And he shall share the shine.
CHAPTER XXI.
DEVELOPMENT OF CREEDE—SAW A CITY SPRING UP ALMOST IN A DAY—AN HUNDRED GAMBLERS CAME THERE, TOO.
NOW let the weary prospector sit down and rest. His dream has been realized; his prophecy fulfilled.
The opening of the Amethyst vein called for the extension of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway Company’s track from Wagon Wheel Gap, a distance of ten miles.
About this time, President Moffat and the General Manager got into an entanglement with the directory and both resigned. Mr. George Coppell, chairman of the board, came out from New York and took charge of the property.
Mr. Moffat and others interested, urged the management to extend the rails to the new camp. Among those interested in the extension was Senator Wolcott, counsel for the company; but it is as difficult for a New York capitalist to appreciate the importance of a silver camp as it is for him to appreciate the value of a silver dollar, so Mr. Coppell refused to build the line.
Mr. Moffat then put up thirty-six thousand dollars to build the extension, agreeing to let the railroad company repay him in freight.
Soon after this Mr. E. T. Jeffrey was elected president and general manager of the road. Probably no man in America could have taken up the tools laid down by Moffat and Smith and continue the good work begun by them, with so little friction as did the present president of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company. To fill the places vacated by these popular officials was no light task. The grand stand was packed and the voters held the bleachers, when President Jeffrey went to the bat.
Colorado said “Play ball,” and in the first inning he won the respect of the other players and the applause of the people. He has been successful because he deserved success.