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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1905)
26 v TIIE OMATTA DAILY HEE: SCXPAY, ATRIL in. 1003. P 8 ft i i es 'for GesiittS v-'' 'y'ir t':i?i'-V.2 .;o.& ItaiS- .A If" . j 1 SALE DESIGNED and MADE BY SCHLOSS BROS. & The Great Clothes Makers. CO. Are distinctive characteristic they carry the im press of the wearer's good taste gopd judgement. APPEARANCES go a gre'at way Clothes make the man First impressions are the best Clothes do it the right kind Our Clothes will Schloss garments of to-day maintain the superiority that has( made them pre-eminent for twenty-five yers. Every garment bearing the Schloss label is hand-made super iority tailored and warranted to be the best df its kind. We design we create our STYLES are copied by tailors everywhere Our Clothes are worn by the best dressers in the fashion centres of the world. ! NEW YORK, Our SPRING Suits Top Coats and Rain Coats are in endless variety The Royal three button Sack with broad shoulders full chested Smart but conservative Harvard three button straight Sack with corners slightly rounded. Double Breasted Sacks three button with broad swag ger mannish lapels. English Walking Coats-Cutaways Prince Alberts - every cut To Suit Every Form from the best looms of the world Foreign and Domestic Fabrics and such fabrics sym phonies in color Gray beautiful quaker gray chic dainty refined the English Salt and Peppers and the Saxony weaves, the Bannockburns, the quiet fawn overplaids the tans and ecrus and tracings of brown, harmonies of soft tones. This Label stands for Quality. Look for it in the Clothes you buy Gentlemen's Clothes must be stylish, becoming, well tailored, they must give you that, "well dressed" feeling, the moment you put them on and look well at all times. , Schloss Clothes show their clean-cut, "thorough-bred" lines the moment your eye rests on them, there is grace and style in their splen did proportions and perfect fit, the fabrics of pleasing color-tones, give richness and distinction hard to find. f Wholesale Draper : VS COPYRIGHTED 181 5 Dress Becomingly, we can fit your form, pleasingly, artisticly, be you short or stout, long or slim, young or mature, we have the newest and latest in nobby effects tor the young man and conser vative shapes and shadings for the maturer or quiet taste. PRICES SIO. to S40. Ask to see the SCHLOSS CLOTHES, they will appeal to you. AT THE LEADING CLO THIERS. AjfchsstsilMei J,.,, ' I I '"' I."" V" ."""""""I"' '''"" i mill www i i iiiiim i I . ,T II, J '. mil Miim inn .in ii mi .in .. , ,,,, i .1'. -(' ) 1 RE-MAKER OF BIG RAILROADS Magnitude of the' Operations of the Presi dent of the Union Pacific. CHARACTER SKETCH OF E. H. HARRIMAN Merger of Gigantic Extent Fought for and Some Accomplished 1 Vstory of Several Notable Hallread Deal. ;TJnder the headlrlg ."Harr'lman, Remuker of Railroad," RufUH Rockwell Wilson In Public Opinion sketches the characteristics nl . operations of the president of -the Union Paciflo as follows: ' ( ' ;Edward Henry Harrlman; a., swarthy, under-sited, taciturn man. tt 68, ' is today the; most potential figure In the "manage ment of American rail'wttya the undis puted master of a system stretohttig from the lakes to the western' ocean, with num berless branches In toe Shape of "feeding" lines tributary to it' In every direction along Its course. Although his present power and prominence have come to him In ,the last seven years, the foundation for them was laid with .signal ability and foresight more than a quarter of a cen tury ago. ills father, was a clergyman In New Jersey, who, If he did not endow his children with wealth or opportunity, be queathed them something ' better strong Intellect. The younger Harrlman came to- tyew York In his teens, went Into Wall street, and began his active career there as a broker. lie mastered 'the 'brokerage business without delay, but. its opportunities did not satisfy his active and creative mind, nnr was he content with the handsome gains which came to him In the way of com missions. Accordingly, he became a pri vate broker and organised a banking house, which luter passed over to his brother and cousin, with Nicholas Fish as-a special partner. This venture, thanks In- part to the prontuble clientage of Wil liam K. Vanderbllt, prospered from the first, and as time went on Mr. Harrlman became Identified with various small rail roads. It was '.during this period also that he . formed close business and personal relations with Stuyvesant Fish, who had been a member of the stock exchange, and was then anlaftuentlal official of the Illi nois Central railroad. When In 1887 Mr. Fish, at the instance of the foreign stock holders, who controlled It, assumed the presidency of that road, he induced Mr. Harrlman to enter its board of directors. The latter also served as vice president of the road for three years, and was Mr. Fish's right-hand man and most trusted adviser "In the extensions and leases which rounded out the Illinois Central Into a sys tem of 1.179 miles, financing most If not' all of the deal .which trebled its capi talisation sod. more than trebled Its earn ings. ;, - Expasaloii of Illinois Central. The Illinois Central, when they became dominant factors In Its management, ran from Chicago to New Orleaas, and from Chicago to Sioux City, with an entrance Into Bt. Louis and a few small feeders. One of Its most formidable rivals was the Louisville & Nashville, which had entrance into New Orleans, but no direct line be tween that city, Bt. Louis and Chreago. An Independent line ran from Memphis to New Orleans. In 1K2 Fish and Harrlman clev erly forestalled the Louisville A. Nashville In gaining control of It, and thus secured to the Illinois Central the only direct Highways between those cities. A year later they Invaded the territory of the Louisville at Nashville, and by gathering la the Chesapeake, Onto Southwestern Secured for the Illinois Central an entrance into Louisville, and with it command of a great volume of eastern and northern traffic which formerly hnd gone south over its rival. Nor did they rest content with clipping the wings of the Louisville & Nashville. The southern lines of the Illinois- Central were pushed into the coal and iron regions of Alabama, and a better outlet from St. Louis to the south secured by .the purchase of the St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute, while In 1900 the com pletion of a branch from Fort Dodge to Council Bluffs connected It with the Union Pacific by a bridge over the Missouri river Into Omaha. During the years In which, as chairman of the finance committee of the Illinois Cen tral he was helping his friend Fish to ex pand that road into the best equipped and most profitable system in the valley of the Mississippi, Mr. Harrlman grew steadily in wealth and In the en teem of the men whose respect and goodwill help to success In large affairs. He became a director in the Union Pacific, and formed close rela tions with Jacob H. Schiff and James Speyer, both leaders In the little group of private bankers whoso large command of domestic and foreign capital makes them the real rulers of Wall street. He was now tn a position to execute the far-reaching plans for railway acquisition and control which had long been taking shape In his mind, and the first of these became an ac complished fact when in the fall of 1S99 he carried through a deal for the purchase of the Chicago & Alton railroad. The Alton, under the management of T. B. Blackstone and his friends, who owned a majority of Its stock, was then a free lance in the rail road world, and a disturbing element In the adjustment and maintenance of rates. Several other companies coveted its, pos sessions, but gave up attempts to obtain it when they found that Blackstone would not sell his stock unless every shareholder was given tho privilege to sell at the same price a condition which called for $15,000,000 In cash. N Syndicating the Alton. The terms demanded by Blackstone, how ever, did not disturb Mr. Harrlman, who, after careful study of the field, formed a plan for the purchase of the Alton In the Interest of the several systems to which It would be of greatest use and value. The Missouri Pacific, controlled by George Oould, and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, dominated by John D. Rockefeller, have terminals hi Bt. Louis, which Is reached by the Alton, while the Alton's Kansas City line furnishes an outlet for the Illinois Central. The Alton also connects with the southern branch of the Union Pacific, and its future was therefore of direct concern to the group of capitalists headed by Mr. Schiff, who the year before had entered Into control' of the last named road. Using this community of Interest as a lever, Mr. Harrlman easily persuaded Gould, Rocke feller, Fish and Schiff to enter a syndicate for the purchase of the Alton, control of which should be retained by Its members, or else be held Jointly In the Interests of tbelr several roads. He pnld 112,000.000 rash for 95 per cent of the Alton stock. Then he refunded the old bonds of the road on a I per cent basis, and by the sale of new bonds Issued for Improvements cleared !,OiAO0O profit for the members of this syndicate. These things accomplished ho organized a new operating company, the Chicago Alton railway, which, after leas ing the old Alton railroad, issued $s!.000,X of new securities, divided about equally Into common stock, preferred stock and collateral trust bonds. The preferred stock and bonda sold for t33.O00.O0O In round fig ures, so that the control of the common stork, which carried with It control of a railroad occupying an Important strategic position, cost Mr. Harrlman and his asso ciates a little more than half of $9,000,000. These operations placed Mr. Harrlman In the front rank as a flnnmMvr, and they also gave him opportunity to demonstrate on n large scale that with him control of a rail road stood for good railroading. For years prior to 1R90 yie Alton had paid 7 and 8 per cent dividends, but those distributions hud been effected by indefensible economies. Bridges, tracks and rolling stock had been allowed to run down, and the road, as an expert tersely put It, had become "two streaks of rust and a right-of-way." Mr. IJarrimnn, as soon as he was made cholr mun of the board of directors of the new company, begun the work of mending these conditions. Samuel M. Felton, a railway constructionist of the first order of ability, was made president of the company. Fel ton bought fifty new locomotives and 6,000 cars of modern type, and then proceeded to rebuild the road, a division at a time. Grades were lowered, curves cut out, bridges rebuilt or eliminated, and heavy steel rails laid. The work of reconstruction extended over three years, and it cost 119, 000 a mile to accomplish it, but . It trans formed the Alton Into a speeding track across Illinois and Missouri; and the re turns have more than Justified the outlay. In 1SSS the Alton's average of tons per train was 187: the present average Is 3S7, while the freight and passenger earnings of the road show a steady and substantial Increase. Building Ip the I nlon Pacific. Mr. Harrimun's success In acquiring and rebuilding the Alton caused him without delay to be placed In charge of the Union Pacific us chairman of the executive com mittee of its board of directors. The L'nlon Pacific at that time had Just emerged from the shadows of a checkered and disastrous past. The first road to link the east with the Pacific, it had played a mighty part in the development of the west, but It had suffered from a succession of bad man agers, and had been burdened, besides, with a heavy load of debt. The government, after Its building, had lent It large sums of money, und these loans, with interest, amounted In 1S92 to $5:',0u0,o00. Congress re fused or neglected to frame a settlement that would remove this load of debt, and in 1893 the government foreclosed Its mort gage. Four years later it sold its share in the road for JT.8,000,000 to a syndicate which Included representatives of tho Gould anil Rockefeller Interests, Mr. Schiff of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., and Mr. Harrlman. Early in the following year the courts ap proved the sule, and the new owners took Hial and formal possession of the road, and with a large interest In the Oregon Short Line. The Union Paciflo finances were at once reorganized along lines laid out. it is said, by Mr. Harrlman, which gave It a new basis of credit and provided also for a future of expansion and consoli dation on a scale then undreamed of among financiers. One of the first fruits of this reorganisation was the purchase of what the road. He entered Into control with a firm belief In the earning power of the Union Pacific railroad, but believing had been the Kansas Pacific, from Kansas City to Denver. This was effected in Feb ruary, 1S98, and before the end of the year the Union Pacific secured the remaining stock of the Oregon Short Lino, then Its only outlet to the Pacific coast. Such wus the condition of the Union Pa cific, a condition he had done more than any other man to create, when, In 1S99, Mr. Harrlman became the directing spirit of also that to fully develop this earning power there must be further expansion of the system and a complete reconstruction of the parent line. In the work of recon struction he found an Ideal aide In Horace G. Hurt, then president of the Union Pacific, who bad already left his Impress as an engineer on the Chicago & Northwestern road. Bucked by the millions which Mr. Harrlman provided, Mr. Hurt assembled an army of contractors and laborers, equipped with machinery of a sort until fhen unknown In railway construction, and n less than two years, without a day's Interruption of traffic, rebuilt the line from end to end. Reaching the Const. Mr. Harriman had no sooner begun its rebuilding than he resolved to secure for it another and more southerly outlet to the Pacific. The Union Pacific proper ends at Ogden, whenco the Central Pacific runs to San Francisco. The late Collls P. Hunt ington then controlled both the Southern Pacific and the Central Pacific, and to him In the spring of 1900 went Mr. Harriman with an offer for the purchase of the latter road. This offer he rejected on the In stant. Ho would never, ho declared, let the Union Pacific Into California his own territory. Then proof was given him of the shrewdness and unresting purpose of the man whom his refusal had transformed into an antagonist. It was announced within a week that the Utah & Northern railroad had been Incorporated, to build from Salt Lake City to San Francisco. All of Its stock was owned by the Oregon Short Line, and it was to be the main line of the Union Pacific from Utah to the coast. Work was at once begun on the new road, and by tho summer of 1900 it had been pushed as fur south as the' Nevada stato line. Mr. Huntington, who had strangely over looked the fuct that, deprived of tho east ern connection afforded by the Union Pa cific, the Central Pacific would be a road stranded In the wilderness, was sadly pondering Mr. Hurrltnan's brilliant coun ter stroke, when In August of the year Just named death suddenly overtook him. Seven months later his holdings of South ern Pacllic, together with those of the Crocker and Stanford estates, were sold to the Union Pacific, which Issued bonds to pay for them. Thus at a single stroke Mr. Harrlmun added 9,621 miles to the Union Faciiic system, secured his coveted entrance Into San Francisco and became tho dominant railway factor in a territory reaching eastward from that city to the gulf of Mexico. Incidentally the Union Puclllc, through Its purchase of th South ern Pacific, obtained a direct water line from New Orleans to New York by the Morgan line of steamships, while shortly afterward, moved thereto by Mr.' Harrl mun, the Southern Pacific bought a ma jority iutcrert in the stock of the Vacillc Mail Steamship company, which owns steamships operating from ,San Francisco to the orient, thus opening to the Harrl man lines a vista of vast possibilities In Asiatic trade. In rrlinan'a Absolute Rule. Since lm no one lias arisen bold enough to dispute Mr. Harrimun's absolute rule in his realm. When, after securing posses sion of the Southern Pacillc and the Cen tral Pacific, he at once began rebuilding tho latter line, the work was planned on a large scale, and with a thoroughness that amazed more conservative railway men, yet In carrying It out he made short work of the ''its and feeble protests of his assoclal So heavy were the old grades over the oierra M-idre mountains near Reno that two engines were required to push short trains up the steep slopes, at a cost which wiped out a goodly part of the profit derived from the entire haul. The only remedy was a double tunnel through the mountains seven miles In length, and that called for an outlay of from i?,ouo,ooo to 115,000,0(0. Again. Mr. Harriman made short work of the fifty-two miles then lost by the Cen tral Parirlc In skirting Suit lake on the north over grades so steep and around curves so sharp that It took several hours to mike the detour. Collls P. Huntington, In an earlier time, planned to do away with these grades and curves by running the roud throurh the northern arm of Suit luke, but abandoned the Idea when his engineers Informed him that for several mi lea the mud In the lake ran down to a great depth. Mr. Harrlman was told the same story when he In turn grappled with the problem, but he was not to be swerved from his purpose to shorten the road nnd save time. He drew a line from Ogden straight across the lake nnd the desert to Lucin, Utah, and said to his directors and engineers: "Build It. The decreased cost of opera tion will warrant the expense." A Gigantic Ambition. Those who, from different motives, have studied Mr. Harriman's methods since he entered into control of the Union Pacific early made the discovery of the fact that his course was shaped by an ambition to build up a system that would lay at his feet the commerce of the whole Pacific coast. It was in pursuit of this ambition that he acquired the Oregon Short Line nnd the Southern Pacific. Then ho spread his empire into the north, and pushed in the outposts of the Burlington, the North ern Pacific antf the Great Northern, find ing new and profitable traffic for his lines in all of the states west of Nebraska. Finally, in 1901 he carried the fight for supremacy into the open. Early in that year James J. Hill, head of the Great Northern, and J. Plerpont Morgan, whose firm had for several years managed the finances of the Northern Pacific, Joined In a deal to buy for those roads Joint control of the Burlington. This deal was prompted by the belief that It would permanently strengthen the Great Northern and the Northern Pncific. Mr. Harriman demanded a uhare in it, and when Hill nnd Morgan refused his demand at once undertook to secure control of the Northern Pacific by buying Its stock in the open mnrket. Tlio fight that followed was a battle be tween giants. For three days the Morgan millions were pitted against the Harrlman millions In a battle for Northern Pacific stock so fierce that the price advanced by leaps and' bounds. Then Mr. Morgan's lieutenants, believing that they had se cured control of the property, ceased to buy. Mr. Harriman and his associates, moved by a like belief, quit the market at the same time, and called In the stock they had lent to those outsiders who, speculat ing on a fall in price, had sold stock they did not own, but had borrowed with a promise to return on demand. The panic that followed this calling of stock will be long remembered In Wnll street. Scores of men, cnlied upon to return the borrowed Stock they had sold, were compelled, In order to get It, to part with other securi ties at prices which involved a loss to their owners of $60,000,000 In a single day, while, In responso to the demand for Northern Pacific stock. Its price advanced so rapidly thut on May 9 several hundred chares changed hands at nearly Jl.Ouo a share. Historic Gathering. On Muy 11, at the call of Mr. Harrlman, there wus a historic gathering of financiers In his office. Charles Steele and Robert Bacon represented J. I'. Morgan & Co., Mr. Hill the Great Northern and Mr. Schiff and Mr. Harrlman the Union Purine. It was found that out of a total of I156.00n.0i0 Mr. Harrlman and his friends held J7S.000.000 worth of Northern Paclilc stock. But 141, -CO.OCO of the Hnrriman holdings was pre ferred stock, which, under the reorganiza tion plan of the Northern Puclfic, could be retired at any time. The Morgan and Hill , forces, on the other hand, held H2.O00.0OO of common stock, and this, should the pre- I ferred stock be retired, would assure them , control of the roud. Mr. Harrlman, too wise to resort to a fruitless' strugglo In the I rourts, consented to a compromise wherry I he became a director both of the Northern j Pacific and the B,urllngton. When In Oo- tober. 19!Jl. Mr. Morgan formed the North- j em Securities company, to own both the ' Great Northern and the Northern Pacific, 1 Mr. Harrlman exchanged his Northern Pa cific stock for the securities of tho new company. But when, In l'JU3, the supreme court decided that the Northern Securities t company had no legal right to exist, he de manded the return of this stock and scouted an offer of a pro rata share of all the stocks owned by the company. Tho result was a lnwsult which has Just been decided by the supreme court. Mr. Harriman's contention has not been sustained, but he and his friends remain holders of Northern Pacific shares of a par valuo of 33,O00,0C0. Out of the seven great routes by which freight and passengers are now carried from the mountains to the western coast J. J. Hill controls one absolutely, the Great Northern; Mr. Harriman, us has been seen, hna a largo Interest In the Northern Pacific and controls Union Pacific, Oregon Short Line and Central Pacific. The San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake railroad, which runs from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, was projected In 1901 by Senator William A. Clark of Montana, who, using the Den ver & Rio Grande as a feeder, thus de signed to bring Into the field a formidable rival to the Central Pacific. This design, however, Mr. Harrlman has nipped In the bud, for within the last few months a half Interest In the new route has been bought by the Union Pacific. Securing: the Santa Fe. The Santa Fe road has been pointed to for years as the one transcontinental sys tem that had not been "absorbed" by any big banking house or syndicate of railway magnates, and that took orders only from the men charged with the management of Its affairs. With terminals at Chicago and San Francisco and feeders reaching down to Galveston and Kl Paso, Its position In the railway field has been that of a sturdy Independent, taking business wherever It could find It und holding friendly relations with all, but entangling alliances with none of its neighbors. The Moores have coveted It as an addition to or Invaluable ally or the Rock Island system, which ends now ut El Paso, and James J. Hill and George J. Gould have likewise cast longing eyes in Its direction, but It remained for Mr. Harri man to bag one big apple still left on the railroad tree. This he accomplished In the closing days of last year by purchases which made him tho largest Individual holder of Santa Fe shares, and which, f they do not give him control of the road, render it Impossible for anyone else to se cure It. Including the Northern Pacific and Santa Fe, btit omitting the lines east of Omaha which he either owns or controls, Mr. Harriman's domain now bulks as fol lows : ; Railroads. MJIes. Capital. l'nlon Pacific and Oregon lines 6,105 $ 4S7,G39,6X7 Southern Puclfic und Cen tral Purine 0.621 frU!W.67 San Pedro route 1,1m) ffi.OOO.OOO Atchison, Topcka & Santa t e Mini 4:tQ,t;w, imj 5.1I7U 3aR,6K9,17S Northern Pacific Totals. .30,808 $1,!U5,762,323 A Lordly I '.nip I re. This Is In truth a lordly empire, and Mr. Harriman rules It with an Iron hand. Ho Is president not only of the Union Pa cific and Southern Pacific, but of nil their subsidiary companies. 11c Is president In fact as well ns In name, nnd executive committees and boards of directors meet J only to record their approval of his plana V"" and purposes. Year In and year out, ln his office at 120 Broadway, with a map of his entire railroad system before him, ha j tolls with the untiring energy of on elec- trio dynamo. No living man Is a 'mora 1 rapid thinker; decision and action go hand I In hand; and he will dispose lii an hour I of a mass of reports and correspondence I that another could not master in a day. i Indeed, his stf nographers work In relays, f and even then find It difficult to keep pace with him. And he Is ulways the man at the helm, nothing largo or small escaping his watchful eye. Physically this czar of railroads la small man, slight In build, nurrow-ebestod and delicate In appearance. He is simple In his tanteg and plain in his nttlre, his business dress invariably consisting of a sack suit, all of the same material, a low turnover collar and a small black how. His town residence is one of the block of houses on Madison avenue built by the late Henry Vlllard. nnd bin next door neighbor Is Whltelaw Reid, editor of the New York Tribune; but he lives most of his time on his great country estate near Ardin, In Orange county, where he finds as much de light In the rearing of fine stock and horses as does Mr. Morgun In yachting, Mr. Car negie In golfing or Mr Hill In tho collec tion of pictures. His wife, who wu a Misa Averlll, rould command by reason of her own family association a high social placa In New York, but for social delights of themselves. Mr. Harriman cures nothing. Nor has th" building of his railway empire left him any time fur them. d H LFlJ HIIIsbsssIbJHbJ Goodrich Garden BRANDS: Trenton, Artesian, Cascade, Whirlpool In both 3-4 and 1-2 Inch size. 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