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Show NEW SECRETARY OF NAVY. Somothing About Paul Morton, Who Has Accepted Place in President's Presi-dent's Official Family. Second Vice-President Paul Morton of the "San Taffy," as the great Santa Fe has been dubbed by the brakeman, Is one of the youngest olllclals In a corresponding correspond-ing position on such a big systorh. He Is an astute traffic man and has been schooled In that department on tho Burlington Bur-lington system He was born In '57, and when but 15 years of age entered the service of the Burlington as a clerk at Burlington, Pa. From that humble start he gradually worked up to be general gen-eral freight agent of that road, a position po-sition he relinquished to accept the presidency of the Colorado Fuel & Coal company at Denver in 1S50. It was there he became so well acquainted with the West, and his friends in Denver are legion. He accepted the vice-presidency of the Santa Fe in 1S06, being made third, but elevated to second In 1S9S. Pride of Burlington. In his youth he was the pride of Burlington, Bur-lington, and it Is told of htm that when he was ticket clerk at the station ho was the best dreseed man in the town, and tho one- most Bought after In society. so-ciety. There Is an old story told of him that will be Interesting at this time. In addition to his capabilities, bis fine appearance ap-pearance and porularlty. he had a penchant pen-chant for fighting fires, and was a member, in enthusiastic standing, of the volunteer fire department of Burlington. Burling-ton. One night, io the story runs, he was attending a Ir.wn fete attired In Immaculate Im-maculate summer clothes. The fire alarm was sounded down the street and away dashed the society leader. At the conflagration he not only distinguished himself by great heroism, but In some way he managed to get In front of the youths who were energetically handling the nozzle. From malice aforethought Instigated no doubt by jealousy of the young man's popularity, these boys let him have the full force of the stream and he fell over Into some charred timbers, tim-bers, thereby ruining his clothing and getting soaked. He said nothing at the time, but went on in his work and when the "boys" got back to the engine-house Paul Morton hunted up the man whom he knew to be the instigator of the mean trick and then and there waded In and gave that smarty a trouncing that, even in this day. would make Jeffries turn green with envy. If that boy Is alive today he probably remembers the licking lick-ing he got from the now Secretary of the Navy, and will no doubt admit that he was repaid In full. Spoke for Perkins, Another significant fact In the railroad rail-road career of Morton Is that when the Burlington had Its big strike in 1877, Morton, young as he was, became the mouthpiece of President Perkins of that road and did all the judicious talking to the papers, claiming that the Burlington would go bankrupt to break the strike. It didn't go broke, but the strike was surely broken. |