The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-04-11

Northwest. he was still concerned
chiefly with the actual operation of n
/ railroad. He converted a poorly built
railroad into one of the best construct.
ed systems in this country and saw
its net earnings almost doubled No
body ever fooled him. In 1903 the d.
rectors of the New Haven elected him
president of the road, and ii was then
that the former New England railroad
clerk returned to his native heath to
solve the difficult transportation prob
lem which its very peculiar geography
and other conditions presented,
| problem which has required all the
knowledge accumulated in those early
years of practical operating work, and
in addition, that wonderful faculty for
carrying through large financial mat
tiers which has distinguished his later
years. With the same remarkable as
siduity which characterized his work
A the railroad office at Concord Mr..
Mellen has gone at this task that has
meant so much for New England-the
job Of giving New England a unified
even more energy than he had applied
in the Northwest. What he has ac-
complished is known only too well
1t could have been done only by man
who had the railroad business from
the bottom up at his finger tips and
was at the same time a master OF
finance.
And yet this product Of a small New
England town, this man who has knit
great railroad system Of many diff
ferent elements together, who has made
electrification a fact and not a fancy,
has all the while been able to see the
fun in life. He Is fine public speak
er. He is also wit. There have been
few occasions when public meetings
at which he has appeared have not
been illuminated with his witty sal
lies, revealing a side to his nature of
which many are ignorant
Once he faced crowd Of angry com
muters at a public service commission
hearing in New York. They had come
to bait him, believing him to be an
ogre. To their evident surprise, they
found confronting them the most gen.
ial Of men, whose jokes and pleas
antrles completely disarmed them. To
his plea not to strip his railroad bare
they had retorted that when 1t came b
the stripping process commuters didn't
have anything like the opportunity the
railroad had.
And that's the reason keep my
hair short" quickly came President
Mellen's response, and one look at his
head convulsed those same commuters.
1t was the same when the man who
faced them so pleasantly remarked In
similar good humor that there were
always some people travelling on a
railroad who expected to ride free land
have a chrome thrown in" The spirit
Of the gathering instantly was chang
ed by Mr. Mellen's nimble wit. They
went away his friends. Before legis-
lative bodies or In the congenlal pri.
vacy OF his New Haven club he has
evidenced this same faculty for seeing
the fun In things. He is also full of
sentiment particularly In connection
with things relating to New England.
He is a book lover whose chief hobby
is his library. He Is also a musician.
He studied music when boy and has
never lost his love for It.
Notwithstanding an impression TO
the contrary, he is the most Democrat
&c and entertaining OF men, with
great sense Of justice. His recognt-
ton OF old friends in Concord Is a by
word, and to this day many in that
New England town recall how when
diphtheria visited the Mellen home
and one after another OF the family
was stricken, Including the mother,
the man who is now the head OF New
England's transportation system turn
ed to and did the nursing for them all.
Such is the man who from that early
job in Concord has risen to the top OF
the transportation business, a good
talker. delightful host and entertain
er whose hospitality at Stockbridge II
famous, a favorite at all reunions,
II be his associates Of today
or the fellow employees Of his youth, q
keen philosopher, but railroad maf
above all and Of almost a unique type