The election of Patrick E. Crowley to the Presidency of the New York Central Railroad (TIME; April 14) was interpreted as revealing the policy of the company's directors in favoring succession in office of operating executives. Since Chauncey M. Depew, a lawyer, was President, all his four successors—Samuel R. Colloway, William H. Newman, W. C. Brown and the late A. H. Smith—have been operating men.
Secondly, the Board is believed to have taken into consideration Mr. Crowley's popularity in the rank and file of Central employees, in which he resembles the late Mr. Smith. Crowley began at 14 as a telegrapher on the Erie.
Finally, the selection is a tribute to Mr. Crowley himself. He began as an employee of the Central at 25; for about ten years he was a train master; at 36 he became a division superintendent; at 40, assistant general superintendant to the road, and at 43 its General Manager. Subsequently his title has been changed to Assistant Vice President and then Vice President, but his job has been as chief operating executive of the road with the duty of maintaining its equipment and its line of 17,000 miles. Next August Mr. Crowley will be 60.