The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 155

Author: Haddock, John A., b. 1823-
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Albany, N. Y., Weed-Parsons printing company
Number of Pages: 1098

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RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENT.

The following episode may throw some little light upon the times that are now past, and it would not be presented to the public in this History but for the lesson thereby inculcated. Grotesque as this convention may appear to us now, as the effort of a few free-thinkers and agnostics to express their disapproval of what they denominated "whirlwinds of moral desolation," it was more than equalled lately in the city of Watertown when a Labor Day demonstra- tion had in its procession a fully-rigged bar- room, with tempting decanters, sparkling glasses and appetizing liquors. Now if the rum-drinkers who patronize such places and favor such a show as an illustration of the dignity of labor, would call a convention and pass resolutions denouncing temperance, a parallel would be found to the anti-religious resolution which we copy below. To carry still further the awful grotesqueness of the Labor Day parade alluded to, how would it do to have in next year's parade an opium-joint in full blast, with male and female partici- pants and every conceivable accompaniment ? Surely that would set people to thinking. But to our convention. We quote from an article prepared by the ablest Historian of Jefferson county, the late Dr. Hough :

"The prevalence of religious excitement through- out the county meeting the strong disapprobation of a portion of the citizens, led to a convention at the Court House, July 2, 1831, at which Curtis G. Brooks presided and Russell Sherman was secretary. The meeting was addressed by Joseph C. Budd, T. O. Chittenden and others, and a committee, consisting of J. C. Budd, J. B. Ryall. Geo, White, Norris M. Woodruff, Alvin Hunt, and Wm. Coffeen, was ap- pointed to draft resolutions 'expressing an opinion relative to Modern Revivals of Religion, as they have

been popularly denominated, which are now raging to a greater or less extent in different parts of our county.' In these, a conscientious approval of pure religion was avowed, but the popular excitements of the day were denounced as whirlwinds of moral desolation,' making mankind the slaves of fear, in- vading the sacred sanctuary of domestic happiness and sowing discord in families. On motion of Joseph Goodale, Alvin Hunt and Jobn Clarke were appointed to draft an address to the citizens of the county on the subject of these excitements, which was pub- lished in the county papers. In this it was said : . We regret that in the prosecution of any inquiry or investigation, it should be taught that Reason should be silenced and that any system, doctrine or faith should be established on other ground than a convic- tion of its truth and propriety ; and should the very large and respectable meeting who instigated this address thereby incur the imputation of being en- emies of Religion, it will be because in their consider- ation of this subject they consulted 'that still small voice' which is not heard in the 'whirlwind' of fanaticism, or discovered in the 'fire' of religious bigotry. Moral and religious sentiments lose none of their force in being expressed in good language, in a temperate manner, and at a suitable time and place, and we believe that the poet who put into verse the following, one of the finest passages of Biblical eloquence, could have had no reference to the religious demagogues who infest this country, who creep into the sacred desk with no title but suffrance, and, by a peculiar kind of ranting, bnister- ous declamation and coarse theatricals, bring re- proach even upon the high vocation to which they aspire :

'How beautious are their feet Who stand on Zion's hill, Who bring salvation on their tongues And words of peace reveal.'"

To think how the aesthetic souls of Norris M. Woodruff, Alvin Hunt and Joe Budd must have swelled with honest indignation at those "whirlwinds of moral desolation," seems to the writer peculiarly afflicting ! These resolutions and the "whirlwinds" aforesaid so unmistakably pointed to Method- istic efforts at revivals, whereby many sin- ners were turned from their sinful ways, that no guide-board need point the reader to the right solution. This convention, consid- ering the men engaged in it, and their solemn platitudes, appear to the writer as really one of the very funniest things he has unearthed in his researches after novelties in good old Jefferson. J. A. H.

THERE are several general subjects which would be proper to take up in connection with the town of Watertown. It is a large and important dairying farm as well as a grain-producer. We had prepared an ex- haustive and very interesting article upon cheese-making, introducing a description of the improved methods formulated by Mr. Harris, the great authority upon that subject. But we have been forced to shut out that article, so great has been the pres- sure to insert matter that could not well be dispensed with, As will be seen, we have gone quite largely into biographies and per- sonalities in this History, as indeed, we promised to do at first-but there is this to be said, such sketches are really a part of the personality of our times. We have inserted several on the following pages, which would have gone in the towns where the subjects resided, had they been received in time. They are all worthy of an attentive perusal.

MR. H. WALTER WEBB,

3d Vice President N. V. C. & H. R. R. R.

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H. WALTER WEBB.

SOME writer for a New York newspaper, under date of August 18, 1894, lets himself loose in the following style :

"While Doctor Chauncey M. Depew is dividing his time in Europe between talking horse and diplomacy with Lord Roseberry, Rhine wine and yachts with the German Kaiser and anarchy and politics with Presi- dent Casimir-Perier, of France, his job as the president of the New York Central Railroad and authority on almost everything pertain- ing to railroads is being held down by a young man who is not so well known as he, but who is thought by men who know to be an altogether better president of railroads than the talented Dr. Depew. Dr. Depew's 'sub' is about twenty-five years younger than himself, and he can probably outrun and outbox his superior and do a lot of things that the doctor's stiffened joints would not possibly permit him to undertake. He is very much quieter than the doctor, and while he may not have as many friends, those who talk with him every day say that he can give his chief points in the line of 'hustling.' Although he was not altogether unknown four years ago, it was not until then that his genius as a railroad manager brought him prominently before the public. Mr. Depew was then, as now, in Europe hohnobbing with the big guns over there, while Cornelius Vanderbilt, who owns most of the New York Central Road and who hires Mr. Depew at a fancy salary, was somewhere in Africa."

This screed reads well, and desiring to know more of this man who has proven himself able to "hold down" the great Chauncey's seat, we have taken some pains to make inquiries about him. We are told that in the spring of 1890 the directors of the New York Central railroad determined to make some changes in the organization- changes which involved promotion of some of the abler officers of the road. Among other things which they voted to do was the creation of a new department, the head of which was to be elected third vice-president of the system, and to have supreme direction of the traffic of the road, both passenger and freight. He was to be held, in short, re- sponsible for the management of such busi- ness as was offered to the company. The choice for this responsible office fell upon H. Walter Webb, and only a few weeks later this young man found himself face to face with a strike which was more threatening than any that had occurred upon the road, perhaps in its existence, certainly since the great strike year of 1877.

Two years later Vice-President Webb was called to face another emergency of the same sort, and these two experiences fixed atten- tion upon him as one of the great railway managers of the United States. Men who do not know Major Webb are asking one

another something about his personality and his intellectual qualities, as the generalship he displays not only in strike crises, but in those more silent but in some respects equally desperate battles which railroad com- panies as competitors of other railroad com- panies are constantly fighting.

In New York Major Webb is well known, but elsewhere, although he has gained wide repute, there is little knowledge of the man- ner of man he is. The story of his career contains much that is instructive and very interesting.

Major Webb is one of the sons of that dis- tinguished politician and editor, of the time when the Whig party was fighting its battles, Gen. James Watson Webb. Great as were Gen. Webb's achievements in the political world, when he came to old age he took greater pride in the promise which was already beginning to be fulfilled, of raising a family of boys who would gain distinction perhaps equal to that which was gained by the famous Field or Washburn or Wolcott families.

Walter Webb in his youth showed some taste for engineering, and he was placed in the Columbia College School of Mines, which is the scientific department of that institu- tion, and was at the head of his class some twenty years ago. After graduation, how- ever, young Webb felt some inclination toward a career at the bar. He gratified it to the extent of studying, being admitted and hanging out his shingle for a brief time. His legal education was of value to him, though only in other achievements toward which he began to drift soon after he opened his office. An opportunity opened for him to go into the banking and brokerage busi- ness, and for some years he was busy in studying the mysteries of Wall street, and in learning the market value of the securities there dealt in.

Almost incidentally he drifted into the rail- way business. His brother, Dr. Seward Webb, who married one of the daughters of William H. Vanderbilt, became interested in the Palace Car Company which the Vander- bilts controlled, and when Webster Wagner, the president of that company, met his sud- den death, having been crushed between two of his own cars in a railway collision, Dr. Webb became president of the company, and invited his brother to accept an official post in connection with it. Walter Webb had not been in the railway business a month be- fore both he and his employers discovered that he had peculiar qualifications for this business. It seemed to fascinate him. He was no pompous official, fond of sitting in richly carpeted rooms, and issuing orders with heavy dignity. He was everywhere. He studied the science of railway car build- ing; he skirmished around among the shops; he was not afraid of dirt, nor of putting on a

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

jumper and a pair of overalls, if necessary, and as a consequence he soon had not only mastered those duties he was employed to perform, but being full of suggestions and devoted to his avocation, he was rapidly pro- moted. He served really, while an officer, an apprenticeship, working harder than any other employe, never thinking about hours or salary, but only bent on learning the business.

In the railway business such a person moves rapidly toward the top. The history of railway corporations in the United States furnishes many such instances. Social in- fluence, political pulls, as they are called, family prestige, count for nothing in the development of railway men. Nothing but fidelity and capacity has any influence with directors in the selection of executive officers. Any other course would be perilous.

Therefore, when the time came for this corporation, one of the greatest in the world in railway management, to place a competent man at the head of its traffic business, Maj. Webb was selected, and so thoroughly has he justified that choice that at the time when President Chauncey M. Depew was consider- ing the invitation of President Harrison to become the successor of Mr. Blaine, as Sec- retary of State, it was understood in railway circles that Maj. Webb would be chosen president of the New York Central, in case Depew resigned that office.

Chief among Maj. Webb's qualifications for this work is his devotion to business. His college training as an engineer has served him well, and his legal knowledge has been of great value to him in the two great emergencies which he was called of a sudden to face, when many of the employes of the road went out on strike. He lived not five minutes' walk from his office, and he is fre- quently there as early as 7 o'clock in the morning. In the summer, when he is at his country place, he takes the first train into the city, while the bankers and brokers, and professional men who live near him, do not follow until two or three hours later. He rarely leaves his office before 6 o'clock, and sometimes is there until late at night. His office is a place of comfort, but not of lux- ury. Maj. Webb is democratic in his rela- tions with men, and none of the red tape which prevails in some of the great corpora- tion offices annoys visitors who desire to see him. If a delegation from the engineers or switchmen or from any of the other employes call, Maj. Webb receives them in a manner which does not lower their self-respect. There is neither condescension nor haughti- ness in his relations with them. Maj. Webb will receive hard-handed employes, and within an hour be in association with a group of millionaires, fellow-directors of his in the great bank which is located near his office, and his manner is the same in each case. He treats everybody in a business-like way. He is quick-spoken, prompt, decisive, without being curt or brusque.

As a railroad man he is what is called a flyer. Like William H. Vanderbilt, he is fond of going fast, and when business calls him to a remote point, he will order a loco- motive attached to his special car, and within half an hour after the decision is taken, will he flying over the rails at the rate of a mile a minute. He is absolutely fearless in his travels, as William H. Vanderbilt was. Business men may see him in the afternoon of one day, and hear of him the next morning at Buffalo, 450 miles away. This does not indicate restlessness, but energy. Major Webb is one of the most quiet, self-con- tained and serene-mannered of all railway managers.

When, just after he became vice-president, he was called upon to face a most dangerous strike, railway men said that he had been put to the test too early, and some of them feared that he would not be equal to the responsibility. Depew was in Europe, Cor- nelius Vanderbilt in Newport, and members of the executive board scattered here and there. Maj. Webb immediately made of his office a camping-place. He collected his staff about him. The strikers had control of the approaches to New York city, and traffic was paralyzed. He first took pains to dis- cover how many of the men were out, and also to learn what their precise grievance was. If it were a question of time or wages or any other thing over which there had been misunderstanding or business disagreement, he believed that the trouble could be speed- ily settled. He found, instead, that it was a matter of discipline, that the men protested against certain rules which the subordinate officers had found necessary, as they believed, in order to maintain discipline. The strikers objected to the discharge of certain men who were reported disobedient or incompetent, and when Major Webb heard this, he said, in a quiet way, to his staff : "This is a point this Company cannot yield. The stockhold- ers must retain the right to manage, in their own way, this property."

Then he called upon his resources. He sent agents to procure men to take the places of the strikers. He called upon the police force of New York for protection, and got it. Night and day for seventy-two hours he left his office for only a few moments at a time. He caught catnaps, and two nights did not sleep a wink. And, when the rail- way men connected with other lines found out what he was doing, they said: "There is a young General in command at the Grand Central Station."

In his conferences with leaders of lahor associations, Maj. Webb's legal knowledge was of great service to him, and Mr. Pow- derly himself, who met him in conference several times, was greatly impressed by his tact, coolness, good temper and his firmness as well.

When Mr. Depew returned from Europe, not a sign of the strike appeared. Cornelius Vanderbilt, constantly informed over the

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wire at his Newport home of what was going on, deemed it unnecessary to come to the city.

At the first mutterings of the strike in Buffalo, information of which was sent to Maj. Webb by telegraph, he touched his electric bell, the messenger who answered received an order which was taken to the proper authority, and within half an hour Maj. Webb was aboard his private car, speeding over the tracks at the rate of fifty miles an hour, and before dawn next morning he was in Buffalo. His part in that convul- sion is a matter of recent history, and un- necessary to describe here.

In physical appearance, as his photo- gravure picture shows, Maj. Webb does not at all suggest the typical railway manager. He is of slight figure, medium stature, erect in carriage. He cares nothing for social pleasures of the fashionable set. His home and his office are his life. He is not a club man. He takes no conspicuous part in poli- tics, although he has strong political views ; but it is safe to say that not a dozen men employed by his company know whether he is a Republican or a Democrat. He is a strong Churchman, being a vestryman and one of the most active members of one of the New York uptown Episcopal churches, and if the millionaires contributed sums propor- tionate to their wealth as great as those he gives for church work, his church would have an enormous income. Maj. Webb is a great believer in the future possibilities of fast railway travel. He has studied this de- velopment with great care, and with such results that he is now running daily the fastest railway train in the world, making nearly a mile a minute consecutively for 450 miles. His experiments have shown that the old idea that very fast travelling does not pay is an error, but he says that in order to make it pay, the cars must be light but strong, the service sufficient but not luxurious, and the carrying capacity limited, so that an engine will not be compelled to draw too heavy a train.

Chauncey M. Depew has the reputation of being the most accessible to newspaper men of all the distinguished men in New York, yet he is not more so than Maj. Webb. Any respectable newspaper man is welcome to his office at all times, and he treats such callers as though they were men, and like one who respects their calling. The reporter has yet to be found who has got of Maj. Webb a suggestion that a puff or a bit of praise would be pleasing. He will not talk about himself, but will cheerfully give all the news which he has, provided it is consistent with the policy of the road to make publication of it. If it is not consistent, he says frankly : "That is something I cannot talk to you about just now. Perhaps I may be able to do so to-morrow."

Perhaps this disposition is partly due to his recollection of the fact that his father was a newspaper man who always treated

the humblest of reporters with great respect. At the time Gen. Webb was approaching death, and the various newspapers of New York sent reporters to his home, so that im- mediate information of his death might be obtained, Gen. Webb used to say to his sons : "Are you taking good care of the newspaper men? If any of them have to wait long, show them some hospitality. Give them a glass of Madeira and a sandwich or biscuit, and do not forget that the newspaper report- ers as a elass are hard-working, fair-minded, intelligent men, who should be treated ex- actly as any other business man is, who comes to you on business matters." Whether this injunction accounts for the treatment Maj. Webb and his brothers give newspaper men or not, the fact remains that they all are thus minded when they receive representa- tives of the press.

The general impression in railway circles is that when President Depew retires from official connection with the New York Cen- tral, Maj. Webb will be his successor.

What we have thus far said relates to Mr. Webb's connection with the main lines of the Central corporation, the extent of which all our readers understand, for that system is one of the largest in the world, and is man- aged with a degree of judgment and practi- cal capacity that has elicited the wonder of travellers who are familiar with the great lines both in Europe and America. But it is in Major Webb's connection with our own northern lines that he has been brought more directly into official relations with our own people. When the New York Central, on March 14th, 1891, leased the lines of the R. W. & O. Railroad, Major Webb was placed in complete control of that entire sys- tem, and became the managing officer, the supreme executive head. Almost from the very week he assumed control, the benefi- cence of his management has made itself manifest. He began the great work of rais- ing the newly-acquired property to the high standard of the trunk line. This necessi- tated new bridges, new rails, and the ac- complishment of almost a process of new construction-entirely so in some localities. The outlay for these improvements has been enormous, reaching $2,000,000, of which over $600,000 has been expended in the construc- tion of new bridges, built of steel and iron. The bridges upon the whole line are now as good as any in the country.

The entire road-bed has been re-ballasted, and in most of it new ties have been placed, and the number of the same per mile has been increased. New steel rails have been laid, weighing 70 and 72 pounds to the lineal yard, and the equipment has been correspond- ingly improved by the addition of standard locomotives of the heaviest pattern, which could not be run over the old R. W. & O., but which now, under the new improve- ments-steel rails, perfect road-bed, and strong bridges-are allowed to run at high speed, and haul heavy trains. New passen-

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ger cars have been added; in fact, the road has been virtually re-constructed. Freight rates have been reduced, and the general conditions have been greatly improved. Among other things, several enterprises in Northern New York have been assisted : and all this has been done by hard work, and under the plans made and supervised by Mr. Webb.

For such labors, so well done, too much praise cannot be given this young man, who might have chosen ease, but prefers work. All that he touches he benefits. He has raised the old R. W. & O. R. R. system from a decaying condition, with worn material and weak bridges to become a grand system in itself, the natural ally of the great trunk system with which it makes close connec- tions, with vestibuled trains, and in summer with its steady-running "flyers" that cross the country at 40 miles an hour in entire safety. The value of such a system, so con- nected, adds to the value of every acre of land in Northern New York, and is of inter- est to the poorest man as well as to the richest. The remarkable freedom from per- sonal accidents to passengers during the year 1894 affords the best possible guaranty that the system is well and safely managed.

Speed and comfort are two conditions de- manded by modern travellers ; but the perfect combination is a rare one. On most Ameri- can railroads high speed is only possible at the expense of danger and discomfort. To combine comfort and safety with the greatest speed, perfect equipment and absence of sharp curves are necessary. This is cer- tainly the case with the R. W. & O. system. Its great eastern and western outlets, the New York Central and Hudson River Roads hold the world's championship for Jong-dis- tance fast trains, won by recent improve- ments in equipment and locomotive building that fairly mark an epoch in railroading; and its hundred-ton engines, borne on mas- sive rails weighing 120 pounds per yard, now skim with perfect safety around curves at the rate of 55 miles an honr. The solidest of road-beds is needed to withstand this marvel . ous speed, and to bear the enormous loco- motives and trains; what it does with safety is impossible to other railroads of inferior equipment, or built with sharp curves. Excepting the Great Western of Canada, which has one air-line reach of 100 miles, the New York Central straight tracks exceed those of any other railroad in the world.

HON. FREDERICK LANSING,

FORMERLY State Senator and member of Congress, who died at his home in Water- town February 1, 1894, was born in Man- heim, Herkimer county, February 16, 1838. He was the son of Hon. Frederick Lansing, of Herkimer county, who was a brother of Hon. Robert Lansing, so long and favorably known in Watertown. Frederick, Jr., was educated at the Little Falls Academy, from which he graduated when 18 years of age, and came to Watertown to enter the law office of Hon. F. W. Hubbard, being admit- ted to practicein 1859. At the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted as 1st lieutenant in Captain B. B. Taggart's company (K), 10th N. Y. Heavy Artillery. From this branch of the service he was honorably discharged in March, 1863, and in July of that year he was commissioned as first lieutenant in the 20th N. Y. Cavalry, with which he was serving at Bristoe Station, Va., in October, 1864, when he received his wound, and was carried off the field in a blanket, the surgeon of the regi- ment not expecting him to recover. But he gradually convalesced, and became an im- portant factor in the political, professional and social life of Jefferson county.

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The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 155

Author: Haddock, John A., b. 1823- Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Albany, N. Y., Weed-Parsons printing company Number of Pages: 1098

Author: Haddock, John A., b. 1823-
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Albany, N. Y., Weed-Parsons printing company
Number of Pages: 1098