The Railroad Baron Who Refused to Compete With Shadows

There is nothing slow about Tom Oakes, president of the Northern Pacific. He appears to be as glib a talker as Jim Hill, of the Great Northern. In an interview with a reporter in Seattle he said:

“We do not compete with shadows. Ghostly railroad lines loom up before our vision. Phantom rails and spectral headlights have no terror for us. When we see the sun glinting on the bright rails of the Great Northern as it crosses the Cascades, and when we see Jim Hill, scimitar in hand, slashing established rates right and left, and when we hear them fall with a dull, sickening thud, it will be time to look over our tariff sheet.”

“But when he puts on those fast passenger trains the Northern Pacific will of course reduce its transcontinental time.”

“The Northern Pacific trains will run just the same. It may not seem possible to the people of Seattle, but the Northern Pacific trains will actually wend their lonely way across the Cascades and the Rockies even after the Great Northern gets here. Our offices will not be closed and we will be in business at the old stand, just as we were before the Great Northern was heard of.”

“Will the Northern Pacific make any reduction in timber rates during the coming summer?”

“It would do no good if we did. We would be pleased to make the reduction if we could have sufficient assurance that it was in accordance with sound traffic principles. If we reduced the lumber rates it would not increase the lumber business on the Sound to any appreciable extent. The lumbermen of Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota would become alarmed and would organize a crusade against Puget Sound lumber. The competition would be so fierce that I very much doubt if you could ship lumber at all.”