The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-09-19

the word was given out there occurred incident which throws an interesting side light on the character of this man.
 The mole was crowded with refugees. On the way to the car Hartman and the big railroad men with him had to pass down narrow gangway. Hartman walked ahead of the party, and when half way down the plank he spied a little dirtyfaced girl baby who was playing on a mud flat beside the car. The master of Wall street stopped and waved his hand to the baby, and the baby waved bacls
 Hartman stopped and talked to the baby for several minutes, while the i'm portant men behind him fumed at the delay. A dirty-faced baby had wasted five minutes of E. II. Harriman's time when that time was probably never so valuable.
 Twenty years ago he made the worst bargain of his life. He bought the fam ous stallion Stamboul at cost of s4o,000 Stamboul was not success as a sire. and Harrmans attempt to improve the trotting breed failed dismally.
 Hartman often said that it was impos- sible for him to resist asking questions of everybody and about everything My mind seems to be full of pgeonholes" he ottlu- w icn l Stl d Dll Ol HUI iiidtlOn l store 1t away, and always when I want 1t can reach In and take it out.''
 He bitterly resents President Roose- velt's assertion. "Harriman ought to be
 in jail" and the Investigation of his railroads by the federal government with that end in view. He kept in his desk books of figures in vindication of himself By these he showed he had vastly increased the capcity and earn I. 4 It was one of his boasts that he re- placed eight-inch feed pipes to loco motives on the Union Pacific with pipes 12 inches in diameter, thereby saving 1 minute and 39 seconds in the move- ment of train every time the locomo tive needed water.
 Hartman knew the warld thought he had no friends and it hurt him.
 Ask the work kers on my railroads if they're not all Harriman's friends" he said. And if they won't testify for me try my neighbors. Our neighb orhood ought to know the good side of us, and if you think there is no huma nifty in Hartman go up to Arden and question my neigh bors there. Why, there isn't one of my neighbors in Arden wfio wouldn't go to hell and back for me-
 ln Aruen Dullt d nome tndL cost $2,c0o,0oo. He was simple in his tastes q don't want any European palace with cloth of gold and all that sort of truck" he ordered. "I want a plain, wholesome American home" He laid out golf links in Arden but never used 1t. He raised trotters and fancy stock, but all this was left in the hands of hired agents. He laid out an estate of 30.000 acres on the Arden hills, 10 miles from Tuxedo, and in do- ing it bought up scores of farms. One farmer who refused to sell until he was isolated criticised Hartman by say ing: He collects mountains as other men collect pictures
 Harrimans word to all under him was, Think straight through a thing; bore it clean through" It was his way. His thought cut straight as knife, and he said 1t was the only way eff ficiency could be gained.
 ''The railroad man is a power for good in the country he said. Look at our Southern Pacific. When San Francisco was plotted out we carried away 200,0 persons without an accident to one of them That's what I call doing good. Think of the organization that works to such perfection under such conditions as existed after the earthquake and during the fre.'
 On his 5sth birthday Hartman an- nounced he would be tout of harness" be- fore he was 60. But when the year was up he was deeper into business than ever before. He found he could not let go. and kept on with his conQuests until his