New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-08-28
From 4. STAFF corrr.ponden, Of The Tribune


Washington, Aug. 27.-Some enter
prising successor to Horatio q. Alger
could find wealth of youth-inspirlng
material these days rubbing elbowS
with the presidents Of the country q
biggest railroad systems IN the lopoy
of the New willard Hotel IL would not
b, fiction. though. In fact, the closer
ore kent TO the actual facts the better
his stories would be. Blindfolded he
could bump into almost any one OF
these influential, brainy men, steer a
course for a corner of the writing room
and let the captive talk, if modesty did
not forbid. Invariably the yarn would
deserve an Alger title.
Take Daniel Willard. for instance. lie
is president of the Baltimore d ONO
Railroad now. Getting stuck to buy
seven Palm Beach suits for his asso-
ciates on the railroad executives COM
nittee of eight means less to his
pocketbook than a fve-cent cigar 20
most of us. Mr.. willard is great ex-
ccutive He is an art connoisseur, 4
musician and scholar besides. His
collection Of portraits OF Napoleon is
one of the best in the world. His inter-
est in men and affairs is worldwide.
Some time ago, when he was in the
midst of negotiating a $4,000, 600 ex-
penditure for improvements OF the Bal
tlmore & Ohio, he began to study
French.
Willard a Fireman.
But 90 back n few decades to tedi-
Gus train run on an old Vermont road
that is now part of the Boston Maine.
Willard is locomotive fireman, that's
ALL But one day he finds book that
interests him, in spite Of its forbidding
title. II is Wellington's Economics of
Railroad Locations" willard buys it.
He tucks it beneath the cushion
of his seat in the engine cab, and wher
he isn't keeping up steam in the boiler
head he is reading about railroad
economies. 1t gives him wholly new
view of railroading. He turns to other
studies and digs in for useful knowl-
edge. What happens later is easily read.
Dan Willard became a locomotive
engineer on the Great Northern Rail-
way.
Fred" Underwood, now president of
the Erie, the most jovial railroad presi
dent of all the fifty-odd assembled in
Washington, was the conductor of Will
ards train. Underwood was coming
along fast then-so fast that pretty
soon he was Wizards boss-"Mr. I'M
derwood" to Willard. But they became
close friends and each recognized the
others worth. Some years later Mr..
Underwood was in line for the presi-
dency of the Erie. Then the chance
came, and almost the first man he
called to the road was Willard as vice
president The two men are closer
chums than ever now.
Most Of Them Worked Up.
It would take more than an open
break between the roads and their en-
ployes 20 shatter the bonds of sympa-
thy and mutual interest between the
group Of executives in the New Willard
and the other fighting group, further
down Pennsylvania Avenue at the old
National. With the exception Of few
of the former. every one has climbed
the ladder from the lower rungs. One
could almost count the college-bred
men on the fingers Of his two hands.
And Louis W. Hill, head of the Great
Northern, is practically the only one
who inherited big railroading job to
start with. That was as vice-president
under his father, the late James j.
Hill.
Yet Mr.. Hill remarked a few days
ago: Some Of the best friends I've
got are these fellows I'm fighting right
now. know a great many OF them
personally"
Mr.. Underwood phrased the senti-
ments more colloquially.
They're blokes, you know" he said.
Were guys"
Markham a Laborer.
c. P. Markham, president of the
Illinois Central, prominent socially as
well as financially in Chicago, began
his career as a section hand-a common
laborer-on the Sante Fe, in Kansas
City, then one OF the toughest railroad
yards in the country. He is remarked
to -day as one of the most dapper look
ing of these powerful railroad men in
Washington. No one looking at him
or studying him closely would say he
was other than the son Of rich man
who had had all the frills of a course
at a leading university.
Sitting over there on one of those
cane seats is E. P. Ripley, president OF
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, the
man who came into Washington ten
days ago and greeted the newspaper
correspondents with the expressive in
terview :"Ain't this hell of a mess ?"