As for the railway, whereas prior to John Harley's introduction as shareholder and director it could get no consideration in the way of freights from those giant corporations which have to do with beef and sugar and oil--it being both slow and crooked as a railroad--thereafter it was given all it could haul at rates even with the best, and its prosperity became such that fifty-five points were added to the quoted value of its stock.
It is possible that John Harley's nearness to Senator Hanway had something to do with founding for him a railway and a coal-mine popularity.

The vote of a Senator may be important to armor plate and shipbuilding concerns; as much might be said of companies that deal in beef and sugar and oil.

The action of a Senator may even become of moment to a steamship line.

The last was evidenced on a day when those nineteen suddenly refused to purchase further coal from the Harley mines.

They were buying five millions of tons a year, those five millions finding their way to the sea over the railway of which John Harley was a director and in which he owned those sheaves of stocks, and a fortune rose or fell by that refusal.