The Republican journal., 1869-05-27
RAILROAD MATTERS,

teliNt u9oll IJlborltiSii " ~ iouiIlilil
ted to the Stockholders of our road, in the
event that the lease already negotiated Will
the Portland & kennebec Company fails o
approval. 1t is to pay five per cent. on tht
cost of the road to Newport, not to exceed {
; million dollars, and six per cent. on the whole
when it shall be completed to the Lake.
BY the terms ofthe call Of the stockholders
meeting, published in another column, the
offer Of the ?. & H. Road or any one they
: may choose to make previous to the meeting
must first be passed upon, and only in tle
event Of its rejection can the proposition OF
the Maine Central be considered at all. and
the latter corporation, to allay certain sus-
picion pervading the public mind here, that
a snare is lurking under their action, must be
prepared with lease guaranteeing all the
rights OF our corporation and locality, in legal
form, approved by their stockholders and
needing only the vote of the stockholders OF
the Belfast road to make it valid and binding
All looseness and infolmality must be dis
posed with While we accord individually
to the Directors of that corporation all due
consideration as honorable business men, we
know, and our stockholders know, that men
acting tor a corporation will execute queer
manoeuvres.
| Some talk has beer<eade in our streets and
elsewhere Of late to the effect that Judge Rice
is and always has been opposed to our road
while Mr.. Dunn and his associates have EN-
couraged and advocated it. As illustrating
| this point we will make extracts from the
annual reports ofthese officers, dated January
1862 showing the manner in which they have
| spoken Of our enterprise
| Mr.. Dunn says
| The Belfast and Moooshead Lake Railroad Com
pany which at your last annual meeting
ly organized, is now fully organized and the Com
pany has located their road, and the work of grad
ing is rapidly progressing No contract has vet
been made with this Company in regard to its con-
nectiOn with Your road; but conferences have been
had between the Directors Of the two Companies
and it is expected that arrangements equally bene-
fetal to both Companies will be entered into at no
distant period.
That, to say the least is not very glowing.
1t is about as warming as cake of ice would
be. There is talk of connection" but moth
ltstoC, WHICH WIS Liltll Dtlllo
urged upon the Maine Central.
We had not then taken any action looking
to a possible connection at kendall's Mills
Everybody supposed the road would be built
to Newport. Yet Judge Rice, in his annual
report, speaks Of our enterprise and the fil-
turc of Belfast in these terms
From Bath new line of road extending east has
been put under contract to Rockland, and is now
being rapidly prepared for the iron. This line
which will at early day be extended through the
iourlshing commercial cities and towns along our
coast to Bangor, will constitute great thorough
fare through our State, bringing into close proXnl-
ty the great timber and lumber producing region of
the east, through Bangor and the principal ship
building and lumber consuming territory of our
State. Al Belfast this shore line will ntcrsec the
Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad which is des
tined, when thus connected, to bring from the nte
rlor large quantities OF freight. and much travel
which now finds its outlet east and west over the
Maine Central road, and which will make Belfast
with its land and water communication thus com
pleted, one OF the great business centres of the
State. In the construction Of this line Of road, we
are also much Interested aS while it will add large
y to business facilities Of the central and eastern
portion OF the State, it will also contribute much to
the business of our road
1t is freely circulated in the newspapers and
by street talk that the charter does not au-
ihorize the road to be built to the Lake bv
way of kendalls Mills This is untrue. There
is no restriction as to location, with 4 single
exception. BY the language Of the charter
the route may be ''trom the city of Belfast,
over the most practicable route to Moosehead
Lake, excepting the distance from Newport
to Dexter"
Further than this, the charter expressly
contempl;ltes other connections than that with
the Central Road Section of the charter
PROV iues as follows: "And this company is
hereby authorized to connect any railways
they may construct under this charter with
any other railways existing or to be construct
ed within this StAte' These provisions must
set the question At rest.
1t has been argued that we shall reap ad-
vantage from the break Of gauge at Portland
if we adopt the broad gauge, as it necessi-
tates transhipment Of freight there, thus
| rendering the shipments to Belfast more de-
sirablc both to and from the interior. This
might have some force, if it were certain that
the gauges would never be made uniform.
But there is a strong tendency everywhere to
adopt the narrow gauge In this connection
we call attention to an article on the outside
of this paper. We also find in the Portland
Advertiser, paper that makes railroad mat
ters speciality, the following statement
The broad gauge is said to be slowly losing ground
upon American railways, and will soon be thing
of the past in this country. The same fact is tr1lG
| in England. The Great Western Railway Company,
in the place of the expensive broad gauge are LAYING
the more convenient narrow gauge. The whole Of
the broad gauge lines north of Oxford will be spcct-
lily taken up removing in the midland districts Of
| England the last trace OF the system. The miyed
gauge with third raiN is also being taken IN ON var
olls English roads and the narrow gauge s,lbsitut-
| ed.
AS something has been said concerning the
comparative financial standing Of the two
companies we have procured statement of
each made up by a competent accountant,
from the latest annual reports Of the two com
panies, as follows
During the year 1868, the net earnings of the
Portland q kennebcc road were Sli2,500. OF this
amount the sum of $140,0O0 was appropriated fol
interest and dividend. The liabilities of the Com
pany 81 900 900. 1t has sinking fund of $3.50 900
and assets Sl12 POO Balance OF liabilities as
sets, 81 ,547 800. The past year there have been paid
on liabilities seven per cent, i'll interest and dv-
idends, the net earnings being about per cent of
their liabilities.
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