Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1861-01-17
Lake Erie ard Pacific Railroad.

Lake Erie ard Pacific Railroad.
Pursuant to notice number OF The citizens Of
Winchester and vicinity convened at the Court
House on SATURDAY., January 18th, lrGI, It one
o'clock, F. ~, TO take into consideration tue
Pr.rriety OF taxing the nece ssFy steps TO secure
tise location of the Lake Erie aud PLcifc Rail
rord through the town Of Winchester. The
meeting was crsanizei BY calling Alex White
70 the Chair and appointing H. II. NciT Sccre-
tary.
Mr.. White, on taking the 1hair, made a few
pointed and practical reilisr- With rtitrence 70
tAe iRtsrest thas the peoPleof Winchester have
N securing the location OF this road through
their town. which would prove Of inealcuIable
benefit - the coIamerci,l interest Of the town
as well - the agricultural interests of the sur
rounding country. lie regretted the mearre at
tendance, par icularly Of the merchants and
business men Of the town
Mr.. Webb, the agent Of the Company, being
present, addressed the meeting in very logical
and forcible manner; evidently having thorough
y matured the practical and feasible bearings Of
this great enterprise; having, according to las
own declaration, been more than three years.
more or les, engaged in it. lie said he did not
come to Winchester to solicit stock at this time
Oh his own accord, a. his encouragement at this
place, on a former visit, was net OF character
that would have prompted him to have returned,
aud would not have done so, had it not been for
the urgent solicitations he received from a mum
Der Of persons at this point. lie said he nov
had the satisfaction of saying to the citizens OF
Winchester, that the enterprise had progressed
50 far that he could, in all confidence, say, that
the road would be made, whether they s,sbscri-
bed dollar or not That, if the sum of SO,
600 was subscribed By the citizens OF Winchcs-
ter, it would be an indacement to bring it here,
but. without that amount being subscribed, lie
would frankly say that the road would not come
to this place, but would pass some four or five
miles. cast Of " that il was matter for the
people of. Winchester TO determine for them
selves whether they will have their town made a
point on the line of this Road or not.
lie then proceeded to show the merits of this
Road "a paying one, forming, rs il will, az i'm.
portant link in the great chain Of Railways that
will connect Lake Erie at Sandusky, Ohio, with
with tho Ohio river at Jacksonville, in Indiana,
aud passing almost its entire distance of pc
miles through the very richest portions of thos,
two States. Arrangements have been entered
Into by which il will be made a continuous line
Of Road, thereby avoiding reshipment which
has proved source OF great annoyance to other
Roads. lie stated that 81 900 per mile was all
that would be required 10 prepare the Road rca-
dy for the iron; that this amount was already
made up By local subscriptions from Nashville
in Rush county, To Huntsville in Randolph coun-
ty. In addition to this, $500, 900 have been sub
scrbed outside of the State. and the iron has
also been pledged by Coddinston 4 Co., of New
York. so soon az the Road is ready to receive it
And inasInuch as there are only 30 miles of Road
to make to complete the connection through
from Lake Erie to the Ohio river, it was nc
longer a question whether the Road viii b.
made, but simply a question rs to tho time wher
it shall be completed. lie assured our people
that the work will not he commenced until the
whole amount TO complete the Road is made up
and that the money that is subscribed in Ran
dolph county will be expended in the county.
r Thos. u. Browne, a. }. Nef and Miles Hunt
Esqrs. also addressed the meeting, and urgeC
the propriety of the citizens OF Winchester t.
take hold of this matter and make up the neces
fsary amount of stock TO bring it to this place
that unless Winchester was made point on tn,
line OF this Road, its present and. future pros
poets would be greatly damaged; that real estate
would be almost worthless in the Road
should pass three or four miles east Of Us, there
by dyerting large share of The trade We now
have to other points. 1t was matter of self
! preservation to the citizens of Winchester to &C.
cure'the Road
On motion of 4. ]. Neff, a committee of five
persons was appointed to solicit stock, consisting
of Il. VI. Browne, y. ]. Nef, W w. Goodrich
Jos. X. Dick, and J. w. Hunt.
On motion, the meeting then adjourned.
; H. II. NtrF, Sec'y. A. WHITE, Chm.