When Samuel Matthews Vauclain passed away, our Country lost one of
its distinguished citizens. The Railroad World, which he loved so well
and which loved and honored him, lost a man whose energy and genius
had served it for more than sixty-five years.
With his death, The Baldwin Locomotive Works lost a leader whose
guiding genius was one of the most potent factors in the development
of Baldwin as a great industrial plant. The name "Vauclain" will
always he associated with this Company which he served for fifty-seven
years as Superintendent, Partner, Vice-President, President and Chairman
of the Board.
Not only in the United States, but throughout the world, wherever
there are railroads, the news of Mr. Vauclain's death was received with
sorrow by those who had known and worked with him. Nowhere was this
sorrow more profound than among his associates at Baldwin to whom
he was fellow-worker as well as Chief.
To think of Mr. Vauclain is to think of those who shared his labors,
for he was essentially a worker. He was proud of the fact that he had
started his career as an humble apprentice; proud, even when he headed
the Baldwin organization, to join his men in the shops and put his
shoulder to the wheel.
Mr. Vauclain often remarked that the man who liked his job and who
"worked for the work's sake", not only found contentment but material
success as well. With him this was not merely a theory, it was the rule
by which he regulated his entire business life. In his success it found
its highest fulfillment.
This man, whose great character we attempt so feebly to portray,
was a devoted husband, father and grandfather, philanthropist, world
traveler, business executive, salesman, mechanic, and public-spirited
citizen. He was an optimist in the best sense of the word. Not only did
he believe in the future of his Country and his fellow man, he devoted
his best energies to the task of making his dream come true.
With the death of Samuel Matthews Vauclain, there passed one of
the truly great men of our time.
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