ficient business. It is
closely identified with the personality of its notable and efficient
president, Daniel Willard, a conspicuous example of the modern type of
railroad manager. In the earlier days of railroading, and especially
in the long period which came to an end with the death of Harriman, the
typical railroad president was usually a man of great wealth who
had secured his position by owning a large financial interest in the
property. The country was full of "Wall Street Railroad Generals." But
in recent years the efficient railroad head has come more and more to
be the practical railroad man who has risen from the ranks, who has no
important personal financial interest in the property but who is paid
an adequate salary to operate a system in a purely businesslike way.
Notable examples of this modern type of railroad president are, besides
Daniel Willard, Edward P. Ripley of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa, Fe,
Benjamin F. Bush of the Missouri Pacific, and Fairfax Harrison of the
Southern.

The efficient management of today is abundantly shown in the recent
record of the Baltimore and Ohio. President Willard has been unmolested
by financial interests and has been continuously backed up in his
policies by the owners of the road. As a result the Baltimore and Ohio
of the present decade has reached an enviable position as one of
the great Eastern trunk lines, comparing well with other progressive
properties like the Pennsylvania, the New York Central, the Southern,
the Illinois Central, and the Louisville and Nashville. Millions have
been poured into the property in the past fifteen years; its main lines
have been largely rebuilt; its rolling stock is chiefly of the most
modern types; and its terminals and structures are such as modern
conditions demand.

CHAPTER VI. LINKING THE OCEANS

In 1862, when the charter was granted by the United States Government
for the construction of a railroad from Omaha to the Pacific coast,
the only States west of the Mississippi Valley in which any railroad
construction of importance existed were Iowa and Missouri. During the
three decades which had passed since the first railroad construction,
the earlier methods of transportation by boat, canal, and stage coach
gave place in the Eastern half of the United States to more modern
methods of transportation. As a result of these new conditions, the
States, cities, and towns were welded together, and population and
prosperity i