The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1907-06-24

c. cac on incn, anu Jonn 6urlxett Ry-
der saw his opportunity. He made
secret overtures 10 the road, guaran-
teelng vaFt amount Of business IL he
could get exceptionally low rates. and
the Illegal compact was made His
competitors, undersold In the market
.svss. 80 ,...sSle. act- one ry one they
were crushed ont OF existence. Ryder
called these maneuvers business" The
world called them brigandage But the
Colossus prospered and slowly built mp
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 his ambition Of organizing the EN-
pire Trading company. the most pow
erfui. the most secretive and the most
wealthy business institution the com
mercin world has yet known.
Yet with all this success John Bur.
kett Ryder was still not contsnt He
was now a rich man, richer by many
millions than he had dreamed he could
ever he, but still he was unsatlsfed.
He became money mad. lie wanted
to be richer stu, to be the richest man
In the world, the richest man the world
had ever known. And the richer he got
the stronger the idea grew upon him
with all the force OF a morbid obsesr
sion.
Yet this commercial pirate this Ma
poleon Of finance. was not a wholly
a fat .tftttIi.
ties, like most bad men, His most pro
nomced weakness, and the ore that
had made him the most conspicuous
man of his time, was AZ entire lack Of
moral principle. No honest or honor
able man could have amassed such stu
pendous wealth. In other words, John
Ryder had not been equipped by ma
ture with conscience. He had 40
sense Of right or wrong or justice
where his own interests were CONCERN
ed. iIe was the prince Of egoists. On
the other hand, he possessed qualities
which, with some people, count as
virtues He was pious and regular In
his attendance at church, and, while he
had done but little for charity. he
was known to have encouraged the Civ
ing of aims by members Of his family
which consisted of a wife, whose tlmid
voice was rarely heard. and a scn JEFF
ferson, who was the destined successor
of his gigantic estate.
Such was the man who was the real
power behind the Southern and Trans
continental railroad. More than any
one clse Ryder had been aroused by
tho present legal 4etion. not so much
for the money interest at stake as that
any one should dare to thwart his Will.
IL had been a pet scheme Of his, this
purchase for a song when the land was
cheap of some thousand acres along the
line, ahd It is true that at the time Of
the purchase there had been some idea
of laying the land out as a park but
real estate values had increased in as
tonishing fashion, the road could no
longer afford to carry out the original
scheme and had attempted to dispose
of the property for building purposes
including right OF way for a branch
road The news. made public in the
newspapers, had raised a storm of pro
test. The PEOPLE In the vicinity claim,
| ed that the railroad secured the land
on the express condition Of park be
ing laid out, and in order to make a
legal test they had secured an injunc
tion, n hlch had heeu sustained by
| Judge Rossmore OF The United states
circuit court.
These details were hastily told and
retold by one clerk to another as the
babel OF voices Ia the inner room grew
louder and more directors kept arriy
ing from the ever busy elevators. The
meeting was called for o'clock. An
other five minutes and the chalrmar
would rap Tor order. A tall, strongly
built man with white mustache ane
kindly smile emerged from the direc
tors room and, addressing one of th'
clerks, asked;
Has MIR Ryder arrived yet?'
The alacrity with which the EN-
ployee hasteaed forward TO reply woule
Indicate that his interlocutor was I
person of more than ordinary impor
tance.
mo. senator. not yet We expec
him any minute" Then with a defer
ential smile he added. "Alr Ryder usu
ally arrives on the stroke. sir"
The senator gave nod Of acqules
cence and, turning on his heel, greetei
with a grasp Of the hand and aflabl,
smile his fellow directors as they pass
ed in by twos and ti-oes.
J Senator Roberts was IN the world 0