The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, July 9, 1930, Page 6

ERE STE OER TMS Oe ET ee TENTS ROLLE TS PLT EPP EL SE PSE ETE re - a ACH ALATA ts : | : : & E. DTT MTT INARA AALCAREUTTA EAA sof UU HAO HOA AEE ~BAMBONTONTTT RTT mT TTT American Genius Again aves Soviet R Budd of the Great Northern . not a theorist, but a es success- man. . who enjoys battling with a railroad problem anywhere he meets it. ful American railroa ‘ACED with the gigantic task of rehabilitating its 35,000 retest of more or less demoralized rail- ways, al of adjusting its transportation system toa Bm rege life, the Communist jussian - government has to. one of Amer- ica’ Ean Business” executives to lead the way out. "Ralph Budd, président of the Great Northern Railway pod oe one of the Jim Hill school of railroad men, is now in to spend three months as chief adviser to the gov- peso in its railroad: crisis. Sibeie o prebaned to neeeal Waits sof lle. in ths next years in mizing its transportation system; it needed American experience to plan the task. And, in- tally, American workers will probably get a consider- able amount of the appropriations in the end, for if the railways are rejuvenated according to American stand- Jit. shoul meen Hie orders for manufacturers of "Tis man who har gone to Russ to help Saviet oficials to\solve their transportation dilemma—a bugbear to the country. for years—is no theorist, but a typical, successful American executive: who enjoys battling with a railroad problem anywhere he happens to meet it. He is a follower ofthe practical policies of railroad construction and management adopted late. James J. Hill of St. Paul, founder of the Great Ploaiheen Rail- way, and for years an eecnsticnsl G business wor! r. Hill was ihe Exein Builder of ae Northwest” because of the ‘oxcental manner in. which he encouraged settlement and fork nt of the vast stretch of the territory. between St. Paul and Seattle which his railroad serves. His genius casted him from the posi- tion of clerk on the Mississippi River steamboat levee at St. Paul to that of financial ie Ralph Budd, who is called from his headquarters in St. Paul to go to far-off Russia and solve a whole nation's problem, is a merely a follower of a course charted’ by the ogres of Mr. Baie’ is a tale of American: oppor- tunity to abil, Kak ae ambition. Starting. out as a surveyor's rodman, he became by the time he was 27, the chief engineer of the Panama Railroad when that line was " handling one of the densest stream of traffic’on any railway in the entire world. When he was 40 he was chief execu- tive of the Great Northern, a corporation doing a business of more’ than $100,000,000 a year. OBABLY the best explanation of such a rise is found in the advice he himself gave when: asked how a young man or woman entering a career today can win success: Never dodge responsibility. to the man who will accey away from anyone who di sounding his title. Have faith in yourself—don't be afraid to exercise initiative if given authority and responsibility. Like your job—if you can't, find’ a different one that Responsibility gravitates ‘ it, and it i gravitate it, no matter how cn seeps wel UU UAL WL LL First it was John F. Stevens who was called on to manage the Trans-Siberian, and: now his protege, President Budd of the Great Northern, is to tell Russia how to modernize her 35,000 mile rail system thrist across the Rockies aa immediate peril from the savage Blackfeet wail the equal lly Trees, Benes of the unknown Rockies. His work thals’ advent in Panama earned him the title of “The father of the Pan- * ama Canal,” and he is without question one of the great engineers of the world. ‘When Mr. Budd was division engineer for the Rock theses Peet ao the Siberian railways right during and after the war. ee mA ju can. Otherwise you will never do good work. on’t expect to make a home run every time come to bat. A good batting average is all anybody de- mands, but keep on trying to make it higher. Work hard, but don’t bury goer in details so that you lose outside contacts and get in a rut. Men who, have been closely associated with Mr. Budd know that there is not one of these rules which- he himself does not follow. He also encourages his vice pres- idents and other executives to accept all: the authority they can handle, but ‘heh holds them responsible for results. Born at Waterloo, Iowa, in 1879, Mr. risa Sars from Highland Park Col- lege. Metis, as a civil engineer, in 99, first Bea was that of a rod- man wit td hicago Great Western Radeead, immediately after he left college. ied being a Arakomsh for a time, but, to his later satisfaction, did not succeed very well in that work. WAS a poor draftsman,” he said, “but that was a thing: I dis- covered that if I became too good a draftsman, I might never get out of the drafting room. Many a great draftsman has become such a victim of his own effi- ciency. So I got out, went into the construc. tion sieparianent: and worked my way up. Budd was with the Chicago Great Western from 1899 until 1902, by iat time he had advanced to assistant e1 He then went to the Chicago, Rock ‘tl and Pacific as roadmaster and remained with that road for four years, becoming division engineer. It was at this time that-the paths of Mr. Budd and John F. Stevens, noted engineer, first Stale The destinies of the two have been linked at Fa points since then, the latest being M: Budd's present trip to Russia, for Mr. Stevens was for four years, from 1919 to 1923, president. of bos inter-allied technical. board which su- Siberian railroad E agidcrth dur- is the troublous Aegis after. the Wi 4 ar. ‘orld He, too, had been a pupil of jim Hill, and discov- red Marias Pass over the Rocky lountains, which: Hill wed fe carry the Great Norther Railway to the Pacific hee 3 Fritz medal, regarded as the’ greatest honor that — can come to an‘engineer, has been ae to. Mr. Stevens. His mark has been left on the earth's face from northwest- Ed United States to Panama,’and from Texas to Russia, and dates back to thé days when ‘the Great Northern was Women as section hands. . the days after the war . . . when Biron was vice president of that es Budd, Just in his twenties, ee ens by his ap- titude, and the latter put Budd i in charge of build- ing a line from St. Louis to Kansas City which in- volved directing train op- erations while the con- struction was in progress. This constituted Mr. Budd’s first experience in the operating phase of railroading. About Island, this same time, in 1905, Stevens was made chief engineer of the Panama Canal. The Herculean. task of excavat- ing and removing the earth had to be nereeros ene fel shovel and railway. Tremei dous raliesy facilities sare in a hurry. Part of the Rania Railroad was in » but it was a single- track line, wholly unequal to the task at hand. Mr. St Stevens re- wired a man to take hold of that nucleus and turn it into a real transportation system while he was getting the rest of the canal work organized—a man to take full responsibility. Sopa sent for a Ralph Budd and made him f engineer sel of the Panama Ralised, with instruc- ie to do whatever had to be done. The cn t aren ing laid a wl no last to speal ie ico dirt trains were run over the line the perk roadi literally went all to PeWithin a year after his arrival in the Canal Zone, in 1906, B relocated rebuilt the entire rail- road, laying double tracks, triple tracks and even quadruple tracks to handle the immense tonnage which had to be eon every day without creating congestion. war and revolution. “We had to move height and construction ma- terial doroe the day,” by night and com “with the re- sult that ok p tralie. was probably as dense as on any railroad in Three he spent as chief engineer of the Panam: Seah eas ates alc tl west | to ol Seca: Pontied ortland & Seattle ‘Railway affiliated lines, » “Empire was then constructing in (Copyright, 1930, By EveryWeek Blas yg in U. 8 A) TULANE AAA ) -LEULALELAUUILLL MAAC Ante oe ‘ ailways What made the problem of the Siberian railways difficult . this photo shows a derailment by Bolshevists . . . in the period of stress that followed the war. Oregon and Washington. Here again Mr. Stevens ious himself in need of a man to handle difficult en construction roblems, and again he sent for Ralph re ae a 1 8 Mr. Budd became chief engineer of the At ae time, also, he had a part in starting one of Jim Hill's “empire building” plans, which today is likely to be ct ee his own direction. This project is the med of the Great Northern into California. Budd for Mr. Hill a reconnaissance survey for a route from Oregon to California, soing over the ground on foot, horse- back and by buckboard. ATER, after Mr. Budd had become president of the Great Northern, the first step in this plan was carried out by extending the Great Northern's operations as far south as Klamath Falls, about 20 miles north of the regon-California line. Just last year application was made to the Interstate Commerce Commission for authority to fulfill the old vision of Jim Hill by means of a southerly extension of the Great Northern to meet a northerly exten- sion of the Western Pacific at Lookout, Calif. Mr. Budd. remained as chief engineer of the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway until 513, when he Rage the official staff of the central Hill company, the Great Northern, as aot to the - ora ir. Stevens was chief engineer of the Great Northern then, but was about to leave, and on his departure Mr. Budd became chief engineer. In his personal characteristics Mr. Budd is unusual in more ways than one. He is all business in his thinking and talking, but he does not find it necessary ¥ be “high hat” or lac! fing i in friendliness and courtesy in dealing with even the humblest employe. He is much easier to approach than a great many business men who have not bal his responsibilities. He doesn’t smoke, erly lay golf, est care for bri He does enjoy prize fight or ball game, or a lume of history. His own personal li a dislikes he never tries to enforce upon rs. ‘ORK is his wre He thinks busi- noe ab abet | 6 hours a Lidge enjoys doing it. Wir ken a comes first. This is no idle statement. As an example: Last year, just about this time, Mr. Budd was taking the Great Northern directors over the system in a special train for their. annual tion of the Peeper. On board were ae ag a tage oe gg acct to having it of way in whatever they did. But out in Montana, and not in one of the attractive parts of that state, either, the directors’ special was signalled to a halt. lar passenger train had stalled just with locomotive trouble. Did Mr. Budd order the passenger train put on a siding and whisk the special by 80 as not to inconvenience his wealthy di- rectors? He did not. He wae the directors’ own special train placed on a dreary siding, hooked its locomotive to the oe was a common sight along the Russian railroads in the manpower of the. country had been laid waste by “oTccTCnnnAN INUATRA QL iN i on HAAURIANUASEN HOSA NARA AAU ST TTT Py Nie UCL 100. RAE A RA NE TM ALUN ULEUA LA a a Aa . ~