The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-09-10

They were successful.
 In 1887 Fish made himself president of the Illinois Central and promoted
 Hartman to be his vice president. Fish realized what there was in his young vice president, for in those days a man of 40 was not supposed to have attained to such high position. He wasn't supposed to have fully matur- ed.
 Working with Fish, but as the prime mover, Hartman did not cease until he saw the Illinois Central one of the most powerful railroads of it's day, with 60OO miles of tracsage and in a flourishing condition financially.
 In 1889, while still an unknown" :" Hartman consummated one of his most daring railroad deals. The Chi cago & Alton, with HOO miles of track, in bad physical shape, was one of the best money-makers in the country. Hartman wanted it. So did the other big interests. T. B. Blackstone of Chicago was it's president. He had kept the road free from the national traffic arrangement and the road was regarded as a bugaboo by other roads.
 Blackstone was an obdurate finan- cier. He knew what his road was worth, and he wouldn't sacrifice it. He stipulated that before he would sell, he must be given the full market value for his own stock and that every JULIET WuO So dSSlISo 1luot be allowed to sell his stock at the same price. Otherwise, '.there was nothing doing.''
 It remained for Hartman, "the great unknown but Hartman, "the great borrower" to go into the market and get hold of s42, 2,ooo 900 in cold cash-an
 unthinkable sum in those days-to buy
 the road. It was an eye-opener for the big f1-
 nanciers. But Hartman went still further. He issued millions and mil lions Of dollars worth of improvement bonds, which he sold to himself and his friends, and cleared up $50, ,00O, ,000 on the sale. When he was through, the road had cost him but $12 00G, ,0O0.
 In the two years he was in charge of the road $57, 100000 had faded away by such methods of high financiering that
 the Illinois courts took up the matter and kept up an investigation for two years. Nothing came of the investi- gation, however, nor did the millions leave the strong boxes of Hartman. Wall Street stood amazed and won dered what the great borrower l would do next. For years it heard
 nothing of the quiet little man with the great big glasses
 But in 1898 Hartman electrified the financial world with the announce ment that he, with Kuhn, Loeb & Co.,, intended recognizing the Union Pa cific. This road, built with the if nanciaI help of the federal govern
 ment,, which, to put it mildly, was
 most generous, had fallen into a rut. It owed the government $52, 1000, 900, which it could not pay. The govern ment had foreclosed it's mortgage and was running the road by receivership.
 Morgan had tried to make the road a success, and had failed. Wall Street thought Hartman was doomed.
 Hartman began to buy the stock
 of the road when it was selling at $6
 share, and kept on buying. In two years he had the stock selling eat $196 a share In few more years it was paying 10 per cent. a year on it's mill lions and millions of dollars of com mon stock
 The road had a. great handicap; it had no ocean outlet. It extended only from Kansas City to Ogden. Harri-