And this circumstance
recalled to mind his former impression of the complexity of the
financial and political end of the construction. Warburton took him
to dinner and later to a club, and introduced him to many men.
For this alone Neale was glad that he had been summoned to the
capital. He met Senators, Congressmen, and other government
officials, and many politicians and prominent men, all of whom, he
was surprised to note, were well informed regarding the Union
Pacific. He talked with them, but answered questions guardedly. And
he listened to discussions and talks covering every phase of the
work, from the Credit Mobilier to the Chinese coolies that were
advancing from the west to meet the Paddies of his own division.
How strange to realize that the great railroad had its nucleus, its
impetus, and its completion in such a center as this! Here were the
frock-coated, soft-voiced, cigar-smoking gentlemen among whom
Warburton and his directors had swung the colossal enterprise. What
a vast difference between these men and the builders! With the
handsome white-haired Warburton, and his associates, as they smoked
their rich cigars and drank their wine, Neale contrasted Casey and
McDermott and many another burly spiker or teamster out on the line.
Each class was necessary to this task.
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