Thirty or forty years ago in one of those grey towns along the Burlington railroad which are so much greyer today than they were then there was a house well known from Omaha to Denver for its hospitality and for a certain charm of atmosphere. Well known that is to say to the railroad aristocracy of that time; men who had to do with the railroad itself or with one of the "land companies" which were its byproducts. In those days it was enough to say of a man that he was "connected with the Burlington." There were the directors the general managers vice- presidents superintendents whose names we all knew; and their younger brothers or nephews were auditors freight agents departmental assistants.