Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-08-29
Tbe Giant s @trenQtb
By BASIL KING.
Copyrighted, 1905, by Haper& Brothers.
BY B A SILL KIN G.
Copyrighted, 1906, by Harper& Brothers.
within the state of vermont-aidn

within the State of vermont-lidn't
he, aunt?"
He spoke only of that Mrs. Traf-
ford corrected. His thoughts from
the beginning were as vast as his
business afterwards came to be-
AT any rate" George Trafford cou
tinued, che began with Vermont,
quietly and, as we should think now
adays. very modestly. And yet, so
complete was his system, and SO
thorough his organization in every de.
tail, that in few years there was not
bushel of coal mined or sold from
Canada to the Massachusetts line
that wasn't under his direct control.
He had got possession of every i'm
portant company and annexed every
customer, great and small. Where any
one showed fight he pushed him out
of the market. He had his agents
everywhere-not only In every town
but in every Office. There wasn't a
carload Of coal that crossed the state
OF which he didn't know the quality,
the value, and the destination. If it
wasn't his, his agents went after it
and offered the dealer better quality
at cheaper rate. If the dealer re-
fused, then they went to his, custo-
mers and cut the prices right under
the dealers nose. In five years time
there was practically not a merchant
in Vermont who could sell ton Of
coal II he hadn't bought it from your
| father"
But the Devlin Mines are III New
Hampshire" Paula argued, eager to
know about the Winships.
We're coming to that rrafrord
natural that business such as his
had come to be should stop within
the limits of state. 1t spilled over
on every side; into New York, Massa-
chusetts Pennsylvania, the Middle
States-everywhere. 1t crossed the
whole country; the farther the net
went out the easier it seemed to
throw 1t farther still. His system was
SO perfect that the thing seemed To
go of itself. In reality his method
was simple; it lay in three main
points: First, to get control Of the
means of transportation by rebates
from the great railway and steamship
lines-rebates allowed to him and re-
fused to others; then to sweep out
competition by annexing rival COM
panies; and lastly to keep up prices
by limiting the supply. If an indie
pendent company refused to yield to
his demands, then he laid siege to it
siege as regular, as thorough, IS
patient, and as systematic as that Of
fortress. He invested it, SO to speak
by sea and land. He cut off its means
of transportation by prohibitive rates
and it's customers by low prices. If
there was litigation, he was almost
invariably victorious. In the end the
rebellious company did one of two
things-it capitulated and came in, CT
| 1t went bankrupt and Uncle Paul
bought it."
| Trafford threw back his great head.
with a sense of exultation in so much
industrial triumph Mrs. Trafford
sighed softly as she recalled the old
days of action Paula sat quite still,
her eyes fixed upon her cousin with a
sort of astonished fascination, as her
mind tried to comprehend these
strange these brutal-mysteries Of
business.
"You ought to say, George" young
Mrs. Trafford suggested, that your
uncle never struck until he had made
the most generous proposals"
That's true, Laura" her husband
agreed. Paula should understand
that; and the Winships made an ex-
cellent illustration. The Devlin Com
pany," he pursued, in tone of mar
rative, had already been pretty hard
hit by us before your father began TIC
give them open attention. OF course
he'd known for years what he was
going to do with them, but he's new er
one to act before the time. When he
was ready-that is to say, when he
had secured his rebates on all their
railways, when he held their custo
mers In the hollow of his hand, when
by his agents, whom he kept in their
employ, he knew their business better
than they did themselves--he made
his offer. 1t was a good one, or ::
wouldn't have come from him. AS
nearly as ! remember it was this
They were to hand over to the Yer
mont Mining Company-that was
your father. of course-for the period
of twenty-years, the mines, the plant
and all their own time He was tc
put In twenty thousand dollars ant
his rebates; that is to say, they were
. to have the same transportation Id
vantages as ourselves. They were t.
. limit their output to given guam
tity, and in return Uncle Paul was I.
: guarantee them a profit of fifty thous