The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1908-01-16

located WITHIN q feW IeeC OF StoVe
iii IN which a fire is constantly kept
burning.
sS Cur New York Letter.
y Few prize fighters or others in
9reat contests, survive and revive
sfiIly after a Knockout" blow.
B John Shelton Williams, the wizard
sf railroad circles, has proven one Of
I tie few that know no such word as
sssd down and out for good" The
;sss: sWsriitter was, in the early days of the
SSeaboard Air Line, a director of one
s;of the integral roads, and his associa-
I 5bn with John Shelton Williams then
Hts him to give some facts Of inter-
s6st shout this time, limited though
sShey must be because of lack of
space.
81 twas said of Williams that as a
SRoung man, clerk in his fathers
! hank ii Richmond, that he was &C.
scentric, had few associates, walked
tIIe street alone, always absorbed in
deep thought or in his work. His
sailiar swinging gait and manner
lave some the impression that he
had wheels in his head" So he
had but not the wheels commonly in
mind when the above expression is
applied. but car wheels, railroad
cars, miles, systems, bonds, millions.
While working in the bank he
Rfote an article on recuscitating
Southern railroad properties, many
aof them being in a bad way fnan-
Eiaay This article was read by some
baltimore owners of a bankrupt road
snrther South, and they Immediately
D concluded that if anything could be
done to recuscitate, the author of
that article was the man to do it.
Williams assumed charge,
mot only on its feet, but pulled
I sftbaH 70 a paying basis. From then
a6}f other properties were secured,
lliams managing all with the same
satisfactory result, and ere long John
Ekelton Williams name was on every
ones tongue as the railroad king of
The South. The great Seaboard Air
Line was the product of his brain,'
sand, but for a slight slip, likewise
sstke louisville & Nashville would
have been in his hands. AS a rail-
road magnate, fnancier, millionaire,
iAiams soon became as we'll known
North as South, and his fame ex-
fended over Europe.
Thomas F. Ryan, foe of old, II
naily succeeded in downing" him IN
He control of the Seaboard Air Line,
sbnt he refuses to stay down, and to-
dayis practically master Of the sit
uation again. The Seaboard passed
into the hands of receivers last week,
one Of whom is Williams brother,
and the history of this system If
written in full would include some
pf the most striking features IN this
scountry's financial world.
B John Shelton Williams was presi-
dent of a railroad at twenty six, and
soon thereafter mingling as a peer
with j. Pierpont Morgan, Thomas
Ryan and Edward H. Hartman.
The Seaboard Air Line is over
&. 900 miles long, skirting the Allan
tic seaboard from Washington to
Tampa, darting westward in two
long divisions to Birmingham and
Montgomery, and gridironing with
Its branches the States of Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina,
!. Georgia, Florida and Alabama. Will
Hams has been the chief factor in
the Seaboard's career in the past and
will be for the future. AS some one
has said, ''he was the man of imagi-
nation who saw in the little bank
rupt Southern road, that began no
where and ended nowhere, the great
system of today and the still greater
system of tomorrow" He was also
1 the man of action who made the
dream reality. Control Of this
great line was wrested from him,
but the present condition of affairs
shows the need of Williams at the
helm again, and will be the happy
s termination of the complex condi-
tons they now have the road in:
Williams is a picturesque fighter;
he has never let up on Ryan and
never will until he is given the con-
!: troll his great faculties fit him for.
The appointment of the receivers is
looked upon as a victory for Will
liams. H. w. FINLAYSON,
$50 Broadway, New York.
The five "yeggmen'' arrested in