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•M JOHNSTON IVfrgy K- fflf JrtM y ON "EH RIGHT, AND MR. CASSATT WOKING y/
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THE Maryland-'Virginia pe»<asula
and the eastern tart of Mary
land have feeen gtrd'.s
sections, their vegetable! and
fruits going io meet, the demands of the
New York, Philadelphia ind Boston
markets.
Thirty years and more ago the prci>-
lem of how to get the products of these
Regions to market quickly becam- ex
ceedingly acute. At that time the method
followed v,-is to transport the food stuffs
to Baltimore, or some other port on the
Chesapeake, ari thence despatch them
nc.-th by rail, This wis a slow and
roundabout method, to say the least, and
a result none of the fruits and vege
tables got to market in the first blush
o: ipeness, and more than one cargo
td daily. Norfolk wa.s the natural
••<1 c>: point for quick service, but
, across the Chesapeake from the
i;. ,-t cit «*, to »k : -t tfce Bay meant
ion of v*l#«Me tissue.
>« for fa* fea&amria, railroad con
»•*««<# m &.* kordsj e.4 I>tl
in/.t, o* t kit Wtsfuimi iir.«
Frora DeL«a*r to Cape Charles, *t the
fcp oi tfc>> yes&aaslt, t>« dictaaee U scaaety
mile*. Tfce fctri yonetiiail problesn it
fore tfce B»des* anient??* 1® tramspor
tat ion nitteri-~tie railroad men—was
how to tas both regions in os* and the
time way for qusck handling of their
pre <dvt*i
Oes rfty, lesi than years
ago, » *ll* who Htd retired from «c&?e
railroad eanagsseeat but % few weeks
beifcr t pmtntti kimtelS to a fritad, the
lea Vr- : rra L Scott, tad said;
'"'Let's build * railroad tem Delmar
to Cay« Charles *»d connect with Ncr
-so!k rjtA FcrtSincirfe by boat' 1
"V«ty replied Mr Scott; "bit
ko"» «nll r ''«- joiif freight iofou
Checa(f**&9 Bay <w#4&
"W» srfSl laziti and fait
erwjt4a? 6sgs tfc'-i "wll transfer loaded
tratee across tfc* hty," was the answer.
"Bat the distance is thirty-six miles,
and the bay at times is rougher than the
English Cha':ael," objected Mr. Scott.
"We can build the boats strong
enough an i equip them with engines of
suflF:.ent power to make the run in three
hours,'" w»s tfci confident rejoinder.
The upshot of the matter was that
Mr. Scott became speedily convinced of
th* feasibility of the scheme, and with
money from his private hank account a*d
thst o? the p'?.n ! t promoter, the New
York, Philadelphia as 2 N<srfe«k &.ailrc««d
was Vxit
Tfc« other ma—fie wio est
the way to jut fruit, padred the afternoon
before in Virgins*. cm fte breakfast tables
of New Yorkers—wta A. J. Cassatt,
President of tfce Feaasylvania Railroad,
Like other railroad wen, Mr. Cassatt
recognbed that tVe idea! route for juick
service lay over the waters of the Chesa
peake Pay ft on. Norfolk, and thessce up
the peninsula fry r*il to the cities to the
north But, unlike bis brethren, he did
not balk at the thought that such a long
ferry service had never been undertaken.
Instead, when he found himself at com
parative V'sure, he set about designing
boats that would perform this difficult
transfer service, and when be feh that
he had secured the right sort of design,
he had his interview with Mr. Scott.
Suffice it to say 'hat these boats have
beer carrying the "Berry Express" across
Chesapeake Bay ever since, with remark
able promptness, and that the same sys
>•— »—» •- -vat-inr on Lake Baikal,
L "PICTORIAL.COLOR AND MAGAZINE SECTION"
li?
HThe Cameron County Press.
% EMPORIUM, PA., AUGUST 16, 1906.
r f li
in connection with the Trans-Siberiar
Railway, tad on the Great Lakes as well
GETTING CONTROL OF A RAILROAD.
The highly dramatic man«er in which
Mr. Cassatt secured control of the Phila
delphia, Washington & RaltunD.-e rail
road-sometime since renamed the Phila
delphia., Baltimore and Washington—is
furtner illustrative of the characteristic
of boldness that has marked his railroad
career almost from its beginning
La 187s the P. W„ It B. w*» owned
by e group of New England capitalists
«ad w*» operated by them in the inter
ests of the Pennsylvania. Robert Gar
rett, then the big man of the Baltimore
& Ohio, coveted the road as a means of
reaching New York, and quietly set
agents to work to purchase a controlling
interest in the property. So graat was
his jubilation when he became convinced
that this had been done that he boast
fully announced one morning to Mr.
George B. Roberts, of the Pennsylvania,
what he had accomplished, adding: "We
are not disposed, however, to disturb
your relations with the property, and
ycu need not give yourself acv uneasi
ness on that score."
In fcte mail hours of the following
norniAj tfce directors of tbe Pennsyl
vania railroad, called in hurried meeting
in New York City, hriro from Mr. Cas
satt that the P. W. % B. ■was their prop
erty and not Mr. Garrett's. He bad
discovered, in the few hours that had
elapsed since Mr. Garrett's boast ; that
that usually shrewd gentleman had over
looked a certain bloclc of stock, on the
possession of which control of the road
hinged. This he had bought—and Mr.
Garrett was nursing a delusive victory.
Then and there a check for this stock,
in amount $14,949,052.20, changed hands.
It retrained for teveral years the largest
check ever drawn in a single financial
transaction Whenever Mr. Cassatt
walks into the treasury of ,jhe Pennsyl
vania, all he has to do to see the check
is to cast his eyes towards a certain
vail of the treasury, where it has hung
since it served its purpose.
In the soft coa! investigation before
the Interstate Commerce Commission
• tnvcfc .». v ■ . ..'rt
'• lie In tit: »•>-..>. '.
t teretts scheme entered -'nta •
- sylvacia «nd {&« Kr* Y. •> Ceair*! I+t
e the regulation of traffic T&is '5 another
1 bold bif oi ongi'ai! railroading fcr> Mr.
'• Cassait.
When he became President of the
. Pennsylvania in 1899, following the
• death of Frank Thomson, the eastern
t railroads were catting cne another s and
1 their own throats in a wild war for
- freight traffic. This was especially true
- as regards the coal business. A traffic
: association, formed by the railroads to
1 put a stop to the warfare, having been
• declared illegal by the courts and subse
quently dissolved, all the railroads in
question were at a loss for a way in
1 which to end the suicidal struggle.
i i mi i ■ M»n——
It r«ruir.ex! tor Mr. Cassatt to find
I *■.' « B'jy a dominating interest
1 f» the roads, was his plan. He then
! rr iids an agreement v-ith the New York
Central people for them to dominate the
bard-coal properties; the Pennsylvania
would do the same by its rival soft coal
: roads, arid the two would work together
: for the good of both and all. Thus, the
i Baltimore fir Ohio, the Chesapeake &
Ohio and the Norfolk & Western came
• to take orders from the office of Alex
ander Johnston Cassatt. Later the Penn
sylvania also secured domination over ]
the Philadelphia & Reading, a hard coal j
property. The Central agreed to this, {
since the Reading is more a rival of
the Pennsylvania than of the Central.
'I he Vandalia lines, the Pittsburg, Fort
Wayne & Chicago, and the Cleveland, '
Cincinnati, i Si Lc -,is aomplete
the list of properties dorr»ii2ate»i fey the
Pennsylvania under this community of
interests plan. The Long Island rail
road, properly speaking, is not domi
nated; it is owned outright, a majority
of tbe stock being in the Pennsylvania's
strong boxes. Mr. Cassatt purchased
the road to insure, for al! time, ample
docking facilities on the Atlantic to the I
Pennsylvania.
During Mr. Cassatt's regime the
Pennsylvania's holdings in other roads
has increased enormously, reaching the
grand total of more than $331,000,000, v
par value. The cost of all this was about a
$94000,000 less. V
By direction of Mr. Cassatt the Penn- hi
sylvania has undertaken to get into New tl
York City and out of it through tun- P
1 w 1 11 '""n ■■■■nnr> iiiiwi'ii
nels under two rivers and the city it
self. More, it is going into New Eng
land by an all-rail route. He instituted
thr plan, now widely spread amo:ig oui
railroads, of retiring and pensioning all
employes when the age of seventy is
reached. He secured control of the
Pennsylvania Steel Company, and the
railroad thus became the maker of its
own steel rails. He has pushed almost
to completion the four-tracking of the
Pennsylvania all the way from Philadel
phia to Pittsburg, despite the fact feat
west of Harrisbu'-g this has requntd en
tire mountains to bt rtanoved. He h»»
pouted out other millions of trior ev for
tolling stock; when he gave the word
work was begun on the new Unu in sta
tion now nearing completion in Wash
ington; his whole course as President of
the Pennsylvania has been diame :rically
opposite to the traditional one for a
Pennsylvania president. From being the
most conservative of American roads,
under him the Pennsylvania has become
what may be termed radical, fo: want
. of a better word. And yet, for . ill this
overturning of old, settled policies, pub
j lie confidence in the road remai is un
shaken and every loan that its a: ;ks for
I *n order to carry on its vas* in .prove -
meats is tnit-Jata op with avidity Jwat
*®o t.lrcad A of fifty null, |>n <£ol-
Ust wtJ f®ceotl? placed in Fraaicje.
®A»® Work won his sucarjss.
M; Tassatt began his career with the
Pennsylvania as rodman. That 'Was in
the opening year of the Civil War.! After
two years of tramping over a goodly
portion of Centra! Pennsylvania !»e was !
assigned to the engineering corps, and
as an assistant engineer helped cc > build
the Connecting Railway, !inkin|g the
Pennsylvania to the Philadelphia & Tren
ton. Here he attracted the attention of
his superiors, and in 1864, whum the
Pennsylvania got control of the PI liladel
pliia & Erie, was transferred to Kenovo
as resident engineer of the mid< lie di
vision. Next, he was superintend*; nt, for .
a short time, of a subsidiary ro; id, the j
Warren & Franklin. In April of 1566 J
ie was transferred to Williamspor t, with
[lie title of Superintendent of Motive 1
Power and Machinery of the PI liladel ]
I, 1,,, -
phia & Erie Railroad. A year and a half
later he was given a like position with
d the Pennsylvania, with headquarters at
ir Altoona. L-ess than two years and a half
11 after this he was made General Superin
s tendent of the road, and a little more <
c than a year later, following the leasing of
e the United Railroads cf New Jersey, he
3 became General Manager of all th
't Pennsylvania lines east of Pittsburg. He
e was the first to hold this office, and as
- such he was stationed tn Philadelphia,
■t the home of the Pennsylvania, for the
i- first trine.
* Oae of the things he did aj General
1 Manager was to aid in the establishment
i of the through passenger car service be
- tween different cities, even where several
" roads have to be used. On his own
f road he introduced the track tank, one
y of the devices that makes the "flyer"
I possible. He also equipped it with the
- block signal system and hammered into
> the road's thousands of employes that
5 discipline and politeness for which they
t are justly famed.
5 In July of 1874, on the death of Presi
" dent J Edgar Thomson, Mr. Cassatt got
bis reward in promotion to Third Vice
j president. Sis years later, when Colonel
* j Thccma A. Sect*, fee famous war rail-
I I road*", under wkom Mr. Cassatt was
1 jfcralsed, retired, frcaa presidency and
fee Fir*! Vr.e-preirdtfflts George E Rob
erts succeeded him, Mr. Cas3att
£«♦'> Mr. Roberts* oH jlacv Here he
remained until September .30, 1882, when
he resigned. He set down in his let'
of resignation:
"My only object in taking this
: to have more time at. my disp'
any one occupying so respenr
sition in railroad management c;>..
mand. If I were to remain in act.
railroad life, I could not desire a position
more agreeable to me than the one I
now occupy, nor would I be willing to
connect myself with any other company
thar the one in whose service more than
twenty-one years of my life have been
passed."
MOlir.r FASMER AND CITIZEN,
"Mr. Cassatt was forty-two when he
retired. He was in his sixtieth year when
he asrain took up active railroad work