looked
bright.
Then came trump from Morgan With
out any warning the personnel of the
board of directors was changed. Friends
of Morgan were put in and Williams