“Well, now, McKenty,” continued Cowperwood, abruptly, and with a seeming lack of connection, “has it ever occurred to you that things are shaping up for a big change in the street-railway situation here? I can see it coming. There’s going to be a new motor power introduced on the South Side within a year or two. You’ve heard of it?”
“I read something of it,” replied McKenty, surprised and a little questioning. He took a cigar and prepared to listen. Cowperwood, never smoking, drew up a chair.
“Well, I’ll tell you what that means,” he explained. “It means that eventually every mile of street-railway track in this city—to say nothing of all the additional miles that will be built before this change takes place—will have to be done over on an entirely new basis. I mean this cable-conduit system. These old companies that are hobbling along now with an old equipment will have to make the change. They’ll have to spend millions and millions before they can bring their equipment up to date. If you’ve paid any attention to the matter you must have seen what a condition these North and West Side lines are in.”
“It’s pretty bad; I know that,” commented McKenty.
“Just so,” replied Cowperwood, emphatically. “Well, now, if I know anything about these old managements from studying them, they’re going to have a hard time bringing themselves to do this. Two to three million are two to three million, and it isn’t going to be an easy matter for them to raise the money—not as easy, perhaps, as it would be for some of the rest of us, supposing we wanted to go into the street-railway business.”
“Yes, supposing,” replied McKenty, jovially. “But how are you to get in it? There’s no stock for sale that I know of.”
“Just the same,” said Cowperwood, “we can if we want to, and I’ll show you how. But at present there’s just one thing in particular I’d like you to do for me. I want to know if there is any way that we can get control of either of those two old tunnels that I was talking to you about a little while ago. I’d like both if I might. Do you suppose that is possible?”
“Why, yes,” replied McKenty, wondering; “but what have they got to do with it? They’re not worth anything. Some of the boys were talking about filling them in some time ago—blowing them up. The police think crooks hide in them.”
“Just the same, don’t let any one touch them—don’t lease them or anything,” replied Cowperwood, forcefully. “I’ll tell you frankly what I want to do. I want to get control, just as soon as possible, of all the street-railway lines I can on the North and West Sides—new or old franchises. Then you’ll see where the tunnels come in.”
He paused to see whether McKenty caught the point of all he meant, but the latter failed.