THE ILLUSTRATED BEE.
3
Sketch of Railroad
Career of Horace G.Burt
Mnrch 17, 1001.
As bints a mnn who la at the head of a
bualueas which represents nti Itivvstmi'tit
of mi hundred odd millions, a ml In whoso
operation Home thousands of men nro em
ployed, Horace (5. Hurt keeps very niucli
to hlinsolf. Ills reticence has won for hint
thu ttaiuo of being u hard matt to Inter
view. In reality he Is onu of thu easiest,
for Itu invariably tolls thu reporter hu has
nothing to say, and thu lnturvluw Is ovur,
bo far as Mr. Hurt Is concerned. On such
mattum as thu public Is, la his opinion,
ontltlod to bu Informed Mr. Hurt tall;
briefly, but plainly; but hu never takes
thu reporter Into his eontldonee concerning
his plans or the plans of his employerti
in thu management of the ureal railroad
of whleh hu Is the executive head. 1L
In pi'olmlily the harduHt worker on the
Union l'aellk' pay roll, and llnds very llttl.
time from his duties to devote to a dls
eusslon of the nlfalrs of the road for the
edlllcatlon of (.insiders.
Horace (5. Hurt began his railroad ca
reer as a member of a surveying party
whleh was runnliiK a lino for a branch of
thu Chicago & Northwestern road over In
Iowa. He soon left thu pioneer party to
become supei Intendunt of thu construction
work. Advance was rapid and steady, and
ho was successively made assistant su
perintendent and superintendent of the
northern Iowa lines of the Chicago &
Northwestern, and then chief engineer for
Ii:V OK Ul'INS AKTKU HI2CHNT
the whole system. It was while acting
in this latter capacity that ho llrst camo
into general notice as a railroad man. He
aid 1 ut tho great Northwestern swltch
ards in Chicago, an achievement which
attracted 11 great dual of attention In the
railtoad world. Thu problem of terminal
facilities tor the Northwestern In Chicago
was of many ami apparently insuperable
dllllcultics, but tue solution arrived at b
Mr. Hurt was of thu most practical sort
and evinced railroad ability of thu highest
order.
IIIh I'Ii'hI I'iinIIIiiii In Oiiiiilin,
It was not a great while until Mr. Hurt
was again transferred from thu construc
tion to thu operating department, and ho
was made general superintendent of the
Iowa lines of tho Northwestern, with head
quarters at Hoouc. Kroni thuro ho cumo
to Omaha to bu general manager of the
Kiumont, Klkhorn & Missouri Valley road,
serving for live years in this capacity.
Kiom here hu was sent to St. Haul to no
general manager of thu Chicago, St. Haul,
Miniiuapolls & Omaha, road. Ho had hardly
assumed this position before he was mado
iiBBlstant to the president Marvin Hughltt
and third vice president of the Chicago
it Northwestern. This la briully tho rail
ro'id career of Mr. Hurt prior to his ro
turu to Omaha to assume his present po
sition. Such a hasty outline can give 110
adequate idea of tho work hu performed
or thu results hu secured, more than will
bo gained from tho fact that his upward
course never halted. It will bo accepted
as proven that ho must havo shown both
ability ami capacity, or hu could not have
attained thu confidence of thu managers
of tho great system of railroads with which
ho wns connected, for muro pull does not
win recognition nnd advancement in tho
railroad service.
On Monday, December 27, 1807, It wns
olllclally announced from Now Vork that
Horaco (i. Hurt had been selected to bo
president of tho Union Pnelllc. Hu was In
Chicago at tho time, and when a news
paper reporter called on him with tho news
Mr. Hurt said: "I have not been notified
nnd I do not believe I care to talk until I
am olllclnlly untitled' of thu appointment."
If loquacity on tho topic of Ills appoint
ment Is to he taken ns an evidence of Ills
notification, he hasn't beard from tho di
rectory yet, for ho hasn't talked, nbout it
any.
On tho day Mr. Hurt was chosen to tw
president of tho road Union l'aelllo sold
for In Now York. It is now, a llttlo
m'oYo than three years afterwnrd, selling
around 01.
I mli'i'tiil. Iiik Vol 11 SI 11 ecu re.
It was certainly a herculean task sot bo
foro Mr. Hurt. The road had just emerged
from n receivership which had lasted four
years nnd had Buffered greatly from the
physical and moral if that word may be
used deterioration Incident to the fact that
it had been that long In the hands of thu
court. To reorganize thu service, rehablll
talu the equipment of thu line and place
the propel ty on a paying basis Mr. Hurt
was sent to Umalia. With characteristic
energy and determination ho set about the
undertaking. How well hu has succeeded
Is told by the quotations for the stock. At
the very outset he gave the force of his
own example to thu men under him. He
retained in the seivlce of the company thu
old executive olllcors, who had made up
thu stalf for yuars and who were familiar
with thu Union l'aelllo, Its territory and Its
patrons. One of thusu the chief engineer
fcoon after resigned and was replaced by
thu present Incumbent, a man who had
been with the president during other dayB
on the Klkhorn. It was thu change in
methods that brought about thu Improved
condition In the atfairs of thu line. For
lustnuce, a sleepy gatekeeper at tho shops
was startled out of his rest for weeks by
thu appearance of tho "old mnn" nt the
gatu at 7 o'clock one morning. Others bu
sbies the gatekeeper wero surprised that
morning, but thu visit bore fruit In tho
prompt arrival ever since of shopmen.
I.axlty in all departments met similar re
bukes, and It wasn't mnny days after im'W
FIHH AT UNIVHUSITY OK IOWA.
tears, lilts, until 11 was thoroughly un
duiBiuoU thai "snaps on thu L111011 l'a
clllc were a thing of tho past. His e.v
ample was Infectious, and 1'rtsldeiu nuii
soon had thu satistaulioii of seeing his
assistants working with us much energy
as himself to bring his plans to success.
'Hie eltoil has been ail hu could havo ex
peeled, when hu came to Omaha, it lu told,
hu said to a irluiu that hu would probably
need live years to bring about 11 propel
readjustment of thu road uud its service.
Hu has two years to spare, if outward
Indications uru any criterion,
.no .-i.N) lii ite Atliililc.
.Mr. Hurt's ropuiuilon for austerity arises
from his unwillingness to disuubs his busi
ness ulluirs generally with outsiders. Ills
time Is well taken up witli mutters pertulu
lug to his position, uud his habit of giving
his persouul attention to much of tho detail
work connected with tho operation of thu
lino absolutely precludes sociability dur
ing ollleo hours. His aversion to newspaper
interviews is known to ovury city editor
uud ralliuad reporter between Sun Fran
clsco and Now York, and when a reporter
comes into thu olllce with an uuthorltatlvu
Interview from the president of the Union
l'aclllc hu announces it almost us a tri
umph. Often Mr. Hurt hus carried this
feature of ills dully program to denying
or refusing to ulllrm knowledge of things
that hud actually transpired, or whicii
camu to pass within u very short time
after. Thosu who are inllmuto with
him say that when ho does havo a rare
minute for rest or relaxation ho Is as
genial and compunlonablo a man as one
would wish to moot. Ho takes a keen
personal Interest lu tho alfulrs of tho world
outside of railroad circles, but goes in llttlo
for society, because ho hus not time (and
it Is also said hu has not tho inclination).
When lu Omaha ho Is at Ills desk by 8
o'clock In the morning and ho rarely leaves
thu headquarters building before tho clos
ing hour in tho ovenlng. Ills trips over
tho lino havo been frequent, owing to tho
unusually oxtunslvo undertakings in tho
way of reconstruction which have been sot
on foot slnco Ills advent, and to which ho
has given very much of his own skill as a
railroad builder. In a word, ho has da
voted himself entirely to tho nccomplhih
ment of tho work ho wns given when ht
camo to Omaha in thu winter of 1897.
Horace O, Hurt wns horn In January,
1810, at Turro Haute, Ind. His education
was received In thu common schools nnd
a short attendance nt tho University of
Michigan. He left tho latter Institution
without having taken his degree and en
tered Into tho prnctlca of what has proven
to bo his lifetime work. About a year ago
tho university conforred on Mr. Hurt tho
L. A Lilly
P I,. Martin J It. Pickett
J 10, Woodurd
CUKIOIITON UNIVHUSITY OHATOUICAL ASSOCIATION
THAM-DHHATHS WITH OKI. IAN DICHATINC, CLIP OK
UNIVHUSITY OF NKHHASKA, AT LINCOLN, IN APHIL
degree of M. K., whleh lie would havu won
had lie been regularly graduated.
Against Marriage
Thuro is a Widows' Protective league at
South St. Louis, with a rather odd purpose
tho prevention of murriuges. Thu fuel
thai thu members have all had experience
lu matrimony might lead one to infer tluit
they hud found tho dual existence 1111 un
pleasant one, but such is not tho case, for a
majority testify and those who know them
well bear them out that their former
partners lu llfo woru congenial. Tho pur
pose of tho society Is to promote good-ful-lowBhlp
among widows uud to form a
mutual beuellt Insurance company from Its
membership. Organl.ed less than u mouth
ago, It now numbers upward of llfty mem
bers. Tho project was llrst conceived by Mrs.
Caro.luo Heuss, who is known on tho south
side us thu "universal secretary." Mrs.
Heuss is a club woman in tho broadest
sitiso of tho word. Her lifu Is given up to
ttio societies, clubs, associations, bunds ami
verelnen of which slio is secretary.
On tho llrst of January Mrs. Heuss railed
lu her bosom friends, all of whom are
mi tubers of societies, and consulted with
them as to how It would bu possible to form
nu association of women us a sororal In
surance company without any possibility of
tholr having to pay assessments on tho
death of men. Tho South St. Louis
Widows' Protective league was thu rusult of
this conference.
Just at present the society Is In n
formative stnto. Tho chapter will not close
until tho membership bus reached 100.
When their plans are so far matured the
members will Incorporate. Then 011 thu
death of any member of thu society $.10 will
be paid out of the tieasury toward funeral
expenses, nnd, during sickness, $:i will be
allowed each week. Hut this allowance will
not bo extended to any member on a
second or third Illness within one year.
Under present conditions, tho members
not yet having Incorporated, thoro Is only
an understanding that In ease of tho dentil
HUINS OF MKDICAL HUILDINO AKTKU
of any mombor a general assessment of ,r,0
cents ench will Imi lovled toward defraying
funeral expenses. Thoro will bo no sick
money before the membership reaches 100,
At present tho maximum age limit is r,,'
years, hut this Ih to bo lowered to no years
after Incorporation.
No men will bo permitted to participate
In oven tho Hinnllest of thu league's recep
tions. And any mombor of the lenguo who
so far recants ns to marry again will have
her name stricken from the rolls nnd bu
excluded from future fellowshln, even
should alio once more become eligible.
HHiHHiHRBiBc3flZRT3Z?HvH
'I .wl!3MIBBBBiBIBBBIiBBiBBBiBBIHBBBiWBWIWKfcKjKyv
H BHkb -SUSS'
V K l.eary
M 1. Hulllvuii .1 A Kgnn
J A lionnowlts!
CHKMIHTON UNIVHUSITV OUATOUICAL ASSOCIATION
TKAM DF.HATF.S WITH MAXWF.LL THA.M OK UNI
VHUSITY OK NIOHUASK A A'P LINCOLN. IN APHIL.
Beauty Contest For
Kentucky has had a beauty contest. Ken
tucky where woman has beun moru than
queen since thu dark nnd bloody ground
was only a big county of Virginia; where
oven the Indian squaws of the period an
tedating, because of their comeliness, weio
shown more respect by tho wurrlors of the
tribes than in any other section of the
great American wilderness; where the
name woman bus been 11 synonym for
beauty trout thu time when tho blue grass
star was added to the llrmuiient of Old
(! lory.
It wns a contest worthy thu name, a con
test deserving thu while of ueii Kentucky,
thu commonwealth that gae to the United
Status in thu only grunt Internal contest of
Its history thu two lenders Lincoln and
Davis; the commonwealth that has had
within Its borduis political contests than
which none warmer nor more disastrous
woru ever waged. Thu latest contest, how
ever, was mil lu the least sanguinary, in
deed, it might have been called "a battle
of thu loses," for houquuls supplanted bul
lets. Curtain It Is that a pretty bunch of
buds Iti the outcome.
Indirectly thu holding of thu twonly
olghth triennial emit lave of Knights
Templar of America In Louisville next
August Is responsible for this contest,
writes a correspondent of the Chicago
Chronicle. When at I'lttsburg in IS'.iS tho
grand encampment of the order accepted
1111 Invitation to come to tho Kails City dur
ing the llrst year of thu twentieth century,
thu committee of KcntuckiiiliB then present
promised thosu who would attend the gath
ering an Introduction, among other things,
to the stuto's three graces -fast horses,
lino whisky and fair women.
As thu greatest of these is fair women,
their part in the meeting wns first consid
ered, lu consequence of which thu Louisville
knlgh'K hit upon tlm happy bleu of having
spoiiHirs leptes'i'iit the n-vera' eoiumamler-
ItHCUNT FIUH AT UNIVKUSITV OF IOWA.
les of Kentucky. Kach Templar organiza
tion was asked to appoint from Kb roaliii the
most beautiful girl there to bo found. This
was six months ago. In Homo sections of
tho country hucIi 11 length of time would not
ho necessary. In Kentucky, where no
woman la ugly, where all possess at IciiHt
ono nttractlvo feature some resemblance!
to Snlllo Word, that blue grass woman who,
though long Blnco dead, occupies a promi
nent plnco In a current monthly In a scries
of nrtlclcs on famous American beauties -II
Ih different,
ICvory woman unmarried wns eligible,
Unmarried Women
which Is to say that thu contest was ho
twoon debutantes ami their younger sisters
Kentucky ban no old maids. Out of school
moans into matrimony. It Is never a dearth,
but rather a deluge, of suitors (Salllo Ward
was married four times). Thu piodlcament
of tho Kentucky knights may bo Imagined
Naturally chivalrous, such demands 011
them mudo of each a moid gallant southron.
It would havo been 11 pleasant task to
havo named all thu pretty women of the
statu sponsors tho entire feminine popula
tion would have been Included -but to imiko
tvonty-llvo selections from such nil nrray
of beauty us has thu state which gave
Kngland Us present dowager duchess or
.Marlborough and keep tho man thousands
not honored lu blissful Ignorance of tho fact
that they loo had entered Into (he contest
was a problem Hint Solomon himself would
have hesitated In thu solving. The wisdom
of this king of Israel. In tho building of
whoso temples was laid the foundation of
Masonry, of which Templarlsin Is tho York
branch, really did enter Into the settlement
of the dllllculty they fueed.
Thulr salvation lay In secrecy. Ah tho
keystone had been the sphinx to tho work
men on Solomon's temple, II now exer
cised Its lulliieuce In sealing tho lips of
those who held It sacred ns an emblem.
Thu knights found relief in seclusion. Be
hind closed doors tho conllicl was carried
011. In the hallowed precincts of tholr
asylums they named the ones nil delight
to honor and the world Is none tho wiser
as to those who wero not chosen.
Tho context, from the day the llrst com
inandery announced Its representative, litis
created much Interest. There's a eharin In
mystery uud It made Itself deeply felt 111
this ease. In some Instances thoro wero
four or live adjournments before thu Hpon
porwns miiiKd. O110 Louisville enmmnndory
to arrive at a conclusion llnally resolved
to leave the matter to 11 committee of
twelve, thereby decreasing the number of
young women championed proportionately
with the accredited voters. At Howling
Oroen thu commuudery surmounted nil ob
stacle by naming 11 sponsor ami an alter
nate. I'ractlcully oveiy commaudery had
Its troubles.
Thu list complete includes many of the
most attractive young women In Kentucky.
Pretty of face and llgure. vivacious and
winning, bright ami willy, they will sustain
tho slate's reputation for beauty ami grace
lu thu position they have been called upon
to 1111. There are some whom (ilbson could
study with prolll to his sketches; othors
who would bu the admiration of Parlslnn
modlBtes, so perfect are they In form; a
half score or more who would have been
tho envy of Mine. Hecainler had limy lived
lu Franco during the hiHt days of the em
pire, because of that faultless complexion
Kentucky zephyrs and Kentucky skies give
to her daughters.
They represent tho old southern families
of which tho stnto Ih proud. A few are yet
III (ho best schools or the land; tho others
are grnduates or the country's most noted
colleges for women. Foreign travel dur
ing vacations, added to a homo training
distinctly Kentiieklun. has made brilliant
conversationalists of them.
Over the Road
Detroit Journal: Thu Leghorn Cockerel
knew another.
"Why docs a hen go over tho road?" ho
linked.
"Perhaps," observed tho Plymouth Hock,
whoso notions of propriety wero naturally
puritanical, "she has stolen a nest!"
At this the Leghorn Cockerel propounded
IiIh onlgmn anew, Hpeclfylng that ho had
reference to going over tho road. In tho
literal rathor than tho ilguratlvo or penal
sonae,