The Washington herald., 1914-05-16
HISTORY BUILDERS
An Anecdose q ! obes-fanous Rail
road Promoter.

4 1O0A4 tOzz1OtEIs
Written sxpyesszy for rhs HeraId.)
Dy On. n ,. uDWAnDs.
How speedily the names ana careers
Of men who achieved srestiy b ths world
Of finance and Of railroad censtructisn a
generation or more ago are forgotten is
/ well Illustrated by the story Of John
Dun. Thirty years ago and more Mr.
Dufrs name was known to every man Of
finance in the United States. and there
were many interesting anecdotes. which
narrated the part that was borne by Mr..
Dun In perfecting the plaus by which the
Union Pacific Raiiroad was completed.
Now TO only few survivors Of his time
10 Mr.. Dun's name q familiar one.
Mr.. Dun was Of Boston birth and busi-
ness life He was q man of almost ex-
cessive modesty, amounting practically
to shyness. This, however, did not affect
him a. great leader in the world of
finance and Of railroad construction.
There he was always . man Of courage
and he established great influence be-
cause he was esteemed q man Of integ-
rity.
Mr. Dun. in this personal characteristics
Of modesty, was similar to some of the
greatest intellectual forces the United
States has been fortunate enough to pos
sess. Some of the ablest bankers the
country has ever known were, In their
private and personal relations, men Of
singular modesty, being utterly without
self-consciousness or a yearning for
publicity.
had heard at one time or another
anecdotes associated with Mr.. Dufrs
career. but 1t was not until I met DR..
ian RrrI1 1~rd o-l-
York, now Of Boston, that was able to
gain an accurate insight into the person.
ality and career of this once-famous rail-
road man.
Il was long on intimate personal rela-
tons with Mr.. Duf," DIR. Bullard said
IT was one Of the comparatively few per-
sons who knew with what accurate artis-
tic appreciation he made selections of
paintings He had at one time as fine
collection of paintings as was to be found
in Boston Some Of them have recently
been sold at sale of conspicuousIy val
liable works OF art which was held at
one Of the great art galleries In New
York
Mr.. Duff wal really the creator Of
the plan by which the Union Pacific
Railway proposition was taken I'D and
the work completed. although few per-
sons even at that time knew IT, Many
persons have wondered how 1t happened
that for years the Union Pacific was In
possession of Boston capital It was a
recognized Boston institution. Charles
Francis Adams. grandson of one Presi-
dent of the United States. and great
grandson OF another. was for some years
the president Of the Union Pacific. He is
a Boston man and the headquarters OF
the Union Pacific were established in
Boston.
THE reason for Boston's pre-eminence
so many years in Union Pacific affairs is
to be traced to John Dun. When the
proposition was tagging and 1t seemed
doubtful whether capital would be found
for completing the road. Mr.. Duff was
appealed to. He initiated the example set
many>years earlier by the late John II.
Forbes, also OF Boston. who appealed
successfully 20 Boston capital for funds
with which to complete the Michigan
Central Railroad and to begin what be-
came the Burlington Railroad system,
which. until James J. Hill bought il. was
distinctive Boston institution
Mr.. Dun went to the men OF capital ex-
planning a plan which he had formulated
by which the Union Pacific proposition
could be taken up and the work COM
pleted. This Boston capital responded
to his appeal and. with the aid of the
government. which was imperative the
road was completed .- .s-'
Mr.. Duff at one time gained nation
wide reputation by reason of a single re-
mark. There had been dissension in the
Union Pacific company. Outsiders were
trying to break into the company and
snatch II away. Mr.. Dun for a long time
resented this guerrilla attack upon the
property. At last he withdrew. finding
himself overwhelmingly beaten. but as
he did so he made this remark:
II will never shake hands across the
directors table with dishonest men,
He did not say to whom he referred
nor was there ever any knowledge Of
what precisely he had in mind. But his
statement was taken up and widely cir
culated and from it proceeded one of
the influences which at last broke down
high financing of the reckless kind with
which so many OF the American railroads
have been afflicted"
Copyright. lgi. By Or. E. J. Edwards AL rishu