not employ a devious channel therefor. When men employ their best judgment with an honest purpose, he never finds fault, even though the result is not what he had hoped. He never loses his temper, and is very considerate of those about him. He is generous in the extreme, and does a great deal of good in a quiet way. Those under him have learned to look upon him as a friend as well as an employer. But he will brook nothing that looks like dishonesty.

Mr. Webber is one of the most approachable of men, and the stranger or

poor man has as ready access to his presence or advice as the rich or great. He is intense in his convictions, either in business or politics, and will fight for his side with all the power and valor within him, but if he is vanquished he accepts the results in good faith, and and holds no animosity. He has proved himself a man of the highest calibre and genuine worth in every relation of life, and the success and honor he is now enjoying are but the ripe fruits of many years of useful and generous sowing.

SEELYE A. WILLSON.

ALTHOUGH the early life of John F. Moulton was spent in the east, and his first years of extensive business enterprise in the west, he has been so long connected with the commercial interests of Buffalo that any mention of the forces at work in the advancement and development of that city to-day with no mention of him would be a mistake. He touches the life of that city at many points, and has made himself felt through numerous avenues of usefulness. He has already accomplished much, and as he is only now in the prime of life, there is no telling what further achievements may await him in the future.

Mr. Moulton, like so many of the men whose lives have been spent in the upbuilding of the west, came of New

England parentage. He was born on February 3, 1841, at Beverly, Massachusetts, which was also the native place of his parents. His grandfather was Captain Tarbox Moulton, a well known sea captain and ship owner, who lost three of his vessels in the French war of 1812, while his father, Charles Moulton, was a merchant of Beverly. His mother, Abby Cole, was a member of one of the oldest and most highly respected New England families.

The youth had the advantage of the best New England schools, and made good use of them. After securing an excellent English education he engaged, at the age of eighteen, in the mercantile business conducted by his father. The partnership continued for three years, during which he learned much in a

business way, and showed the possession of qualities that were certain to make him a success in the world. When twenty-one years of age he determined to do for himself altogether, and being impressed with the opportunities offered by Michigan, proceeded to Battle Creek, in that state, where he engaged in merchandise. He gained an He gained an admirable standing from the first, and was soon recognized as one of the live and stirring men of the place. In three years after his location there Mr. Moulton, when but twenty-four years of age, became one of the organizers of the Bank of Battle Creek, and was chosen one of its directors. He was soon engaged in many enterprises having for their object the advancement and development of his chosen home and the country dependent upon it. His energy, activity, and business enterprise and sagacity were marked features from the beginning of his commercial career. He was made one of the aldermen of Battle Creek in 1865, and in that position gave the public the benefit of the comprehensive views and executive energy that had produced such results in his private affairs. In 1867 he was elected president of the Battle Creek Gas company.

At about this time Mr. Moulton became interested in the Peninsula railroad, afterwards known as the Chicago & Lake Huron railroad, a western connection of the Grand Trunk road. The opportunities offered by railroading, and his very evident ability to meet and master all the problems in that new and complex science, led him to further op

erations in that direction. He secured the contract for building the Buffalo & Jamestown road in New York state, and removed to Buffalo, which has since been his home. He pushed the work forward and completed it in 1875. He was soon afterward appointed its general manager, and in 1878 was elected its president, which position he yet holds. The cost of the road was three million three hundred thousand dollars, and under Mr. Moulton's careful yet vigorous management it has proved one of the best paying lines of the state. As a railroad man Mr. Moulton has shown an admirable combination of financial knowledge and skill, with that executive ability needed to operate a railroad, and has demonstrated the great success that would lie before him were he to abandon all other lines of business enterprise and devote himself to the one of railway management.

Mr. Moulton has touched the business life of Buffalo and western New York on more points than one. His connection with the lighting of Buffalo by electricity, and the advancement of the city along the line of progress to that extent, deserves more than a mere passing reference. The business of electric lighting attracted attention in that city early in 1881. On June 1 of that year the Brush Electric Light company of Buffalo, was incorporated with a capital of two hundred thousand dollars, and the following well known business men of Buffalo became trustees for the first year: James Adams, William B. Sirret, A. P. Wright, H. G. Nolton, R. V. Pierce, Hiram Exstein, R. G. Taylor,

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John F. Moulton and George Urban. The officers of the company were John F. Moulton, president; James Adams, vice-president; H. G. Nolton, secretary and treasurer.

The company secured a contract from the city for the furnishing of twelve. electric lights on Ganson street, on "the island," in the southern part of the city, where there was no gas, at five thousand dollars per year, and on July 14, 1881, commenced operating the first station. During 1882 two more stations were added in other parts of the city, and about two hundred lights furnished. Experience came with two or three years' operating, and as better methods suggested themselves, the plan of substations was abandoned, and in May, 1884, the company took possession of a new station erected specially for the electric light business, on the corner of Mohawk, Wilkeson and Seventh streets. The building is a solid, substantial brick structure, and has received a vast amount of attention from the electric light fraternity. On the first floor is the boiler room, one hundred and twenty by fifty feet in size. A fine battery of nine one hundred horse-power steel boilers, with space for three more, faces the coal supply room, which has a capacity of nearly one thousand tons. The boilers are all set on the Murphy patent smokeless furnace, made at Detroit, Michigan. By the aid of these furnaces, bituminous slack coal is burned exclusively, absolutely without smoke. The engine and dynamo room, sixty by one hundred and twenty feet, is also on the first floor. Seventeen 65-2000 can

dle power Brush dynamos form two rows through the centre of the room, and are operated by individual automatic engines of sixty-five horse-power each, of the Westinghouse manufacture. The engines are placed on solid foundations on either side of the room, and connected with dynamos by belts. Fifteen of these machines and engines are used constantly, and two held in reserve in case of accident. A large switch-board at one end of the apartment permits any circuit to be operated by any machine.

The company are now furnishing the city of Buffalo five hundred and fortysix lights for the public streets and parks, and two hundred and eighty private lights

a total of eight hundred and twentysix lights, and an increase of twenty-five per cent. over a year ago. The business is rapidly growing, and one thousand lights are expected to be in operation soon. It requires nearly two hundred miles of No. 4 copper wire to furnish the above lights; and some of the circuits extending to the city limits are twenty miles long. The present officers of the company are John F. Moulton, president; James Adams, vice president; William S. Frear, secretary; and John M. Brinker, treasurer; and the directors are John F. Moulton, James Adams, A. P. Wright, Andrew Langdon, Daniel O'Day, R. W. Jones, John M. Brinker, N. C. Scoville and Thomas. Langdon. The executive office of the company is at the Coal and Iron Exchange, rooms 5 and 6, No. 257 Washington street. The enterprise is one of natural pride to the city in which it is