He began to construct a few cars at
Chicago and to obtain contracts upon the lines centering there.
The Eastern concern was in no condition to cope with that of an
extraordinary man like Mr. Pullman. I soon recognized this, and
although the original patents were with the Eastern company and Mr.
Woodruff himself, the original patentee, was a large shareholder, and
although we might have obtained damages for infringement of patent
after some years of litigation, yet the time lost before this could be
done would have been sufficient to make Pullman's the great company of
the country. I therefore earnestly advocated that we should unite with
Mr. Pullman, as I had united with him before in the Union Pacific
contract. As the personal relations between Mr. Pullman and some
members of the Eastern company were unsatisfactory, it was deemed best
that I should undertake the negotiations, being upon friendly footing
with both parties. We soon agreed that the Pullman Company should
absorb our company, the Central Transportation Company, and by this
means Mr. Pullman, instead of being confined to the West, obtained
control of the rights on the great Pennsylvania trunk line to the
Atlantic seaboard. This placed his company beyond all possible rivals.
Mr. Pullman was one of the ablest men of affairs I have ever known,
and I am indebted to him, among other things, for one story which
carried a moral.
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