The New York herald., 1868-06-20

construction was steadily persisted in, and by the end
of 1885 about thousand miles had been completed.
The wild speculative spirit which prevailed between
1884 and the panic OF 1887 gave an impetus to the
construction OF railways, but the panic over
whelmed Of the new enterprises started during
this period in common ruin. From 1881 to 1s44 the
country passed through gloom and disaster, but not
withstanding the Camden and Amboy Railway con-
Meeting Philadelphia with the harbor Of New York,
was opened ia 1887, and In 1S4l the line from Boston
to Albany was completed. In December 1s42, the
line from Albany to Buffalo was opened, an event
esteemed second in importance only to the opening
Of the Erie Canal. In the same year the Philadelphia
and Reading line was opened to the coal regions OF
Pennsylvania. On the 1st of January lS49, a con-
tinuous line Of railway was first formed between
Boston and New York by the completion of the
New York and New Haven Road and early
in 1851 the Erie line was completed from
the harbor OF New York to Lake Erie. In the same
year the completion Of the Vermont Central and Ver-
mont and Canada roads opened o through line from
Boston to tho St. Lawrence river, the line from Og
densburg to Lake Champlan having been finished In
1885, Late in 1851 the Hudson River line was
opened and in 1852 the Michigan Central and Michi
gan Southern lines were completed from Lake Erie
to Chicago, the lake serving as connecting link till
1s5s when by the opening Of the Cleveland and To-
ledo Road an unbroken line OF 1000 miles between
New York and Boston and Chicago was formed.
Meanwhile the West had been pushing forward
the great work Of railway construction. The Gin
cinnati, Dayton and Eastern, originally the Mad
River line, was begun in 1885 and portion Of 1t
completed in 1888. In 1s4s in connection with the
Little Miami, 1t formed the first unbroken line be-
tween Lake Erie and the Ohio. The Little Miami
s @ n anS
Cincinnati, the next important line in Ohio was
commenced In 1s4s and opened In 1851, and thus
second line between Lake Erie and the Ohio was
formed The Cleveland and Pittsburg, the third
line making this connection, was opened IN 1852,
e to Columbus % in 1854 the Marietta and Cincinnati IN
1857 and the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago to
Chicago in 1885, In Indiana the Madison and In,
Mississippi In 1857 and the Lou 5ville New Albany
and chicago in 1854 In Illinois the first railway
was opened In 1885, it is now incorporated with the
Toledo, Wabash and Western. The second line was
the Gaena and Chicago begun IN It's 1sag ana mo- 9penea
the S'as and sc1sS HSk s and to 0sesd se Msss say
sppi, ,''e Composed s % Of the Galena and Chicago
and the Illinois Central was opened early IN 1855.
The chicago and Alton was opened In the same year;
sppi in 1855; the Milwaukee and Prairie du CHEN In
1851; the La Crosse and Milwaukee, now part OF
the Milwaukee and ST. Paul. In 1858; the Western
Union in ls82 the Hannibal and st. Joseph carried
the railway system to the Missouri In 1859; the
and Missouri lines were completed In 1856, the
western terminus Of the last mentioned line being
the point OF OF tne SnOn a
early day in virginia. The Richmond, Fredericks
IN snd to Poomac
The Richmond and Petersburg was opened In 1888
and the Petersburg and Roanoke IN 1843. The
orange and Alexandra line was opened in 1859 and
the Virginia and Tennessee In 1856. These lines
traverse the State diagonay from Alexandria to the
ndorv 1inao NJ a
The Wilmington and Weldon line In North Carolina
was opened In 1S4O, and the Wilmington and Man
Georgia line was opened in 1859 and the Central line
from Savannah to Macon In the year following. The
in 1858 and % extended to Mobile IN 1867 The Nash
vile and Chattanooga was opened In 1854 and the
Memphis and Charleston IN 1897, while the ~ Mobile
the line from New Orleans and connection with the
Mobile and Ohio at Jackson, Tenn. In the same
We had in 1885 1,o9s miles Of railway. In 1887
224 miles Of new track were laid and In 1s4s only
l59 miles; but in 1856 3,643 miles were opened the
greatest length In any one year. In 1857 We had
80 IA miles Of railway Of which the New England
States had seSs miles, the Middle States o,652 the
Guiding those on the Pacific slope, 1929. In pro-
| portion to its territory Massachusetts, has the
snsa ad H me While
cut has one mile to every 4-l0 square miles, New
Jersey one to $40 square miles, Rhode Island one
| 10 7.lo square miles and New York one to every
IA 10 sqnare miles. II all the New England States
had q ratio of mileage to area equal to Massachu-
setts they would have miles OF railway instead
OF $685. and II the Middle States equaed New Jcr-
sey they would have 1880 instead Of 1852. II the
Western States equalled Ohio they would have 81, $50
Instead Of 1920 and II all the States were as well
furnished with railways in proportion to territory
miles instead OF 1924. From the opening OF the
first railway in 1881 to the acquisition OF California
age OF 3i6 per annum. From that time forward to
1860, period Of twelve years, "a, 500 miles were
constructed-an average per year OF 2,051 mles-and
from 1860 to 1867, period Of seven years, S,6S7
miles were opened, or 1,227 miles per annum.