The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-10-06

MY next nelghbOr or one side was
Fairfax Harrison, president of the
Southern Railway, and beyond him
was j. II. Young, Of the Norfolk Sou
thern. On the other side l touched
elbows with NJ. V. Richards, one of
the greatest boomers OF the South
ever turned loose and adjoining him
was John T. West, a SeahOard bust
ness getter.
That Raleigh appreciates these men
was manifest by the fact that they
were assembled by the Chamber OF
to discuss railroad affairs
with the leading men Of the city. Yet
] am bold enough to say that in Meth
er city, state or nation, are they ap-
preciated as they should be. Had I
been arranging the order Of the ad-
dresses l WOW J ave started with Mr..
West, who ! oke more generally of
the railroad. saying a deserved word
for the Seaboard. hen l would have
followed with Mr.. Spruill because he
a specific possibility in a
new road which, with little effort,
would bring the Coast Line into Raj
eigh. From him l would go to Mr..
Young. who brought in the part the
Norfolk Southern is laying out for it
self in the State. Next on my schedule
would come Mr.. Richards. that old
maJor-general of the new army of
invasion, for he spreads over a globe
III 6h1 N"i XIV VVtfN - N'>
affair with Mr.. Harrison. "A giant in
the work of Southern Industrial life
and development.
1t was the first time ] had ever
seen Mr.. Harrison. But it did not
a five minutes to realize that /
was talking with one of the big men
of the country. In that five minutes
we had put in about four minutes and
say fifty seconds talking shop, talk
ing about the great Southern rail-
road system, an instrument that holds
in its care much of the future of that
portion IF the country below the Po-
tomac and the Ohio rivers.
A Dinner That Fascinated.
That Raleigh dinner was a fascinat-
the first sight of the genial railroad
man next me, and his thoroughly de-
mocratiC style and the enormous
power that he yields in the most un-
assuming manner, gave me "a sug-
gestiOn as to the marvel Ct the human
character. In a way we grew chum-
my over the ambition of this man to
make the Southern a greater factor
in the worlds work, and he excited my
sympathy with his plans until the
Southern will be a wholly different
thing from now on. 1t will be a
character in a big romance in which
Y will he a partisan on the side OF
n hero. which VIII I've the great
railroad itself. From now on l vii
watch from day to day the unfold
ing Of the plans for the expansion O.
this system, partly a it is thu
dream and the ambition Of my frient
OF a couple Of hours. and partly be
cause the plan itself is compellin:
when once it is made 10 live by tn
explanation of a man who has it lait
out as the creation of his ambition
What a gigantic task this MAJ ha
~-
making the Southern a double tract
road from Washington to Atlanta
Five years he gives himself to do tn
work. Perhaps you do not realiZ
what this man is planning for all Q
us. He is planning for the SOuther
Railway first of all, or he thinks h
is. But he is not. He is planning 70
the pleasure of Fairfax Harrison
just as any big man h does any bi
thing is planning for the unmeasur
able satisfaction that comes fror
achievement. Mr.. Harrison finds
joy in achievement. Otherwise h
could not do what he has outlined fC
himself. He is planning for himsel
not for his financial gain. but for tn
infinite reward that comes from dc
ing. He is planning for the Souther
and more than all. although he ma
not confess it, he is planning fl
North Carolina, for the whole Sout1
for the whole United States, for tt
whole civilized world. Oh. yes, W;
impressed with Mr.. Harrison.
Double-Tracking Railroad.
Let us see. His proposition is
dOuble-track the Southern fro
Washington to Atlanta- 4! am not
railroad man. but it seems to me tn
Il double track railroad will hand
more than twice the traffic poSsib
with "A single track road, for on
double track cars can mcve each ":
without interruption. On a sing
rack road nearly every tram is he
back more or less by the delay
passing. But. whether absolutely CO
rect or not in theory. suppose we a
sumo that a double track road "
= twice the business a sins
track road will handle. Then i'm Fl
years Mr.. Harrison hopes to add
h Southern an efficiency as great
IL has attained in the entire life ii,