NEW YORK TIMES, P1 and P6, Sept 21, 1935.
GEN. ATTERBURY, RAIL LEADER, DIES
Former Head of Pennsylvania Railroad was Director General of A.E.F. Trains in France.
BEGAN AT 5 CENTS AN HOUR
Expanded System in Slump and Spent $200,000,000 to Electrify Washington Run
Special to the New York Times.
PHILADELPHIA. Sept 20

Brig. Gen. William Wallace Atterbury, retired president of the Pennsylvania Railroad and one of the outstanding leaders of American rail transportation, died expectedly at 3:30 o'clock this afternoon at the Bryn Mawr Hospital. He was 69 years old.

Although he had been in ill health for a long time his condition had improved during the fourteen months of convalescence which followed an abdominal operation on July 27, 1934. He entered the hospital again on Sept, 12, however, for a detailed examination but he was not confined to a bed.  As he sat in a chair chatting with Mrs. Atterbury soon after 3 o'clock, he suffered an attack. Other members of the family, summoned by telephone, hurried to the hospital, two of his sons, W. W. Atterbury Jr. and Malcolm Atterbury, arriving just before their father's death.

Death Due to Apoplexy.

"Apoplexy following arteriolosclerosis was given as the cause of death in a formal statement issued tonight by Dr. David Reisman, the chief attending physician, and three consultants, Dr. F.C. Grant, Dr. Arthur Billings and Dr. M.M. Strumia.

A funeral service will be held on Monday at 3 P.M. (Eastern day light-saving time at the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Bryn Mawr. The Rev. Dr. Ernest C. Earp, the rector, will officiate, assisted by the Rev. Dr. Richard H. Gurley, rector of St. Martin's Church, Radnor. Burial, which will be private, is to be in the cemetery of Old St. David's Church, Radnor.

General Atterbury had been almost inactive in the Pennsylvania Railroad's affairs since July, 1934, when Dr. Billings performed the operations for the removal of gall stone. Convalescence was slow and when the railroad head was able to travel he went to Florida on his yacht.

Never Regained Full Health

Upon his return in December he was thought to be on the road to recovery, but he never fully regained his health. At the organization meeting of the railroad's board of directors in April, after the annual meeting of stockholders, General Atterbury declined to be considered for re-election.

As his successor he nominated Martin W. Clement, then vice president, who had borne the brunt of the chief executive's duties during the latter's long illness. Mr. Clement was elected General Atterbury, who would have retired on Jan 31 next under the company's pension plan, had served in the presidency since Oct 1, 1925.

Word of his death was received at the Pennsylvania Railroad offices with expressions of regret from shocked associates, some of whom had followed closely his romantic rise from laborer to president of the road, with his wartime job as, Director General of Railroads in France sandwiched In between his other posts.

Mr. Clement hastened back here from Washington upon being notified of his predecessor’s death. "General Atterbury has been my friend for so many years," Mr. Clement said, "that it is utterly impossible for me to give full expression to my feelings on his loss."

"General Atterbury's contribution to the advance of American transportation, while it is fairly well known and recognized today, will not be fully appreciated in all of its far reaching significance for years to come. He left a stamp of progressive development on American railroads that even him contemporaries who were intimately associated with him, have not yet fully realized.

"He was one of the most far seeing business executives of the country, recognized not, only in his own field of transportation but in the Industrial and economic field generally. He had the admiration and affection of every one who was privileged to know him.

"General Atterbury was the friend of all the employees of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Their interests were his interests, and one of his most prideful accomplishments was to give the employees of the Pennsylvania an equal voice with the management in the settlement of their mutual affairs."

One of the first formal expressions of regret was voiced by Mayor J. Hampton Moore, who said: "General Atterbury was one of the nation's foremost railroad executives. His energy and ability were displayed in the World War, where he rendered splendid service as a soldier and constructor. He was admired most devotedly by the vast constituency of railroad men with whom he was associated and among whom he was a leader."

General Atterbury's widow is the former Mrs. Arminia Rosengarten MacLeod, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H.B Rosengarten of St. Davids, whom he married in 1915. His first wife, the former Miss M. M.H. Hoffman of Fort Wayne, Ind., died in, 1910.

Beside the two sons who were at his bedside, the survivors are another son, George R. Atterbury, a student at the Harvard School of Business Administration, and a daughter Mrs. Elizabeth Connelly of Radnor. W. W. Atterbury Jr. has just entered Yale University.

The family estate is Boudinot Farms, Radnor, although General Atterbury also maintained a model farm at Frazier.

General Atterbury was a member of the Engineers Club, Manufacturers and Bankers Club, Philadelphia Club, Rittenhouse Club and Union League of Philadelphia, an honorary-member of the Union League Club of New York, a member of the Merion Cricket Club, Haverford, Pa.; Gulph Mills Golf Club, Gulph Mills, Pa.; Seaview Golf Club, Absecon, N.J.,; Radnor Hunt Club, Radnor, Pa.; Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia., Essington, Pa., and Gibson Island Club, Pasadena., Md.

Sent in Answer to Pershing

Wllliam Wallace Atterbury became well known to the American public when, during the war, he was sent; to France by President Wilson to bring order out of chaos in that part of the French railway system which had been turned over to the American army. His assignment was the President's response to General Pershing's cable for "the best railroad man in the United States." The title of Brigadier General and the Distinguished Service order were his reward.

In 1925, on the retirement of Samuel Rea, he was elected president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, in the service of which he had been engaged for forty years and became one of the outstanding personalities of the transportation world, in charge of 135,000 employees, 5,782 locomotives, 7,356 passenger cars, 272,147 freight cars and more than 28,000 miles of tracks.

General Atterbury was born in New Albany, Ind., on Jan. 31, 1866. His father had renounced the practice of law in Detroit to become a Presbyterian home missionary and had studied at the Union Theological Seminary in New York. William was the youngest of a family of twelve and a seventh son.

Because it was a family tradition, he went to Yale, where he attended Sheffield Scientific School, helping to pay his way by tutoring. Graduating in 1886, he obtained a job, through the influence of one of his brothers, in the Altoona Shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad and worked for 5 cents an hour, sharing a bed with a night policeman.

His first big opportunity came in 1894 during the strike of the American Railway Union, when the task was assigned him of keeping the Western Division running. Handling the throttle, he took the train through the first trouble zone, climbing out of the cab to throw the switches himself. He kept the division open although other roads affected failed to move a train.

Cleared Pittsburgh Traffic

In 1902, during the boom days of Pittsburgh, he was called upon to clear a terrific traffic jam, and was rewarded for his success by being made general manager of the lines east of Pittsburgh and Erie.

It was in this period that he came to understand the needs and the psychology of the trainmen whom he was later to command, and in opposition to other officials he conceded that they had rights that were too often ignored.

In 1909 he was elected fifth vice president in charge of transportation. In 1911 he was advanced to fourth vice president, and a year later was made vice president for operations.

Elected president of the American Railway Association in 1916, he rendered valuable service to the government in the transportation of troops and war material and supplies to the Mexican border, paving the way for his later mission to Europe.

General Atterbury's call for war service was embarrassing, in view of the fact that he was being sent abroad on approval. If General Pershing had not liked him, he would have been sent home, and his prestige would have been materially lowered, but he did not hesitate in accepting the command.

Collecting all available information on French railways, ports and docks, he kept to his stateroom throughout the voyage.

In his autobiography, General Pershing said of him: "In our first conversation we ran over the problem in a general way. Much to my surprise, Mr. Atterbury seemed to be very familiar with the situation, and his personal ability, his force, and his grasp of the difficulties of the task and his willingness to understand it appealed to me at once."

That American troops were concentrated so quickly and effectively upon the fronts was due entirely to his knowledge and initiative. The respect and enthusiasm he aroused among the men was tremendous. He was referred to as "General Attaboy."

General Pershing cited him for his work, and he was decorated by foreign governments. He was made a Commander of the Legion of Honor, Companion of the Order of the Bath, Commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown, Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown of Rumania and received the Order of the White Eagle of Serbia.

Returning the United States and to the company he had served for thirty-five years, he found himself in the midst of the greatest labor problem of him life. His solution was an arbitration system which was far more effective than the "company union" plan which was being tried by some organizations.

He was promoted to vice president without designation in 1924, and in 1925 was made president.

One of General Atterbury's greatest management accomplishments was the $200,000,000 electrification of the Pennsylvania from Washington to New York. The acquisition of the Pennsylvania interests in air lines and bus companies reflected his belief that railroads should offer all forms of transport.

Retrenched in Depression.

Under his management the Pennsylvania's net operating income rose in 1929 to $133,000,000. He met the depression by the most vigorous policy of retrenchment but continued to fight to recover traffic lost by the Pennsylvania.

For some years General Atterbury was a prominent figure in Republican politics in Pennsylvania. In 1928 he became Republican national committeeman from his State. In 1930, refusing to support Gifford Pinchot, the party nominee for governor, he resigned the post.

General Atterbury's character did not change with his steady rise to prominence. When he was president, his office was as simple as that of any employee. He sat behind a plain oak table, and the mural adornments were limited to a clock, a calendar, a map and a lithograph of a train.

His home tastes were similar. He lived in Radnor, a suburb of Philadelphia, in a remodeled farm house and it was his boast that there was not a chair or a couch in the place on which he could not put his feet.

He never lost his interest in mechanics, and had a machine shop at his home and another on his yacht.

He was an expert with tools and could mend anything that could be broken, and took pleasure in doing so.

He owned a large farm in Chester Valley, Pa., to which he motored on Sundays after playing eighteen holes of golf with three of his friends. He tried to raise dairy cattle on his farm, but was not successful.

Although he liked to dance and play bridge and poker, he hated banquets and ceremonies of all kinds. He was much sought as a public speaker, but because he was never free to speak his mind he made very effort to avoid such appearances and when they were forced upon him he carefully read an address that he had prepared in advance. He always said that he would have his revenge after his retirement.

He attracted comment by his practice of having his health examined regularly, although he was in excellent physical condition, never taking medicine, sleeping soundly on retiring and rising promptly at 6:30 o'clock every morning.

Order was the basic rule of his work. He answered all letters the day they were received and never left his office at night until every task was completed.

He was a great fighter and respected the people who fought him, but he did not respect a man who could be won over too easily. He never took a decision until he was thoroughly familiar with both sides of a case, but once he said no, he could not be changed.

His greatest diversion was cruises on his sea-going yacht which was named Arminia after his wife. Every summer he and his family took a long cruise. Once they sent the vessel, joined it at Vancouver and cruised around the Pribilof Islands, exploring and fishing. On these trips he spent a part of his time helping the engineer.

Yale University conferred on him the honorary degree of Master of Arts in 1911 and the University of Pennsylvania made him a Doctor of Laws in 1919. Yale repeated this honor in 1926 as did Villanova University in 1927 and Temple University in 1929.

General Atterbury was a director of eight corporations and a member of six societies. He was a member or honorary member of sixteen clubs.

New Work Aided Employees

During the depression years that followed 1929 the Pennsylvania Railroad under General Atterbury's direction adopted the plan of spreading work among its employees in so far as was possible.

In connection with this effort, after earlier loans to carry out specific projects had been negotiated with the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, the Pennsylvania announced through General Atterbury that a Public Works Administration loan, negotiated in January of 1934, would be expended entirely for wages, material and supplies to be used on several projects, in the belief that such action would stimulate employment and help business. The loan, largest of the series negotiated by the railroad, was for $77,000,000.

His activity in connection with other forms of transportation caused him to be called as a witness before the United States Senate committee investigating air and ocean mail contracts early in 1934. He testified that he bad conferred with former Postmaster General Brown concerning a mail contract for the Philadelphia, Mail Steamship Company, in which the Pennsylvania was interested, but denied that there had been anything improper in such a conference.

At the same time he took the occasion to deny vigorously that the railroads had hampered the development of airlines in the country by acquiring an interest in them.

Scoffed at Illness Report

Last November, seated on a deck chair on his yacht off Miami General Atterbury declared "I`m the livest, kick’n’est person you ever saw." He scoffed at reports that he was critically ill.

In 1934 and part of 1935 he continued as president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, although not very actively. In September of the former year he said in a letter accompanying dividend checks that it would have been a great pleasure to have increased the dividend had the net earnings justified the action. In the same month, when the Association of American Railroads was formed by a consolidation of the American Railway Association and the Association of Railway Executives, he was elected a member of the board of directors.

In his report for 1934, issued later in March last year, General Atterbury asserted that, pending legislation carried a threat to the prosperity of the railroads. The railroads, he added, hoped for Congressional legislation favorable to them.

"Congress and the State Legislatures," he wrote, "have been deluged with proposed legislation such as a bill for the establishment of a six-hour day with increased compensation, excess-crew bills, train limit bills, an amendment to the Employers' Liability Act so as to take away the defense of assumed risk, an amendment to the Hours of Service Act, reducing the present maximum hours of service for certain classes of employee, and a bill providing for governmental inspection and control of track conditions.

Warned of Burden on Roads.

"The proposed legislation, if enacted, would place an insupportable burden upon the railroads without advantages to the employees. Any treatment of their

problems which omitted consideration of the overhanging threat to the integrity of the industry would be tantamount to the destruction of efforts looking toward recovery in the field of railroad transportation. Such legislation would mean ultimately less employment in the railroad industry rather than an increase in employment as contended by the sponsors of the proposed legislation."

He said in the same report that the railroads would "continue to, be the fundamental and basic transportation agency of the country and are convinced that transportation by rail will contribute progressively to its growth and development."

No reason was announced for General Atterbury's retirement. It was believed, however, that illness was the cause. The meeting of the board of directors at which he resigned was his first since his illness. He praised Mr. Clement, who had administered the company well in his absence, he said. General Atterbury remained as a director.

Tribute by Senator Davis

WASHINGTON, Sept 20. (AP) Senator James J. Davis, Republican of Pennsylvania, expressed regret today at the death of W.W. Atterbury, retired president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, who played an influential part in getting Davis to run for the Senate.

"Wallace Atterbury had all the attributes of leadership," Senator Davis said. "First, he was a fine citizen, an efficient transportation administrator, a courageous soldier, in brief, a splendid American and a man anybody would be proud to call a friend."

Daniel Willard Grieved.

BALTIMORE, Sept 20 (AP)

Daniel Willard, president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, said tonite that he was "greatly shocked and grieved at the news, for he had been my friend for more than thirty years.

"He was, of course, retired, but during his active service I think his management of property under is direction was of such nature as to rank him among the finest of the country’s business leaders."