Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-09-28
miscellaneous Reaains.
FADs OF
Some Of the Peculiar Hobbies Q

Every man, they say, likes anybody
| else's business better than his own.
The corporation lawyer thinks he
would make a good bank president
and the railroad man signs for the
| pleasant career of the stock broker
says the New York Sun.
There Is some deadly attraction in
i a pursuit other than ones own. Men
tire of the humdrum Of their work
and idealize the callings of others.
The buster a man is the more energy
and enthusiasm he throws into his
favorite diversion. That's why 1t Is
a truism in Wall street that a mar
is less likely to ruin his business than
be ruined by his hobby.
There was once q man in Wall
street who had a great contempt for
railroads as they are built today.
Railroading was not his business; he
hadn't the slightest experience in 1t;
he was in the oil trade. But in his
spare moments he used to dream
about building the model railroad.
He was convinced that he could con-
struct a better railway than anybody
else had ever done before.
Years advanced and the impetus
only grew stronger in the oil a
So when he eventually became inter-
ested in a coal property in Virginia,
he determined to construct his high
ly exceptional road in order to carry
the output Of his mines to tidewater;
hence he called his proposed line the
Tidewater railroad.
The oil man adopted the most adj
vanced methods Of road building. He
Il specially invented grading
machine and the roadbed was as
smooth as a ball room floor. Ninety
pound rails were laid, the locomo-
tives were of the most modern type.
The newest form Of coal car was put
in use; in a word, there was not an
innovation, an attachment, a novelty.
an improvement suggested in railroad
ing that was not quickly utilized in
the construction and equipment Of
the Tidewater railroad. 1t was the
oil mans especial fancy, his joy, his
hobby, his ~obsession.
A small suite Of o were en-
gagged in a Wall street building as
the executive office Of the road, but
none of the officers were ever visi-
BILE. Secrecy surrounded everything
connected with the ideal railroad. The
-" man refused to borrow a dollar
in the building Of his pet line or to
issue a bond, note or share Of stock.
1t was his pride to advance person.
ally every dollar that was needed for
the cost of construction.
Naturally all the railroad men in
the country were deeply interested in
this rich mans hobby. They waited
expectantly for the road to be open
ed to traffic. Finally the great day
came. The trains on the model rail-
road moved from the coal mines to
tidewater, where they delivered their
black diamonds.
Then the shocking discovery was
Il llldOc lIdt vi IllC IOdo IildI iioo bSSAh
builded with such infinite care one
Of the most important requirements
had been overlooked. Return freight!
A roar of Homeric laughter came
from the railroad world. Loaded cars
ran all the way from the mines to
the ocean, but there was nothing to
fill them with on their return. Dis
NAL lines of empty cars crawled all
the way back to the coal region.
The railroad men called it the Road
to Nowhere. They said that Henry
H. Rogers had better stick to Stand
ard Oil for the future and let rail-
reading alone.
There were only words Of ridicule
for the oil mans within.
Then came the trying financial
crisis Of 1907 and brought in its train
another sensation. Wall street was
filled with a story of the biggest loan
that had ever been made to an indi-
vidual in the streets history. Henry
H. Rodgers had borrowed $10,000,-
900 on his personal note. He had at
last been compelled to borrow it for
his railroad. And the collateral Sc
curity for the note was Standard OF.
stock.
Well, fortunately, his hobby didn't
ruin Mr.. Rodgers. and his road has
since been taken over by others and
has developed into a splendid prop
erty. Nevertheless, the old Tide
water is still recalled in Wall street
as the most dangerous example Of a
rich mans hobby horse.
The fads of Wall street men are a
~variegated assortment and run the
whole sequence Of human tastes and
emotions. Gen. Thomas H. Hubbard,
the banker and railroad financier,
has a hobby that, so to speak, takes
him to the end of the earth. 1t is
Arctic exploration, and many capes,
peaks and tablelands in the frozen
north bear his name. He Is devoted
to the study Of Polar exploration and
identified with nearly all the socie-
ties that are organized in its inter-
est.
No one can be in the offices Of
Bernard M. Baruch for many mo-
ments without. realizing this success
full market operator, probably the
most successful in the street, is an
enthusiast over motor boating. Photo
graphs on the walls depict him as the
central figure in his more or less
famous craft, glorying in rushes Of
foam.
The late Alexander ]. Cassatt,
president of the Pennsylvania rail-
road, on whose initiative the great
station Of that road in New York was
built, vas devoted to horses and
horse racing. Indeed, it is said that
for many years his Quaker associ-
ates for this reaso %refrained from
electing him head of the conservative
property. Nevertheless, Mr.. Cassatt
always maintained a famous stud on
his estate near Philadelphia.
James ]. Hill, of the Great North