Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1858-02-04

o'clock P. n. By these several trains, a resi-
dent of even the extreme portions of the county
can arrange TO spend q part or al! of the business
hours of the day at the river and still return to
his home before bed time, in the evening. and
his whole cash outlay heed be only his fare. in
and out, ats cents per mile. We will state the
case: The citizen of Somefton or Hendrvsburg,
as a witness to attend court at Bell
alre, with an hour or hour and q half's ride. at
half past six in the morning, would he in time for
the train delivering him III Bellaire nj So'clock-
IN season for the meeting of the court. Leaving
after the adjournment, at 5 o'clock p. NJ. he
reaches BarIesville al Go p. NJ, where he couLi
take 4 hack. or other cUuvcyaTce, 10 his home,
with not exceeding SIX hours travel, going and
coming, and his whole expense of Railroad and
Hack fare, being only about equal to the hotel
bills he now paws 81 ST. Clairsviiie; 10 say moth
ing of the greater labor and expense of getting to
and from the latter place, and the loss of one
and a halfOr two days of additional time. So
from all other points. The orerGge distance from,
the Rdiiroad OF the other remote toIrHships, WdsA-
iogtoa, Easne, Flashing and Wheeling. being tat
nine miles. erery citizen Of the county could arranye
TO sgo2d all The business hours OF The dag ut BeHgire,
ard siiH be at home at night. What can ST. Glars
vile claim to eoun,erbaldnce this one c0mpre-
hensive convenience which would result from
the location Of the county seat at Beilaire? 1t
IL bCSilCSS w slOh tldi the ClllLcus Ol reuse,
being but 20 minutes by Railroad, and Yosk and
Mead, bu; an hour and a half by Steamboat. can
have but one view as to the convenience and
economy to them of the proposed change.
But if these things were not obvious TO every
man Of sense who gives but n moments reflection
to it, we have the unwilling ties imOny of ST.
Clairsville herself in the ease. At their public
meeting of the 9th inst, a cOmmitte was appcin-
ted for the express purpose of ascertaining the
probable cost o! improving the county road from
here St. Gainesville to Naruock, Glencoe or La
mira, so that it would be Il good Hack or
Omnibus Road during the whole year" What
does this mean, if it be not intended 10 put that
town, as far as practicable, into connection with
@ very Railroad facilities which she efeetste
fdisparGge? But farther:-it is a vel! known fact
that many OF the citizens Of the western and
southern townships find their cheapest and most
erye lifi3as route to St. Clairsville, By the ,ray OF
BeNaire! and it is also well known that many OF
the very men residing at ST. Ciairsville, whO
are now prominent in this rcmonstrance move
ment, generally, if not invariably, travel round
by the way of Bridgeport and Bellaire, to reach
Warren, Somerset, and other remote tOwnsh Ups.
The explanation which they give Of this, Is,
that the Railroad has broken up the Hack and
Omnibus lines, which used to furnish their most
economical modes of travel, and therefore they
are compelled to go So much out OF the wav, Ia
ther than submit to the greater expense and 2eidy
of pirate means OF c0aUeydEcc. But why were
these Hack and Omnibus lines absorbed by the
Railroad? Not because there is less travel tC
and from the county seat, on county business
than formerly; but because that business alone
,cifhOut the continued stream OF intercourse tcith tk'
Rirer, was not sufficient to sustain them. Tho
Railroad now furnishing the most economical a:
we'll as the most expeditions avenue for the com.
merce between the interior and the River, st
ClaIrsyilie will never be able TO revive the 'iacil'
tiles which she had previous to the c%Oustruc
ton oil That work. Not that there will be a di
intuition Of the general facilities for intercourse
in the county; but the inevitable tendency of al
our public modes Ui the Nation
al Road at least and partially so, from twill be
10 the time table and trains of the Central Road;
and furnishing only Incidental and less cconOm
zeal because of times of arrival and departure
convenienccS in the direction Of the present eoun.
ty seat; so much out of the way is st. Clairsviile
And as this tendency is, and must be progress
sive, il bee mes more important that it shOuit
be Iropeiy appreciated at this time in the dis
custom OF reno al.
Much stress is laid, at St. GAINESVILLE, upon tn,
point 1--WE suppose to counterfeit the influence o
the stubborn tact that her location is within 81
miles OF the northern boundary line Of the county
that, ignoring territorial considerations, she b. 81
at least, the great bulk of the population imme
diat-ly around her. The editor Of the ST. Ga r.
vile Republican. in his issue OF the 9Th IN {
saws: alt is a fact that northern Belmont Ii
pad for her own county buildings, she has bonn
the buTthen OF TAXATION Tor all purposes, for tn
last fifty years, and now pays hearty double h
tax per sqnaIe mile, that the south does. and hI
a larger population per square Rite hm 1t has"
Its, We believe, . rule III morals, il not ia 10
gle, that If one branch Of an assertion be false /
implies f~alseh0Od in all. II is charitable to sup
pose that the Editor did not know what he wa
talking about, i'll this ease. 1t Is, however, sig
nilicant in one particular. 1t shows that tn
: habit OF d~ecrying the southern part of the ronm
ty has been so long continued, they cannot aban
don it, even now, when they are OIL the eve of 10
Using all the p wer and prestige which thqir au
dae,ty and arrosance-StrangelS enoug2-ha
heretofore given them.
The ST. Clairsv.ile remousirance also, whicl
was authorized by their public meetings, asserts
what their .'uddressiHy" cpin:nittee hail too niue,
r tact to claim, namely, that st. ClsirsviIle Is near
err the centre of population than either Barnes
vile or Deiiaire." We have shown that even
r this were true, superior facilities Of approach t
any point on the Railroad would far more tina
, cUunterbaiauce this assumed advantage of 81
Clairsville. Bat an examination of the follow
ing table will show, that not only are the fou
e townships having Bellaire for its centre, file
with a dcnser population than the four town
ships of which St. GAINESVILLE is the centres; bu
that even in connection with the balance OF tn
county, rating the townships through which tn
Railroads run, (including Richland) and all sout
OF the Railroad. as practically and leIItimdtei
crEtreihS upon be'Iaire, ana cohce'lhS' l"f IN
sake of argument, that all others centre upon s.
. Clairsville, the result is substantially the sam,
The table is marie up from an abstract ofthe poi
t uiation of Ohio, in 1889, published by the Stat,
e for the Constitutional Convention; and n al
:, s.ract of the votes east in the different township
Of the county in 1850 and 1856. The vote
" 1880 gives the ratio OF a small fraction over
J whites to every voter. Carrying this ratio fol
q ward to 1856, VT find the population ut tha
year, although such an estimate does injustice
!, Pultney township, which has had a much large
: influx than any other, ola population too recent
ly removed into the county TO be voters.