New Hand at the Throttle

When Chicago Lawyer Ben W. Heineman set out to get control of Chicago & North Western Railway a fortnight ago, he told the North Western board of directors that he preferred a peaceful alliance to a proxy war. This week, after ten days of fast-express negotiations, Heineman and North Western agreed on an alliance. Heineman will take over as full-time board chairman and chief executive officer of North Western, give up both his law practice and his connections with Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway, which he took over almost two years ago. But he did not get his demand for ten seats on the 18-man North Western board. Instead, the board was cut to 17 members, and Heineman will have only five seats.

Though Heineman will be in the strange position of a board chairman without a board majority, he is not worried. During negotiations each side became convinced that the other agreed on what North Western should do, i.e., clear out management deadwood, build up business and rolling stock, get the company solidly into the black. Heineman's first big job will be to find a new president and chief operating officer to replace Paul E. Feucht, who is convalescing from a heart attack last month.

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