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

thlng IKE three tntuSdHu liAIlitH y
lars a year. If the stockholders who
own the vast railroad property Of the
country can get out of that enormous
earning one dollar in ten they are
very glad to let the other nine go TO
paying the operating and other eX-
penSeS.
The thousands OF millions that the
railroads earn do not go TO pay the
dividends on the stocks, but TO pay
the men who work on the roads, and
who build the equipment and furnish
the supplies, and so on down through
a long line of helpers of one sort or
another all over the whole
Fairfax Harrison is after dividends
for his stockholders. of course, but
he knows hat before he gets any
money for them he must get ten times
as much for other He must
keep up the credit of his road so he
can borrow money and be able 10
pay the debt at maturity and interest
meanwhile
A TusSel With Growing South.
He borrows money to increase the
capacity Of the railroad. He buys
more cars, more engines, more equip
| ment of all sorts. and double tracks
his road because he wants to see in
the next five years a railroad system
that can handle the swiftly growing
traffic of the South. This man is
putting his administrative skill in a
big play against the expansive forces
of the South. He is going to play a
neck and neck game, and if he wins
he loses, for he cannot build a 0
that will be big enough to turn his
| back on. If he gets the doubl track
finished by the end Of the FIVE years
the mere building Of that double
track will fill his hands fuller by the
end of that time. Increased facilities
for doing business will encourage
business along the line Of the South
crowd the two tracks just as it has
been croWding the single track in the
past.
Fairfax Harrison is doing far more
than trying to III for his stockhold-
ers a dividend on their investment. He
is earning for his army Of employees
money to pay their wages. He is
figuring that they shall live in that
little town called Prosperity next year
as we'll as this year. He is pounding
away that millions Of dollars shall be
scattered all yer the South in the
days ahead Of us in the transaction Of
the business that is created by the OPP
Grafton Of his big enterprise.
But all this is merely incidental
alongside of the prize motive which
he is struggling to keep up with.
Fairfax Harrison knows hat if he
does not crowd ahead with his road
in three years it will be ~antiquated
There is not a railroad in the United
States that will answer the require
ments of its territory unless YER
nerve is constantly strained to ex-
pand the facilities Of that road. The
bigger the road the bigger the re
quirements. The roads of the South
have imposed on them bigger tasks
than most roads, for the South is de.
velOping faster than most parts OF
the country. On the Southern, which
l is the biggest road of the South, is
the biggest burden in the South, fol-
: it must measure up to the require
ments of a bigger business.
What Harrison Is After.
7 h the president Of the Southern
Railroad is working at is to bring hi
road up to the needs of the day a.
: fast as the new day unfolds, and h,
{ knows what he must compl
e was attracted to this man by tW,
' forces. One is his winsome p@ rsonaIi
e ". The other his intelligent attitud.
e toward the big Job he has on hi
. hands. That job did not appeal t,
! me as one having the stockholders il
q the principal point of view. Rather
e looked on him as the agent who un
dertakes to make it possible for tn,
Southern States to keep up their ex
a pansiOn in the days that are ahead a
q they have been dong in the immed1
Y ate past.
North Carolina is ceasing to be
single track State. The Seaboard an,
e the Coast Line have also discoyere,
q the necessities. and both these road
IS have planned for big work in double
tracking, and both have their plaa
q worked out, and both have doubl
track work going on. This is tn
: next move that must be made i
IL North Carolina. The big roads ca
n not handle the traffc of the territor
re on n track any longer. They wi
n not have double track ready a minut
is before it is absolutely imperative. an
20 if the experience OF railroad bui}din
l. in the past is any criterion they wi
not be ready by the time they ougf
to be. for a railroad must all the tim
Of keep away ahead Of the game in q,
4 der to be up with it when the dc
lie mandS are made.