Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-24

But still there is the idea of k-job-
| bing. / insisted.
| Yes. that Is So he said thoughtfully.
And the majority of the people have the
| idea that the railroad magnates shift these
stocks to suit themselves sometimes"
| ~
There is a good deal of misnformation
| about that" he said. There are a great
many stories told about important railroad
managers specializing in stocks. But many
! of these stories have their foundation in
| the imagination. To be sure, there are
| times when men in my position must go on
| the market to protect their holdings. but as
| for specializing in stocks a business
| that is not so. Men like me who are build
1 ing up great railway systems. whose minds
are concentrated on such a project, who
| have that one idea in view, have neither
| the time nor the inclination to go into
stock jobbing raids that would use up their
| energies and capital. 1t would be a phys
ical impossibility 1t would be a mental
impossibility.'
Can you think of Utopia where Wall
street would be eliminated in great railroad
building?" I ventured.
he iduSHeu SOllly. IL was oiHiOSl d
chuckle.
Where there are railroads there will be
stocks" he said. soothingly. And where
there are stocks there will be a Wall
street."
at is one of the inevitable parts of our
system, them
yes"
But he added quickly:
eve haven't ticker in the Union Pacific
Office
THAT pertains to today. What Of to-
morrow" I reminded him.
1.-The railroad of tomorrow is problem"
he said. I'VE must first look at its phys
ical possibilities. 1t is only a question Of
time when the six foot the five foot and
a half gauge must come. I know 1 have
opposition to this, but 1t is one of the
things of the future. With a greater gauge
Of course, we get greater capacities. There
are only three ways in which an engine can
gain more power: 1t must be heightened,
broadened, or made higher, and 1t cannot
grow on our present gauge Of four feet
eight. Now, if we increase our car ca
pacity, we simply increase the dead weight
to be drawn by our engines. But if the
change in gauge is far away, the next best
thing for increasing the traction power Is
electricity. There would be saving on the
fuel proposition, whereas at present we use
up fuel to carry our fuel. In time the gen.
eral identification of the railroads will be
a necessity. In the meantime, the rail-
roads are developing their facilities as rap
idly as they can. The future road will be
one of double tracks. four tracks, sidings
and spur tracks. Then every precaution
must be taken to eliminate accidents. Every
tried safety device must be used. Now 1t
will cost money-a great deal of money-to
equip the railroad of the future in the man
ner have outlined I think have already
told you what we have put into the Union
Pacific system in the last six years. In
carrying on the work we have laid 1900
miles Of new track. and replaced alto
gether about 5000 miles Of track. That
indicates what is needed in the railway of
today. Now. the railroad Of tomorrow
needs much more than that. We must
have more roads; we must open up new
territories and these new roads must be
equipped with all modern appliances. 1t is
for all these reasons that 1 am anxious to
take the public into the confidence of the
railroad arrangements. I want the people
to understand intellgently the new prob
lens that are coming up in connection with
the railroad of the future. 1 want them to
understand it's possibilities. Then we can
all work together on the development of
these possibilities"
AS he talked of this railroad of the future
his tone became serious. The whole inter-
est of the man seemed bound up in the prof..
ect Here was Hartman chatting freely
on a subject that was evidently close to
Uac m w
characteristic was taciturnity; at most,
terseness No man on the street, with the
possible exception of Ryan. is feared and
hated as Hartman Is feared and hated.
OF the big railway magnates he is the least
known by the general public. He can pass
Until within the last few days he never
knowingly talked to a newspaper man, and
seldom talked about his business except to
a very few intimate associates. Yet here
Is this man who controls railroads which
aggregate three thousand million dollars In |
capital talking today about taking the pub
lie into his confidence, and seemingly en-
Toying the talk AS one sits there and |
listens to him one cannot help but feel the |
strength of the man: one cannot help but |
admire the confidence he has in himself: |
one cannot help but believe he will be In |
command Of the situation, even II he has |
to shift his own position to do so. With
this thought comes the remark he made to |
me: AT first thought It would result In :