The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-03-01
BY THOS. G. VISK.

the position which he believed the
court would take.
Mr. Vanderbilt was on his feet the
instant the attorney finished.
You're right" he almost shouted.
| Wen make the case your way and
you're to present it.
Ehe Supreme Court took the view
that Judge Reed said it would, and, as
an immediate result, Judge Reed was
made president of the Pittsburg,
Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad.
A year or so ago, when eighteen
corporations representing the street
railway and gas interests Of Pittsburg.
were consolidated, Judge Reed was
chosen president of this $l04 600 900
Combine-and all because he had made
himself familiar with corporation law
while awaiting for clients and after Of
fee hours.
Two Of the controlling factors in the
corporation of which Judge Reed is
the head are p. A. B. Widener and
William L. Elkins. These two men
operate more miles of street railways
in more American cities and towns
than any other two men in the bust
ness. They have made an enormous
checker board of Philadelphia with
their properties; theirs are important
voices in the management of New
York's surface lines; they have no
competition in a score of interior
towns in Pennsylvania; the people of
Chicago and Cincinnati travel by rail-
ways largely under their control; and
many suburban and interborough troll
ley systems in Connecticut and the
Central states, especially Ohio, are
operated by them.
The story of their rise goes back to
the seventies. when Mr.. Widener was
a butcher and Mr.. Elkins an oil deal
er in Philadelphia.
OF the two. Mr.. Widener was heard
of first in that city. Besides looking
after his butcher shops, he dabbled in
politics and one day he found himself
power in his ward. After that he
chose to have himself elected to the
City Council, and, while serving in
that capacity, he made the acquaint-
ance of many of the Quaker City's
prominent citizens. Among these was
Robert Mackey, president of the Con-
tinental line of horse cars. which ran
by the old city neutrality-suspicious.
Hall-and therefore, was much used
by politicians. judges and lawyers
Mackey, who was power in munich
pal and state politics, saw in Widener
what he said was the making of a fine
politician, and he interested himself in
the young man. During the course of
the lessons that Mackey gave Wide
ner in things political, the latter also
CLEANED from his teacher some inter
esting data about the profitableness of
the street railway business.
Wfdener Decides to Buy Railroad
stock.
Some years later Mr.. Widener be-
came treasurer of Philadelphia. At
that time the office paid its holder. be-
sides liberal salary, about $40 900 a
year in fees. When Mr.. Widener be-
gan receiving this money he cast about
for a way to invest it, and then it was
that he recalled Robert Mackay's
statement that a good street car line
was equal to a big vein gold mine for
returns. Mr. Widener decided to buy
street railway stock. but when he went
into the market he found that the Peo-
pies Company controlled nearly all
the paying lines, and that so gilt-edged
was their paper that no one wanted to
part with his holdings
The Peoples properties were in the
center and buit-up portions of the
city. Surrounding them were other
lines, all operated independently and
all near bankrupt for the same reason
scarcity of population along their
routes. Thwarted in his attempt to get
into Peoples, Mr.. Widener began a
careful investigation of these railways,
With the result that he became con-
WINGED that several of them would be
good investments in a few years when
the city had grown more. AS his treas
urer's fees We're "velvet" to him, his
business bringing him in an income
sufficient to live on, he decided to get
control if possible. of the most promis-
ing of these outlying lines. This proved
to be the old Union, whose terminals
were in the open country to the north
and south.
Widener and EIlxins Form Their
Partnership.
In figuring UP the situation Mr.. Wild
ener discovered that, if the amount of
his surplus capital were doubled by