Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1907-10-14


Southern and Transcontinent-
al Railroad company in lower Broad
way.
1t was the regular quarterly meet
ing Of the directors of the Southern
and TranscOntinental Railroad cOmpa-
ny, but 1t was something more than
mere routine that had called out a
quorum of such strength and which
made today's gathering one of extraor-
binary Importance in the history OF
the road. That the business on hand
was of the greatest significance was
easily TO be inferred from the con-
cerned and anxious expression on the
directors faces aud the eagerness of
the employees as they piled each other
with questions.
suppose the injunction is sustain
edf" asked a clerk in n whisper. us
not the road rich enough to bear the
lOssT
The man he addressed turned impa-
tiently to the questioner.
That's all you know about railroad
Ing. Don't you understand that this
suit we have lost viii be the entering
wedge for hundreds Of others? The
very existence Of the road may be at
stake And between you and me-" he
added in a lower key, "with Judge
ROssmore on the bench we never stood
much show. It's Judge Rossmore that
scares 'em, not the injunction. They've
found it easy to corrupt most\of tie
supreme court judges, but Judge Ross
more is one too many for them. You
could no more bride him than you
could have bribed Abraham Lincoln"
But the newspapers say that he,
too, has been caught accepting $4,000
worth Of stock for that decision he
rendered in the Great Northwestern
case"
Lies, All those stories are lies"
replied the other emphatically. Then,
looking cautiously around to make
sure no one overheard, he added con-
temptuously: "The big interests fear
him, and they're inventing these lies
60 try and injure him. They might as
well try to blow up Gibraltar. The
fact is the public is seriously aroused
this time. and The railroads are in a
panic"
IL was true The railroad, which
heretofore had considered itself supe-
rior to law. had found itself checked in
its career of outlawry and oppression.
The railroad. this modern octopus of
steam ans steel which stretches its
greedy tentacles out over the land, had
ut last been brought to book.
John Burkett Ryder, the richest man
In the world-the man whose name had
spread TO the farthest corners of the
earth because of his wealth, and whose
money. instead of being a blessing
promised to become not only a curse
TO himself, but a source of dire peril
90 all mankind-was a genius born of
the railroad age. No other age could
have brought him forth. His peculiar
talents fitted exactly the conditions Of
his time Attracted early In life to
the newly discovered oil fields OF Penn
sylvania, he became a dealer In the
raw product and later n refner, ac-
quiring with capital. laboriously saved,
first one refinery, then another. TIE
railroads were cutting each others
NuTNdN> 10 SECURE lie lEtiEuN uuSlAtSS
OF the oil men. aud John Burkett Ry-
der saw his opportunity. He made
secret overtures 10 the road, guaran-
teeing n vast amount OF business if he
could get exceptionally low rates, and
the illegal compact was made. His
competitors, undersold in the market,
stood no chance. and one by one they
Were crushed out Of existence. Ryder
called these maneuvers business" The
world called them brigandage. But the
Colossus pr0spered and slowly built up
the foundations OF the extraordinary
fortune which is the talk and the won
der OF the world today Master now
OF the oil situation. Ryder succeeded
in Ills ambition OF organizing the En-
pire Trading company, the most pow
erful. the most secretive and the most
wealthy business institution the com
merclal world has yet known