The northern galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1844-1848, 1846-11-10
REMARKS oFE. n. DERBY, ESQ,

beginning TO fall of.
REMARKS OF E. H. DERBY, ESQ.,
AT THE NESTING AT THE TEMPLE, ON TuFs-
DAY, OcT. 18th, IN AID OF THE RUTLAND
RAILROAD.
E. H. Derby of Boston said: He had list
med with pleasure TO the eloquent speeches
of the gentlemen from Vermont and New
Hampshire, spd although he came with no
intention Of making an address, he could mol;
after having taken part in starting the Wesi-
ern, Fitchbnrgh, Vermont Central, and other
railroads, keep silence on this occasion.
Allusion had been made by the gentleman
iron. Keene, 10 the F%itchburgh Railroad, and
a fear was expressed that its income would
be diminished when the timber, which gave
il a large revenue, was exhausted f the knt
land Railroad should not be constructed. he
had great confidence in the Ftchburgh Rail
road he had been connected with it from
It's ~infancy-from a period OF weakness, OF
greater weakness than that Of The Rutland
and had seen it move onward in success and
popularity, until the original subscribes real
lied, in premiums on stock, new shares and
dividends, nearly fifty per cent, 1t was true
il derived large revenues from wood and man.
ufactures from wood but wood on the Fitch
burgh line was an article OF value; forests
were preserved and cherished, and would
long continue TO be made into chairs, pals,
cloihespins, shoe-Pegs, and other manulac-
lures.
Thejcountry was productive ofothsr freight.
its little streams were studded with factories.
In this respect, there was q marked contrast
between the Worcester and F~iichburgh
roads. when first opened. The one, in the
first wear, afforded 1000 tons return freight:
the other, fve-iold that amount; and, with
the Vermont and Massachusetts, and Chesh.
ire lines, both tributary and the natural
growth Of traffic, must continue 10 pay ten per
cent.
The local business would increase also
on our lines, business once in eight years.
But while he could not conccde the divi'
dends might be endangered wiihoutthe Rut-
land willie the note wac good, he had no OBJ
lection TO a strong endorser The rich district
OF Western Vermont, alike productive III
minerals and agriculture, would give the note
additional currency; and soon demand a
double track TO be paid for by shares yielding
a premium. He appreciated the Importance
and tAo resources oil Western Vermont; he
WAS familiar with her rounded hills and fer
tile Wales, covered with almos: perennial YER
dure, IL was u fact he had lately discovered
from. a recent treatise on aqueducts, that the
annual fall OF rain on the slopes ofthe Green
Mountains was fifty per e n more than the
fall 10 Boston. Whether or not it was, that
the clouds, rolling east from the sea. and west
from the lakes. were condensed enthose hills,
an exhuberance of moisture fell on a rich soil
in a temperate climat, gave beauty 10 the lea
lures ofthe country, made il ono OF the most
fertile and healihf1l regions ofthe Union,
Ii has been proposed TO the F~itcbburgh
Company to subscribe the sum required but
its stockholders had given an impulse ts ma
ny enterprises, were embarked in other lines,
and il was a question whether a company
authorized 10 build fifty miles OF railroad in
one state. could o%verleap New-HaUpshire,
and hold stock, as a corporation. in Vermont.
There were, however, individuals connected
with il friendly 10 this enterprise, and dis
posed 10 give il their co%uhtenaucc and sup
port. .
He had confidence the line would command
a good business with a moderate outlay.
The engineers who had surveyed II had
made different estimates. but differing prin-
cipally in the number Of cars and He price OF
iron. If the line p~rospered, all the cars in
The highest estimate would be required, and
would pay large interest; and with respect
TO iron. it's cost was NOW less by 100000
rnan the lowest estimate. Ii might be that
The passage Of Mount Holly would cost $3.50
900 more than Mr.. Gilberi's estimate; but
this was trifing when assessed on more than
100 miles Of railroad.
When he contrasted the passage Of Mount
Holly with the path ofthe Western, over Mt.
Washington, on grades Of eighty feet, where
a million had been spent in ten niles, and
the directors had not dared to show The line
10 the stockholders until the work was accom-
pIished. the passage of Mount Holly appear
ed perfectly insignificant. II was sufficient
10 saw. that, so gradual was the ascent you
could trot your horse over the summit before
YOU discovered it, while a beautiful and pro-
ductiye dairy farm crowned the highest acliv-
ity OF the line.
AS respects the grade Of sixty feet, il is
doubtless inferior TO one Of forty feet, but in
practice, n grade OF sixty ieet might he run
with success. The grade from Springfield,
cast, exceeded sixty feet, and cars run daily
with precision and profitable loads, and he
had known more than three hundred passen-
gers pass o rer il in a single train. With such
grades, ii was somewhat amusing 10 hear the
Western Railroad Company inviting The cit
izens Of Vermont 10 make doiour Of eighty
miles 10 the south. 10 join them at Pitts6eld,
-topass override expensive eighty feet grade,
TO avoid the imaginary horrors OF Mount
Holly. Such a line would be a New York
line, not a Boston line, and find its principal
support in New York journals, Let New
York build her own railroads; Boston cannot
yet build them for her.
He believed the Rutland route would pay.
We build roads TO Plymouth, 10 Dedham, 10
Lexington, TO. Fitchburgh. and other small
towns, and they all, within a few years after
they are finished, make liberal returns, how
ever humble their prospects at the outset.
Here was a valley studded with large and
prosperous towns, each Of them worthy of a
railro ad, and if in Massachusetts would have
had one, and yet their Manganese, their mar
Bile, and their iron, their oats. pork and wool,
their delicious butter and cheese, were sub
jected TO such charges and exposure on the
way, that they could not meet the products
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