The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1909-09-10

IL l'hiahAANh ibi lAhohf Nht
great unknown" but Hartman
"the great borrower" to go into the
market and get hold of $42 900 900
in cold cash--an unthinRable sum
in those days-to buy the road.
II was an eye-opener for the big
financlers But Hartman went still
further. He issued millions and mil
lions of dollars worth OF improve
ment bonds, which he sold to him
self and his friends, and cleared up
$50 900 900 on the sale. When he
was through, the road had cost him
but s12, 1000 600. In the two years
he was in charge of the road $751;
900 900 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. Noting came of the investi
cation, however, nor did the mil
lions leave the strong boxes OF Har-
riman
Wall street stood amazed and won
dered what the great borrower"
would do next. For years il heard
nothing of the quiet little man with
the great big glasses.
The u. y. Deal.
But I'm 1898 Hartman electrified
the financial world with the an
nouncement that he, with Kuhn
Loeb & Co., intended reorganiging
the Union Pacific. This road, built
with the financial help OF the fed.
eral government, which, to put II
mildly. was most generous, had fan
en- into a rut. II owed the govern.
ment $50. 100000. which II could not
pay. The government had fore
Closed It's mortgage and was running
the road by receivers'hip. 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 Il was selling az
Sc a share. and kept on buying. In
two years he had the stock selling at
1896 a share In few more years
II was paying 10 per cent year on
its millions and millions of dollars
OF common stock.
The road had a gret handicap; II
had no ocean outlet II extended
only from Kansas City to Ogdon
Hartman wanted an ocean outlet II
was not long before II was an
nounced that the Union Pacific had
taken over the Oregon Railway and
Navigation Co., and then the Ore
gon Short line. He had reached the
Pacific
lie turned south from Oregon .
Coils p. Huntington was quietly
resting on the laurels he had won
by building the Southern Pacific and
the Central Pacific. Hartman mod .
estly asked for the Central Pacific 4
running from Ogden to San Fran
cisco. Huntington refused to let
him have II. Hartman set about to
build a line to parallel IL. Hunting
ton died and the BLUM worked with
his heirs, and Hartman took over
the Southern Pacific and the Central
Pacific 5000 miles of glistening rails
at one fell swoop-and all on a blum ,
Hiil W. Hartman.
Then came the proposed merger
which Jim" Hlll and Morgan con-
templated with the Northern Pacific !
the Great Northern and the Burling .
tonton. The merger imperiled Harri- .
man. He cunningly asked to be al. .
lowed to get in on It. He was turned
down
Wall street was then treated to the !
most spectacular fight for railroad .
control the world ever saw, and the /,
Stock Exchange to the widest day in
its history. Hartman didn't ordi-
narily like a fight in the open. but he
went into this one with a vengeance.
The fight conferred In the Stock
Exchange for the stock of the North
ern Pacific. On one side stood Hill. \
the railroad builder. and Morgan. the
banker, while on the other stood the
silent railroad wizard. Hartman, and
his powerful silent partners"
lt was a frightful day when the Z
two great forces clashed In the mar
row confines of the Stock Exchange. I
Hartman literally unloaded his mil
lions into the market with apparent |
abandon. The force of his /
gold won. He was pitiless. He had
been denied the right 20 participate
in the merger and his foes were
going to pay him we'll for the refusal.
Cruelty he forced up the price of the
stock. From 100 he drove II to 200,
to 500. TO 400. He knew no compass
sion. Fortunes were dwindling: some
we're gone. Up, up, up. he sent
Northern Pacific. IL reached 500.
Fortunes were gone. Brokerage
houses suspended. Up went North
ern Pacific.
Around the pole in the exchange
marked Northern Pacific" brokers /
fought and cursed like maniacs. In
his office, Hartman, cool, denying
to AL callers, kept unloading
his millions to renew the sinews of
war. As long as he supplied the
his brokers would fight. his
friends would win, his foes would
lose.
Past 800 climbed the stock. The
wires flashed the news of suicides and