New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-10-22
MELLEN HIRED
BECAUSE ne WAS
A NUISANCE" !"
Former Railroad Head
Tells How He Went to
The New Haven.
ASSERTS CUTTHPOAT
COMPETITION RULED
Alert, with Spice of Humor In
Replies, Witness Is Like an
Animated Encyclopedia.

Charles s. Melen. the farmer with \
railroad past, continued 10 be the gov
ornmcnt's unfailing source Of informa-
ton yesterday in It's prosecution of
past and present New Haven directors
on a charge Of conspiring to violate
the Sherman law. Mr. Mellen seemed
more like an animated encyclopedia Of
knowledge about New England than q
witness
For the hour after hour he was a
witness he stood, neglecting tho rest
ful seat Of the witness chair, much
like soldier at attention. answering
questions not only about scores more
81 the little defunct railways Of the
past, as he did the day before, but Civ
ing as well an Industrial history Of
the New England States.
In reply to questions from Frank NJ.
Swackcr. who conducted the examira-
tion for the government. he told just
what raw materials each locality I'M
ported for it's manufactures. what il
made. what IL sent out to the world
end what rail lines II used.
what were the manufactures Of
New England in general way?" Mr..
Swacker asked him. Cotton. woollen
goods, shoes ?"
"Oh, yes; everything manufactured
In New England. and New England
manufactures almost everything" Mel
len said. Transportation business
consisted In bringing raw materials In
and the manufactured products out"
Minute Details Given.
When he had finished giving the de-
tails of this general statement in reply
TO further questions it seemed as
though not kind Of raw material, rot
finished product, not n firm name,
not a manufacturing centre and not a
railroad centre or railroad agreement
involved in any way in that vast mass
OF industry had been left unmentioned
by Mr. Mellen. These facts went back
TO the early '90s still, as had his testi-
mony OF the day before.
not apparent in any hesitancy in his
manner of answering. Only once In q
while. on some minutely detailed mat
ter. did he plead forgetfulness or lack
of information. For the most part his
replies came trim and authentic, like
a we'll built paragraph from compre-
hensive book Of knowledge.
More than once there was the spice
of humor in his answer. the kind OF
humor whose soul is brevity. II Mr..
Mellen realized he was being funny
there was never change from his
fixed expression and mechanical man.
ner OF utterance to betray II.
For instance, Mr.. Swacker said:
"Now, take Ssybrook next: Is that
place OF any Importance :" Answer:
Nothing but mosquitoes there"
Q.-Is Northampton important. or
was it an important shipping point
A.-Well. it shipped girls up to the
college at Northampton and shipped
them back Smith College.
O.-Now, take Rochester, n. II. A
Well, that is a nice little town, all cut
up with railroad crossings, but there
is not very much business there.
Tells Of Cutthroat Competition.
Coming to more serious matters, Mr..
Swacker asked what was the state OF
competition as between the New York
& New England and the New Haven in
1890
Alt was the worst case of cut
throat competition have ever had
any experience with in .forty-four
years.
Q.-What form did 1t take? A
A.. hot ms Gina hW
one mans cutting the heart out of
another, except there were two rail-
roads.
Q.-For what traffic in particular =?
All traffic in particular and all
traffic in general.
Q.-Between what points in particu-
lar? A-Between all points they
could reach, directly or through their
connections.
Having drawn from him this view
of the completeness Of competition in
those early days, Mr.. Swacker passed
20 a series Of questions that developed
the story of a hot passenger traffic
fight Mellen conducted two months af-
ter he came back from the West and
went 20 the New England as general
manager
Mr.. Swacker asked him whether
there was any difference made in the
running time between Boston and New
York. to which he replied that an at
tempt was made 20 change, but it
failed.
81 went 70 see Charles p. Clark,
president, and Lucius Tuttle. vice
president, of the New Haven" Mr..
Mellen said, after the court had over
ruled strenuous objections 20 the con-
versation on the part OF lawyers for
the defence. "and told them that |
thought il unfair for them to reduce
the time from six hours BY way OF the
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