The Topeka state journal., 1908-09-09
RAILROAD NEWS.
Hartman Will Soon Be Master
Supreme in Railway World.
New Roads Will Leave None to
Dispute His Sway.
WILL GET ROCK ISLAND
Something About the Man Who
Puzzles Wall Street.
other Items of Interest in Rail.
way Circles.

When Edward H Hartman returns
this week to his desk in the Equitable
building after his hunting and fishing
| vacation at Lake klamath, Ore. Wall
| street thinks that he will have to pre-
pare for the biggest work of his life.
| First, it expects. he will have to take
| over the Rock Island. Sooner or later,
| too, the street" believes, he will have
to take charge of the New York Cen
| tral and it considers that it is a uues-
| ton of time only when he will control
| the New York, New Haven & Hartford,
| and, consequently, all the New England
| railroads. A few months ago he saved
| the Erie from disaster when ]. Pierpont
Morgan was ready to abandon the pro-
| perty. Just before he started west to
| hunt bears he went to the rescue of
| the Wheeling & Lake Erie But for his
| assistance the road would have gone
| into the hands of a receiver and the
| wabash railroad would have been drag
| ged down, too. The Wabash is a sys-
| tenn OF great Importance. Bankruptcy
for the Wabash-the principal link in
| the Gould chain-would mean the up
| setting of the whole railroad fabric and
something of disturbance in financial
| affairs.
| To obtain control of one great rail-
road used to be the limit of the ambi-
| ton of a transportation captain. Not
| so, however, with Hartman. He thinks
no more of taking over a trunk line
| than big merchant does of absorbing
| small branch store. He seemingly is
| irresistible. Today he has no serious
| rivalry in the railroad world He is
the dominant figure in commercial life
| Through the properties he controls he
| employs 1 million men.
| One-half of the railroad mileage of
| the United States has been Hartman
| lied, and it seems as certain as any
| thing of this sort can be called certain
| that the next ten years will see the
| bulk of the remaining half HarrimaniZ-
| ed also. He perSonifies the great force
| that is transforming the railroad situa-
| ton in America. What is startling in
| this connection is that there is no other
man in the country who measures up
with Hartman or can be considered
| as his successor or his rival.
No other men loom big in comparison
| on the railroad map. AS a matter of
| fact there never was time when great
| railroad men were so scarce. But that
| may be explained as only a result of
the evolution in the transportation
| fields, finance taking the place of ser
| vice or training in the operating
branches. The railroad president to-
day is only a hired hand. who gets his
| orders from the chairman of the board,
just as the conductor gets his orders
from the train dispatcher.
So absolutely has Hartman come to
dominate the railroad situation that it
has become an accepted fact in Wall
street that if you have Hartman with
you in your company you will have no
trouble. Otherwise there is danger.
Making your peace with him in the
railroad world is like making your
peace with Morgan used to be in the
financial circles. The idea of building
a railroad line of any considerable
length in any part of the United States
without his sanction would be rank
folly. No one in the banking business
would dare handle bond issue on a
new railroad proposition opposed by
him. He could crush the life out of
any banking house that opposed him.
and all the bankers know it. Dozens
and dozens of railroad projects of vir-
tue and high promise, that would add
materially to the development of the
country have been throttled by him
without the promoters ever knowing
where the opposition came from. He
thinks the country has enough rail-
| roads.
What he wants is more business for his
road. He believes in high freight rates,
as high, in fact as the traffic will bear.
The rates on the Southern Pacific and
Union Pacific, his pet properties, are
far higher than on any other trunk
lines in the country; but then the I'm
ion Pacific pays 10 per cent dividends
and the Union Pacific stockholder get
ting 10 per cent, can with reason point
|
who took hold of the road when it was
bankrupt and brought it up to its pres
ent marvellous prosperity, prosperity
all the more striking. viewed from the
fact that such standard roads as the
Central and the New Haven have been
retrograding steadily. Harriman'S gen.
| ius as an economist was equal to the
test of the recent period of depression,
and the Union Pacific and the South
| ern Pacific were able to weather the
storm without discomfort or danger.
What an eye he has for economy in
detail is exemplified by his action soon
after he took charge of the Union Pa
cific in the matter of watering locomo-
tives The first time he inspected the
line he stopped at a tank station.
"What is the size of that pipe?' he
asked as the fireman adjusted the pipe
from the water tank to the mouth of
the locomotive tank. The fireman gave
the diameter. Then Hartman took out
his watch and calculated how long it
took to water the locomotive. Later
he called in the master mechanic and
the general manager.
1T takes so many minutes to fill a