1930–31 Volume 55 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

Vol. LV, No. 4THE SCROLLPHI DELTA THETAhas brought to the South many newindustries and has been an importantfactor in the agricultural developmentof that section of the country.Brother Capps is recognized todayas probably America's foremost railroadtraffic expert. He is a directorof the Fruit Growers' Express, theRailway Express Agency, the BaltimoreSteam Packet Company, and ofmany railroads. His chief businessconnection, though, is with the huge$300,000,000 Seaboard Air Line. Successcame to him quickly. Followingservice as a messenger, he was madegeneral freight agent of the SeaboardAir Line at the age of twenty-four,surely enough of an almost boyhoodresponsibility. He has made so particulara name for himself in the railroadworld that many times his abilityhas been recognized by other railwaysof the South through their choice ofhim as a representative of all southernCHARLES R. CAPPS, Roanoke, '90railroads on important policy-determiningcommittees.A great tribute to a great trafficexecutive came to Brother Capps duringthe World War. He was firstmade traffic assistant to the regionaldirector of railroads for the southernregion in the reorganization of thecountry's roads under governmentalcontrol. Broadly speaking, his dutieswere to co-ordinate from a trafficstandpoint the railroad facilities of theSouth and to keep the traffic moving, nomean job in those demoralized years.Later the government created the"Allegheny Region," chiefly Pennsylvania,northern West Virginia, andparts of ^laryland and New Jersey.The region contained the immenselyimportant B. & O. and Pennsylvanialines. Brother Capps then becametraffic assistant for this region. Followingthe War he returned to theSeaboard where he has virtuallycreated their effective traffic organization.Railroads to Rhodesia copper minesis a long jump but it has been madeby Walter S. Case, Williams, '06. Forhis investment company, the greatCase, Pomeroy and Company, has purchaseda controlling interest in theSouthern Railway and also has had aconsiderable share in financing and developinga section in southern Africawhich ultimately will be one of thegreat copper producing sections.It might have been a prophetic displayof spurs which led Brother Caseto a victory in a hotly contested 'footballmanagership election back duringhis undergraduate days at Williams.At any rate, his whole business lifehas been characterized by a carefulstudy of the problem before him, andthen an attack upon it with all hisvigor and astuteness. Soon after leavingcollege Brother Case became abond salesman and in 1910 moved toLondon as European representative ofLadenburg, Thalmann and Company.In England Brother Case made acareful study of the theory and managementof British investment trusts.When he returned to the States hefounded his own company, the abovementionedCase, Pomeroy and Company,an investment concern patternedafter the British plan but augmentedwith a specialized investigatingorganization working along originallines.Through his close association with[ 271]