The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1920-04-22

Union Pacific railroad 1T Pine Bluffs.
Wyo. Pine Bluffs Was AZ that time
the principal supply point for wood
for the Union Pacific. which had not
yet been completed Through the
friendship Of General Grcnville NJ
Dodge. chief engineer Of the Union
Pacific. Vail. in the next year. was
appointed a clerk in the railway man
service; here his ability 20 systematize
and organize was soon felt. AZ that
time the railway mail service was IN
an undsveloped stage. and Vail pre-
pared special studies on the question
Of distribution and dispatching OF the
mail. which brought him quick recog-
milton from the authorities at Wash
ington. II WAS just after he had been
promoted TO the general superintend-
cncy Of the railway mail service that
he acted against the advice OF his
friends. and accepted the position OF
general manager OF the American Bell
Telephone Company
Mr.. Vail set for himself the task OF
making the telephone a universal con-
yenience, and II was on his initiative
that every possible improvement was
seized upon for the perfection OF the
service. In 1885 he resigned from the
original company and became the first
president Of the newly formed Ameri-
can Telephone a. Telegraph Company
which at first made speciality OF only
long distance communication but
which, in 1900, acquired the property
of the American Bell Telephone Com
pany and also negotiated combinations
with the principal competing tele-
phone companies throughout the coun-
try, so that the whole service came
largely under single central admin
istration.
In the meantime, in 1890, Mr.. Vail
retired from the telephone business
for many years. He purchased a large
farm at Lyndonville, VT, and interest
ed himself in agriculture. In 1893 he
made trip 10 South America, and,
with his customary foresight, saw the
possibilities OF the Argentine Repub-
lie. He obtained from the government
a concession near CORDOBA, built an
electric power station there, purchased
a horse-car line in Buenos Aires, con
verted il into a trolley line formed a
company and equipped it with the best
cars from the United States, bought
out all competing lines and gave the
city a complete modern service. The
company was composed largely OF
British capitalists, and for some time
Mr.. Vail had his headquarters in Lon.
don. When he retired from these
activities in 1904, he returned to Yer
mont, but three years later he was
again called upon to enter the tele-
phone field as president of the Ameri-
can Telephone & Telegraph Company
of which he had been the first presi.
dent
Mr.. Vail played as hard as he work
ed. He was fond of good music, books
and pictures, and the outdoor life. Hs
had one of the finest libraries in the
State of Vermont. The house on his
H 3, 3,500-acre farm at Lyndonville, al
though beautiful, was home rather
than a palace. In it he had built
$4,000 pipe organ, and once every
year he made the practice Of bringing
up from New York some of the finest
musicians to give concert to whic1
he invited the country people for "a
around. He also established a
school, hoping to encourage VerrI
boys to take up scientific agricultso
and remain in the country. He believ
ed that New England was facing
great renaissance.
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