\ \ ; i
Conservative.
moisture now supports n vast number of
trees which nclorii this beautiful valley.
The Uintah and Wnsatch mountains are
covered at present with a heavy snow
fall and more than two feet fell in the
basin within the last month and all of
it must drain into the basin this season
which will improve the stage of water
which was last season the lowest for
many years.
"This subject is one of unusual inter
est and I thought you might take an
interest in it through THE CONSERVA
TIVE. I will try later on to supply you
with facts on the subject. I was west
of Great Bend , Kansas , when your train
went by the other day , and I thought
maybe you might come back through
Salt Lake City and would like this
suggestion.
"Hoping you will enjoy your Califor
nia trip. Yours truly ,
"W. P. ANDERSON . "
NEBRASKA'S KAIL.WAY HOLL. OF
IIONOIl.
Closing the record in the last issue of
THE CONSERVATIVE with the name of
William B. Doddridgo among the gen
eral manngers of our own and other
railways of the country , it now gives it
pleasure to extend the "Railway Roll of
Honor , " to which Nebraska has so gen
erously contributed to a trio of men of
mark upon whom has devolved even a
higher responsibility than that of merely
executive service in the management of
railways which belong to their general
managers. It refers to the traffic de
partment , from which earnings are de
rived , through which dividends are de
clared , and from which means for cur
rent operating expenses are provided.
This is the freight traffic department ,
and it means no reflection upon either
the executive or passenger departments
when it is said that this , of all other
branches into which railway service is
subdivided under our present systems ,
is the one which is most jealously
watched and guarded. It follows ,
therefore , that men charged with the
vast interests of general freight man
agement on the great lines of road must
of necessity be men of the best ability
and training.
John A. Mmiroe.
The general traffic manager of the
Union Pacific railway began his work
in Omaha sixteen years ago and , through
all trials and changes of control and
business , holds his place today honored
and respected by all who know him as a
man of marked ability and force. Mr.
Muuroo is literally a born railroad man.
He is a New Euglander , a Dartmouth
collegiate , and is one of the many men
whom the higher education did not dis
qualify for practical business. His
early boyhood found him in Bradford ,
Mass. , a little town on the line of the
Boston & Maine railway. The boy
seemed to have unconsciously selected
the future occupation of the man by
feeling a deep interest in the locomotive
and other elements of railroading. Fal
ling in love with the iron horses as they
moved to and fro with the trains , ab
sorbing interest in them grow upon him ,
insomuch that ho made a record of their
names , and could distinguish them by
the sound of their whistles and bells.
This kind of devotion to the locomotive
and the trains naturally led to a general
acquaintance with the engineers and
conductors , and also with the officers of
the local line , from whom ho caught the
spirit of the lives of railroad men , and
which he has never lost.
Mr. Munroo began his railroad life at
the foot of the ladder as a clerk in the
general freight and passenger depart
ments of the Green Bay & Minnesota
railroad at Green Bay , Wisconsin. Ad
vancing step by step from officeboy up
wards through clerkships and account
ing duties in all branches of the freight
and passenger service , 1878 found him at
the the head of the freight department
as chief clerk. Resigning this place to
locate elsewhere , he was appointed first
acting general freight agent , and after
ward general freight agent , which he
held until 1881 , when he resigned to ac
cept service with the Chicago , St. Paul ,
Minneapolis & Omaha railroad as general
freight agent , headquarters in Omaha ,
his duties having special reference to
the Nebraska division of that road. The
next year he was called to Minneapolis
as assistant general traffic manager of
the same road , but as if his permanent
future to be hero had been ordained , in
December of the same year he resigned
to accept the place of assistant general
freight agent of the Union Pacific.
Two years later , 1884 , ho was made first
assistant general freight agent of the
U. P. R. R. , and was transferred to
Kansas City that ho might give special
attention to the Kansas divisions of the
road. But these lower places , honor
able and responsible as they were , were
not largo enough for the now trained
abilities and capacity of Mr. Munroe ,
and in January , 1880 , ho returned to
Omaha and was placed at the head of
the freight interests of the greatest
railroad on earth with the title of freight
traffic manager , where ho has remained
since and to which ho devotes the ener
gies of a man of rare character and
ability. That he has earned his way
to this high place the record of his
steady ascent of the * ailroad ladder
amply shows. That he enjoys the con
fidence of his chiefs goes without saying ,
but it must bo added that , in his per
sonal life and relations , ho is one of the
most engaging and popular men Omaha
and the trans-Missouri country has ever
known.
In a future issue of TIIE CONSERVA
TIVE we hope to have the data for fur
ther record in its "railway roll of
honor. "
PECKSNIFF , CIIAD1IANI ) , OH MI-
CAWUEK ?
Leaving aside the ethical and moral
questions involved in forcibly annexing
the Philippines , the American people
seem to bo losing their sense of humor.
The curious position into which the coun
try has been dragged by the administra
tion is calculated to cause Homeric
laughter throughout the world a coun
try which has always professed to be
"the asylum of the oppressed of every
nation , kindred and tongue , " which has
always prided itself on giving at least
moral support to other peoples strug
gling for liberty , which has sympathized
with every oppressed nation from the
Greeks at Navarino , in 1821 , down to
the Cubans who were struggling for in
dependence in 1898. Yet this country is
now engaged in attempting to "liberate"
the Filipinos against their wills.
This situation has been aptly put in
Senator Vest's comments on President
McKinley's Boston speech the other day.
President McKiuley , according to Sena
tor Vest " there has been
, "says no dispo
sition to exercise the power of conquest ;
that the people of the United States are
called upon now under an omnipotent
Providence to dispose of the ropousibili-
ties placed on them by accident of bat
tle. " Senator Vest does not like Presi
dent McKinley's assumption that he is
an instrument of Providence. ' ' He com
pares the president to that eminent di
vine in "Bleak House , " who lays his
hands upon Poor Joe and says to him :
' ' ' with and I
'Young man , come me
will do you good. ' 'Let me alone , " cries
the vagrant ; 'let me alone ; take your
hands off me. ' In solemn and sepulchral
tones the Rov. Mr. Chadbaud replied :
'Young man , I will not take my hand
from your shoulder. I am a toiler and a
moiler and I intend to do you good in
spite of yourself. '
" 'So , ' continued Vest , 'it is with the
president. He places a hand on the
shoulder of the Filipino and says , 'I am
a toiler and a moiler and I intend to
save you in spite of yourself. ' And he
wants one hundred thousand mission
aries with rifles to shoot his good resolu
tions into them. ' "
Senator Vest has certainly made a
veiy palpable hit. To refresh the mem
ories of those who may have forgotten
their Dickens , we may say that the Rev.
Mr. Chadband is described as a ' 'large
yellow man , with a fat smile , and a gen
eral appearance of having a good deal of
train-oil in his system. " One of the
most unctuous remarks of Mr. Chad-
band , which Senator Vest unfortunately
failed to find , we give :
"My friends * * peace be on this
house ! * * on the master thereof , on
the mistress thereof , on the young maid
ens , and on the young men. My friends ,
why do I wish for peace ? What is
peace ? Is it war ? No. Is it strife ?
No. Is it lovely and gentle and beauti
ful and pleasant and serene and joyful ?