Mellon herrick

Miloon Timothy herrick (1854- 1929) is the son of a farmer in Wellington, Ohio. His lawyer became the chairman of the Cleveland Savings Bank Association, was elected the 42nd governor of Ohio (1903- 1905), and was appointed as the ambassador to France twice. What is unknown is how he used his legal and financial influence and other investors to control and expand various railways in Ohio and the United States.

Herrick has contacts with several American financiers who have invested in railways. As a group, he was called "Fuller Consortium", "organized by Edward Leiden Fuller, president and investor of International Salt Company. These consortia are numerous in the United States, composed of rich and influential individuals, who joined forces for the same purpose at the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century.

Railway land acquisition and construction, and the operating cost is usually high, many railway companies are not worth the loss for various reasons, and eventually fall into bankruptcy management. One of the railways is the ferry and Lake Erie Railway (W&; LE), herrick was appointed as the receiver of the railway on June 1897. There is a 278-mile line between Toledo, Ohio and Martins Ferry, which is the first railway that herrick bought for the group.

At that time, herrick knew almost nothing about railway operation. He found that W&; The conditions in Le Hotel are very poor. It is heavily in debt and has almost no financial situation. Herrick believes that at least $654.38+$500,000 is needed to make this road fair. He applied to Oriental financiers for the funds needed for the project, but because the interest rate was too high, herrick decided to borrow money from other places. Finally, almost all the bonds are placed in the west, which is very important for W&; amp； Unfavorable. The improvement of music soon began. In 65,438+08 months, herrick doubled the railway revenue and reduced the cost by 50%, although he embarked on much-needed improvements totaling $654,380+million, including building new bridges, lowering slopes and improving subgrade. Due to W &；; Music reorganization,

Herrick can also control and consolidate the assets of the Cleveland, Guangzhou and Southern Railways. Starting from the Cleveland downtown bus terminal at the corner of Huron Road and Ontario Street, the acquisition added another 209.59 miles of track, extending south to Zansville, Ohio, and branching east of Chagrin Falls. Thirdly, it needs to be improved, and it will be carried out soon. Therefore, the comprehensive property has achieved material and financial stability. Miloon herrick's behavior was not ignored. Soon, other robber barons also wanted to join the W&Le Vanderbilt family, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and the Gould Group, all eager for control. The Gould family finally won, W&; Le is destined to realize a dream and become part of the first transcontinental system between the east and west coasts.

George Jay Gould, the son of ruthless railroad tycoon Jay Gould, controls the Western Pacific, Denver and Cirio Grande, as well as the Wabash Railway. Herrick's ferry and Lake Erie Railway satisfy Gould's wish to be closer to the east coast, and also satisfy the wish of steel tycoon andrew carnegie to transport his steel to the west by another route. Herrick bought several connections, W&; Le and Pittsburgh, and created the Wabash-Pitt railway hub. 1902, herrick helped to acquire the Maryland Western Railway Company, whose assets were controlled by Baltimore City and handed over to the terminal on the east coast of Gould. Western Maryland needs to extend from Haggs Town to rugged countryside, and then to Connell sville, Pennsylvania, connecting the west line and the east coast. In retaliation for herrick's acquisition of competitor Gould, Pennsylvania, ia Railway Company asked Western Union Telegraph Company, in which Gould holds a large share, to remove all telegraph lines and telephone poles from the right-of-way of Pennsylvania Railway, and to remove all telegraph operators and stations along the system.

1906, herrick proposed to build a new union station in Cleveland. The station will be located on land near the public square and will be served by ferries and Lake Erie railways, Baltimore and Ohio railways and Erie railways. In the same year, the railway connecting line between western Maryland and Connell sville only reached Cumberland, Maryland, and the other lines were delayed due to lack of funds. Unfortunately, due to the financial uncertainty after the 1907 panic, these projects have never been realized. 1907, Maryland western railway and Wabash-Pittsburgh terminal went into bankruptcy management. 1908, the ferry and Lake Erie also fell, and people's hopes for the coastal railway were dashed. On May 1908, herrick returned to the savings society as the president and cut off most of the links with the railway industry. His last service for the Cleveland Railway was in 19 1 1 year, when herrick went to new york on behalf of his son to negotiate and finance the new Cleveland joint hub project envisioned by the Van Swelingen brothers. With the completion of 1930, Cleveland Union Station finally gave the city a new railway station, which was proposed by Miron T. herrick 24 years ago.