4 Conservative *
XKIIIIASKA'S KAII VAY ItOLI. OF
1IONOK.
Besides corn , barley , onts , rye nml the
best wheat-grain of botli spring and
winter variety , fruit small and large ,
and many other strong products for sup
plying ever increasing human wants
and necessities , this state is opulent in
strong men and good women. It is like
wise prolific in putting the finish on
adopted sons and daughters by the joint
agency of a peerless climate and the un
conquerable spirit of a pushing , ener
getic and progressive people. Proof of
this higher capacity for achievement is
found in every walk of the Nebraska
life , in all occupations and among all
classes and conditions. But in no field
of endeavor has the state won a better
harvest of successful manhood than is
found in the record of those stout men
who have risen to national distinction in
the higher railway circles of the country
by their labors in this transmissouri
field of railway development. To do
full justice to their labors and lives
would require a volume.
Beginning with S. H. H. Clark , Wil
liam B. Strong and George L. Bradbuiy ,
we find each and all clinging to the
lower rung of the ladder with the advent
of the Union Pacific and Chicago &
Northwestern into the Missouri Valley.
Each one of them began with pick and
shovel or as obscure local freight or pass
enger agents. Clark was the precocious
child of Sidney Dillon , Fred Ames and
Jay Gould. Strong and Bradbury sim
ply "growed , " like Topsy. Clark rose
from the ties and rails to the service of
a generation in the great Union Pacific
and Missouri Pacific systems. Strong
passed a local service in Council Bluffs
for the Northwestern to the post of gen
eral manager of the C. B. & Q. , thence
to the same high place in the Michigan
Central , and crowned his swift and bril
liant career as president of the Santa Fe ,
whose ambition it seemed to be to con
trol "the rest of mankind , " while Brad
bury dug his lone-handed way to the
confidence of such men as Calvin S.
Brice , and is now vice president and
general manager of the Erie and West
ern system. Nebraska o/one , added to
good blood , did it before the new state
began to stretch itself out with its own
native sons to show what it could do in
producing railway stars of the first mag
nitude of its own.
And now we come to George W.
Holdrege who had to get into this in
spiring region for finishing himself up
into a genuine prize for the B. & M. A
poor and unknown young man , ho
drifted into the service of this railway
and under the eye of Charles E. Perkins ,
one of the few great business men of the
world. Beginning in the lower service
he rose to the head of the great road ,
and for many years has been its always
alert and always able general manager.
It remains to tell the story of the rise
of three young men who belong to this
remarkable category who were pushed
and polished into eminence in the rail
way circles of the country during a few
years of service in the Union Pacific.
The first of these brilliant young men is
Mr. Samuel R. Galloway , who became
general manager of the Union Pacific
about the time Charles Francis Adams
became its president. Circumstances
which in no way discredited Mr. Gallo
way compelled his resignation , at a time ,
and under personal conditions which
were very trying to this young man.
Ho left Omaha with the resolution of a
.strong heart and a clear head. We soon
find him at the head of the Toledo &
St. Louis. His great character and abil
ities attract the attention of the Vander-
bilts and he is translated into president
of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern.
In less than a year afterwards this man
of facts and quality succeeds Chauncey
M. Depew as president of the New York
Central & Hudson River , with his big
head as level as it always was in his
great calling.
But the end is not j'et. President
Mellen , of the Northern Pacific system
graduated as a clerk in the auditor's
office of the Union Pacific , and returned
to his native New England , and into
the service in some responsible capacity
in the New York & New Haven rail
road. Not long ago Mr. Pierrepont Mor
gan summoned Mr. Mellen to the tele
phone , when something like the follow
ing telephonic conversation occured :
Mr. Morgan "Is this Mr. Mellen ? "
Mr. Mellen "Yes , sir. "
Mr. Morgan "Will you accept the
presidency of the Northern Pacific rail
road on condition that you will carry
out the policy and execute the orders of
its directors ? "
Mr. Mellen "Yes , sir. "
Mr. Morgan "When can you leave ? "
Mr. Mellen "Tomorrow , if neces
sary. "
Mr. Morgan "Make your arrange
ments accordingly and come to New
York at once. "
President Melleu , the Union Pacific
clerk , is today at the head of one of the
great railway systems of the United
States.
Nor is the end yet. Horace G. Burt
steps out upon the canvas in this picture
a reflection of the sagacious Hughitt of
the Northwestern. From an humble
and hard start on the lower rungs of the
long ladder , this strong and able man
came among us as the head of the Fre
mont & Elkhorn Valley railway. He
was soon wanted at the head of the
Northwestern instead of at the tail.
Scarcely had he got warm in his seat before -
fore ho was recalled from his new ad
vancement to rise higher as president of
the Union Pacific which ho now adorns
with his remarkable abilities and
strength of character.
The stalwart Dickinson entered the
railway arena from the cellar floor , so to
say , and with abilities that have marked
his responsible career at every step he
has grown to national prominence in
the service of the Union Pacific. Called
for a season to the Baltimore & Ohio ,
he was so important to the Union Pa
cific that after the Adams eructation , ho
returned to his native heath , and , as
general manager of this great , system ,
he continues to enjoy unbounded per
sonal popularity and is everybody's peer
in the railway work and world.
And now comes George F. Bidwell , of
the Fremont & Elkhorn , succeeding
President Burt , of the Union Pacific , a
bright-headed product of the North
western system , who hasn't much
room to grow any larger than he was
when he came to us , but this sound man
and accomplished gentleman has a place
in our railway roll of honor which is
creditable and honorable to the state , to
which he is being warmly welcomed by
its foremost men.
And this is the royal roll of honor
which Nebraska has produced in the
higher railway world of this country
since the advent of the iron rail and lo
comotive upon the west bank of the
Missouri river. That it is a long and
brilliant list of brave , trno and able
men goes without saying , and every
sound-minded citizen of the state is
proud of them.
A ° f
CITY CHICKENS.
tors to the country
were very much interested last summer
by the remarks of some New York chil
dren , sent out by the fresh-air fund for
a week or two in the country. There
were quite a number of them playing
about a pretty farm-house one day ,
when and began
some passers-by stopped
gan to talk to them. "Did you ever see
any chickens before ? " asked one lady ,
as a flock of fowls came strutting
down the lawn. "Oh , yes , " said one of
the eldest , wisely , with a knowing shake
of his head " ' '
, "we've always seen'em
lots only generally it was after they
was peeled. " Argonaut.
When President Cleveland in order
to ascertain certainly what conditions
confronted the United States at Honolulu
lulu , when annexation of the Hawaiian
Islands was talked about sent a single
commissioner there to make diligent
inquiry and report , ho was unsparingly
consxired by the same newspapers which
now commend President McKinley for
sending five commissioners to Manila to
report upon conditions in the Philip
pine Islands.
Times have changed. One commis
sioner by Cleveland was wicked , per
verse and intolerable. But five commis
sioners by McKinley are a patriotic ne
cessity. Paramount Blount and the
usurpation of his appointment are no
longer a topic of wrathfulness among
the disciples of protection and expansion.