Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1912-07-31
The Bright Boy of Bethel.

page of the current Saturday Evening
Post is an article on "The Grand
Trunks New Head" who is Yer
monter. After an introduction telling
of the troubles Of railroad president,
this article goes on in it's breezy style
as follows:
Having thus set forth some of the
pleasures of the life of railroad
president who operates road in this
country. and some of the difficulties
and hardships. let me direct your at
tention for moment to a railroad
president who may be said to have all
United States railroad presidents
looking like idle sons of the very rich
when it comes to difficulties. l refer
to the president of the Grand Trunk
Railroads.&c. of them: all of the
trunks and the satchels and the suit.
cases embraced in that system which
has several divisional names. includ.
ing that of the Grand Trunk Pacific.
He has three cornered job and
each corner is sharper than the
others. First off, the Grand Trunk is
owned in England. Furthermore, it
serves six Of these United States and
is seeking an entrance to Boston. As
Cy Warman says, it embraces the ex.
perience of being damned Canadi-
an" in New England and damned
Yankee" in Canada. Canada isn't
very keen on the extension Of her
railroad systems into this country /:
nevertheless nearly one.third Of the
mileage Of the Canadian Pacific is in
the United States; and the Grand
Trunk operates five thousand miles in
this country. while the Canadian
Northern has line to Duluth.
They used to say of Charles M.
Hays. the president of the Grand
Trunk who went down on the Titanic,
that he was the one railroad man
on the continent who could choose
his job; and the task Of selecting his
successor had about as many difficult
ties as the successor will have. So.
when they came to pick the man to
fill Hays chair, the men who had the
choice considered the list of "those
mentioned. which included eminent
American managers. distinguished
Canadians and various extinguished
statesmen, and grabbed the one man
who didn't want it That man was
Edison ]. Chamberlin of the Grand
Trunk Pacific, who had headquarters
at Winnipeg.
Chamberin was born in the United
States. as was Hays. So was Sir
Thomas Shaughnessy, president of the
Canadian Pacific, by the way. New
Hampshire is Chamberlin' state, but
he lived there only until he was twelve,
when his father died and he went to
live with his uncle at Bethel. in Yer.
mont. So he really is a Vermonter
whereupon he takes Green Mountain
rank with several other railroad pres
idents. including Strong, who once
headed the Santa Fe; Robinson of the
Mexican National, and Mellen, of the
New York, New Haven & Hartford.
Chamberlin's first railroad work
was with the Central Vermont road,
where Mellen also served his appren-
ticeship; he had various positions and
showed much aptitude. Then j. B.
Booth, the big lumberman, took note
of him. Booth owned wilderness in
Canada, and wanted to make it less
wild by cutting the lumber from it.
He hired Chamberlin to build lum"
Der line from Lake Champlain to
Parry Sound on Georgian Bay:
Chamberlin took the job. He went
neither himself nor his men. He
|
open, driving that road through until
he completed the task. Then Boott
named his road the Canadian Atlantic
and Chamberlin became the general
manager.
The Canadian Atlantic runs through
Ottawa. and seven years ago the
Grand Trunk took it over. Chamber
lin resigned and went down to Mexi
CO. His experience in building tina
lumber road had given him taste fo
the work. One day he was talking
with Frank w. Morse, then of thu
Grand Trunk Pacific, and Morse asked
him what he had in mind.
NOTHING much" Chamberlin re
piled; "but what I'd like to do would
be to build a transcontinental rail-
road"
Morse remembered that. and whel
Morse left the Grand Trunk Pacific tt
go to the Chicago & Alton he tolt
President Hays he knew of a mar
who could push the Grand Trunl
Pacific through.
"What's his name. ?" asked HAYS.
ED Chamberlin.
HAYS was familiar with Chamber
Inns record and he wired to Mexic