Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-11-17
early History Of RnIIrOAning In

SATURDAY evening, November lVtn. Hon.
II b. PAYNE presided on the occasion. On
taking the chair, he made the following
speech, which possesses more than ordinary
Interest:
feeltruly thankful for the high honor that
you have conferred upon me by choosing
me to preside over this meeting. In the
enforcement Of parliamentary rules to-
night there 10 but one thing that will be in
sisted upon by the chair, and that Is for
every one to turn In and have good time.
ANY person who does not comply with this
arrangement will be ruled out Of order.
[Cheers.l | have been called to the chair,
on account Of my being the Oldest railroad
director In Cleveland; but lest this state
ment might be taken to imply some degree
Of antiquity on my part, will explain that
I 1t Is but nineteen years since the birth OF
the first railroad enterprise In Cleveland,
and but fifteen years since the first road
! was opened for public accommodation.
| What striking contrast between the con-
dition of our city then, and It's wealth,
magnlficence and prosperity nowl. In the
early struggled of the railroad enterprises
Of Cleveland, it was my fortune to be an ac-
tive participant, and many of our citizens
will remember, with me, the seemingly in
surmountable obstacles which had to be
overcome. The first company organized
was the Cleveland, Columbus q Cincinnati,
the ultimate success Of which is due In a
greater degree to the untiring efforts of
our sagaeiou' and public-spirited fellow
citizen, John w. Allen, than to those OF any
other one person. This company was in
cOrporated in 1916 with Mr.. Allen as its
President, and Richard Hilliard, John w.
Allen, John M. Woolsey and myself as the
Cleveland members of the first Board of
Directors. The spring Of 1917 Is well re-
membered as the darkest hour in the his
tory Of this rail- Dad and of the city of Oleve-
land. Our prominent men of enterprise and
foresight clearly perceived that railroad
communication with other cities was the
one thing needful to secure the rapid
growth and prosperity of our own city;
and after two years Of the most earnest ef-
fort to give form to the project they were
compelled to decide upon its abandonment,
unless greater material support could be
obtained. The incorporation Of thecom-
. pany had been secured, with proviso au-
thorizing the city Of Cleveland to subscribe
S200,000 to its stock, which the city readily
subscribed. 1t was necessary In order to en-
able the company to negotiate its bonds,
that q further subscription should be made
by our citizens, but although John A. Foot
and S. S. Stone had eanyassed the city thor
Oughly for subscriptions, but $25, 900 Of the
stock had been taken. At that time the
Golfers OF our merchants and business men
were not filled as now; business was done
upon the credit system to great extent,
and we can scarcely deem IL strange
thing that four-fifths of the people were
averse to the enterprise. John NJ. Woolsey
had been sent to Cincinnati to negotiate
with the Ohio Life and Trust Company; to
Pittsburgh to ascertain upon what te ms
iron could be procured; and to New York
and Philadelphia to enlist the sympathies
OF capitalists. He returned disheartend
and made his reports to this effect-that the
officers of the Ohio Life and Trust Com
pany had no money to spare whatever. At
Pittsburgh he was informed that he could
have an article of "strap iron "-for few |
railroads then thought it necessary to use |
anything better than strap iron for their |
roads-delivered at Beaver, for $50 a ton |
payable in cash on delivery! He then went |
to Philadelphia, New York and Boston AT |
that time the country was at war with
Mexico, and money was scarce among |
Eastern men; their invariable reply was |
that Cleveland was so far removed that |
her solvency was unknown, and they had !
no means to invest in chimerical enter
prises. Thus the failure of the project
seemed inevitable. In the spring OF 1S47 1t
was decided to levy tax of five per cent.
upon the stock subscribed to pay expenses
incurred, and abandon it for time.
Unwilling, however, to relinquish an un-
dertaking which, II successful, promised
such mighty results, its projectors deter
mined to make one more determined effort,
to urge upon the people the importance OF
taking up the stock. In the summer OF
1847, that somewhat notorious sarcastic
phrase was published by a Sandusky pa,
per to the effect that "Cleveland was VIII
lage situated about six miles from New
burgh." [Laughter.l Stung by such re-
proach upon the want of enterprise shown
by our people, that energetic and far-see-
ing merchant, the late Richard Hilliard, \
called at my Office one afternoon and made
me proposition that 1 should abandon my
office for three months, and he would his
store for the same length of time, and make
one more effort to enlist our people in the
enterprise. | accepted the proposal on the
spur of the moment. The first we did was
TO operate on old uncle Leonard Case, and
try co get him to subscribe to the stock,
knowing that his name would be q tower
Of strength, although he had heretofore
persistently refused to take dollar of the
stock, believing that the construction Of the
road would be an impossibility. This had
deferred others from subscribing. For ten
days the sole efforts Of the soliciting COM
mittee were concentrated upon him. FL
naIly he said, 81 will subscribe $1,000, but 1t
will all be sunk In Uncle Abrams swamp
[Laughter.l Mr.. Hilliard and myself then
went from store to store, shop to shop, ac-
cepting any sum from one hundred dollars
upwards. In this way we secured about
forty thousand dollars. 1t was then deter
mined, If possible, to prevail upon Uncle
ri - her 20 -. i
become one of the directors Of the road,
and Mr.. Alfred Kelley, of Columbus, to ac-
cept the Presidency. Mr.. Kelley had pre-
viously determined to retire from public
service Of any kind, but, to his endur-
ing honor be It said, that against l.
the advice OF his friends and family,
by an earnest desire for the pub
lie good, he accepted the position. Ap-
plause.] About this time the sympathies
Of Mr.. Dwight, of Springfield, Mass, were
enlisted in tie project, and through his
advice and influence the services OF Capt.
Childs we're secured. The latter gentleman
was widely known among Eastern capital
lists as a skilliul engineer, and his indorse-
ment OF the company did much to advance
It's credit abroad. Capt. Childs came on,
examined the route from Cleveland TO Co.
umbus, and promised TO the company and
he stockholders the completion Of the
-oad, but to accomplish this end more stock '
must be taken. For this purpose the fa-
nous "revival meeting" (Which, TO my
mind, was q perfect model for all revival !
neetings) was held at the Empire Hall in 4
his city, and an enthusiasm hitherto un- {
known was ELECTED. John A. Foot was |
made Chairman, and after an eloquent J
specch, declared that thirty-tive thousand 8
iollars more must be subscribed In Cleve- '
and. Addressing different individuals, he