The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-06-27
PRIVILE LEGE:S co
To WELLS-FARGO
Company VIII Operate Service
On Gould Lines After
August [.
ADDS GREAT TERRITORY
TO IT'S PRESENT MILEAGE
President SprouIe Denies That
Mis- Company Has Absorbed
Pacific Express.

fhere has been much talk In the
newspapers recently about the compile
ton of negotiations by the Wells Fargo
Express company for entering upon
railroad lines whose express privileges
had been held by the Pacific Express
company. Salt Lake is directly inter
ested in this move. inasmuch as the
WeIls-Fargo people, under the new ar
rangement, get all Of the Gould rail
roads, including the Denver g. Rio
Grande and the Western Pacific, The
first definite announcement as to the
purposes of the Wells-Fargo company,
aside from brief official bulletins, is
contained in an interview recently pub
lished in the New Orleans Plcayune, a
copy of which arrived in Salt Lake yes.
terday. The Interview is with Presi.
dent William Sproule. In part Mr..
Sproule said:
The announcement OF what is practi-
cally the retirement OF the Pacific En-
press company from the transportation
business and the acquiring of contracts
by the Wells Fargo company's express
with those systems for the exclusive oD-
Grafton Of the express business, TO be ef-
fective August ] next. was officially made
by President William Sproule OF the Wells
Fargo company express yesterday.
Mr.. SproUle, whose headquarters are In
New York, arrived in New Orleans yes
terday morning from Houston, where he
spent Monday. Mr.. Sproule was accom-.
panied by A. Christeson. vice president OF
the Walls Fargo company express OF San
Francisco: Z, A. Steadman. vice presi-
dent, OF New York: G, 4. Taft. superin
The party occupied the Missouri Pacific
private car Convoy. and after spending
the day here, making the ST. Charles ho
tel their headquarters, left last evening
for the cast.
Has Been No Absorption
An absolute denial of the reported abb
Sorption OF the Pacific Express company
by the Wells Fargo was issued by Mr..
Sproule. There is absolutely no truth
in the report he said TO a representative
a single share OF the stock OF the Pa
cific Express company. nor do we own
dollars worth OF its securities. We con-
tracted with the railways in question for
tho exclusive express transportation busi-
ness on their lines. and the contract has
been closed.
The Pacific Express company remains
the property of Its owners and we are
not of them What the Intentions OF
those owners arc in respect to it the
Wells Fargo express is not Informed.
The Wells Fargo company has; how
ever, secured contracts which take ef-
feet ON August next. for the exclusive
operation of the express business on what
is known as the Gould systems. The
confusion which has arisen as regards the
transaction must be due to the fact tina,
al the present time and for some time
past the Pacific Express company hes
been operating over those Gould lines.
1.-THE contract that we have closed gives
us the right to operate our express busi-
ness on the Wabash, the Missouri Pa
cific system, including the Iron Noun
TAIN the Texas & Pacific and the Inter
national & Great Northern, as we'll as the
Cotton Belt system
When asked for what length of time the
contract provided. Mr.. SDroule doubted If
that was OF public interest. Finally, how
ever, he said that practically all of them
were for term OF twenty years.
Transportation men In New Orleans
say that the closing of contracts for the
operation of the Wells Fargo service over
the Gould lines means nothing more nor
less than the retirement of the Pacific
Express company. a Gould corporation,
from business.
Pioneer Western Company,
"The Pacific Express company has
never been a big paying corporation"
said one OF them yesterday. LAS a
matter OF fact, operating only on the
Gould roads. 1t was not in a position to