Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-01-03

JUICE leTC Ill lDdL lemon. lucEe ~ q
whole lot Of juice in all those western
railroads that Hartman controls. He
could not be scared out Of those II
every state were bristling with an In
vestlgation and at the head Of every
investigation were n Hughes. Not OF
your life. He himself has said that he
never lets anything get away that he
wants, not if he has his fingers on 1t
He wants the railroads, and he has
them in his grip. So do not imagine
that there is anything more doing in
the resigning line by Edward Henry
Hartman.
What Odell thought Of that testimony
is not on record. Perhaps 1t would not
look well If it We're on record. Harri-
man explained afterward that it was
all joke. He even gave a diagram
Of the Joke and seemed surprised and
panied that anybody had taken it seri-
ously. Then the public roared. 1t saw
the point But these high tinancers
should not spring their playful humor
this way They should furnish dia-
grams as they go along How Is any
one to know when to laugh? There Is
danger of breaking into the most seri-
Gus passages of testimony with I'M
seemly hilarity and being dead blank
when the really funny things are
thrown off by the witnesses. If those
in the chair could sort of prepare us
iyf1o TO n
right places it would save a whole lot
of embarrassment. After Hartman
made it plain that he was only in fun
even Lew Dockstader, the minstrel,
saw the point and came out with the
offer OF handsome salai 4 to the rail
road king to be an end IAN in Dock
stader's justly famous show. But II
Odell laughed he went down In the
basement where no one could hear
him. And Hughes never cracked a
smile. He was in deadly earnest any
way. He generally is.
Almost Broke the Roof Out.
Mr.. Hartman is given to being play
full and humorous that way. There
was once when he tried to take-or
everybody supposed he was trying to
take-the Northern Pacific away from
Morgan and Hill. Wall street in all
its strenuous career has scarcely ever
seen such time as that. Hartman
and his people bought Northern Pacific
right and left and high and low-most-
ly high The way that stock went up
was scandalous and heartbreaking.
Then, when he had all he wanted, or
thought he had, Hartman called In his
loaned stock, and there was more
trouble. A whole bunch Of people
were caught short, and Northern Pa
cif1c hit the Stock Exchange ceiling so
hard that it almost broke the roof out.
There was wild scurrying to keep some
of the Oldest houses from going broke.
For a time it looked like panic, and
many poor lamb lest not only his
wool, but his pelt. and was lucky If he
escaped with his life.
Some time afterward Mr.. Hartman
In testifying before the interstate COM
merce commission said that the pub
lie had been under curious misap-
prehension as to that Northern Pacific
corner He said that he had not tried
to get control Of the road at all. Evil
IDENTIFY another joke. oh, but it was
funny. But those who lost their for
tunes in the scrimmage may be par
doned If they do not appreciate the
side splitting nature Of the affaiI,
When one is held up in back allie:
and relieved Of all his valuables, be-
sides being dubbed half to death, 1t
sort of takes the fine edge off Of his
sense Of humor. 1t may be funny to
the footpad and other people, but
scarcely to the victim.
The upshot Of that Northern Pacific
matter was that Hartman secured a
majority Of the preferred stock, but
Morgan retained q majority of the
common stock. Then j. Pierpont re-
tired the preferred stock, most of
which Hartman held, and left the
younger man high and dry. Possibly
there was a Joke in it all, but Morgan
seemed to do most Of the chuckling.
Oh, the humors of high finance! The
millions who have to scratch to make
both ends meet should appreciate tho
delicate irony Of the situation.
Bold Ia His Concepts.
Mr.. Hartman is about sixty. No
body knows exactly except himself, and
he won't tell. Ee was born in New
Jersey, the son Of a clergyman.
Strange, the way preachers sons turn
out, high finance humorists and what
not. This preachers son went to Wall
street in his teens, soon got into bank
ing, then into railroads. Nobody heard
much about him until he had annexed
most of the roads west of the Rockies.
He is now president Of the Union
Pacific and the Southern Pacific, and
controls several other systems, be-
sides being a director in many
more He has genius for developing
the properties he secures, his special
forte being to take line that is on the
verge of bankruptcy and turn 1t into
bonanza. He is bold in his concepts,
spends money like water in making i'm
provements and always wins out. He
Strengthened out the Union Pacific,
bridging Great Salt Lake in the opera
ton. 1t is said that when this difficult
feat of engineering was finally &C
conlplished the usually sedste Mr.. Har-
riman danced a highland fling. Yet.
though he scatters millions so freely,
one of his railroad presidents resigned
because Hartman made him account